2004 Ford Ranger 4.0L V6 4WD Automatic

bikendan wrote:

WesleyW wrote:
Thanks everyone for the valuable advice. I found it extremely helpful and really appreciate it especially about the safety concerns.

After reading all the comment I went out and bought a Ford F-150 5.4L V8 which should be enough to pull a Travel Lite Falcon F20 with a dry weight of 2,480 lbs.

Once again thanks everyone for the advice.

good choice, that gives you some room to upgrade in the future.

Not sure this is totally correct. Depending upon how many family members, how heavy etc. One might be at gvwr of ANY of the vehicles mentioned, before hooking up a trailer. In this case, the person has NO trailer tow capacity....says the father of 4, when kids were adult sized teens, we weighed in over 1200 lbs between the 6 of us! We needed a rig with over 2000 lbs of payload just to tote a 6500 lb 24' long travel trailer!

Then also way back in the day, I saw a poster in an RV place. Rigs with the Ford 4.0 V6 had a max trailer capacity of 5000 lbs. "IF" the rig had less than 60 sq ft of frontal area. if 6.01-70 sq ft, you had to low the amount to 4000 lbs, 7.01-80 sq ft, you were down to 3000 lbs. OVER 80 sq ft it was not recomended you tow said trailer etc.

Marty

96 Ford Ranger 4WD 4.0 Automatic I tow a 13ft Boler. This pickup is a marginal tow vehicle even with the stripped down Boler.

WesleyW wrote:
Thanks everyone for the valuable advice. I found it extremely helpful and really appreciate it especially about the safety concerns.

After reading all the comment I went out and bought a Ford F-150 5.4L V8 which should be enough to pull a Travel Lite Falcon F20 with a dry weight of 2,480 lbs.

Once again thanks everyone for the advice.

good choice, that gives you some room to upgrade in the future.

Thanks everyone for the valuable advice. I found it extremely helpful and really appreciate it especially about the safety concerns.

After reading all the comment I went out and bought a Ford F-150 5.4L V8 which should be enough to pull a Travel Lite Falcon F20 with a dry weight of 2,480 lbs.

Once again thanks everyone for the advice.

I owned a 4.0 v-6 Ranger and would never tow a full height TT with it.

Just wondering since you have another thread about towing with your Escape, why you started another thread about towing with a Ranger?

Do you own a Ranger too or you're thinking of getting one to replace the Escape?

If your intent is to tow a full height conventional TT, just get a decent tow vehicle, which the Ranger isn't.
The Ranger is only marginally better than your Escape for towing.

I pulled a 3500# Trailmanor 3023 all over the US with a 1999 4.0 Ranger. The '04 model has the OHC engine with more horsepower. I was satisfied with the Ranger towing. And I got the same MPG with that rig as I do with the '13 Ford 6.7 diesel towing a 10k mid-profile 5ver. What I really liked about that truck - small enough to go almost anywhere. Very capable for it's size/ability. I'd consider trying a 19-22' trailer but that's about it. The great thing on that Trailmanor was the low profile.

BTW - Also pulled a pop-up with a Ford Aerostar like one of the other posters. It was a AWD model. Don't recall the gearing any more but it was very comfortable, satisfactory power and milage.

My ranger was a 3.0 and I never towed anything with it, but my SOHC 4.0 /5 speed auto Explorer pulled a car hauler loaded up to about 5K lbs and it did a terrific job of pulling. It would be a different story if it had been a tall front walled TT like so many are. I'd stick with popups or very small single axle TT's in the 3-4K range.

I towed a boat that weighed around 3500 pounds with an '03 Explorer 4.0L. It towed moderately decent. BUT, a boat has less tongue weight, is lower and slightly more aerodynamic than a taller hard-sided TT.

Now that being said, if it was a lighter trailer, you towed mostly local, and you verify all weights (especially tongue weight vs your payload capacity), you would likely be OK.

Had a 95 Explorer with the old 4.0L and towed a 5k lb TT. It did fine here in the flat Midwest, however extended trips may have been an issue. My TT was very aerodynamic. If yours is a traditional trailer it will handle the wind differently.

I happen to a have a Ford Ranger similar to the vehicle described. I think aa average size pop up would be about all that vehcile should tow.