Tow longevity

[VAMike]

Here’s my thoughts. I remember towing heavy loads (8-10,000lb gooseneck trailers) 20 yrs ago with a mid 80’s Chevy dually. It had a 3 speed turbo 400, 454 that prabally made 250hp? and 4.10 gear with wore out suspension and brakes. This was in the Smoky Mountains growing up. We thought that thing was great for towing. Now it seems like people think you can’t tow a 20ft center console or camper with anything less than a 3/4 ton diesel. I understand the differences in towing vehicle weight, GVWR, tongue weight and other contributing factors. it seems now everyone gets caught up in marketing hype or something.

they're trying to justify buying a ridiculously large truck, without admitting the real reason

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[VAMike]

More important than any tow rating is understanding the limitations of your setup. It amazes me that Ford is able to advertise a 7,500 Lb tow rating, while at the same time not offering a factory brake controller.

It amazes me that people were towing vehicles requiring brake controllers before manufacturers even dreamed up the idea of factory controllers

 

[ProtonDecay]

We've got almost 32K towing a Black Series HQ15 that weighs in around 6K lbs fully loaded. As much of that as we can manage is off-road or hard to get to places. We adhere to a 5K service interval and have beefed up the suspension. The only problem encountered so far was "hot spots" at around 15K miles on our rotors due to the trailer brakes not being adequate. We upgraded the trailer from the crappy China sourced drum brakes to electric-hydraulic disc and have been fine ever since.

To be honest, we didn't buy the truck intending to tow a 6K trailer, but the possibility of doing so was on the filter list, and when it turned out that towing the trailer is the way to go we never had second thoughts and have been quite pleased. We're headed to Mohave/Death Valley shortly, and then Alaska for the summer. We'll get another 15-20K miles this year if all continues well.

Here we are tucked in for the night under some redwoods about 5 miles off of Highway 1 in northern CA.

 

[mlarma]

I’m pulling about 6500 with a 2023 Grand Design Imagine XKS 23LDE. I’m sure when I had to drive a few miles with full tanks to dump I was pushing 7200. I’ve never had an issue. I’ve always run premium gas and synthetic oil (Mobil 1). When you’re pushing an engine you don’t skimp or it’ll bite you. That said, the OP’s friend isn’t qualified to make that statement as today’s engines are very different from turbocharged ones 30 years ago which I’m sure would’ve grenaded.

 

[Grumpaw]

We've got almost 32K towing a Black Series HQ15 that weighs in around 6K lbs fully loaded. As much of that as we can manage is off-road or hard to get to places. We adhere to a 5K service interval and have beefed up the suspension. The only problem encountered so far was "hot spots" at around 15K miles on our rotors due to the trailer brakes not being adequate. We upgraded the trailer from the crappy China sourced drum brakes to electric-hydraulic disc and have been fine ever since.

To be honest, we didn't buy the truck intending to tow a 6K trailer, but the possibility of doing so was on the filter list, and when it turned out that towing the trailer is the way to go we never had second thoughts and have been quite pleased. We're headed to Mohave/Death Valley shortly, and then Alaska for the summer. We'll get another 15-20K miles this year if all continues well.

Here we are tucked in for the night under some redwoods about 5 miles off of Highway 1 in northern CA.

Will that be your first trip to Alaska ? I ask, as we've done that trip twice, but in a class c motor home towing a Subaru. Both times via the Alcan Highway.
It's a beautiful trip as far as scenery, but can be rough on a vehicle and whatever you are towing.
Always have a spare for both the truck and the trailer, a good plug kit, and a good compressor.
Main, very important thing is to drive on the top half of your gas tank, especially with the Rangers small tank and lousy mpg while towing. There are some long stretches' between stations, and some only have 2 pumps...one gas, and one diesel. Also, some stations might be closed with no warning to any of the travel app's. And, most stations only carry regular 85 or if your lucky, 87 octane. Mid grade is rare, and I never saw high test.
If I were making that trip in the Ranger towing an rv, I would definitely carry a minimum extra 5, even 10 gallons of gas.
Once you cross into Alaska, everything becomes "normal" as far as fuel and roadways. You'll pay more, but stations will be readily available and higher grades of gas is common.

 

[ProtonDecay]

Will that be your first trip to Alaska ? I ask, as we've done that trip twice, but in a class c motor home towing a Subaru. Both times via the Alcan Highway.
It's a beautiful trip as far as scenery, but can be rough on a vehicle and whatever you are towing.
Always have a spare for both the truck and the trailer, a good plug kit, and a good compressor.
Main, very important thing is to drive on the top half of your gas tank, especially with the Rangers small tank and lousy mpg while towing. There are some long stretches' between stations, and some only have 2 pumps...one gas, and one diesel. Also, some stations might be closed with no warning to any of the travel app's. And, most stations only carry regular 85 or if your lucky, 87 octane. Mid grade is rare, and I never saw high test.
If I were making that trip in the Ranger towing an rv, I would definitely carry a minimum extra 5, even 10 gallons of gas.
Once you cross into Alaska, everything becomes "normal" as far as fuel and roadways. You'll pay more, but stations will be readily available and higher grades of gas is common.

Thanks Grumpaw. Not our first trip, but good advice. We've hit the tourist spots already. This trip is focused on overlanding to remote locations. Up through the Inside Passage, play around in Wrangell St. Elias and east of Denali, up to the Arctic/Toktoyaktuk, and then down through the Canadian Rockies. We might hit the Seward Peninsula if not too crowded this year (prolly only if a solid recession keeps everyone else home). I'll post some pics along the way. Here's us on the beach in Northern California - you can almost see the truck at the bottom of the photo.

 

[Cmar]

Phil,

Thank you for the suggestion. I installed the Redarc brake controller myself right after buying the truck. I had asked my dealer if they could install it and they were unable to come up with an estimated price because they had never installed one. What really got under my skin was finding out that the maverick had a factory equipped brake controller with the 4k tow package (Does that make any sense?). Hopefully the 6G ranger will come with a controller from the factory, if optioned of course...

Ted

Well the Aus spec one does, so hopefully yours will too. They finally worked out what most people buy the truck for, or perhaps looked at the most popular dealer fitted accessory.

 

[Cmar]

I’m pulling about 6500 with a 2023 Grand Design Imagine XKS 23LDE. I’m sure when I had to drive a few miles with full tanks to dump I was pushing 7200. I’ve never had an issue. I’ve always run premium gas and synthetic oil (Mobil 1). When you’re pushing an engine you don’t skimp or it’ll bite you. That said, the OP’s friend isn’t qualified to make that statement as today’s engines are very different from turbocharged ones 30 years ago which I’m sure would’ve grenaded.

Correct- yesterday's engines were existing N/A engines slightly modified to hang a turbo on them = eating into the original engine safety margin =poor long term reliability. Today's engines designed from the ground up as a turbo engine, with better materials and oils, and with 30 years of knowledge gained from the mistakes of the past.

 

[Trigganometry]

I have towed a bobcat with mine. Never got on the scales but probably was at the limit or darn close to it. Dual axle trailer so hitch was easily within rated loading. Did a few hundred miles and to this day haven’t had an issue with my truck at all because of it.

Sure like to see a Taco try that.

 

[RaiderRanger13]

I have real word experience with coworkers. They are usually idiots... Same with bosses which is why I don't work for myself.
Can't help with the trailer towing though. Sorry.

This made my day! Love this forum! ?? ??

 

[RaiderRanger13]

I have zero problems towing my 7000 pound dump trailer loaded. I guess he thinks Ford engineers are dumb. I heard all the smart people have left California.

I followed them to Washington! ?

 

[brroberts]

When you head to Tuk, plan your gas. Also, I think you mean Kenai peninsula. You won’t drive your Ranger to the Seward peninsula. I lived on the Seward peninsula 15 years and had property in Seward for 20 years.

 

[ControlNode]

Totally believable. With the Ranger the towing mileage is more dependent on frontal area and speed than actual towing weight. Pull 7000 pounds of steel on a flat bed trailer at 55 mph you will get much better mileage than towing a 5000 pound travel trailer at 65 mph. It will do both with egual ease, just use more gas doing one. Go 70 with the TT and really watch the guage go down.

If I recall correctly, Ford states the max speed while towing is 62MPH. Perhaps towing a sail of a trailer at 70MPH results in too much heat building up too quickly in the trans or diff for the system to dissipate it to maintain safe temps.

 

[ctechbob]

If I recall correctly, Ford states the max speed while towing is 62MPH. Perhaps towing a sail of a trailer at 70MPH results in too much heat building up too quickly in the trans or diff for the system to dissipate it to maintain safe temps.

They certainly do, and I'd bet my camper that no one adheres to that one.

Bouncing around the net, it isn't just a Ford thing. Honda and MB both say 62, Toyota says 65.

I'm about 90% certain this is a liability thing. People are barely qualified to drive a car unloaded. Almost none of them bother to learn how to tow properly, so it makes sense to set a limit so they're not cranking down the highway at 80mph towing a death trailer. That way when they're wadded up at the bottom of a mountain after breaking the sound barrier they can't point the finger back at Ford and say they built an unsafe truck. Nope, you used it beyond our recommendation.

Yes, you're putting more heat into the system but I've seen no evidence towing at highway speed, even in GA here in the summer, that the cooling stack can't get rid of it. I know TFL ran into the issue with Andre's F150, but that was pretty edge-case and the truck protected itself.

If you use your brain, you're not going to hurt the truck.

On another note, this is an amusing excerpt from the 2022 Tundra Owners Manual.

"Your vehicle is designed primarily as a passenger-and-load-carrying vehicle. Towing a trailer can have an adverse impact on handling, performance, braking, durability, and fuel consumption."

They do, do an outstanding job laying out towing stuff. There's probably 10 pages explaining weights, how to load, how to hitch, etc.

 

[Dereku]

They certainly do, and I'd bet my camper that no one adheres to that one.

Bouncing around the net, it isn't just a Ford thing. Honda and MB both say 62, Toyota says 65.

I'm about 90% certain this is a liability thing. People are barely qualified to drive a car unloaded. Almost none of them bother to learn how to tow properly, so it makes sense to set a limit so they're not cranking down the highway at 80mph towing a death trailer. That way when they're wadded up at the bottom of a mountain after breaking the sound barrier they can't point the finger back at Ford and say they built an unsafe truck. Nope, you used it beyond our recommendation.

Yes, you're putting more heat into the system but I've seen no evidence towing at highway speed, even in GA here in the summer, that the cooling stack can't get rid of it. I know TFL ran into the issue with Andre's F150, but that was pretty edge-case and the truck protected itself.

If you use your brain, you're not going to hurt the truck.

On another note, this is an amusing excerpt from the 2022 Tundra Owners Manual.

"Your vehicle is designed primarily as a passenger-and-load-carrying vehicle. Towing a trailer can have an adverse impact on handling, performance, braking, durability, and fuel consumption."

They do, do an outstanding job laying out towing stuff. There's probably 10 pages explaining weights, how to load, how to hitch, etc.

Thats why American manufacturers build a better truck for work ajd always have. Full size trucks are designed to work all day at least here in the states.

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