Huuummn, we ski all winter in moderate temps. Then in the summer we camp without AC. We also don't have AC in our house either. What is the advantage of living in those sub tropics?
Yar, today I towed the setup across town to its winter storage. I moved a bunch of the heavy tool bins to the front of the boat, dropped the hitch another pin on its little adjustable range hoping that more tongue weight would make a smoother ride. It was still a little scary, but I think I can blame this firmly on the wind: we had wind of 30mph gusting to 50mph (50-80kph for the aussies in the crowd), mostly as a cross wind while I was towing today. Add to this, one of the wheel bearings was getting 'pretty warm' after just 5 miles of driving today, so I think replacing it will be on the winter work list.
If your tongue weight was only ~300# by the CAT scale on a 6,300# trailer rig, you were running less than 5% on the tongue. You were taking a huge risk with that light a tongue, especially if trailering over 50-55mph. When you rebalance and get the tongue weight closer to 10-12%, which with that trailer weight will be close to the Ranger's max receiver weight of 750#, you'll notice a much more pleasant towing experience.
Finally getting to tow with my ranger after owning it a month. I hauled out my sailboat and took it around some highways.
It was a great first test for the truck: the boat ramp is 9 degrees/15% grade, the boat+trailer weighs ~6300 pounds currently, and for extra fun the lake is 3 feet lower than normal so the bottom of the boat ramp is not as good as it usually is. For the haulout I 'cheated' and used trail control mode: put the truck in 4 low, set trail control to 5mph, and let the computers do the work going up the grade. The 15% grade climbs about 150-200 feet out of the lake valley, then flattens out. It was no problem for the ranger.
Today we dropped the mast, and I hauled the boat over to a CAT scale. That meant some highway driving (in traffic) and a little driving on the Interstate.
Early opinion: it was a little more scary than when I drove with the rental Uhaul. The haulout was a lot nicer, for sure -- the RWD uhaul (Silverado/Sierra trucks) was really not fun getting up that ramp. The ranger felt a little more squirrely driving at highway speeds though. Part of this is not having the tongue weight right currently (only ~300 pounds on the tongue today, which made for squeaking tires any time I wanted to move). Probably I was running that way with the uhaul pickups the last few times, but the bigger silverado/sierra is a little more forgiving. The trailer only has hydraulic surge brakes which is also not ideal. And there was a fair amount of traffic today, doing the normal stupid things cars do around tow vehicles. The rig did sway a little above 65 at one point. Usually my setup would start to way above 70mph on the Silverado so was ready for it. We had high winds today, I'm sure that contributed -- wind was 20-30mph.
Anyway, overall quite pleased with how this 'midsized' truck handled the load. Hopefully next season I'll get electric brakes on the trailer/brake controller on the truck, the package will be a bit lighter, and I'll have a better handle on how to load the boat for proper tongue weight. I guess my mini-review of Ranger towing is: it handles quite well, but when you're getting near the max towing capacity of the vehicle you really want to make sure you're doing everything you can to have your trailer setup right. A bigger truck lets you be a bit lazier with that stuff. All in all this is what I was expecting when I bought a ranger, though. I'll just be towing around the midwest, so no real elevation change, and kinda thought a full-size truck would be overkill for that...
Okay, I wasn't sure. I tried to find something about that a few days before when we were thinking of doing it. Nothing I could find was clear on if you did or not. A lot of contradicting statements saying you need a pass on all trails, except for some where you don't, but it didn't give a list either way. But I'm sure I missed something.
I can't speak of other trails but the Bill Nicholls you do. I'd guess all sled and atv ones you would. We buy one of those all trail passes (whatever they're called) so I guess we are safe on the Bill Nicholls Trail. But if we drove our 6x6 on it, how would they check?
I'm shocked and saddened, you didn't stop by to say hi....Lake of the Clouds in the Porcupines. Get there sometime, if you can. Lots of great hiking and beautiful views. This year was the best color we've ever seen. Maine/Vermont has nothing on the U.P. this year.
What model boat do you have? I have an early Catalina 25 that is a heavy son of a bitch. paying the $500 premium to have someone else haul, store, and launch was definitely worth it to me. I've always had to use tow straps to launch because the trailer was effectively a cradle mounted to a flatbed that needed 4'+ to float the boat.
Finally getting to tow with my ranger after owning it a month. I hauled out my sailboat and took it around some highways.
It was a great first test for the truck: the boat ramp is 9 degrees/15% grade, the boat+trailer weighs ~6300 pounds currently, and for extra fun the lake is 3 feet lower than normal so the bottom of the boat ramp is not as good as it usually is. For the haulout I 'cheated' and used trail control mode: put the truck in 4 low, set trail control to 5mph, and let the computers do the work going up the grade. The 15% grade climbs about 150-200 feet out of the lake valley, then flattens out. It was no problem for the ranger.
Today we dropped the mast, and I hauled the boat over to a CAT scale. That meant some highway driving (in traffic) and a little driving on the Interstate.
Early opinion: it was a little more scary than when I drove with the rental Uhaul. The haulout was a lot nicer, for sure -- the RWD uhaul (Silverado/Sierra trucks) was really not fun getting up that ramp. The ranger felt a little more squirrely driving at highway speeds though. Part of this is not having the tongue weight right currently (only ~300 pounds on the tongue today, which made for squeaking tires any time I wanted to move). Probably I was running that way with the uhaul pickups the last few times, but the bigger silverado/sierra is a little more forgiving. The trailer only has hydraulic surge brakes which is also not ideal. And there was a fair amount of traffic today, doing the normal stupid things cars do around tow vehicles. The rig did sway a little above 65 at one point. Usually my setup would start to way above 70mph on the Silverado so was ready for it. We had high winds today, I'm sure that contributed -- wind was 20-30mph.
Anyway, overall quite pleased with how this 'midsized' truck handled the load. Hopefully next season I'll get electric brakes on the trailer/brake controller on the truck, the package will be a bit lighter, and I'll have a better handle on how to load the boat for proper tongue weight. I guess my mini-review of Ranger towing is: it handles quite well, but when you're getting near the max towing capacity of the vehicle you really want to make sure you're doing everything you can to have your trailer setup right. A bigger truck lets you be a bit lazier with that stuff. All in all this is what I was expecting when I bought a ranger, though. I'll just be towing around the midwest, so no real elevation change, and kinda thought a full-size truck would be overkill for that...
Mine is a S2 79. Weighs about the same as a Catalina 25, actually. The standard weight of mine is supposed to be 4250, but with all the stuff onboard it weighs in at 5000 currently. Mine has a lifting keel so it'll float in a bit over a foot of water, makes launching and retrieving a lot easier.
very nice! Is your keel weighted? That’s the biggest regret I have on mine. I’m in freshwater but the 1500lb keel pin failing would put her on the bottom quickly.
