Can I tow with 1st gen ranger?

[85_Ranger4x4]

Circa 1985, same story...



Side note, it is amusing a BII is rated to tow 1k more than my wife's 2022 Bronco...

 

[bobbywalter]

Circa 1985, same story...



Side note, it is amusing a BII is rated to tow 1k more than my wife's 2022 Bronco...

only slightly

 

[scotts90ranger]

So an automatic lima can, in theory, outpull a manual 2.9?

lmao. right.

I see they dont even bother listing the 2.0

I doubt they put the power suckomatic behind the 2.0L, they were only like 70hp, don't think it can handle the parasitic load of an A4LD... plus all the 2L rangers had like no options...

Pretty lame that just because people can't drive makes a more capable vehicle less capable legally... I've towed 3k with my turbo ranger and it was fine, I mean I got like 11mpg or something dumb but you'll get that...

It's kinda funny towing the same trailer behind different vehicles... my HFT trailer behind the Geo Tracker I had it noticed, ranger not so much, F350 can't see it and it doesn't know even loaded with wood or something... trailer the Ranger doesn't like, explorer doesn't notice much and F350 doesn't care... The Explorer notices my ~3300lb boat but the F350 doesn't care...

 

[Jim Oaks]

Sorry. I didn't read the first page.

 

[bobbywalter]

that picture is much easier to read.

 

[bobbywalter]

I doubt they put the power suckomatic behind the 2.0L, they were only like 70hp, don't think it can handle the parasitic load of an A4LD... plus all the 2L rangers had like no options...

Pretty lame that just because people can't drive makes a more capable vehicle less capable legally... I've towed 3k with my turbo ranger and it was fine, I mean I got like 11mpg or something dumb but you'll get that...

It's kinda funny towing the same trailer behind different vehicles... my HFT trailer behind the Geo Tracker I had it noticed, ranger not so much, F350 can't see it and it doesn't know even loaded with wood or something... trailer the Ranger doesn't like, explorer doesn't notice much and F350 doesn't care... The Explorer notices my ~3300lb boat but the F350 doesn't care...

even the 4.0 clutch wont take too much of a hit.


36 in tires and lockers will burn the fawk out of it climbing....it drives right through it with a healthy 4.0. that is the 410 gears. but basically equivocates to towing 4k or so.

that is in low range. in high range your not climbing shit without smoking the clutch.

i am not talking slipping it with your foot to keep from stalling....i am talking fully engaged and driving through it....you wont know its slipping till its too late and you smell it.

a doubler eliminates that.

so does the np435. the big truck clutch and flywheel stalls the engine before it slides.

so its not just stopping and starting...its actual holding power under load.

same thing drag racing with spray or turbo or supercharged trucks....they kill the r1 and clutches

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I doubt they put the power suckomatic behind the 2.0L, they were only like 70hp, don't think it can handle the parasitic load of an A4LD... plus all the 2L rangers had like no options...

Pretty lame that just because people can't drive makes a more capable vehicle less capable legally... I've towed 3k with my turbo ranger and it was fine, I mean I got like 11mpg or something dumb but you'll get that...

It's kinda funny towing the same trailer behind different vehicles... my HFT trailer behind the Geo Tracker I had it noticed, ranger not so much, F350 can't see it and it doesn't know even loaded with wood or something... trailer the Ranger doesn't like, explorer doesn't notice much and F350I doesn't care... The Explorer notices my ~3300lb boat but the F350 doesn't care...

I think they did. The factory i worked dt for a while in the early-mid 90s had a 86 or 7 with a 2.0 and an auto.

I dont know maybe it was a 2.3. I checked once because i couldnt believe ford would make something so nutless.

Either way its only purpose in life at that hellhole was for the office girl to go pick up office supplies when needed and haul various crates of shit between the different plants.

 

[scotts90ranger]

even the 4.0 clutch wont take too much of a hit.


36 in tires and lockers will burn the fawk out of it climbing....it drives right through it with a healthy 4.0. that is the 410 gears. but basically equivocates to towing 4k or so.

that is in low range. in high range your not climbing shit without smoking the clutch.

i am not talking slipping it with your foot to keep from stalling....i am talking fully engaged and driving through it....you wont know its slipping till its too late and you smell it.

a doubler eliminates that.

so does the np435. the big truck clutch and flywheel stalls the engine before it slides.

so its not just stopping and starting...its actual holding power under load.

same thing drag racing with spray or turbo or supercharged trucks....they kill the r1 and clutches

Interesting, I could see that... I've been running a centerforce on my '90 for years and I replaced it when I rebuilt the trans but I didn't need to... I think the weights on the fingers help... but I don't make any power until 3k so that helps in that respect too...

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

I read this thread and got to thinking about a stupid question:

Legality of tow ratings aside (let's say we're exclusively moving farm equipment around private property), is there a good way to estimate the impact of drivetrain modifications on real-world towing performance?

For example, deeper gears correlate with higher towing, but obviously nothing is rated for non-factory combinations. If you 4.10-swap a 3.73 manual, is it reasonable to expect your real-world capacity will increase? By how much? Or is there no overhead at all before we hit the limits of "driving through" the clutch?

Maybe a better question is, how do we calculate the actual physical limit of the clutch that causes manuals to be derated, numbers-wise?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

" how do we calculate the actual physical limit of the clutch "
Driver skill.

 

[lowspeedpursuit]

Lol. Noted.

I was imagining more that driver skill decreases real-world performance from some real maximum value.

Like there's a load the clutch physically cannot sustain, no matter how good the driver. If we know that number, we know how much Ford derates things relatively, and we can calculate expected performance for non-factory equipment.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've seen #s for clutch clamping force, I think... Not sure where you would find them.

 

[bobbywalter]

it's probably less than 5 k. a transmission builder friend of mine did the math off of dyno based numbers over 20 years ago. my truck rolling on 40s with 4.10 gears equivocates over a 3k trailer. on flat ground. compounds with load. this test he did was due to the 4l60 failures with guys running 35 and 37 on inch tires on stock gears in gm trucks. he was sick of the failure rate. and dialing in fail limits.


in my case with a 4l80 in my ranger
combined with the dirty air based on actual fuel consumption differential it's 5k. just driving. that was confirmed taking a sheet of wood strapped to the front of my truck about 4 inches off the ground. just that is 2 mpg at 65. this test was attempted due to data my uncles gave me that work in the wind lab.

it's only 600 miles total in testing and only with one rig but enough for me.


this is where I get estimated base load from.


directly comparable. i have 4.0 b2 with 410 gears and in certain conditions it blows right through the clutch under load. on 36 in tires and high traction. on 33s it smokes the tires instead....same obstacle. there is a balance point but I ain't mathing that ever.

with that as a balance point I would guess a stock size tire with 456 gear would pull over 10 k.

of course....your hiway cruise drivability with stock tires and 456 gears will be shit.

so .. the most skilled driver is not towing over 6 k regularly without reducing the life of the clutch...without ideal gearing ..


upgraded clutches are available. not cheap but work well...the center force if I remember right was good for almost 600 ft pounds...but at what rpm is that? we inquired back in the early 2000s and I do not remember the actuals, but it's max was above a normal 4.0 redline .. and definitely much better than a standard clutch at any rpm on the dual friction series.

so yeah...gearing will definitely up tow capacity. but we knew this. see 300 6 dump trucks. just can't go over 45 mph