I have searched and hopefully this isn't too repetitive. I am going to be loading a 98 Mazda B4000 4x4 auto with all my belongings (not a lot) and driving from Seattle to Houston sometime in the future possibly next week. Ill be towing a 5x8 enclosed trailer from U-Haul. Will be filling bed with clothes and dishes etc. While the trailer will hopefully only contain my mattress and a Ninja 250 if I can't sell it along with some tools.

I know to check fluids and tire pressure etc. I am wondering if there are any thing not so common I should check as it has 168k miles. Supposedly the Ford mechanic I bought it from replaced all fluids everywhere including diffs he never mentioned transfer case that I remember but I would assume he did since he did everything else. I've never packed a bearing I think that someone mentioned bringing an extra hub with me, also staying out of O/D (something I wouldn't have done had I not seen that somewhere). So looking for the uncommon things to check and maybe any good ideas of items to bring like a tow strap since it'll be during winter months.

Sorry if this seems like a really 'newbie' question.

 

Is the Mazda a supercab, shortbed or longbed. I have a shortbed regular cab Ranger and it definitly "sways" a lot when pulling a fully loaded [3500] pound trailer. I try to stay around 60 mph even when there are not any wind gusts. Take it easy until you get a feel for conditions. Try to load the bulk of the weight over the axles of the trailer.

 

I towed the same trailer from N.Y. To Florida a few years ago with my ranger. 6 cyl. Auto. The truck handled it ok, but the mileage really sucked pulling it. Just take your time and have a safe trip.

 

You want some tongue weight. Without a scale, the best way to guestimate is to measure the height of your rear bumper before and after loading the trailer. You want the bumper a little lower after loading, in your case maybe 1/2" to 1" since you won't have much in there.. You do NOT want that height to be the same or higher.

Don't rule out OD. On flat roads, you may be OK. Turn OD off climbing and descending grades, and any other time the tranny seems to be hunting - shifting in and out of OD. You are going to see a lot of flatland, and OD can save you some gas.

If you are new at towing, don't go through the pass if there is snow on the road. I doubt that U-Haul trailer will have brakes.

Normal distance between vehicles on the highway is about 2 seconds of travel. You will have to at least double that, and maybe even triple.

Check everything after the first 50 miles or so, and at every stop. Including inside the trailer. I caught a couple kids near my truck one time when I was coming out of the truck stop. They had unhooked my safety chains and lifted the latch on my ball hitch. After that, I never pulled back onto the road without a good walk around.

And take your time. Google and MapQuest don't know you are towing a trailer. Add 10% to 15% to the estimated travel time.

 

Truck is the 2dr supercab shortbed only thing other than stock is some 33x12.5x15 BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A's.

Not to worried about mpg I only get like 15 anyways, if I don't break down or crash it's a win.


I would have had to seriously hold back from whipping some ***, you just don't f*** with other people's stuff especially like that. But I will probably head down at least to I-10 possibly I-8 depending which one has better weather.

On a somewhat related topic my brakes are O.K. at best is that just how it is? The general consensus seems to be the brakes on these suck before the 02 or 01 change with motors and whatnot.

 

^ + 1 on the fluid changes & towing suggestions. Those big tires aren't gonna help mpg nor take any load off the engine, suspension, or driveline & if the auto tranny shift points haven't been reprogrammed for the larger tires, it'll be all confused about when to shift, as the larger tires have effectively changed the differential gear ratios.

SO, any chance it could get the specified tires put back on before the tow & if so, make sure you can get to the spare, if it has the lock, that you have the key!!!! That the spare is a matched size, good to go & aired up. Same for the trailer & its spare.

If you aren't already using one & can come by a Convert-A-Ball "cushioned ball mount", consider that too, as you & your driveline will likely appreciate it rounding off the towing jerks & jars its gonna get on your long high speed tug.
I've been using one for the past 14 years, tugging my Bass Tracker over & through the Blue Ridge Mountains, 60 miles round trip to the lake & back & it makes the tow Much smoother!!!!

Make sure you have a lug wrench that'll fit all the nuts & a jack that'll be able to lift the trailer or truck, With its load, just in case!!!!

For your long tow, you'd likely be a good candidate for a full synthetic engine oil & a good filter with plenty of media surface area, like a Motorcraft, or Purolator, as the engine, oil & filter are gonna be worked plenty hard on that long tug & it'll likely clean out some accumulated sludge, so you don't need a low end small surface area media oil filter to get clogged up & be running in bypass mode!!!!

Your right about this vintage Ranger needing More brakes, so as thomabb has suggested, allow Plenty of stopping distance the faster your going & if the brake system fluid wasn't pumped out in the fluid service the Tech did, seriously consider doing/having that done Before leaving, as you'll need all the braking the system can deliver on a steep down hill, or panic stop, so you don't need the old fluid to boil because its boiling point is lower from mositure absorbtion & the pedal to hit the floor & you have to do a Fred Flintstone to get er stopped!!!!

I tow in OD in the flatlands with my 4.0L thats the same vintage as yours without problems. As has been suggested, if it begins to hunt/frequently shift into & out of OD, turn it off until head winds ease, or road conditions flatten out.

More thoughts for consideration, let us know how your long distance tug goes.

 

The only suggestion that I would have it to make sure to load your trailer properly.
This means placing most of the weight over the axle of the trailer.
This will decrease the tongue weight.

Thumbs up on the no overdrive operation.

The route might be another issue, and on that subject I'm biased to I-15 and I-84.
Good Luck.

 

I am not sure I agree with some of the responses. A pickup is light in the rearend and is made to be loaded. You need tongue weight, more that you would think. This gives the rear tires more control on the truck. I think the 1/2" to 1 inch drop in the rear of the truck that was mentioned in a previous post is what you should follow. However you need to load the trailer to do this. Of course if you have something heavy in the truck already, this is not as important.

 

If you have an owners manual, look in it for details on how much trailer weight positoned where, frontal area, max tongue weight ect, your Ranger is rated for & follow Fords guidelines. If you don't have an owners manual, you can down load one at no cost here. https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/owner-manuals/ Also on this page is a towing guide link in the page right hand side menue bar. Scroll to the bottom of the year page link that most closely = your model & scan through Fords towing info suggestions.