can a ford ranger tow trailer on steep mtns rds?

Millions of miles of driving here, and I wonder who should be deciding who should be towing. All my life I have been told to control speed on a downgrade with gears/compression/jake. You spare the service brakes so they will work when needed.

My diesel in my dump truck hits it's 3000 rpm redline holding it down some of our local 15-20% grades at 26,000 gvw. I've never had it scream holding going down a typical 3-4% freeway grade. None of my trucks scream at redline on the steepest 6% freeway grades unless I'm trying to hold less than 35-40 mph due to switchbacks etc.
I've gone 15mph up the 15%grades in yellowstone pulling my Tt with a BB 454 at its 15000 gcw. Same trailer 10 yrs later with a 6.5td at 16000 lbs, 4000 OVER its gcwr, doing 35-50 up those grades, because of the turbo not losing HP at 9-10k ft elevation. If I would have had an auto, same rig was rated to 14500. The auto was lower in performance all around vs the NV 4500 trans set ups.
Current Rangers a bigger than previous models. Way more HP and heard to work with.
Besides, if murderstor Barney can tow a big gooseneck trailer with his Harley, I'm sure OPs truck will tow a 4500-6000 lb rv trailer just fine. Some think you need a tandem axle Kenworth or equal to tote 5000 lbs of trailer. Yeah right!

Marty

EASY.RIDER wrote:
I should have added, with the tow pkg added it is rated capable of towing 7500lbs. however I am very concerned weather this truck can handle my load going up steep inclines and also going down hill. This same pkg has been used in the 2019,2020 and now the 2021 models. Tom

IMO, this setup would not be a good choice for mountain towing. Not saying won't work! The length of inclines may make a difference, as well as the sharp curves, often encountered in MT towing, which makes slowing a necessity.

With the turbo, good power should be available, unless a lengthy climb of 3-5 miles caused excess heat, due to a small engine working hard.

On the long steep downhills, you will not get good engine braking from a small engine (4 cyl, or V6). Again, from my experience in MT towing, most times, these ups/downs are full of sharp curves, which require very well maintained trailer brakes, and yes, you need to use them properly. I hope everyone knows to not ride the brake pedal in this type scenario.

Jerry

The trailer brakes are supposed to be sufficient to control the trailer. Used properly, in my experience they are with few exceptions.
If the trailer is within the specs weight tongue weight and frontal area that Ford recommends go for it.
You ain't gonna set any speed records in the hauling Olympics,but if you were the kind of guy that was impressed by that,you would own a power stroke or cummins.

Will you be happy? Only you can decide.

The OP says he is looking for something more HD.

Many of us pulled rv trailer 40+ years ago when most smallblock V8 gazzers pushed maybe 180-200 hp and maybe 290-300 torque. We pulled our 8k-9k trailers all over the Rockies up all the majors 10k-12k passes and down the other side. Those old under powered trucks had pizz poor brakes...small radiators....hot running auto trannies compared to what we have today.

IMO a 1/2 ton truck with a small block V8 or a V6 would be a good choice for a 4500 lb trailer in the mountains or worse yet in the flat lands fighting 35-40 mph head winds on all day runs.

I had a 95 4dr Explorer with tow pkg rated for 5k lbs with 160 HP. I towed a 5k lb loaded TT and it was OK here in flat IL. With 270HP I doubt you will have any issues even in the mountains.

EASY.RIDER wrote:
I should have added, with the tow pkg added it is rated capable of towing 7500lbs. however I am very concerned weather this truck can handle my load going up steep inclines and also going down hill. This same pkg has been used in the 2019,2020 and now the 2021 models. Tom

What's the payload on the door sticker and how will the truck and trailer be loaded?

Is 4500lb the empty of fully loaded weight?

7500lb tow rating is going to take a magic combination of loading.

4500lb (fully loaded), it can likely be done within the ratings but you will have to watch how you load both truck and trailer.

theoldwizard1 wrote:

jshupe wrote:
When I said screaming, I was referring to my experience with engine/transmission braking on downhill grades with a... 2014 3.5 Ecoboost. The engine had more than enough power to make it up (without screaming), but struggled to keep speeds under control coming down without the brakes.

No trailer brakes ?

Downshift early on long downhills !

Of course I had trailer brakes - I prefer not to use them to maintain a fixed speed on long downhill grades. I reserve them for tight turns, traffic, and stopping.

I always downshifted on long downhills. Doing so increases RPM, resulting in the screaming I mentioned.

Gas engine braking is proportional to displacement. Smaller engines have less of it and I doubt this engine would have enough to handle the trailer in question alone on a 6% grade without riding the brakes. Modern 3/4T+ diesels have exhaust or engine brakes from the factory, which are extremely effective. Not sure about the smaller diesels.

jshupe wrote:
When I said screaming, I was referring to my experience with engine/transmission braking on downhill grades with a... 2014 3.5 Ecoboost. The engine had more than enough power to make it up (without screaming), but struggled to keep speeds under control coming down without the brakes.

No trailer brakes ?

Downshift early on long downhills !

EASY.RIDER wrote:
I should have added, with the tow pkg added it is rated capable of towing 7500lbs. however I am very concerned weather this truck can handle my load going up steep inclines and also going down hill.

Plenty of power for going up hill. Any trailer requiring a Class III hitch needs trailer brakes. PERIOD !

Gasoline engines have good "engine braking", unlike diesels. You can manually downshift the transmission to increase the engine breaking.