Hauling Hay

[RangerNielsen]

I have a 1988 Ranger XLT 2.9L 5 speed 4x4 running on 32" bfg mud and all terrains. Ive hauled 4 bales of hay no problem, but was wondering how much i can put in the bed. 4 bales makes the tires tuck to the wells with no rubbing. I do plan on getting bigger/stiffer suspension for it to increase the gap between the 32s and wheel wells.
thanks all

 

[Ranger Kip]

I used to haul square bales at about 3x2 and 4 tall in the bed of my older 1984 2.8l ranger (4wd), it did great! I would upgrade your leaf springs and shocks in the back. I have seen my neighbor fit up to 3 round bales on the back of his ranger, I thought he was crazy, but it worked (and was bottomed out driving all the way home). I ran standard tires on mine though, nothing big or fancy.

 

[Schnot]

Four bales makes it tuck? Wow your suspension must be wore out.

I can say I've had 74 bales on my obs f350 dually. That made it tuck a little lol


Sent from my iPhone.

 

[wildbill23c]

Your lift kit is your problem the springs are most likely weaker than stock springs so you can't haul as much without really squatting the back end of your truck. Your best bet is to remove the lift, put the right size wheels/tires on it, or get a different non-lifted truck for hauling/towing. I noticed a lot of lifted trucks really suck at hauling due to the weaker springs used during the lift. Kind of dumb really, you would think the lift springs would be heavier duty. Some of the newer lift kits I think offer heavier springs to keep the sag from happening, but early lift kits had weaker springs from what I've found.

 

[RangerNielsen]

I'm not sure if its lifted that much since the 32s are pretty close to the wells as is. i want to add more spring/better shocks to it anyway. I bought the truck as my first car and its 4wd and my diesel needs a trans and my 78 f150 is only 2wd so it got stuck in the mud. I can fit 4 bales down the length of the bed, as where my 78 can fit 5, and 2 on the side. thats more about bed size than anything. when i get home i will post a picture of what i mean about the wheels not having much clearance as is.

 

[LIMA BEAN]

Could always add some helpers to your existing like a set of Hellwigs. Just noticed they have a Ranger in the load control pic.

http://www.hellwigproducts.com/products/

 

[bigmark303]

Without stressing the frame 2500lbs seems to be the max for hauling in the Rangers. You can always add more leaves/overload springs but the frame can only handle so much. If you haul heavy loads every day it takes it toll on the little truck fast.

Otherwise you can go to the junk yard and find leaf springs from other Rangers and start cutting/adding them to your set. Use the stock leaf pack and use the extra leaves as overload springs (flat ones not coupled with the leaf pack). I do it on all my trucks and it works great. Work with the stock overload leaf and cut the other leafs a little longer then each other with the stock overload leaf as the base leaf.

I use 2 inches as the overlap for each leaf until the last overload leaf meets the stock leaf that is curved in the actual leaf pack. Doing that doesnt allow the leaf pack to bow in the reverse position as it would if you overloaded it stock. It instead gets stopped by the longer overload spring you added and that spring gets stopped by the next all the way down the line so the leaf pack sits flat no matter how much weight is in the truck.

 

[Mac]

If you are almost having troubles with four bales of hay (50 lbs ones?), you really need some rework of that suspension. All Winter I ended up running with almost 600lbs in the bed with no deflection at all. Got a 2000 4x4 off-road edition.
Dave

 

[Jraymer360]

if you want to fit more bales, tip them up. or stack them and tie them down. i fit 4 straw bales no problem with a tool box...when you stack them you could probably get 10-15ish i would say.

 

[RangerNielsen]

15 is almost 3/4 ton. I know she can handle more, but my suspension squats with 4. I wan to put stiffer or more leaves on. It bounces a lot with no weight in the bed. I have a 78 f150 that I could easily put 1 ton in the bed. But that gets 10mpg of 92 so it's expensive to drive. I do also plan on lifting the ranger more.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Do you have a picture of what the truck sits like empty and what the undercarriage looks like?

 

[RangerNielsen]

Not at the moment. Was headed outside to to take pictures though. Ill post them when I get to my dads since my phone won't post pictures.

 

[RangerNielsen]

I could also throw some bales of hay in the bed to show the squatting I'm talking about.

 

[Ranger Kip]

These are round bales then (100lb) right?

 

[RangerNielsen]

Do you have a picture of what the truck sits like empty and what the undercarriage looks like?

here you go! kind of hard to tell, but theres the gap between my 10.50" wide tire and the leaf.
im trying to get the other one to load, but its not working.

These are round bales then (100lb) right?

No, they are the 2 tie rectangles. about 75lbs each.