Why is not important, but it looks like i am going to have to tow one of my families cars from Raleigh, NC to Dallas, TX this summer. Is this possible in a 3.0L Automatic? When this happens, my truck will have changed quite a bit. It will have 3"BL, 3" spindles/aal, 33" tires with 4.10 gears and a BAMA chip.

The car is a Saturn SC2 (3 door coupe) so the weight shouldn't be a problem, right? I was looking at the uhaul website and which one of these would be best?



They say a recomended speed of 45mph, but would it be okay to do 60 or better, 45mph would make it be a very VERY long trip. Don't worry about the type of hitch, my grandpa (the reason the car is making the trip) said he would pay for me to get what ever hitch i need, and i don't have a problem driving/towing long distances (i drove an expedition with a camper trailer from NC to SD two summers ago.)

Will I have any problems, what should i look out for, do i have any other options? Thanks for the help.

 

Get the full trailer.. it has brakes on it.
The tow dolly is a major PAIN IN THE FRIGGIN BUTT!
you cant backup with it and no brakes on it.

It is doable. If you have to leave the overdrive off.
Hitch should be 100$-130$ and is relatively easy to install esp. if you have 2 people.

 

Part of that is so they fit the letter of the law. Many states require you to drive significantly slower when towing a trailer. (Here is a table by state.) I know first-hand that this is rarely obeyed and infrequently enforced.

For that much weight you're definitely going to want a class III hitch installed onto the frame. Do not use a ball-hitch on your step bumper.

 

Hmm i dont know if i would put a 3.0 under that strain for that long.....If your going to rent from Uhaul, might as well rent one of thier trucks with a car hauler...or find a friend with a diesel truck...but it is doable....If you want to put your truck through it

Rocky

 

My buddy and I tow His '46 crosley with his two-wheel drive regualr cab long box V6 dakota, all the time. We use a car trailer and it seems to work pretty good. No real problems. Just keep an eye on the temp guage and I would flush the tranny when you got back.

~HJ

 

Do you have an auto or stick ? Stick coule be tricky on hills and stuff believe me I know. 2 wheel dolly are a pain in the but like Rand said backing up is a nightmare.

 

I agree, get the full trailer. I tow my cousins car all the time behind mine, and have towed another friends from DC to Southwestern VA with no problems. I do flush my tranny more often because of it though. The only difference is I have a 4.0L, but that shouldn't mean much, other than it being a little harder on your engine. One time shouldn't be a big deal though. I would just keep the speed down a bit, like 60. I usually keep my OD off, and speed around 60 or 65.

Don

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keep your fluids topped off and clean, turn o/d off and take it slow. theres no point in hauling *** just to do it.

i pulled 1 quad in the bed of my truck and 2 on the trailer plus 2 coolers, lots of food and all camping stuff and was hauling *** trying to follow a big group of people. if my truck could have talked it would have been yelling at me the whole time. if i had taken it easy it wouldnt have been a big deal, but i was doing like 75-80 even going up big hills and climbs



you should be fine towing the car, just keep it slow and give lots of room for braking

 

U-haul will not rent a trailer for towing a car that is to be connected to your Ranger. You may even have a difficult time getting them to rent you a tow dolly but they may be OK with it.

Yes, you will need a class III receiver style hitch. The 33" tires are going to be a problem because they make the effective gear ratio taller. The Bama chip will help if you have a torque performance program.

Those tow dollies are not stable at high speeds so be prepared to make the trip at a slower speed. I have not towed with them very much and I don't know if 60 mph is safe with them.

The 3.0L engine will make climbing hills a strain, especially with the 33" tires, but the automatic transmission will make starting from a stop much easier. I recommend staying out of OD.

 

I towed Allie's 91 Ranger all the way from Phelps, New York back to my home, 500 miles one way, with my mom's 99 Blazer 4.3L with a car dolly. It did just fine, just make sure you slow down sooner, and just think ahead more then normaly.


My mom also towed Allie's old car, since the motor went bad and I sold it on ebay. she towed it down to South Caralina witch was 680 miles one way. and her car was a full size, witch waighted as much as the blazer, towed it with the dolly and did just fine.

its all in how you drive. But when you think about it, a trailer adds more waight and you are already limited to what you tow as it is.

 

i wouldn't do it.

 

class 3 trailer hitch, full trailer, take your time....dont over do it, take it out of O/D, and take your time.

 

Brad, you're comparing apples to oranges here.
A 4.3 has alot more towing ability than a 3.0.

Gary, I agree with you about U-Haul. I don't think they will rent a car trailer to a 3.0. I had a problem trying to get a 11X6 trailer from them, until they looked up my 01 in their "book". The "book" told them a 4X4 4.0 Supercab could tow it, but any other Ranger model wouldn't...

Towing a car that far with a 3.0 is looking for trouble, of course you know that. That's why you're asking...

 

thanks for the help guys, i have to get my truck and this car down to texas and i would rather not drive down there, fly back, and drive again, do i have any other options?

If i were to find someone who would give me a trailer, is there anything else i should do to my truck that would help make the trip alittle easier for it, besides the basics( take it slow, top of the fluids, o/d off)?

EDIT: I know how to make it down to texas, how long does it take to do a 5.0L swap (j/k)

 

keep the smaller tires that you havenow on there, dont put the 33's on.

with the 4.10's stock tires and the bama chip you would be a little better, but just be careful.

you might want to look up the weight of the car, the weight of the trailer and see if you are even in the ranger specs for it. if its rated to tow that much, then it may still be rough, but you can do it. if its too much weight i wouldnt even attempt it

 

You could always get some AALs so the *** end doesnt get weighed down so much when all the weight gets put on it, but like some of us said ...dont do it, you can find someone with a diesel, or find a place that will rent you a truck and a trailer...

Rocky

 

I have flat town a 1500 long bed dodge ram with a 360 about 25-30 miles with 33's 4.10's and a 3.0 automatic.

It was a long slow haul, and I manually shifted b/t 1st and 2-3 b/c it uses more holding clutches in the transmission in those gears than OD.

 

i think it would be fine. i tow a 3750lb. trailer from ohio to massachusetts with both my ranger and syclone and i have never had a problem. it does put strainn on the engine but if its only once i done worry about it

 

I've seen what the 3.0 and automatic can do and I would not trust it. I pulled a trailer with about 3500 lbs on it and overheated my tranny within an hour and this was a 4x4 with 3.73 gears and 31's. Of course this led to slippage and eventually a total rebuild which, if I remember right was in the $1700 range. Again, I didn't make it to Toledo from Detroit (about 70 miles) with that setup. The car and full trailer will be over 3500 lbs and you will be climbing mountains. As said earlier, the dollies are a nightmare. The only way I'd even consider it, is if you buy an aux. trans cooler, keep the small tires, change the trans fluid (not just a flush and filter replacement, a full replacement of ALL fluid)to a synthetic (better heat resistance), never shift into OD, install a trans temp gauge, and stare at it the entire time while someone else drives. In summary, the engine won't like it but, it will pull it however, the transmission will start overheating in a hurry and it'll cost you a fortune to get it fixed.

 

Oh yeah, I also wouldn't do it without trailer brakes. Stopping something that heavy with a Ranger is an exercise in futility. For all intensive purposes stock Ranger brakes suck and always will unless a meteor strikes Dearborn and knocks some sense into an engineer's head.

 

^ That would be quite a reason to not do it. I have a 4.0 and I still wouldnt do it. A plane flight is going to be a hell of alot cheaper thatn a transmission rebuild.

 

My 3.0 with a stick pulls my boat fine, which is 2400 lbs on the trailer, and it easily tugs my buddy's boat which is close to 4,000 lbs on the trailer BUT you have to look at what your working with. Alot of factors to consider. My trucks a stick, so I'm not worried about smoking the transmission and I have 35s/4.88s which is a little shorter even than a stock tire/4.10 truck so it helps IMMENSELY.

I personally think you COULD do it, but it will just suck. It's not going to torch your transmission, and its not going to kill your motor unless you force it too. Don't run wide open @ 4500 rpm up hill in 2nd gear, stuff like that is why people break stuff.

 

Put on a trans cooler, put the 4.10's in leave the lift and tires off and take it easy and you'll be ok. i've hauled 5200 lb with mine for 100 miles with out any problems, but it is slow going.