Towing 4 Down

[Jmckinley]

took my ranger for a test ride behind the motor home and all worked great !
blue ox base plate and ready brake . home made wiring like a trailer connection front to back and installed a set of new led 1157 style lights in the blank on the stock tail lights .
never felt like it was back there

dave

Woody,
I’m getting ready to install ReadyBrake. Any hints on where to bring the brake cable through the firewall? It was a nightmare on my C Max with its packed engine compartment plus serious penalties for drilling into big orange wires.

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[BillinPCB]

Woody,
I’m getting ready to install ReadyBrake. Any hints on where to bring the brake cable through the firewall? It was a nightmare on my C Max with its packed engine compartment plus serious penalties for drilling into big orange wires.

Same question here.

 

[BillinPCB]

I have a 2019 XLT with the fancy tail light assy that incorporates the BLIS radar. Has anyone either installed an extra light in this assy or tapped into the wiring? I am hesitant to mess with this without some pics and or a clear description of what to do.
Many thanks, Bill

 

[P. A. Schilke]

I have a 2019 XLT with the fancy tail light assy that incorporates the BLIS radar. Has anyone either installed an extra light in this assy or tapped into the wiring? I am hesitant to mess with this without some pics and or a clear description of what to do.
Many thanks, Bill

Hi Bill,

I tapped into the wiring...I did not want to try installing an additional bulb in these very expensive taillights... Using diodes the tail/brake lights are either powered by the Ranger or the Motorhome...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[BillinPCB]

Hi Bill,

I tapped into the wiring...I did not want to try installing an additional bulb in these very expensive taillights... Using diodes the tail/brake lights are either powered by the Ranger or the Motorhome...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Did you have a wiring diagram with color codes so you knew which wires to tap?
Thanks, Bill

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Did you have a wiring diagram with color codes so you knew which wires to tap?
Thanks, Bill

Hi Bill,

I did have a wiring diagram as I bought the DVD shop manual that covers wiring as well. I also verified by actually using my Fluke Multimeter before splicing into these wires. I then made a 50 ft jumper cable from my motorhome 7 pin connector to the pigtail harness I made at the front of the Ranger. I also ran another fused power lead from the battery to power my aux brake system...Not a fan of Air Force One... I have a very basic Add a Brake....simple and works well...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[BillinPCB]

Hi Bill,

I did have a wiring diagram as I bought the DVD shop manual that covers wiring as well. I also verified by actually using my Fluke Multimeter before splicing into these wires. I then made a 50 ft jumper cable from my motorhome 7 pin connector to the pigtail harness I made at the front of the Ranger. I also ran another fused power lead from the battery to power my aux brake system...Not a fan of Air Force One... I have a very basic Add a Brake....simple and works well...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Thanks for the great hints. I did actually find a great video on etrailer.com showing installation of the Roadmaster Wiring Kit in a 2019 Ranger. Now I just have to figure out the cable routing and attachment for my Ready Brake.

 

[BillinPCB]

Finally got my 2019 Ranger set up to tow. I installed the Roadmaster baseplate and ReadyBrake and ReadyStop cables to use with my ReadyBrake Elite Tow Bar. The base plate install was pretty straight forward. I did have to grind a bit off the lower portion of the frame rail on the drivers side to get the bracket to fit. The ReadyBrake cable install was easier than I expected. I did remove the splash shield from the driver’s side wheel well and the driver’s side wheel to make access easier. Drilled the hole thru the firewall from inside and just below the boot for the steering shaft. On the front, drilled a mounting hole at the top of the air dam. A lot of head scratching to figure out how to mount the ReadyStop. Finally mounted a short length of aluminum channel to the top of the air dam so the ReadyStop could lie right next to the tow bar connection. Hole thru the firewall is next to the ReadyBrake cable. Took two of us about 5 hours to do all of this. I have connected everything up to the MH; but, have not towed yet. Have to get a new drop receiver adapter so that the tow bar is close to level. Hope this and the pictures all help someone else considering this towing set up.

 

[Jmckinley]

Wow Bill, what a timely post!


I got my baseplate today and will start the same project tomorrow, ReadyBrake and all.

It looks like you drilled the brake pedal for the cable. I think that’s better than their clamp on thing. Speaking of cables, this will be my third ReadyBrake installation and I always replace the inner galvanized cable with stainless steel. A little late for your installation, but others should keep that in mind.

Also, regarding Roadmaster, I will be throwing away their chintzy grade 5 bolts and split lock washers. I’ll be using Grade 8 bolts with big hardened flat washers for a far superior bolted joint.

 

[Rviator]

Phil,
What do you use as a corrosion preventative coating for the new holes in the firewall and frame?

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Wow Bill, what a timely post!


I got my baseplate today and will start the same project tomorrow, ReadyBrake and all.

It looks like you drilled the brake pedal for the cable. I think that’s better than their clamp on thing. Speaking of cables, this will be my third ReadyBrake installation and I always replace the inner galvanized cable with stainless steel. A little late for your installation, but others should keep that in mind.

Also, regarding Roadmaster, I will be throwing away their chintzy grade 5 bolts and split lock washers. I’ll be using Grade 8 bolts with big hardened flat washers for a far superior bolted joint.

Hi John,

I think you might reconsider. For shear applications, Grade 5 is better. Grade 8 is great for clamp loading in tensile strength. I retrained the grade 5 base plate bolts but did improve on the lock washers with torque prevailing UBS nuts.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Phil,
What do you use as a corrosion preventative coating for the new holes in the firewall and frame?

Hi Doug,

I use a Krylon Premium High Performance Gloss Black spray paint...It is very durable compared to other products for the frame, but for the dash panel (we do not use the F word...Fire) I do not drill through metal. I ran all my wiring through the large wiring grommet on the driver's side and sealed with black RTV. Drilling the dash panel can be a source of noise if not sealed and you need to drill a large enough hole for a rubber grommet. It is surprising that a little 1/8" hole can make it sound like the engine is a passenger in the cab...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retried

 

[Jmckinley]

I don’t think shear has anything to do with this application. 1/2” bolts in 9/16 holes won’t see much shear until the joint is so loose it starts chucking and as proven back in the 70’s that will cause the nut to unscrew. See the summary below:
https://www.boltscience.com/pages/Why_nuts_and_bolts_can_self-loosen.pdf
Note that split lock washers make the joint deteriorate faster and that prevailing torque nuts don’t help either.

The cure is to make sure the two parts are clamped together so well that they never slide against each other. This requires more bolts or stronger bolts. Your 1/2” grade 5 coarse thread torqued to 58 ft lbs generates 9046 # clamping force. My grade 8 fine thread torqued to 108 ft lbs generates 14396 # of clamping force. This means that it will take 60% more force at the tow bar to make my installation start to fail.

In addition, the washers supplied with my kit were way too small to prevent them from eating their way through the thin frame rails. I used larger diameter thick washers to prevent this. It has been reported in several incidents over on the IRV2 forum.

 

[BillinPCB]

Wow Bill, what a timely post!


I got my baseplate today and will start the same project tomorrow, ReadyBrake and all.

It looks like you drilled the brake pedal for the cable. I think that’s better than their clamp on thing. Speaking of cables, this will be my third ReadyBrake installation and I always replace the inner galvanized cable with stainless steel. A little late for your installation, but others should keep that in mind.

Also, regarding Roadmaster, I will be throwing away their chintzy grade 5 bolts and split lock washers. I’ll be using Grade 8 bolts with big hardened flat washers for a far superior bolted joint.

John,
I did not drill the brake pedal - I used the clamp supplied by Roadmaster. Pretty sure the cables I received are stainless; but, I will look again.

Look closely at the metal spring clips after removing the front fascia. The little barbs that grab the plastic tend to bend outward when the fascia is removed and will hinder reinstalling the fascia. Had to inspect each clip and bend those barbs back into position before reinstalling the fascia.

Bill

 

[RMD3819]

Here is my ReadyBrake with Blue Ox baseplate. Haven't towed it yet. A pro shop did the install.

BillinPCB-do you have the FX4?

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