Towing with the 2019-2023 Ranger

[Webby]

We recently purchased a 29 ft travel trailer and are looking to travel the US with it. It is 4800 lbs unweighted. It is roughly 11 ft high by 8 ft wide. Hitch weight is 615 lbs. GVWR is 6500 lbs. A picture is below.

We're trying to decide if the 2.3L Ranger will be able to comfortably and safely tow this trailer. We are planning on driving with the tanks basically dry. It looks like on paper the 2.3L Ranger should be able to pull it, given a reasonable amount of cargo weight in the trailer and truck. Hopefully in mountainous regions as well. I'm concerned about the 55 square ft owner's manual guideline on trailer frontal area and the effect it will have on towing. The trailer does have some aerodynamics to it as opposed to a flat, square frontal area. (picture of trailer below)

That's why I'm trying to find people who have actually done trailer towing and understand what their experiences have been. That is why I'm reaching out to people in this forum.

I see the 2.7L was introduced recently in the Ranger and with over 20% increase in torque over the 2.3L, I suspect the 2.7L would provide additional towing margin. Is it needed or will the 2.3L be sufficient?

We can always move up to the F150 supercrew. It would tow this trailer with no problem. It is just a larger vehicle that will take some getting used to.

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.



View attachment 221376

Sponsored

 

[Grumpaw]

I tow a 24 footer, and several other members tow that size and a bit larger, and we're probably just at the max for safe towing, by an experienced driver.
It's not so much the weight and tongue weight of your rig, as they are well within the Rangers capacity....its the 29 foot length.
My opinion is that it's a bit too much trailer for the Ranger, and I, even with my 50 years experience, would hesitate to tow it. It's not the frontal numbers or height, as my trailer is the same. Its the long side area that just begs for wind to take over, and passing large trucks will cause it to sway very easily. That long a trailer can easily overpower the shorter/lighter Ranger.....it has the power, but not the size to tow that 29 footer safely.
Go for the F-150 with the larger engine.
Again, just my opinion.

 

[Friday yet?]

Going to disagree just slightly with Grumpaw. Skip the F-150. Get an F-350. Not the diesel, the 7.3L gas. Heck of a lot more truck for only a little more money.

 

[Webby]

Thanks for your reply. When I look at the curb weight of the Ranger vs the F150 SuperCrew, the F150 is only about 330 lbs heavier than the Ranger, so really negligible difference. The wheelbase on the F150 is about 19 inches longer and the overall width as well as the track width is 10 inches greater on the F150. These are enough to warrant going to the F150?

Would a weight distribution hitch with properly installed torsion/sway bars negate much of the sway caused by wind and passing trucks on the Ranger as well as the F150?

Thanks.

 

[dtech]

Going to disagree just slightly with Grumpaw. Skip the F-150. Get an F-350. Not the diesel, the 7.3L gas. Heck of a lot more truck for only a little more money.

Interesting advice , when towing might get about the same mpg as the Ranger or even slightly better and seems certain you'd experience the holy grail of towing " not knowing there is anything being towed". I tow a 23' 4200 lbs uvw and I always know I'm towing it. Have a couple friends who tow with f-250 with 6.7t diesel, one has 40' grand design, great towing vehicle. If I was traveling all over the country lugging a 29' ft trailer I'd look into something more capable than the Ranger

 

[ctechbob]

Would a weight distribution hitch with properly installed torsion/sway bars negate much of the sway caused by wind and passing trucks on the Ranger as well as the F150?

Thanks.

No.

Wind/passing truck effect is not what the anti sway hitches are for and while they may help to some extent, you'll never null out all of that sideways force.

Sway is when the trailer is disturbed and continues to oscillate on its own, that is what the AS hitches are for.

I pull a 26' box/29ft overall trailer around and like @Grumpaw feel like it is probably the maximum you'd want to pull with a ranger. I feel the wind and trucks (so do 18 wheelers, they get moved around by each other and the wind as well), but when the external force stops, so does the motion in my trailer. That is what a properly set up WD/AS hitch is supposed to do.

And yes, that extra track width and wheelbase will make for a much better tow.

As for going all the way up to a Superduty...of course it will tow better, but if you're driving it on a daily basis, you'll probably not appreciate having to deal with how big they are to park, drive in a parking garage, navigate traffic, etc etc.

Also, if you are buying a new/different vehicle, pay more attention to the payload rating than you do to the 'max tow' rating. Trucks these days tend to be overloaded with 'features' that cut heavily into payload. Before you know it, you have your family of 4 in the truck and only have a couple hundred pounds left over for your trailers tongue weight.

 

[treeranger]

Wind and passing trucks can be scary with big trailers. More truck usually means more stability.

 

[Friday yet?]

, if you are buying a new/different vehicle, pay more attention to the payload rating than you do to the 'max tow' rating. Trucks these days tend to be overloaded with 'features' that cut heavily into payload. Before you know it, you have your family of 4 in the truck and only have a couple hundred pounds left over for your trailers tongue weight.

Exactly why I laugh every single time I see an F-250 with the diesel. It's the basis for a perfect truck meme: "Telling me you don't understand payload capacity without actually telling me."

 

[Grumpaw]

We recently purchased a 29 ft travel trailer and are looking to travel the US with it. It is 4800 lbs unweighted. It is roughly 11 ft high by 8 ft wide. Hitch weight is 615 lbs. GVWR is 6500 lbs. A picture is below.

We're trying to decide if the 2.3L Ranger will be able to comfortably and safely tow this trailer. We are planning on driving with the tanks basically dry. It looks like on paper the 2.3L Ranger should be able to pull it, given a reasonable amount of cargo weight in the trailer and truck. Hopefully in mountainous regions as well. I'm concerned about the 55 square ft owner's manual guideline on trailer frontal area and the effect it will have on towing. The trailer does have some aerodynamics to it as opposed to a flat, square frontal area. (picture of trailer below)

That's why I'm trying to find people who have actually done trailer towing and understand what their experiences have been. That is why I'm reaching out to people in this forum.

I see the 2.7L was introduced recently in the Ranger and with over 20% increase in torque over the 2.3L, I suspect the 2.7L would provide additional towing margin. Is it needed or will the 2.3L be sufficient?

We can always move up to the F150 supercrew. It would tow this trailer with no problem. It is just a larger vehicle that will take some getting used to.

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.



View attachment 221376

In reading your original post, I see your retired, bought the trailer already, and, hopefully have not bought a truck. Also, you want to "travel the US", so I take it you plan on many trips. lots of mileage, ect.
The Ranger is not the proper truck for your needs, with that large a trailer. Smaller trailer, yes, but a 29 footer, no. I have been all over this great country, including Alaska, and many areas of Canada, and in many areas would NOT want to be hauling a trailer that big with a smaller truck....your just asking too much of it.
Other posts direct you to an F-350, which, to me, is over kill for your size/weight trailer. A properly equipped F-150 will do fine, but I'd opt for an F-250....better load capacity than the 150, but better ride/not as stiff as a 350.
The Ranger's are great, as long as you stay within their limits AND ability....your trailer...limits yes....ability, no.

 

[awd.nv]

Thanks for your reply. When I look at the curb weight of the Ranger vs the F150 SuperCrew, the F150 is only about 330 lbs heavier than the Ranger, so really negligible difference. The wheelbase on the F150 is about 19 inches longer and the overall width as well as the track width is 10 inches greater on the F150. These are enough to warrant going to the F150?

Would a weight distribution hitch with properly installed torsion/sway bars negate much of the sway caused by wind and passing trucks on the Ranger as well as the F150?

Thanks.

I added 1" wheel spacers to the Ranger Tremor and was surprised I felt a positive improvement in towing. Felt better in crosswinds and such. That was just 2" wider. Imagine now what the added length of an f150 would do.

 

[ControlNode]

F150 has its own issues, IMO go with F250 or bigger if you don't think the Ranger can do it. With the F150 you will have to add a weight distributing hitch to the setup if you get over 5,000lb (almost guaranteed with only 200lb of play from empty) for the trailer, that limits the needed flex on some off-road areas. Ranger and F250+ do not require WD hitches up to their respective towing limits, so you can tow with one for stability on the highway, but if you find you're on a backroad/off-road where it's a problem to use a WD hitch, you can remove the bars for a bit. Altitude is another consideration, on the 19-23 Rangers the manual states to reduce the GCWR by 3% for every 1,000 ft over sea-level. But on the newer 24+ Ranger with the 2.3l it just states that you'll have reduced performance and provides a formula for the reduced weight need to still get performance like that of max GCWR while at sea-level. So, it does not sound like the warranty could be voided for towing 12,000 GCW over the Rockies in the 2.3l equipped `24+ Ranger while in the `19-23 Ranger, it could if you exceed the GCWR for the given altitude you're towing at.

 

[EJH]

I get wind blown with my 20' trailer (5,000 lb GVWR) and properly setup WDH on my Ranger. The wind just moves the truck and trailer as one unit thanks to the WDH My Ranger's upgraded suspension and higher load rated tires have helped a lot. I am comfy towing this amount of trailer part time (3-5 trips a year). It is a trade off to have a smaller truck that fits my garage and lifestyle when not towing.

Anything larger than my trailer and I'd be looking at the F-150. That is based my towing experience and the roads/mountains where I drive.

I do like the idea of a F-250/350 and have thought that if I was to tow a lot more, I'd probably also skip the F-150 and go F-250. If I am going to have a truck that doesn't fit in my garage, might as well have the best towing experience.

 

[PeterDB]

We recently purchased a 29 ft travel trailer and are looking to travel the US with it. It is 4800 lbs unweighted. It is roughly 11 ft high by 8 ft wide. Hitch weight is 615 lbs. GVWR is 6500 lbs. A picture is below.

We're trying to decide if the 2.3L Ranger will be able to comfortably and safely tow this trailer. We are planning on driving with the tanks basically dry. It looks like on paper the 2.3L Ranger should be able to pull it, given a reasonable amount of cargo weight in the trailer and truck. Hopefully in mountainous regions as well. I'm concerned about the 55 square ft owner's manual guideline on trailer frontal area and the effect it will have on towing. The trailer does have some aerodynamics to it as opposed to a flat, square frontal area. (picture of trailer below)

That's why I'm trying to find people who have actually done trailer towing and understand what their experiences have been. That is why I'm reaching out to people in this forum.

I see the 2.7L was introduced recently in the Ranger and with over 20% increase in torque over the 2.3L, I suspect the 2.7L would provide additional towing margin. Is it needed or will the 2.3L be sufficient?

We can always move up to the F150 supercrew. It would tow this trailer with no problem. It is just a larger vehicle that will take some getting used to.

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.



View attachment 221376

We tow a 2013 Airstream 23D GVWR 6000 lbs with our 2019 Ranger Lariat FX4 with tow package, Blue Ox hitch with 1000lb bars. Fully loaded for a 45-day trip from the Portland, OR region east to North Carolina, then north to New England, then to the Bayfield WI area and back home, the truck and trailer each weighed in at 5500lb on a CAT scale on our way out. The rear axle weighed heavy but within Ford specifications. We drove some pretty hairy mountain passes including that stretch of Utah 44 and US 191 from Manila to Vernal on our way to Colorado National Monument. We've towed regularly over the Cascades and Oregon Coast Range. The Ranger is completely capable towing as described, keeping up with sane traffic speeds. When a tractor-trailer rig passes us we get a slight blip of trailer-truck movement, requiring one steering correction and back as the force of the air being pushed by the tractor-trailer moves along our rig. We have a friend pulling a 24-foot square-ish trailer with his 2022 Ranger without a problem but with more fuel consumption due to worse aerodynamics. I'm not sure that if your trailer length is a problem or not but I somehow doubt that a longer or heavier truck will necessarily reduce the effect of a large rig passing you if your weight distribution hitch is set up properly and your trailer is loaded properly.

 

[Grumpaw]

We tow a 2013 Airstream 23D GVWR 6000 lbs with our 2019 Ranger Lariat FX4 with tow package, Blue Ox hitch with 1000lb bars. Fully loaded for a 45-day trip from the Portland, OR region east to North Carolina, then north to New England, then to the Bayfield WI area and back home, the truck and trailer each weighed in at 5500lb on a CAT scale on our way out. The rear axle weighed heavy but within Ford specifications. We drove some pretty hairy mountain passes including that stretch of Utah 44 and US 191 from Manila to Vernal on our way to Colorado National Monument. We've towed regularly over the Cascades and Oregon Coast Range. The Ranger is completely capable towing as described, keeping up with sane traffic speeds. When a tractor-trailer rig passes us we get a slight blip of trailer-truck movement, requiring one steering correction and back as the force of the air being pushed by the tractor-trailer moves along our rig. We have a friend pulling a 24-foot square-ish trailer with his 2022 Ranger without a problem but with more fuel consumption due to worse aerodynamics. I'm not sure that if your trailer length is a problem or not but I somehow doubt that a longer or heavier truck will necessarily reduce the effect of a large rig passing you if your weight distribution hitch is set up properly and your trailer is loaded properly.

I tow a 24 footer/7000 lb, properly set up, and have no problems at all towing with the Ranger.
In regards to the OP, a 29 footer is just too much trailer, size wise, for the Ranger. The trailer he listed is within the capabilities of the Ranger, but it is just too much side surface to tow mile after mile the way he's planning. That long a trailer is going to sway back and forth when a small van passes, much less a semi. Thats a long trailer for a midsize truck to pull SAFELY. Once that long of a trailer start's to sway it is gonna be hard to control....a case of the tail wagging the dog.
There is a huge difference between my 24 footer and your 23 foot Airstream as opposed to the OP's 29 footer.
A larger, heavier truck is much more stable with a trailer that big, and easier to correct sway with a large rig. Not affected as much as the smaller, lighter Ranger.

 

[Cabose-1]

I don't know grumpaw. My uncles f150 weighs 100 lbs less than my ranger.
2016 F150 xl regular cab, long beg 5.0
2022 ranger xlt fx2.
So towing with his "new" truck is worse and better than my ranger.
He has a 3.31 rear end 6 speed?
Ranger has a 3.73 rear-end 10 spd.
Mine tows so much better!
His is long a long take off, what he does have that I don't
Wider and longer wheel base.
We do not go around towing travel trailers. What we do tow is heavy utility trailers. No wdh average 5500 to 7000 a tow. We tow lighter with the cargo trailers.
So I do not think that bigger trucks tow better because they are heavier. Unless you have a hd. Big difference, especially if diesel.
Just depends on application. No one set up for all tows.
Though proper application is common on all trailers. Weight, tounge ,height and so on.

Sponsored