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canyonslicker

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Ok I’ve had my Ranger a little over 3 years. Never towed.. yesterday I towed about 3500 pounds. It felt like nothing was back there, granted a U-Haul with surge brakes, had to keep checking rear view mirror. Just awesome to me. My 2005 F150 would have felt it.. Just WOW..
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subquark

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Ok I’ve had my Ranger a little over 3 years. Never towed.. yesterday I towed about 3500 pounds. It felt like nothing was back there, granted a U-Haul with surge brakes, had to keep checking rear view mirror. Just awesome to me. My 2005 F150 would have felt it.. Just WOW..
My sentiments exactly. When I towed the FJ40 on a U-Haul auto transport, I probably had 6,000+ pounds with way too much tongue weight. But I barely felt it both accelerating and stopping.

Several here tow more and, apart from dismal gas mileage, also praise its capacity.

I was deeply impressed by the Ranger's ability too. It's a great truck! =)

Keep on truckin' canyonslicker! =D

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No bed rake! =p
 

GreyAreaRanger

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I have only towed with my Ranger once so far and that was last July a week after I got it. Like you, I forgot the trailer was behind me but it was probably only 2500-3000 pounds loaded on a u-haul trailer. I am about done with nursing school and plan to spend more time outdoors camping once I have the spare time to do so and may decide to purchase a small trailer to bring a canoe or kayak and other pieces of equipment I otherwise wouldn't bring.

PS: After one year of ownership and nearly 10k miles, absolutely happy with my purchase decision on the Ranger over the Colorado/Canyon and Frontier. Yeah, I didn't buy it new or with all the options I want but it has been a joy to drive and I am in no hurry to get another vehicle.
 

jmelair

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Do all uhaul trailers have surge brakes?
I wouldn't be surprised, but I would hope they'd tell you, in case you need to back the trailer in somewhere to load it.
 


RangerPNW

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I wouldn't be surprised, but I would hope they'd tell you, in case you need to back the trailer in somewhere to load it.
I can confirm they don't and it can sometimes depend on where you're picking it up from whether they'll have surge brakes or not... for example last year we bought a house in Santa Fe, NM and were living in Albuquerque. Discovered that all the u-hauls in Albuquerque had trailers that didn't get surge brakes, but the locations in Santa Fe did... which was annoying...
 

Dr. Zaius

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I bought my Jeep in North Carolina and towed it home on a U-Haul car carrier.

60+mph up the mountains with no problems.

These trucks tow like a train.
 

David Schuster

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I just got back from a 1,900-mile Canadian fishing trip pulling a small U haul 5x8 single axle trailer. No brakes on this trailer. Mileage was about 18 until we started high tailing it home since we do the home trip in a single day. 16 hrs. drive time. No issues with the truck or trailer.
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Saw this lil guy swimming from an island to the mainland:
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I pulled my car to Dearborn MI earlier this summer and in the mountains of TN last summer for car meets. The car hauler has the surge brakes, so I turned off the adaptive cruise & auto braking features with that as I don't have a trailer controller. Total weight was maybe 5,800 lbs. and truck pulled strong, though could feel the trailer a lot more than the small box I just pulled.
Dearborn.jpg
 
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bsr956

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Sweet ride, both of them!
 

dstig1

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The bigger Uhauls have surge brakes. The smaller ones do not have brakes at all. I really wish the bigger ones had electric brakes, but I know they do surge brakes as the lowest common denominator as not everyone will have a trailer brake controller.
 

ControlNode

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I bought my Jeep in North Carolina and towed it home on a U-Haul car carrier.

60+mph up the mountains with no problems.

These trucks tow like a train.
I'm surprised that U-Haul let you rent if for that. I went to rent one to haul my wife's 2016 JKU and they said no. Looking more that the trailer setup when I rented one later for moving my daughter's 86 Civic Si when it broke down and seeing the only way to secure the front tires on it was all the way to the front of the trailer, I could see the tongue weight being over 750lb based on axle location relative to the vehicle on the trailer and the tongue.
 

Dr. Zaius

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I'm surprised that U-Haul let you rent if for that. I went to rent one to haul my wife's 2016 JKU and they said no. Looking more that the trailer setup when I rented one later for moving my daughter's 86 Civic Si when it broke down and seeing the only way to secure the front tires on it was all the way to the front of the trailer, I could see the tongue weight being over 750lb based on axle location relative to the vehicle on the trailer and the tongue.
It is a TJ, not a JK, so only around 3500lbs
 

ControlNode

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The car hauler has the surge brakes, so I turned off the adaptive cruise & auto braking features with that as I don't have a trailer controller.
I'll ask, what was the reason for disabling those? Even if you had the brake controller it would not have mattered since the U-Haul has the surge brakes. I would think adaptive cruise and such would be fine with surge brakes since they work regardless of why the truck is slowing down.
 
 








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