How big is too big?

[Dunedain Ranger]

I think you point out something rather important. The size difference between a 2001 F150, and a 2023 Ford Ranger is negligible. The F-150 was between 3,935 to 4,994. A 2023 Ford Ranger is between 4,145 to 4,441 lbs. People also often dont look at the physics involved. They will often think that bigger is better in terms of simply stopping a trailer, thinking that the momentum of a heavy vehicle stopping automatically translates to the trailer stopping. They forget that that hitch is a pivot point and that the physics says that trailer will want to keep moving, if it doesn't have its own brakes, and if that means pivoting, to the left or right, to keep moving it will. Another example of this is the pivot point of a wheel. Ride a motorcycle, or bicycle, really fast and then apply only the front brake. The back of that cycle wants to keep moving forward. If that means flipping butt over tea kettle, using the front axle as the pivot point, it will.

PS I had a 74 Chevy Impala Station wagon back in my early 20s. God they were battle wagons lol

Oh man - you stirred memories with your 74 Chevy Wagon. Even though I drive a Ford, Chevrolets back then were awesome. We had a 1963 Chevrolet Impala Station Wagon (blue with white trim) when I was a wee lad and that thing was bullet proof - My dad was with Monsanto (Chemstrand back then) and was sent to Luxembourg in 1964-1968 and he took that wagon with us (traveled by ocean liner back then). Drove it all over Europe - somebody in Luxembourg offered to buy it from him to use as a hearse LOL. He drove the wheels off that thing. In my late teens, early twenties, I had a 1976 Chevrolet Malibu Classic Station Wagon (blue) and thing was a party-mobile - it had a 350 - solid as a rock. Several buddies of mine piled in the vehicle and went to a RUSH concert in Mobile, AL. It was their "Moving Pictures" tour.

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[dtech]

Right now I am 22'11" tip to tail. The longest of the top 3 of our options for the couples trailer replacement, in a few years, is 28.5.

https://www.granddesignrv.com/travel-trailers/imagine-xls/23lde

I have an email into Grand Design to see if that length is tip-tail or not. Your trailer seems like a pretty good comparison when it comes to length and weight. Thanks!!! @Grumpaw tagging you so you can see what we are considering

I tow a Forest River NOBO 19.5 has similar specs to yours - weight and height. I'm not sure what "tows like a champ means" , everyone probably has a different perspective , I'm ok with the way my Ranger tows but I have been in vehicles that tow their trailers better - certainly a 5th wheel in general tows better. Personally I wouldn;t want to tow a heavier travel trailer, I initially was looking at getting a Grand Design Imagine but eventually ruled it out because of the heavier weight.
As far as the original post, I don't doubt that the Ranger can tow 7,500 lbs but so many variables in the equation , for example if a trailer weighed 7k lbs but stood 12' tall it would probably tow like dog poop owing to the additional wind resistance. Some chimed in that dual axle trailers tow much better than single but isn't yours a single axle ? Just a whole slew of variables involved with towing along with a lot of different perceptions on what constitutes a good tow, certainly much more involved than just the weight .

 

[raytwntrvlr]

Just parsing though this thread and enjoying most of it.
Not feeling like a weenie for towing a trailer that I believe fits my truck's abilities just pretty good.
Also, did not think any one was calling out some one for towing a rig just at the recommended limit.
But, now I have had my evening cocktail and supper is ready so I'll just check back in the AM with my morning cup.

 

[Juany118]

I tow a Forest River NOBO 19.5 has similar specs to yours - weight and height. I'm not sure what "tows like a champ means" , everyone probably has a different perspective , I'm ok with the way my Ranger tows but I have been in vehicles that tow their trailers better - certainly a 5th wheel in general tows better. Personally I wouldn;t want to tow a heavier travel trailer, I initially was looking at getting a Grand Design Imagine but eventually ruled it out because of the heavier weight.
As far as the original post, I don't doubt that the Ranger can tow 7,500 lbs but so many variables in the equation , for example if a trailer weighed 7k lbs but stood 12' tall it would probably tow like dog poop owing to the additional wind resistance. Some chimed in that dual axle trailers tow much better than single but isn't yours a single axle ? Just a whole slew of variables involved with towing along with a lot of different perceptions on what constitutes a good tow, certainly much more than just weight .

By champ I mean acceleration and breaking. It never felt sluggish or like I needed more braking distance. I was also not buffeted about by the trailer and the FSX series (both Salem and Wildwood) are kinda notorious for high centers of gravity due to a combination of box height and axle design.

I would definitely say the Imagine XLS are at the upper end but knowing how I tend to tow trailers they are definitely doable. I don't store our trailer at home so the one I linked about would likely never weigh more than 80-85% of the max towing while on the road. This is because, as an example, I have the food in the cooler, in the bed of the truck, while the refrigerator gets to temp running on truck power, while enroute to our destination. We don't have "camper clothes" stored at the trailer, the camp chairs and EZ up stay at home for other activities etc.

 

[TJC]

when was a kid my parents towed a 30 ft airstream with a pontiac bonneville lol. but those were steel sleds back in the day. big v8 , steel everything. people were paying more attention to the road then too.

Yep. mine was a 383 V8 with 3 speed automatic. I did use a Reese Torsion bar hitch and electric brakes. I drove all over - from Yellowstone to Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park to Grand Canyon, and most everything in between. Pulled it over Wolf Creek Pass when it was 2 lane, and over Loveland Pass though the tunnel and over US Highway 6.

Nary a hiccup.

 

[dtech]

By champ I mean acceleration and breaking. It never felt sluggish or like I needed more braking distance. I was also not buffeted about by the trailer and the FSX series (both Salem and Wildwood) are kinda notorious for high centers of gravity due to a combination of box height and axle design.

I would definitely say the Imagine XLS are at the upper end but knowing how I tend to tow trailers they are definitely doable. I don't store our trailer at home so the one I linked about would likely never weigh more than 80-85% of the max towing while on the road. This is because, as an example, I have the food in the cooler, in the bed of the truck, while the refrigerator gets to temp running on truck power, while enroute to our destination. We don't have "camper clothes" stored at the trailer, the camp chairs and EZ up stay at home for other activities etc.

r
I ruled out the Grand Design because of the weight - they are a solidly built rig, well insulated. In retrospect I don't think the extra weight would make that large of difference in the towing and the mpg, the wind resistance from the height seems to be the biggest factor.
When I say a 5th wheel tows a lot better - friend has a Ford F-250 I think with the 6.7 turbo diesel and tows I think a Fuzion some 30' long and when you hear people say that can't tell they have anything back there - well I would tend to agree . But others have told me a 5th wheel is way smoother to tow.

 

[Juany118]

r
I ruled out the Grand Design because of the weight - they are a solidly built rig, well insulated. In retrospect I don't think the extra weight would make that large of difference in the towing and the mpg, the wind resistance from the height seems to be the biggest factor.
When I say a 5th wheel tows a lot better - friend has a Ford F-250 I think with the 6.7 turbo diesel and tows I think a Fuzion some 30' long and when you hear people say that can't tell they have anything back there - well I would tend to agree . But others have told me a 5th wheel is way smoother to tow.

Oh absolutely, 5th wheels will always tow more smoothly, it's just the nature of how they mate with the tow vehicle. I wish I could afford the $100,000 it would cost to buy both a new tow vehicle and a GD Reflection 100. Whatever I buy, trailer, 5th wheel, doesn't matter, needs to be sub 30' because of some of the places I go. State Park Camp grounds can get a little tight.

 

[ctechbob]

Nice setup! And you had the good taste to color coordinate!

Lol, total accident. The Grey Wolf just had the feature set I was after. Everyone and their brother builds this floorplan.

I certainly like it just a tiny bit more that it matches the truck.

 

[mlarma]

Not sure how I missed this thread but we tow our 2023 Grand Design Imagine XLS 23LDE with the Ranger. Have a 2020 4x2 XLT FX2. Tows just fine. Of course you have to be aware of trucks and I don’t tow over 65 mph but it’s totally fine and the only time I felt like I was heavy was when I was going to empty both gray tanks and the black tank as all were quite full. That said, always tow with empty tanks. The WDH also needs to be dialed in as you’d expect also my door sticker shows a payload as 1674lbs. Anyway, I wouldn’t go bigger as the margin of safety just won’t be there with a bigger camper.

 

[Stevedbvik1]

I too missed this post earlier. We pull a GulfStream 24RLS. Empty weight is just about 5100 lbs and with our stuff loaded we’re probably in the 56-5900lb range. Overall length is 28’11”. We have the factory brake controller and run a Andersen weight distribution hitch. All of our trips are in the 30-200 mile range from home so I have no long range trip experience to share. Very satisfied with how it pulls for what we do with it.

 

[Grumpaw]

Looks like there are more of us who tow a larger travel trailer without any problems.
On our last trip, a week ago to N.C., Boone KOA, there were 3 other Rangers towing campers, but in the 16-18 foot range, and a 20 foot Airstream. We actually got together and compared experiences towing and they were impressed with the size/weight of our rig and how the Ranger handled it. One had just bought a new Airstream 20 footer and was happy with it, but the others were now thinking about up-grading to a larger trailer.
And, had a few other "full size" truck owners stop and talk/ask about the Ranger, not believing it was capable of towing our larger trailer.

 

[Grumpaw]

I too missed this post earlier. We pull a GulfStream 24RLS. Empty weight is just about 5100 lbs and with our stuff loaded we’re probably in the 56-5900lb range. Overall length is 28’11”. We have the factory brake controller and run a Andersen weight distribution hitch. All of our trips are in the 30-200 mile range from home so I have no long range trip experience to share. Very satisfied with how it pulls for what we do with it.

Just curious Steve....have you had any other type of weight dist. hitch set up prior to the Anderson and if so, how does it compare to the older type.
I'm a "tow'er from waaaaaay back and have always used the hitch with the bar and chain type assembly, and although "old school" has always worked for me.
Have heard good things about the Anderson and I'm curious. Haven't come across a set up in our travels and I'm always looking for improvements.

 

[Frenchy]

Looks like there are more of us who tow a larger travel trailer without any problems.
On our last trip, a week ago to N.C., Boone KOA, there were 3 other Rangers towing campers, but in the 16-18 foot range, and a 20 foot Airstream. We actually got together and compared experiences towing and they were impressed with the size/weight of our rig and how the Ranger handled it. One had just bought a new Airstream 20 footer and was happy with it, but the others were now thinking about up-grading to a larger trailer.
And, had a few other "full size" truck owners stop and talk/ask about the Ranger, not believing it was capable of towing our larger trailer.

Yeah, gotta love it when individuals think a Midsize Pickup can't tow much when it is rated for a pretty good amount of weight!! I remember an individual thinking it was a bad idea to tow close to 6,000 lbs with my 2016 Frontier when it was rated for 6,300 lbs with its configuration. I want to say my 2012 is rated for 6,100 lbs with its configuration and it's still a hefty amount.

 

[Stevedbvik1]

Just curious Steve....have you had any other type of weight dist. hitch set up prior to the Anderson and if so, how does it compare to the older type.
I'm a "tow'er from waaaaaay back and have always used the hitch with the bar and chain type assembly, and although "old school" has always worked for me.
Have heard good things about the Anderson and I'm curious. Haven't come across a set up in our travels and I'm always looking for improvements.

I have towed with both but not with the Ranger. Initially towed a Jayco 23B with the bar type and a sway control with my 2016 F150. Sold the Jayco and hitch setup. Then sold the F150 and bought a 2021 Honda Passport. Purchased a Surveyor 19BHLE and the Andersen hitch. This is the same time period when I ordered the Ranger. Towed the Surveyor with the Honda and I felt the hitch felt a little bit more “looser “ than the bar set up. But alot of that was the car too with it having independent rear suspension and the trailer being on the edge of weight limits. The Ranger came in the next spring and started pulling the Surveyor ( single axle) with it. It also felt a little bit “ looser” than the bar setup but not uncomfortable at all. The biggest issue was the single axle and how it rode. Wife got tired of the Surveyor layout and wanted something more spacious. Found a really great deal on the GulfStream and traded for it about a year ago. Long story short the Ranger pulling the GulfStream with the Andersen is really good. Still has a different feel than the bar type with sway control but not unsafe or uncomfortable at all. It’s just different. In a perfect world I would like to try the bar type with the Ranger just to compare. I do like the weight savings of the Andersen too.
Hope this gives you some insight.

 

[Grumpaw]

Thanks...have read a bit about the Anderson's, but not too much comparing it to the older style bar type.. Maybe the "loosey" feel comes from the long chain flexing a bit more than a bar set up.
I've had my Blue Ox set up dialed in and has not given me any problems, so I'll most likely stick with it.
I'd love to compare them using my truck and trailer, but thats a big hunk of $$$ just to compare.

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