TOWING a Ranger as opposed to towing WITH a Ranger

[alwaysFlOoReD]

^^^ sorry, that makes no economical sense, never mind the pollution. Just remove the driveshaft and be done with it.

 

[oldbaldy454]

Was recently directed to Ranger station from the guys who make the Shiftster and have not posted for a few years. On page 1 of this blog, Basilfaulty posted the technique I have been using to tow our 4x4 auto 3.0 L offroad pkg as show in pic, drop the drive shaft and run it in 4x4 mode off the front axle when getting to a destination. Don't know if it is engineered to be run for long time in the "front-wheel drive" mode, but it certainly has performed well even with the OEM vacuum hubs.

I have not towed it in a few years as bought a 02 Silverado (bad word here ..sorry) with neutral position on the dash and more comfortable seats for the wife. However I prefer to pull the ranger as it is a bit lighter !

Looking for any suggestions of using the Shiftster to do "neutral mode" on the electric 1354 T case. Sounds like an an extra notch can be milled/drilled into the shiftster between 4H and 4L for Neutral... where to put the notch is the question.

I have many mods on the Ranger, one of which for towing is to disconnect the turn signals switch thru a jumper plug so that the taillights can be used for trailering lights.
Bought the Ford Electrical diagram book cheap on ebay a few years ago which has helped with many projects.

Fun little truck that we originally bought instead of an ATV for off-road blueberry picking, can use it year around in town for utility jobs with all the creature comforts of heater, A/C and power windows!!

Cheers.
JB

 

[Ranger850]

Wouldn't keeping the shafts connected put more miles on the odometer. So a car that's been towed 100k miles and driven for 40k show 140k miles?

 

[TwoTrackMind]

No milage added on newer Rangers

Miles wont be added to odometer if key is not on. Be careful not to lock the the column though - allow the wheels to steer when following arround a curve.