Hi all, Question for ya. I am getting a boat from my brother in law, who lives about 400 miles away, it is a 16' aluminum bass tracker. My question is will i need to install a reese hitch or can i pull it home using my bumper ball ?? I am not sure what the boat weigh's. I have a 98 stepside 4x4 ranger with the 4.0 engine, can anyone give me their oppinion. Thank's very much

 

Well we don't know what kind of condition your bumper, or it's mounting hardware is in, but one in good condition is rated to tow a trailer up to 2000 lbs, with a tongue weight not to exceed 200 lbs.

All that said, witout a doubt a frame mounted class-3 hitch would provide a far better handeling & safer tow option imo.

You might also consider a "cushioned ball mount" from Convert-A-Ball, which will round off the drivelines jerks & jars during towing & believe me the driveline & you will appreciate that. I've used one for the past 9 years & it works as advertised & is holding up well.

A OEM trailer lght harness pigtail came with the truck, that plugs into the vehicles wiring harness for the rear lights.

I'd also consider ALL fresh fluids for the tow, maybe even synthetic for the engine & tranny fluids, new coolant & belt, even a brake & P/S system fluid flush, if it's never been done, as all systems are going to be worked pretty hard during this long tow. Max tow speed is 55 mph, so says the factory.

Air up your tires, including the trailer's & your vehicles & trailers spare tires, use a good top tier gas & let us know how it goes.

Just a bunch more tow thoughts for pondering.

 

The bumper should handle an aluminum boat.

 

those step side bumpers scare the crap out of me. I watched someone move a trailer that was over limit, but not terribly so, from the side yard to the driveway, and it bent the bumper right towards the ground. at the time it was a 4 y.o. ranger, around 50-60K miles.

 

Thank's all, with all that in mind I am going to go ahead and install the hitch. It will probably be the best thing, especially seeing as how i am going to be using the boat ( hopefully ) this summer . As alway's thank's. You people are the best

 

Good idea to install a class-3 frame mounted hitch imo, seeing as how your going to use the boat.

Don't know if you have a auto tranny or not, but if you do & it's not had a filter change & complete tranny fluid pump out, I'd also consider that too, prior to your long tow. There are instructions for easly doing this youself in this forums "Tech Info" thread.

I tow a 175 Tracker in the Blue Ridge Mountains, so I pay close attention to the things I've mentioned, as the Ranger has to GRUNT pretty hard tugging my load over & through the mountains to the lake.

So my tranny & brakes get a good workout on a regular basis & as a result they also get their fluids completely changed, on or before Fords severe service schedule.

So at least make sure your cooling, brake & tranny fluids are in good condition & the radiator & tranny cooler are clear of debris before the tow.

Sounds like your giving this long tow some serious fore-thought, so maybe it'll go off without incident.

Just remember you aren't going to stop on a dime, with the Tracker behind you, so allow plenty of room between you & the guy in front, then allow a ittle more, in case he suddenly decides to stop!!!! Don't ask how I know this, yup I got her stopped in time, but just BARELY!!!! lol

Good fishing in the Tracker, I've really enjoyed mine. Got to get her ready for the new season, as the water temp is close to 60F here now, so the large mouth bass are feeding up before the spawn. Go get that Tracker & maybe we'll see you on the water!!!!

Let us know how your long tow goes.

 

Since part of my job requires me to hook trailers to customers vehicles I will tell plain out, at least a class 3 reciever. I have seen people bound and determand to use a bumper hitch with the logic "I used it before". I have almost gotten to the point at times that once they sign off, they are responsible. I had one last year that was arguing with me about towing a skid steer, after 15 minutes I sad OK, hook up & I'll load it. He hooked, I loaded (a little too much tongue weight - oops) and ripped the bumper right off.
Bottom line, spend the little extra and KNOW you and the others on the road will be safe .

 

i towed a boat and trailer with combined weight of 2000lbs, right off the bumper without any problems at all. the tongue weight was maybe 50-75lbs.
that's with the 2.3 lima and manual trans!
no way a 16 ft aluminum bass boat weighs that much...

 

I have an aluminum boat, and I would have no worries about putting it on my bumper and towing it.

 

The tongue weight would be the key factor for me. There's no way that boat/trailer combo would exceed 2000 lbs. It takes some work to optimize a boat on a trailer. You have made the right choice though. The frame mounted class 3 is the way to go in the long run. You can play around with the setup later.

 

If the trailer has surge brakes, make sure you have the right wiring harness or backing up will be a problem.

 

I have a 17 foot bowrider that is nowhere near 2000lbs and my 4.0L pulls it just fine (but I use the receiver hitch not the bumper). Its not just the weight you need to be concerned about, its the angle of the trailer. If you have the 4x4, the rear end height is a little taller than the 2wd, so that plus the hitch ball being higher up on the bumper will make the tail end of the traler/boat very low to the ground (something that is really important to consider if your boat has an outboard). The hitch and ball mount for the receiver would buy you at least 4 more inches. The trailer should be as level as possible when you tow it so the weight is balanced and you don't end up with the trailer fishtailing. I think the peace of mind alone would be worth the cost of the hitch.

 

go buy a hitch. i tow my 14ft boat every where. haven't had one problem yet towing it(besides my gas mileage going out the pipe!!!)

its a good investment, adds some value to the truck, and its MUCH safer to tow with a frame hitch than the bumper!!!!

 

hitch all the way,better for the vehicle for safety and perfomance out of your truck.

 

Wiring?? On a surge system the wiring has NOTHING to do with the brakes. The brakes are fully Hydrualic operated. There is a master cyl. incorperated into the hitch. The problems backing up are caused from weak shocks in the hitch system or backing up too fast. Greg