Ranger S

hey guys, I have a 1998 ranger that has a new 3.0 liter engine in it. The rest of the truck is stock. It's an extended cab 6.0 foot bed 4 wheel drive. This truck hgas been thrugh some of the tuffest driving and we have beat the life out of it by putting half ton to whole ton loads of sand, gravel, rocks, dirt and anything else that will make it sit a few inches away from the ground. But yet the truck is still in tops conditions.....well...kinda

What are the towing limits on this little beast and what would I need to do to it to make it able to pull 6k lb's ?
We already have a weight distributing system for our 24 foot traler that has a dry weight of 4500 lb's. What would need to be done to the actual truck that can make it haul that much...helper springs, extra leaf springs????? what hould I do?

Thanks

Steve

Ranger S

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mre_power

Towing - The Ranger Station Forums

bradberry

I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Most trucks can tow a lot of weight these days. It is not the tow capacity you should think about as you should paying closer attention to the stopping power. Simply put, do not tow more than 50% of the GVW of the vehicle. If you do you will run the risk of not being able to stop with in a reasonable amount of time. That being said, if you have electric brakes on the trailer and an electric brake controller on the truck you can increase the towing capacity and stopping power. Too many people think that their truck can tow all you want it to and it can, but can it stop the load also?

360ci

First off, Ford made their automatics better equipped for towing, so you'll have 30% more towing capacity (higher GCWR) over a manual. Second, with the 4x4 gearing and the smaller V6 (3.0) you won't be able to tow even near 6K. A 4.0 4x2 can tow 6K. Also, keep in mind that as you add people and cargo in the truck, you have to take that weight off your towing capacity. I would imagine your truck should be able to tow 2500lbs without incident, and at least the 3.73 axle. I believe the 4.1 anx 3.73 axle had the same GCWR. On compact trucks any trailer over 2000lbs loaded weight has to have its own brakes. You can tow without the brakes, but for the safety of yourself and others its not a wise choice. Also keep in mind the hitch weight of the trailer, which is generally at a minimum 10% of the gross weight of the trailer. This impacts payload capacity of the truck. A 2500lb trailer will put 300lbs of weight on the truck at a minimum.

Helper springs or air bags will help keep the vehicle level for sure, but the Ranger will be unsafe to tow 6K with your trucks specs. Upgraded shocks may do the trick. The max trailer load for a ranger 4x4 with the 4.0L V6 is 5600lbs with 6' bed and ext cab. The 3.0L 4x2 can tow 2240lbs in the same cab configuration with any axle. Hope that helps.
http://www.fordvehicles.com/assets/p...RGR_towing.pdf

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