A great towing truck . . .

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
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! :)

KIMG0867.JPG
Sponsored

 

bentroia

Well-Known Member
First Name
Ben
Joined
Feb 26, 2021
Threads
13
Messages
215
Reaction score
352
Location
Auburn CA
Vehicle(s)
2021 Ranger Tremor
Occupation
Logistics
Thanks for the objective specific info.. Sounds great.
 

JimG_AZ

Well-Known Member
First Name
Jim
Joined
Aug 25, 2019
Threads
2
Messages
455
Reaction score
649
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Vehicle(s)
2021 Ranger XLT FX4
Awesome! Thanks for the write-up. This weekend my Ranger will do its first real tow - a Rockwood Mini Lite 2304KS travel trailer. According to Forest River, mine is 4150 lbs empty, so I would assume 5200-5500 lbs loaded with the fresh water tank full. If I get an opportunity, I will weigh it on a CAT scale. I'll take your advice of cruising @ 60 mph.
 

ctechbob

Well-Known Member
First Name
Shawn
Joined
Feb 2, 2021
Threads
22
Messages
735
Reaction score
1,868
Location
30666
Vehicle(s)
2020 Ranger XL/FX2/STX
Occupation
Adult Daycare
We're a week out from our first real trip with our 26DJSE (Similar weight, but a little longer than OP's), granted it is only 70 miles up the interstate to Lake Hartwell, but I'm counting down the days. I need the break.....
 
Last edited:

Grumpaw

Well-Known Member
First Name
Steve
Joined
Jul 1, 2021
Threads
70
Messages
4,279
Reaction score
20,023
Location
Fishersville, Va.
Vehicle(s)
2021 Ranger Lariat Sport Supercab
Occupation
Navy Vet., Retired Police Sgt.
We're actually pulling out in about 3 hours, towing our Jayco. Heading up to the Pocono's in eastern Pa.
Going to hit the small towns for walk-thru's and Mammoth Cave National Park.
Packin up, hookin up...gettin ready to leave.

IMG_20220708_072011418_HDR.jpg
 
Last edited:


RedlandRanger

Moderator
First Name
Rob
Joined
Nov 14, 2018
Threads
35
Messages
4,592
Reaction score
8,826
Location
Oregon
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ford Ranger Lariat FX4, 1973 Mercury Capri
Vehicle Showcase
1
I haven't towed a travel trailer, but I have towed a few utility trailers, some heavily loaded and I have to say, my Ranger has consistently impressed me with its capabilities. I've never felt it was struggling at all.
 

ATGC

Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
23
Reaction score
110
Location
Colorado
Vehicle(s)
2020 Ranger Lariat FX4
You are spot on. I live in Colorado also, regularly tow a 4500 lb loaded travel trailer through the mountains over there, but right now, I am in Alaska with my Ranger and camper. That's right - Alaska! 5,000 miles towing so far this trip and doing extremely well. I will post a towing report for this trip in the next day or two with detailed fuel consumption data, but the bottomline is the same as yours - The Ranger is a fantastic tow vehicle!
 

JimG_AZ

Well-Known Member
First Name
Jim
Joined
Aug 25, 2019
Threads
2
Messages
455
Reaction score
649
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Vehicle(s)
2021 Ranger XLT FX4
Just got back from a camping trip from Phoenix to Willams, AZ. I would estimate my trailer is in the low 5000 lbs range loaded. We towed from @ 1100 ft elevation to @ 6800 ft. The Ranger did a fantastic job pulling the trailer. I mainly pulled at 65 mph and got 8.7 mpg heading up the to Williams and 12.6 mpg heading back to Phoenix. 6% grades were no problem.

Rockwood.jpg
 

brroberts

Well-Known Member
First Name
Randy
Joined
Aug 20, 2021
Threads
9
Messages
333
Reaction score
714
Location
Overbrook, KS
Vehicle(s)
2021 Ford Ranger XLT 2WD SuperCab
Occupation
audio / semi retired
Yep, I bought my new Ranger specifically for towing on long trips with my trailer. Works great. It mostly sits unless I’m towing.
 

DukeCanBuildit

Well-Known Member
First Name
Duke
Joined
Jul 27, 2020
Threads
48
Messages
6,307
Reaction score
29,652
Location
Toronto, Ontario
Vehicle(s)
2019 XLT SuperCab
Occupation
Husband-Caregiver
Vehicle Showcase
1
You are spot on. I live in Colorado also, regularly tow a 4500 lb loaded travel trailer through the mountains over there, but right now, I am in Alaska with my Ranger and camper. That's right - Alaska! 5,000 miles towing so far this trip and doing extremely well. I will post a towing report for this trip in the next day or two with detailed fuel consumption data, but the bottomline is the same as yours - The Ranger is a fantastic tow vehicle!
Wow - that’s a real adventure - did you go through Dawson Creek to Watson Lake or take the western route closer to Stewart, BC that runs through Dease Lake?
 

ControlNode

Well-Known Member
First Name
John
Joined
Nov 29, 2021
Threads
10
Messages
1,155
Reaction score
2,363
Location
Eastern NC
Vehicle(s)
84 Civic "2000S"/16 Focus RS/21 Ranger XLT
Occupation
Computers
I bought the Ranger to tow, so the first mod was brake controller.

In March-April I pulled a popup from NC to stops in SC (CMP), GA (Jack Hill State Park), FL (Lake Manatee State Park), FL (Sebring), FL (Lake Griffin State Park), SC (Colleton State Park), VA (ViR) and back home in NC for a single 2 week trip for back-to-back-to-back weekend races. I think I was getting about 16.5MPG, cruising at 60MPH on backroads or 70MPH on the freeway most of the time.

The heaviest trailer I pull about every other month is for the SCCA Auto-x program. The guy that used to tow it guesses it is between 6,000-6,500 lbs. If I want to risk the tires at the local salvage yard, I could get it weighted. No truck scales near me though. I only pull it form the house to the flightline about 6 miles each way.
 

ATGC

Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
23
Reaction score
110
Location
Colorado
Vehicle(s)
2020 Ranger Lariat FX4
Wow - that’s a real adventure - did you go through Dawson Creek to Watson Lake or take the western route closer to Stewart, BC that runs through Dease Lake?
I just got back home to Colorado. This will I will post my full fuel use date. I took the Alcan (Dawson Creek to Whitehorse segment) both on the way north and on the way south. North from Whitehorse I went through the Top-of-the-world out of Dawson City. I took the Alcan south to Haines Junction, then Haines, ferry to Skagway and back to Whitehorse for the trip south.
 

DukeCanBuildit

Well-Known Member
First Name
Duke
Joined
Jul 27, 2020
Threads
48
Messages
6,307
Reaction score
29,652
Location
Toronto, Ontario
Vehicle(s)
2019 XLT SuperCab
Occupation
Husband-Caregiver
Vehicle Showcase
1
I just got back home to Colorado. This will I will post my full fuel use date. I took the Alcan (Dawson Creek to Whitehorse segment) both on the way north and on the way south. North from Whitehorse I went through the Top-of-the-world out of Dawson City. I took the Alcan south to Haines Junction, then Haines, ferry to Skagway and back to Whitehorse for the trip south.
That’s a lot of miles and a lot of wilderness - wow.

Back in the mid-80s, I found myself at the south end of the western route to Watson Lake. My trip was from Vancouver, BC to Hyder, AK (bottom of the panhandle) but when I saw the sign below, I really just wanted to keep going north! Unfortunately, I was working and had to head back to Vancouver.

BB92A9F0-73B6-4F6C-B818-F1D9CB4991D5.jpeg
Sponsored

 
Last edited:
 



Top