I have a 1997, 4x4, 4.0L Ford Ranger. It only has the bumper hitch which is rated to a max. of 2000lbs with a tongue weight of 200lbs. It says to check the owner's manual for the truck towing capacity. I don't have an owner's manual and I can't seem to find that info online. Can someone please tell me what the towing capacity of my truck is?

Specifically, I am moving 1200km (about a 13 hour drive) and was thinking about towing a 4'x6' or a 4'x8' uhaul trailer. The drive is up and down lots of winding mountain roads. Can my truck handle this? I had problems before with cracking the head cylinders and can't afford any more problems like that.

If it can handle one of those trailers, can it be packed full or should I just put my bed in there and a few other light items?

Any tips for driving winding mountainous roads with a trailer and taking it easy on my poor truck?

Thanks so much!

Marcie

 

you can find the owner's manual online at:

http://www.motorcraftservice.com/vdi...p?menuIndex=14

 

If you don't have the tow package & it sounds like you don't, I'd have a class 3 frame mounted hitch & oil cooler instaled.

Then change the tranny & engine lube to synthetic, this will give you some edge on the heat it'll see driving in the mountains this time of year.

Air up ALL your tires, including the spares for the truck & trailer.

Buy a Ford wiring harness, it has the correct plug & mounting bracket. also pack spare marker & stop lamps.

When you load the trailer have about 10% of it's weight on the tongue, so it's balanced right, to tow smoothly.

If you've never towed before, hook the trailer up empty, drag it to a shopping center after hours & practice turns, while watching your mirrors adjusted so you can see the trailer tires, backing up & stopping.

On mountain roads don't tow in OD & down shift to second when decending & PUMP the brakes, DON'T ride them.
Allow plenty of time & distance to stop, cause you'll need it.

If you have not changed the brake fluid in the last two years, get it done BEFORE you tow & use MotorCraft DOT-3 fluid, it's good stuff.

This will get your fluids boiling point up to snuff for your tow. you don't want the fluid to get hot, boil & the pedal to go soft on a down hill run, makes the PUCKER FACTOR go WAY UP. Don't want you to get to your destination with a cone shaped seat cushion on your hands. LOL

Let us know how your tow goes.

 

If yours sits like mine, you wouldn't want to put one on your bumper anyway. My 96 4X4 sits high enough that a U-Haul trailer would sit low in the back and that is not the way you want to tow. I'd install a class 3 hitch and have on mine, that way you can get a drop in the hitch height to level the trailer. Plus then your towing and tongue weights can go up to the maximums listed.

You didn't say if yours was a auto or manual, so I'd guess that pawpaw guessed it was an auto. If it is, go with his other suggestions, if not then you can use the gears to control the speed of both the truck and trailer. Just remember to downshift when starting down the steep and windy sections.

Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about much else. The size of the trailer your going to pull won't tax your truck unless you load it really heavy. And even then you'd only notice it going uphill and braking.

 

I have a 98 and the owner's manual lists more than 60!!!! different sets of equipment and the tow limits for them, ranging from around 6,000 lbs all the way down to "Not Recommend For Towing" -- So, it's really important to match YOUR truck to the manual. There's a lot more to it than just the engine (for some reason, Ford really rates its manual transmission low compared to its automatic brother).

My '98 4.0 a/t 4x4 has a factory-mounted auxilliary trans cooler in addition to the one in the bottom of the radiator.

You might be able to buy the Flat-4 trailer wiring adapter at WalMart or auto parts store.

BTW, it might at first seem counter-intuitive, but 4x4 actually reduces towing capacity -- The weight of the extra equipment is subtracted from the total load and tow capacities.

BBTW, I got a pretty good deal on a frame-mounted receiver hitch from e-trailer.com if you are going to check out prices -- WalMart was slightly cheaper, but the hardware was twice as heavy because its a Fitz-All design <g>. But there may be better deals out there, because '98 seems to have been an odd year for hitch design, esp if you are looking for a front hitch (precise trailer parking, winch mount, etc.) -- I couldn't find one at local wrecking yards, but if I had it would have been $35-50 U-Pull.

Pete

 

I just bought a 99 extended cab 4x4 4.0L Ranger. I pulled my 6x10' trailer with it today for the first time. The kart is loaded up with 2 race karts and equipt. with a total weight of about 2000 lbs. including the trailer. I didn't have any problems but gas mileage was absolutely horrible. On my return trip when I got on the highway I kept the overdrive ON instead of OFF like I did on the first trip. What a difference it made in my gas mileage. I would shut it off though when climbing any steep hills and of course on city streets.

 

Thanks for the tips!

 

There's a lot of good advice above and it's worth reading several times -- About mileage, there are two kinds -- How many miles you get per gallon and how many miles you get between transmission rebuilds/clutch replacements -- So it's best to keep both in mind when towing -- The big key about OD towing is that your auto tranny should *never* be 'hunting' or trying to shift back and forth between any two gears (if it is, pull it down to a lower gear) -- Read your manual closely for what the tranny does in each number because it isn't as simple as 1-2-3; there's really some strange stuf in there, like in some positions, that gear is the only gear it will be in, just like a manual trans...

With regard to hills, the Rule of Thumb from manual trans trucker days is Come Down The Hill In A Gear No Higher Than The Lowest Used Coming Up -- Even more important to keep it slow with an auto trans because the engine braking sux, esp in OD!! The Army teaches "You can come down the hill too slowly as many times as you want, but you only get to come down too fast once!"

Pete

 

Havent been here awhile,,,but was wondering the same about towing, am heading for tennessee soon and possibly need to take a two stall horsetrailer with me, (yep, the horses are going to) am tooking for "get a bigger truck " or any input, thanks

 

If you're going to tow a 2 horse trailer with horses in there you're going to need a real (full sized) truck

 

Does a Bronco qualify as a full size truck?

Budget has some trucks that will pull a horse trailer, I know from personal experience.

 

hey hey hey, bite your tongue lol , i pull a 2 horse trailer with 2 horses behind my 97 40 5spd 2wd all the time, if its the 4.0 it has the torque, just make sure you have a brake controller for the trailer.. factory brakes dont like the extra stress lol