Hi all,

I'm new to the form and to Ranger ownership. Just picked up a 00' ranger sport in great condition for a steal (at least in Texas). I have a couple of towing questions.

I looked at the towing capacity with a weight distribution hitch and it was 6,000lbs. Is this correct?

Could the truck tow a 3,000lb boat 1,000 miles?

Could the truck tow said boat out of the water on a very flat boat ramp?

Thanks a lot!

 

Welcome to the forum

2000 Ford towing guide here: https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas...0/bbcamper.pdf

GCWR is the weight of the truck, passengers, any load in the truck and the weight of the trailer and its load.
If you were to pull the truck and trailer onto a truck scale you would get the Gross Combined Weight of the vehicle and trailer

2.5l Ranger with 3.73 rear axle ratio has a GCWR(gross combined weight rating) of 4,850lbs
If you have a 4.10 rear axle GCWR goes up to 5,500lbs

Look here to get your rear axle ratio: Ford 7.5 & 8.8 Inch Axle Tag & Door Codes

If axle ratio is under 3.73 then don't tow anything

Regular cab Ranger with driver weights about 3250lbs
Supercab 3450lbs

So you subtract this number from GCWR to get max trailer weight/load
If you have passengers and anything in the bed of the truck then that also must be included and subtracted from towing weight.

So say you have a regular cab ranger, 3.73, with driver and passenger, some stuff in the bed, so truck weighs 3,450lbs
GCWR 4,800 - 3,450 = 1,350lbs max trailer weight

GCWR sets the ability for the truck to STOP and GO, automatics are stronger than manual transmission so can usually handle more weight

GCWR is also the "legal" limit, so insurance companies and cops use the GCWR
An insurance company can deny coverage if you are in an accident and over GCWR, and you can be ticketed and you have to leave trailer on the side of the road until you return with vehicle that can "legally" tow it.

Trailer hitch, of course, needs to be able to handle the weight but has nothing to do with GCWR of a vehicle

Only a 4.0l Ranger could legally tow a 3,000lbs trailer

Above is the "may" you tow limit

"Can" you tow is about ability only not legal issues.
3.73 axle ratio would be marginal for 3,000lbs, and no if you had to cross any mountain passes.
4.10 axle would be better, hard on the engine and trans but I think doable

Trailer brakes FOR SURE!!!!
A 3,000lbs trailer weighs almost as much as the Ranger so would push it around when stopping

 

Thank you. Just verified its the 87 code or 4.10 axle. But based on what you said I will probably not tow the boat 1,000 miles with this truck.

But would the engine be strong enough to pull it from the water? Again, it's not a steep launch. Boat weighs 1,237lbs, engine 430lbs, trailer is 500lbs. Total is 2,167 or 83 lbs less than the maximum trailer-able weight I calculated of 2,250 based upon your response. This does not include gasoline which is 6lbs a gallon and the capacity is 15 gal or 90lbs.

Thank you

 

With 4.10 and automatic trans you should be good, manual will stress out on clutch.

And one other problem is trans code 87 is an open differential, so one rear wheel will get all power, the easiest one to turn gets the power, lol, so if ramp is wet and they ALL are wet from people pulling out boats, you could get wheel spin because of the weight.
So have some weight in the bed or try to get the boat as far forward as possible to get some tongue weight on the rear of the truck.

There is an old trick you can use get other wheel some power
If you do get slipping hold E-brake release handle out and press down on e-brake pedal this will slow down the spinning wheel and transfer some power to the other wheel.
This is very hard to do on a manual, but with quick feet it is doable

 

Thank you Ron! Very helpful, glad I connected with you

 

Thanks, and you are welcome

Now a very fun thing to do at boat ramps, if you are bored, is to take a bottle of detergent, liquid soap, and dump on the ramp while you are guiding your buddy back into the water.

Yes, it gets VERY slippery
"hey get that POS outta the way, let a REAL truck in there"
"get your momma to buy you some REAL tires"
"next time bring a ROW BOAT, something your truck can handle"