Boost tow capacity (a little?)

[Friday yet?]

Regardless what others might say or think the simple answer is no

+1
OMFG +1.

Jesus.... never ends. "Can I tow a load too GD heavy for the Ranger (or insert other under capacity vehicle) to avoid buying a bigger truck/SUV?" Hell to the f*** NO!!! This ain't rocket science! Do. The. Math. Period. Math does not lie.

Ok, Ford says 7500 #'s. Take 20% off the top for a comfortable safety margin. Now you have a 6K# capacity. Start with that while you figure out your desired trailer. Is it 6K or less? Yes? Great! Rock on with your life. No? Wipe the tears and (a) buy a larger tow vehicle or (b) buy a smaller trailer. Period.

My family is on the road. Other families are on the road. Stupid people are already out there focused in their phone and spending the less than minimum time focusing on driving. Your ass out there towing too heavy is NOT helping.

Not hammering the OP! Just bitching about people in general. It is a constant freaking topic. Not just here. In all the RV threads too. I see it in the F150 forums also.. But GD people... come on.

Before anyone flames my ass
(Though feel freaking free) .... the bulk of my f***ing career has involved specing vehicles, vehicle capacities, towing, towed vehicle weight distribution, axle spacing, tire capacity, safety margins versus manufacturers specs, blah blah blah.... ad nauseam.

Safety. Everybody on the road is responsible for safety. And those of us NOT texting already have to make up for those dumbasses. Please don't add stupid towing decisions to the mix.

Rant over.

Maybe.

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[Frenchy]

Ford says 7500 #'s. Take 20% off the top for a comfortable safety margin. Now you have a 6K# capacity. Start with that while you figure out your desired trailer. Is it 6K or less? Yes? Great! Rock on with your life. No? Wipe the tears and (a) buy a larger tow vehicle or (b) buy a smaller trailer. Period.

Here is a part I will disagree with to an extent. The maximum capacity is 7500 yes. The 20% safety margin of making sure you don't exceed 6000 LBS? Not so much. Now if you try to focus on a trailer that has a GVWR that does not exceed the Towing capacity then you should be ok. I say that because we all know it's going to get loaded. If you try to focus on that the. You should be fine.

 

[Friday yet?]

Here is a part I will disagree with to an extent. The maximum capacity is 7500 yes. The 20% safety margin of making sure you don't exceed 6000 LBS? Not so much. Now if you try to focus on a trailer that has a GVWR that does not exceed the Towing capacity then you should be ok. I say that because we all know it's going to get loaded. If you try to focus on that the. You should be fine.

I hear ya Frenchy. Won't argue. But in my experience not running a vehicle to the max in any category pays off in spades. And must add, some of my opinion was learned the hard way in a commercial environment... by making the wrong decisions.

On the other hand my wrong decisions in my personal life could float a battleship.

 

[ccasanova22]

At least in industrial robotics, a percentage of safety margin is often designed into the product and then a “safe load rating” is designated by the Mfg.

Could you run on the ragged edge and tow on flat ground? Probably just fine, even in the hills. But watch those trans and coolant temps just to be safe.

I am not saying “go ahead and tow anything above the limit” but have also been in mission critical situations where exceeding a component’s rating was done temporarily to “land the plane safely”.

Would I recommend? No, but it’s your truck and it will probably be fine a little over capacity.

I just don’t want to be the one to find out what would happen if I was wrong.

 

[Rocketeer61]

No. Capacity anything is merely the highest legal number that a given product will be covered for. This is why I was always telling my first wife that with our washing machines it was never about how much would fit. If you have or cause an accident with the setup you're proposing the overload will come up with everyone involved from Ford to the ambulance chasers. Trust me on this.

 

[JohnnyO]

No. Capacity anything is merely the highest legal number that a given product will be covered for. This is why I was always telling my first wife that with our washing machines it was never about how much would fit. If you have or cause an accident with the setup you're proposing the overload will come up with everyone involved from Ford to the ambulance chasers. Trust me on this.

Exactly. You can't boost the towing capacity (officially) but you can make it better.
Hellwig makes a rear sway bar. Not cheap, about $700.
Firestone makes rear airbags for Rangers.
Roadmaster Active Suspension, it's sort of a helper spring with bracketry that gets stiffer the more it is compressed. Never had it myself but guys in the Sport Trac world where I came from like it.

 

[Frenchy]

One thing I will say is the ONLY way one could Boost the Total Towing Capacity is if the Vehicle From Said Manufacturer has Different Tow Ratings and it is in you power to make the NEEDED Changes(at who knows what cost) to said vehicle.

For example, I have my Grandpa's 1994 Ford F-150. It's just an XL with the 300 Inline 6 and the E4OD. It also has a very Tall Final Drive, 3.08 if I remember correctly. Looking in the Owners manual the Towing Capacity for its configuration is 3200 LBS. Parking a deeper look into it and all I have to do to get it up to 5000 LBS is change the Final Drive to a 3.42(I think it's that o close), have the upgraded rear leafs, install the upgraded Transmission Cooler and have the Class 3/4 Hitch on the back instead of the bumper hitch.

The Ranger from the factory either has the Bumper pull which is rated at 3500 LBS Max. If you add the Class 3/4 Hitch it goes up to 7500 LBS.

Put simple that is about the ONLY Way one can Boost the Towing Capacity on their vehicle.

 

[Cabose-1]

Long story short

No.

I last long tow i had my truck was overweight by 100 lbs. My gvwr was 6150. Max is 6050. My trailer axle was 4800. Trailer set up perfect just had a lot of wood in the bed. 3 passngers and gear. Ill live the truck will live but do your best and stay within specs. All i had to do was take my 100lb winch out of the bed and into the trailer i would have been fine., but i was not going to stress over 100 lbs
The scales told me i only lost 150 lbs off my steer axle.
Scales are your friend
I tow regularly with the ranger all kinds of trailers.

GEN-Y HITCH

 

[9zero1790]

skip the f150. if your going to be lugging an rv around and do road trips you need a 3/4 ton truck or bigger. sure a ranger of f150 will do it. but a bigger truck with all the goodies on it to tow more- more often is the safer way to go. better suspension, better brakes, better gears and so on.

 

[Rocketeer61]

The Long, Long Trailer was a movie. Buy a bigger truck.

 

[Cabose-1]

A bigger truck is not always the answer.
Like Callahan said

A mans got to know his limitations.

I tow and work with the ranger. Heavy trailers 5k to 7k. Ill give you the vin so you dont buy a work truck. F150 too much money, the ranger does the same work as a cheap f150 with some creature comforts and way too many nannies. Xlt fx2.
It does. "MyWork, MyNeeds" just fine. If the op wants to tow what he asks for in his post, answer
No
If he wants to stay in that range, then yes bigger truck.
For the fifth wheel we use my brother in laws chevy hd diesel. Not the ranger. Dont use his diesel a lot its just to damn big. Like the 5th wheel trailer. Only when we need to use it. For the big back hoe.

 

[9zero1790]

comfort of a big rv comes at a cost of giving up ease of use and truck and so on. less headaches makes vacation more fun. smaller rv might be best option.

 

[kendive]

I looked at the specs/layout of the 2600RB. Dry/empty weight/tongue weight is well within the Ranger's capacity. There is a 2000 lb payload for that trailer, and unless you load it to the max, I doubt you'll ever hit the max weight.
Most manufacturers do not count full propane tanks or the battery/s in their empty/dry weight, so automatically add 75-100 lbs to the hitch weight as both sit right at the front of the frame.....add some weight to the front storage compartment and you will be close to the 750 rating of the Ranger, but even a bit over isn't going to do any harm.
Then, do not forget the load your carrying in the Ranger, occupants, "stuff" in the bed, ect....your truck is probably going to be at max also.
I'd guess that ready to roll you'd be looking at around 7000 lbs, and right at the 750 tongue weight for the trailer, which is right at what my rig runs at.
This is not a rig for a novice, but if your experienced, it shouldn't be a problem.
Basically it's based on you and your comfort level/experience.

Might need to look at the 2150RB. That is a nice trailer. We owned one but pulled it with an F150 EcoBoost.

 

[9zero1790]

my parents always had Aistream's until they were too old to take part any longer. over the years went through lots of trucks and trailers. half tons, heavy halfs, 3/4, one ton gas and diesel. I towed all of the setups for a least a leg or two of a trip once i had a drivers lic. Hands down the most stable, low stress rig they ever had was when they had overkill truck with a mid size trailer. one thing id be weary of is towing a big boxy rv with the rangers relatively light brakes and weight. good wind and down hill jaunts might pucker up the ol butt cheeks. I know, rv has brakes too. most of brakes, axles, wheels, and tires ive seen on rv's are less than impressive. dont get me wrong. the 5g ranger is no slouch. id put them up against all the half ton trucks of the past few decades. but if your going to be towing a boxy rv often, it simply is not the best suited truck.

 

[pbethel]

A big part, but far from the only part, of Ford setting the tow rating of your truck is/was it's ability to pull the Davis Dam grade out of Bullhead City AZ in 95F plus heat and not overheat.
If, and we have no way of knowing, that was the limiting factor just don't drive steep mountain grades in 95 + temps.
My late father used to launch and recover his 20' I/O Glasply boat (3-4,000 lbs) with his 75 HP 1974 manual shift VW Dasher. The tow included a 20% 1/8th mile grade. And no, that is not what killed him.

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