my trucks a 2008 mazda 2.3 duratec witha autotrans my bud and me are going halfs on a tent trailer the trailers dry weight is 1800 pound my tow ratting is at 2200 pounds if i add spring helpers,trans cooler,electric brakes and a weight distributing system would i be safe hauling over the 2200 pounds? i think all loaded up i will be over the 2200 pound mark

 

i tow way over my tow rating all the time i dont think you would need to go to crazy with adding extra things. and they say raising the tranny cooler fixes the problem if you already have one. how often do you think you will be towing this trailer?


i think you would be fine you just need to leave yourself extra space to slow down and not lock up the breaks

 

????????????????????????????? WHy are you going over the tow rating? Its set for a reason.

 

umm....not good to tow over the limit. Yes tranny coolers help but it WON'T prevent damage to the transmission itself. Have you seen temp readings with a digital tranny gauge? sometimes just driving the transmission can get hot as hell....also depending on the gears.

 

Check your manual for towing capacities. Its not going to be much. In CA anything over 1500lbs needs a trailer brake so consider a that too.

 

he will be fine towing 2200 lbs with a 2200 lb tow rating. when i say over the limit i dont mean by 1000s of lbs i maybe at the most 500-700 lbs over

 

Didn't read the tow limit. He should be fine then. Think about better brakes along with that break controller.

 

^^ have to agree with you there. towing was one of the bigger reasons i wanted rear disc breaks and what a difference it made in stopping power

 

The maximum towing capacity for a b2300 is 1600lbs not 2200

 

what year and did you see the one with the auto tranny or manual manual is lower also depends on gears

 

2008 automatic. no point in towing over the limit with a new truck and risk it getting ****ed up
wow one site says auto one says manual haha f the internet lol
but usually the difference between auto and manual is only 30 percent making it 2080lbs

 

yeah auto tranny with 4.10 gears is 2240 lbs and can haul 1260 lbs in the bed

 

i highly doubt it has 4.10s but he wil have to check for us lol

 

well the 08 ranger brochure says they only came with 4.10s with an auto tranny

 

You go way over your tow rating all the time with that half a leaf pack?

 

that is the correct numbers right there

 

its got a 7.5 with 4.10's open

 

Yup....if auto and 4cyl, 4.10's standard. It needs the gear to move! lol. If manual 4cyl, 3.73's.




Are we talkin' bumper ball or an actual hitch here? Please don't tell me bumper ball.

If frame mounted hitch, I think you'll be just fine. No weight distrib torsion bars needed I don't think...it's a light trailer. But then again, it's a light and short wheelbase truck.

And if it were me, I'd spend the money on airbags for the back instead of those helper spring things that sometimes lift the back end when not loaded down.

Your ideas are great and I agree with them.

 

HECK NO i wouldnt try to pull a wet paper bag with the bumper i see to many people around with bent bumpers plus i think the bumpers only rated to pull 800 pounds im getting frame mounted (which i need to get)

you read my mind on the bags i was just looking at them on summit

 

you can tow off the bumper hitch no problem if the tongue weight is low.

 

Yeah. . . you can but i would be careful how much you tow.

 

So, did the '08 have 3 different good-better-best automatic transmissions for the various engine selections?

BTW, I tow over the limit in both weight and trailer "frontal" limits and most times I can hardly feel the trailer. Only towing mods I've added are severe duty pads, heavier leaf springs, load assist rear shocks and added some LubeGard transmission additive. Truck only rides about 1" higher in the back and seems to still have a pretty smooth ride.

 

according to this the 01-09 2.3l and 3.0l use the 5R44E trans

Ford Ranger Automatic Transmission Identification

 

i see mini vans towing them all the time, i think it will be fine without all the crazy mods