CODave
Active Member
- First Name
- Dave
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2021
- Threads
- 5
- Messages
- 32
- Reaction score
- 211
- Location
- Rocky Mountain Way
- Vehicle(s)
- '19 Lariat FX4 Crew Cab
- Thread starter
- #1
I have to say, when I bought my Ranger, I had a few requirements. First, it had to have 4wd. Secondly, it had to fit in my garage. Third, it had to be able to tow a travel trailer since we'd sold our class C RV.
I was a bit apprehensive towing a travel trailer with a mid-sized truck. I had a lot of people tell me I'd need an F-150 at the *minimum* to tow any kind of TT. "No way, man. You live in the mountains in Colorado. You're going to destroy your truck." Well, after a few months of towing, I can happily report them to be wrong. The Ranger does an admirable job.
My trailer is a '22 Winnebago Micro Minnie 2306BHS. (25' long, 7' wide, and 11' tall) Loaded up, it weighs about 5,800 lbs., with a tongue weight of about 630 lbs. The towing weight wasn't an issue, but with the tongue weight and my family, we were at capacity on GVWR.
In early June, off we went. Colorado, Utah, Nevada, up the coast of California from the Bay Area to Crescent City, Southern Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and then back home to Colorado. One month of traveling, 3983 total miles. The truck preformed beautifully. It never came close to overheating, or showing any signs of stress, and returned 13.2 mpg for the trip. The only issue we had was only 10 miles from getting back home. The wrench symbol displayed on the dash, and the truck went into limp mode. I got the rig home and pulled the code by plugging in Forscan. It showed P0299 which is indicative of an 'underboost' condition and a possibly failing turbo. I let the truck sit for an hour or so, restarted it, and all was normal again.
Being paranoid, I made an appointment with the dealer to have them look at it. But, that was a week away. Truck behaved and ran perfectly normal the whole time. I took it in a couple of days ago, and got a call from the service manager today. They said that P0299 is an occasional fault that pops up, and Ford has a service bulletin for the Ranger. They tested everything, and it's all OK. They ran a software update to recalibrate some of the engine sensors, and that fault shouldn't come back unless something is seriously wrong.
After all that towing, I had them check the transmission and differential fluid. I was concerned it would need a flush after all that work. The tech said all the fluid still looked brand new (30,000 total miles now).
Granted, while towing I go 65 mph max, usually around 60. Mileage goes from bad to horrible above ~62 mph. When climbing mountains, I tuck into the right lane with the semis, and tootle up the slope at ~45. All told, I average 13.2 over the whole trip. With a trailer that big, you DO know it's back there, but it's very manageable. Just don't try to go too fast, and you'll be fine.
I'm super happy I got this truck!
I was a bit apprehensive towing a travel trailer with a mid-sized truck. I had a lot of people tell me I'd need an F-150 at the *minimum* to tow any kind of TT. "No way, man. You live in the mountains in Colorado. You're going to destroy your truck." Well, after a few months of towing, I can happily report them to be wrong. The Ranger does an admirable job.
My trailer is a '22 Winnebago Micro Minnie 2306BHS. (25' long, 7' wide, and 11' tall) Loaded up, it weighs about 5,800 lbs., with a tongue weight of about 630 lbs. The towing weight wasn't an issue, but with the tongue weight and my family, we were at capacity on GVWR.
In early June, off we went. Colorado, Utah, Nevada, up the coast of California from the Bay Area to Crescent City, Southern Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and then back home to Colorado. One month of traveling, 3983 total miles. The truck preformed beautifully. It never came close to overheating, or showing any signs of stress, and returned 13.2 mpg for the trip. The only issue we had was only 10 miles from getting back home. The wrench symbol displayed on the dash, and the truck went into limp mode. I got the rig home and pulled the code by plugging in Forscan. It showed P0299 which is indicative of an 'underboost' condition and a possibly failing turbo. I let the truck sit for an hour or so, restarted it, and all was normal again.
Being paranoid, I made an appointment with the dealer to have them look at it. But, that was a week away. Truck behaved and ran perfectly normal the whole time. I took it in a couple of days ago, and got a call from the service manager today. They said that P0299 is an occasional fault that pops up, and Ford has a service bulletin for the Ranger. They tested everything, and it's all OK. They ran a software update to recalibrate some of the engine sensors, and that fault shouldn't come back unless something is seriously wrong.
After all that towing, I had them check the transmission and differential fluid. I was concerned it would need a flush after all that work. The tech said all the fluid still looked brand new (30,000 total miles now).
Granted, while towing I go 65 mph max, usually around 60. Mileage goes from bad to horrible above ~62 mph. When climbing mountains, I tuck into the right lane with the semis, and tootle up the slope at ~45. All told, I average 13.2 over the whole trip. With a trailer that big, you DO know it's back there, but it's very manageable. Just don't try to go too fast, and you'll be fine.
I'm super happy I got this truck!
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