Pete Warfield
Active Member
That first trip is always a nail biter at least is was for me. My first trip was to a large parking lot on a Sunday. I actually had my wife film the whole thing. Of course everything went fine but you just never know. Good luck and safe travels.I performed a 'test tow' yesterday for the first time. Sure, everything was installed and triple checked, but until you actually drive down the highway you have doubts. Lying in bed at night picturing your new pickup passing you and then soaring off a bridge does not help your sleep cycle.
So, we decamped (one hour of hassle) and hooked up. Everything attached fine and our checklist seemed to cover all the needed steps. The new toad battery charger sprang to life and started supplying juice. The Ranger's screen gave us the correct messages and the transfer case did its thing. With slack in the tow bars, I did a push-pull test from the tailgate to ensure that the wheels were free turning.
As we rolled out of our current park, I was surprised at how different it felt. Now, on paper, the Ranger only weights 300 lbs more than the Jeep Liberty toad that it has replaced. But, it felt like it weighed much more. With that little Liberty, I never knew it was back there. But, it won't be that way with the Ranger. My gas V10 32-footer pulled it fine, but seemed sluggish and slowed much more on hills/overpasses.
After this 20+- mile trip, the ranger's hubs felt cool and the xfer case hopped right back into action. So, it did fine. But, I was confused by the feel. My 'big truck mechanic' brother-in-law discussed it with me and thought it was no big deal. He said that some vehicles just roll differently than others. Thinking about it, the tires, hubs, etc on the Ranger are much beefier than the little Jeep had. It was a successful test, but the motorhome will probably be in tow/haul mode all the time now. In the past, I only needed to use that mode in hills. I may be buying more fuel too.
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