Towing impressions

[CODave]

Mrs. and I took delivery of our '22 Winnebago Micro Minnie 2306BHS today. Advertised as 4500lbs. dry, with 495lb. tongue weight. 25' long. Some impressions:
1. The Ranger makes some really good power. The dealer was in metro Denver, and we towed up to our home at 8400'. So, an elevation gain of ~3000' in about 15 miles. Some parts of our way home were 10% grades. The Ranger towed like a champ. I was easily able to stay at the speed limit with a lot more to give. The engine never broke 3k rpm. I did have some concerns about towing in the Rockies with a travel trailer, but no longer. The truck will handle it just fine.

2. I think the dealer set up the WDH wrong. Sure, I saw them taking measurements everywhere, it didn't look like the rear of the truck had a lot of squat. The guy who was doing the setup was coughing, sneezing, runny nose everywhere, and nobody in the shop was wearing a mask, so I wasn't very keen to get right in there and have a conversation.

3. I believe they err on the safe side by not dialing in enough tension on the hitch, and keeping the back end of the truck heavy. While I didn't find the ride dangerous, the back end of the truck felt like it was getting pushed around a little, and the steering felt lighter than normal. While you need to be easy with all the inputs at the steering wheel while towing anyway, things just felt a bit twitchy. Over potholes and dips, the back end felt pretty bouncy. I've been lobbying my wife for the Fox 2.0 shocks and struts all around for a couple of months now, I think the ride convinced her.

4. I think this thing will cruise on the highway just fine. In my 15 year old Class C motorhome, once you got to 65mph, you knew you were doing every bit of it. By contrast, the truck is so smooth and quiet, the speed sneaks up on you.

Unfortunately, we have an incoming snowstorm for most of this week, so we had to boogie the trailer back home and tuck it into storage. I didn't have time to weigh everything, or to mess with the hitch setup. That will have to wait for a warmer day.

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[hersh]

Thanks for the post! We are looking at getting a camper this year and was wondering how the Ranger would do.

 

[EJH]

Congrats on the trailer. We looked at the Micro Minnies also. Nice trailers. We ended up with another option that is 5k lbs GVWR.

Our dealer likely did the opposite: Set the WDH too stiff with too much tension. They also set it too nose high, as the pic below shows.

My Ranger towed great (no sway or wagging end or loose steering). However, the WDH bars were nearly impossible to get off, even with the trailer front jack extended to reduce tension. We also had some noise around sharp turns, like the bars were again too tight. Along with the truck and trailer combo just feeling very stiff. I readjusted the WDH (E2 6,000lbs) but will need to test tow a little next month to perhaps dial it in more.

Also note that our Ranger does not squat much in the rear either. Maybe 1" or so when hitched.
I also have Fox 2.0s in the rear. That probably helps.

 

[awd.nv]

Mrs. and I took delivery of our '22 Winnebago Micro Minnie 2306BHS today. Advertised as 4500lbs. dry, with 495lb. tongue weight. 25' long. Some impressions:
1. The Ranger makes some really good power. The dealer was in metro Denver, and we towed up to our home at 8400'. So, an elevation gain of ~3000' in about 15 miles. Some parts of our way home were 10% grades. The Ranger towed like a champ. I was easily able to stay at the speed limit with a lot more to give. The engine never broke 3k rpm. I did have some concerns about towing in the Rockies with a travel trailer, but no longer. The truck will handle it just fine.

2. I think the dealer set up the WDH wrong. Sure, I saw them taking measurements everywhere, it didn't look like the rear of the truck had a lot of squat. The guy who was doing the setup was coughing, sneezing, runny nose everywhere, and nobody in the shop was wearing a mask, so I wasn't very keen to get right in there and have a conversation.

3. I believe they err on the safe side by not dialing in enough tension on the hitch, and keeping the back end of the truck heavy. While I didn't find the ride dangerous, the back end of the truck felt like it was getting pushed around a little, and the steering felt lighter than normal. While you need to be easy with all the inputs at the steering wheel while towing anyway, things just felt a bit twitchy. Over potholes and dips, the back end felt pretty bouncy. I've been lobbying my wife for the Fox 2.0 shocks and struts all around for a couple of months now, I think the ride convinced her.

4. I think this thing will cruise on the highway just fine. In my 15 year old Class C motorhome, once you got to 65mph, you knew you were doing every bit of it. By contrast, the truck is so smooth and quiet, the speed sneaks up on you.

Unfortunately, we have an incoming snowstorm for most of this week, so we had to boogie the trailer back home and tuck it into storage. I didn't have time to weigh everything, or to mess with the hitch setup. That will have to wait for a warmer day.

Well that is good to hear overall, perhaps an update when you have it ready for a weekend?

I tow a '21 Geo pro 19BH and it handles it effortlessly but I know our next trailer we want full size bunks and a slide along with maybe a murphy bed to make bad weather indoors easier. Don't want to get more trailer than the Ranger could handle and require upgrading to an F150. While I love half tons, the size of the Ranger is so great around town and on trails.

I just got back from Utah yesterday towing in ~20mph winds with 40mph gust, thankfully was mostly headwinds but the truck was pretty happy at 65mph all things considered. If the speed limit wasn't 75mph I may have been happier at 60mph but 65mph did just fine. 150miles on the dot and 8.37mpg (17.9gallons, yeah cut that one close lol). That included idling time for hitching up, dumping tanks, letting my two 6yo potty break on the way home, etc.

Best I have gotten towing was a trip to AZ with zero winds, ~13mpg there and ~12mpg on the way back.

Congrats on the trailer. We looked at the Micro Minnies also. Nice trailers. We ended up with another option that is 5k lbs GVWR.

Our dealer likely did the opposite: Set the WDH too stiff with too much tension. They also set it too nose high, as the pic below shows.

My Ranger towed great (no sway or wagging end or loose steering). However, the WDH bars were nearly impossible to get off, even with the trailer front jack extended to reduce tension. We also had some noise around sharp turns, like the bars were again too tight. Along with the truck and trailer combo just feeling very stiff. I readjusted the WDH (E2 6,000lbs) but will need to test tow a little next month to perhaps dial it in more.

Also note that our Ranger does not squat much in the rear either. Maybe 1" or so when hitched.
I also have Fox 2.0s in the rear. That probably helps.

Man, their 19MBH is quite appealing. Another brand to watch out for I guess. Mentioned above what our next trailer will need but no rush either as we love our Geo Pro 19BH. As the boys get older I know they will want the larger beds and my wife wants the slide.

 

[EJH]

Man, their 19MBH is quite appealing. Another brand to watch out for I guess. Mentioned above what our next trailer will need but no rush either as we love our Geo Pro 19BH. As the boys get older I know they will want the larger beds and my wife wants the slide.

Definitely. We also really liked the GeoPro line. So many good options with trailers these days. It mostly came down to a certain subset of options we needed to have, plus the floorplan and what we could get without a long (unknown) order time. I really think it is hard to go wrong. I wish they all had better quality and workmanship, but it seems everything our of Indiana, regardless of the brand, suffers here We can only hope that changes as we come out of the pandemic.

 

[awd.nv]

Definitely. We also really liked the GeoPro line. So many good options with trailers these days. It mostly came down to a certain subset of options we needed to have, plus the floorplan and what we could get without a long (unknown) order time. I really think it is hard to go wrong. I wish they all had better quality and workmanship, but it seems everything our of Indiana, regardless of the brand, suffers here We can only hope that changes as we come out of the pandemic.

Yeah, I have heard of some horror stories, thankfully so far we are about a year into ours and no major issues; knock on wood. Our unit prior to this, Nobo 10.6 had a short list of things I needed to adjust which was annoying for the price of that box.

 

[sn95joe84]

Congrats on the trailer. We looked at the Micro Minnies also. Nice trailers. We ended up with another option that is 5k lbs GVWR.

Our dealer likely did the opposite: Set the WDH too stiff with too much tension. They also set it too nose high, as the pic below shows.

My Ranger towed great (no sway or wagging end or loose steering). However, the WDH bars were nearly impossible to get off, even with the trailer front jack extended to reduce tension. We also had some noise around sharp turns, like the bars were again too tight. Along with the truck and trailer combo just feeling very stiff. I readjusted the WDH (E2 6,000lbs) but will need to test tow a little next month to perhaps dial it in more.

Also note that our Ranger does not squat much in the rear either. Maybe 1" or so when hitched.
I also have Fox 2.0s in the rear. That probably helps.

Man... do you live in Bend off Reed Market? Sorry for the stalker comment, but I'm 90% sure I've seen your truck.

 

[Cabose-1]

Yes the ranger tows really well! This is 6500 to 7000 lb tow. The trailer is uneven, have since gotten my self a

Gen y rebel adjustable hitch

For the various trailers i end up towing. Last tow was 5 to 6k and this weekends tow will only be 2500 at most.

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