Did Ford prewire for a potential tow option?

[Resurrection Ranger]

I was gonna throw a basic receiver on from Rock Auto. Not that I plan on towing anything.. It's that I could.. to the extent of a 2.3 that is. My question is did Ford prewire for the option? Is there a loom i can possibly find to wire up a harness or am i to just start butchering everything. Thanks.

 

[btm757]

Looks up under the rear bumper

 

[Ranger Kip]

on my ranger it was no where near designed to tow, we almost yanked off the back bumper when towing it in neutral! (tied behind the rear bumper around the frame).

also, my ranger has literally nothing to tow with or itself (like with a tow truck) at all!

 

[john112deere]

I assume you're talking about wiring for the lights on the trailer, right? Four-way flat connector?

On my '97 Ranger, there is a connection in the tail-light wiring up under the rear bumper that you can unplug and plug in a "T" connector that'll run down to your trailer lights- no hacking of factory wiring needed. You might find the loom on the shelf at a parts store or even Wal-Mart (Hoppy makes 'em, look in the towing section), or you can certainly order them online.

If a '93 has amber turn signals like my '97 (I can't remember), it'll need a slightly fancier and pricier unit to convert the signals to just red bulbs like a trailer has, but it's no big deal.

*If you were looking at anything with trailer brakes, it'd be more complicated...but if it needs brakes, I wouldn't bother hitching it to a 4-cylinder Ranger.

 

[Resurrection Ranger]

Thanks.. I really didn't wanna start splicing a crap load of wires. I never towed a trailer using a pick up.. (however i'm no stranger to towing a 150k permit load for work sometimes) so i guess from looking at the local wally world shelf that the flat four is typical for a class 1 thru 3 receiver that i found for my rig. I did see the bumper pull plate at walmart too but i'm not convinced that the four bolts holding the bumper on is good enough.. for anything. I'm just looking to pull like a utility or flat trailer.. maybe even a pop up although i bet that's pushing it. I'm in the process of upgrading to an 8.8 4:10 set up so that may help too. These 3.55s gotta go regardless. Thanks for the input!

 

[adsm08]

i'm not convinced that the four bolts holding the bumper on is good enough.. for anything.

I tow loads that are close to my truck's rated capacity on the bumper frequently. I plan to upgrade to a receiver when I have the time, but your bumper bolts will hold up to more than you'd think.

 

[Resurrection Ranger]

I tow loads that are close to my truck's rated capacity on the bumper frequently. I plan to upgrade to a receiver when I have the time, but your bumper bolts will hold up to more than you'd think.

No kidding? I was real leary of even trying to pull a bush out with it so i hooked directly to the frame. I'm not even sure what the tow capacity is for my rig although i know i could look it up. I just never looked into it since i didn't have a hitch to begin with. I have an aftermarket bumper that's rated at 800lb tongue but that doesn't mean anything. It's those bolts and ultimately the driveline i'm concerned about. Thanks for the heads up. Maybe i will get that bumper receiver after all.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I might swap out the frame to bumper bolts to grade 8, for the bumper pull.
Richard