Automatic or manual for towing

[drue1986]

now i prefer a manual for towing but if your towing that much dont bother overworking a smaller truck and go with a heavier truck yea sure i have a ranger but if i have to tow anything that is that heavy ill borrow my dads 03 cummins dodge but as soon as i get a house instead of an apartment im gonna get an older cheap 1ton with a 460 and a 4 speed just for towing. that a4ld in the ranger i dont trust it to tow anything over 1500

 

[Ozwynn]

I regularly towed 5000 pounds behind my 91 explorer, I also had a trans temp guage and an oversized cooler.

 

[drue1986]

my stock a4ld i thought just had a valve body problem took it to aamco and the planataries were in pieces. nothing internally could be reused and i dont beat that truck

 

[racsan]

while i prefer a manual shift, a automatic can get the job done. ive never considered a auto in a truck untill we got a '77 F250 4x to replace the '74 F250 (farm pickup) the '74 was a 2wd with the 300, creeper 1st 4 speed and 3.73's it would pull whatever you asked of it, get 16 mpg empty and had enough chassis weight than being a 2wd wasnt a problem like todays trucks. the '77 was equipped with the 400, C6,full-time 4wd and 4.10's we got a plow for it and one winter when it got bad i actually made money driving that truck all day, a truck that got 9 mpg no matter what. it pulled 3 wagons of wet corn out of a feild with no problems. sadly it has been retired and the current farm truck is a '94 F250 with the 351, 3.55's,E4OD and manual hubs/transfer case 4wd. it may get better hwy milage than the '77 but isnt near the "puller". as far as ranger-based vehicles go, get the manual, dont tow in overdrive, and have at least 3.73's your biggest issue with using a ranger to tow isnt getting going, its getting stopped. even with my empty 1,000 pound box trailer, getting stopped can be a issue. expecially when the road is wet.

 

[Will]

What do you mean wasn't nearly the puller? What could be the difference between two trucks nearly the same weight? You mean one could pull like 10X the other because it was magic? Describe the difference between them and give the nearly some meaning.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

What do you mean wasn't nearly the puller? What could be the difference between two trucks nearly the same weight? You mean one could pull like 10X the other because it was magic? Describe the difference between them and give the nearly some meaning.

351W w/ 3.55 vs 400 w/ 4.10 may have a lot to do with it, one was a puller with lower gearing and more stroke and the other was a highway flyer with a smaller engine.

 

[racsan]

exactly, a 351 with 3.55's doesnt hold a candle to a 400 with 4.10's the older truck also had smaller tires stock. it had 7.50-16's stock while the newer one runs 265/16's not alot of difference but its defently a bigger tire. does ride better though, thode old bias tires got flat spots real bad in winter.

 

[gw33gp]

In summary; if you have to ask which transmission (auto or manual) should be used for towing, use an automatic.

 

[MakerOfBeast]

the gvw of a truck only is the total weight of the truck + tongue weight, not the combo weight of both truck and trailer. as long as u don't overload the rated tongue weight and don't overload the trailer u wont get a ticket. the Jake brakes on a big truck are only so you don't over heat the wheel brakes they are not meant for stopping. the t18 was used in other applications than just for and was in 2 ton and bigger trunks. as far as for a transmission for towing the only idiot prof ones Ive seen are in equipment like cats powershift tranys which have a torque converter in front of a electrically shifted manual transmission.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

who said anything about GVW? GCWR is the gross combined weight rating...or the weight of the loaded vehicle plus the loaded trailer. most manufacturers specify a GCWR that shouldnt be exceeded even if the TRUCK is under its GVW. your brakes can only stop so much weight.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

There just numbers, idiot ratings really, meaning any idiot can drive it with that much weight.

Hook on the trailer, and if it feels scary, turn around and go home.

Alot of it depends on the distribution of weight on the trailer as well, a good example is when i pulled my 77 LTD II on a car hauler with tandem axles set almost to the back (lots of tounge weight).

Now, total weight of car and trailer might of been 5000lbs, which is well within the max of my F150.

On the way down there i backed the car on the trailer, truck hardly squated (it has 3/4ton sprngs) and crusied 60 with no sway and braking was effortless.

On the way up, it went on forward, with that 351W adding 500+ lbs of tounge weight the truck squated and swayed and pulled like shit.

A person who is used to towing could safely pull 4000lbs with a truck that an idiot couldnt pull 2500 with.

later,
Dustin

later,
Dustin

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

a high GCWR doesnt make up for a poorly setup trailer...and i never claimed it would.

ive exceeded my rangers GVW and GCWR on several occasions. its not like your truck will just fail to move if it has "X" amount of weight on it. but im still aware of my weight ratings and how much weight i put on the truck...as any responsable person should be.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Yeah im not suggesting you put 10000lbs of brick on a single axle trailer and try to pull it with a Ranger XL with a 2.3L and a 5sp.

But im not saying that a decent equipped F150 (dont matter what year) isnt considerably more capable then the tow ratings suggest.

later,
dustin

 

[Nipplechops]

I prefer manual transmissions, but automatics are easier for those that tow on a less than regular basis. When Rangers are the subject of conversation the automatics are preferable because of the rediculously high gearing in all of the manual transmission options available.

I've towed a mediume sized skid steer on a low bed, tandem axle flatdeck with four extra tires, extra bucket and various other spare parts with my Ranger. It towed very well, but you have to realize what you are doing and take it easy on the downhill runs. The only issue that I had was getting moving on hills with the tall gearing in first gear on my TK-5. I'm sure my clutch suffered greatly.

I have also towed a Ford Torino on a tandem axle low bed with my Mom's old '92 extended cab Ranger with a 4.0L/M5OD set up. That towed great (used an equalizer hitch), but had the same tall first gear issue. An automatic would have made the uphill starts easier, but an A4LD would have shit itself on that 1500km round trip.

For the record, I don't condone exceeding the tow rating of any vehicle. The skid steer was done due to a drunken bet the night before it happened. I won!

 

[rusty ol ranger]

The TK5 actually has the lowest 1st gear of all ranger manual trannys at 3.96.

later,
Dustin