Towing A Ranger With A Ranger

[hntr45]

So my friend has a '95 Ranger 4.0L 4wd with a shot rear axle. He has it parked at his college, and changing a rear axle in a parking lot would probably not be the best idea. I wanted to see if my '97 Ranger 2.3 could pull it? I'm a bit nervous about doing it since it would require pulling it through the mountains, but I have pulled an '88 F150 with my Ranger before without too much issues.

Any responses are greatly appreciated

 

[hntr45]

Forgot to include I do have 4.10 gears in my Ranger

 

[don4331]

I'd change the axle in the parking lot (and I actually have*).

Define shot rear axle better for us.

The good news - after you drop the rear drive shaft you and probably maneuver it a bit as a front wheel drive.

A trailer able to haul a Ranger with all 4 wheels off ground is probably 2k lbs, your buddies Ranger will weigh 3,500lbs. Add you/your buddy/some gear and your pushing limits of my 4.0 s/c, significantly over your 2.3...

Replacing axle is - jack it up, place stands, disconnect the parking brakes, the hydraulic brake line, the drive shaft and the u-bolts. Roll out old, roll in new. Reverse disassembly + bleed brakes.

Now, I have 18v Dewalt impact that makes quick work of the u-bolts, but the only challenging part I have had was disconnecting the brake lines, but I let it soak in PB Blaster for a day before I started and got a line wrench so I didn't round the connector.

*I did a lot of car repairs both on my own vehicle and friends in parking lot at University. Cops never gave me any trouble - it was quite obvious nothing was being stolen.

 

[RonD]

You can pull it just not sure you should.

How will you be towing it?
Car dolly on rear wheels to tow it backwards, very tail heavy

Car trailer, just heavy all over

The 1995 Ranger 4.0l 4x4 will be an extended cab so will be 3,200lbs at least

 

[hntr45]

If I were to tow it, I would use a tow dolly. Only thing I have access to for free.

Don4331 You did a rear axle in a University parking lot with no problems? It's not that I don't know how to change the rear end out since I've done it twice, but I would be concerned about the campus police getting pissy.

 

[don4331]

Towing Ranger backwards is dicey. There's nothing to lock the steering (besides the pin in steering column and that isn't real strong). If your buddy's Ranger decides to start steering itself it gets ugly.

Rear axle, transaxle, couple CV shafts, u-joints in driveshaft, generator in VeeDub, power steering pump. Probably a few more I have forgotten.

If you've done it before and know what your doing, you're probably on re-assembly before they show up. Just don't be doing it at 3am...

 

[D4N63R]

You can pull it but you shouldn't. Same with the F150 you towed. Do you hate your truck? You don't have nearly the anchor weight needed to control that amount of weight if it decides to misbehave

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

[RonD]

May be tow it someplace closer, off campus.