What are you guys towing?

[VAMike]

What about a level and air bags in the rear? Gives you the stance AND more consistent ride.

That just screams lots of money for aesthetics unless you spend a heck of a lot of time towing heavy. I'd probably get a bigger truck before putting airbags on a midsize, but everyone customizes for themselves.

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[BogeyMatt]

Hello all... new guy from AR. Recently bought a 2019 FX4 Ranger. I’ve had F-150’s, GMC, Chevy, Dodge all in the past. This is a 3rd vehicle for me, bought it mainly for towing to and from hunting.

 

[tombdmot]

Towed this 17 foot 4300 pound trailer for 7000 miles over 7 weeks across country from Calif, to Washington state then highway 2 across Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Upper Peninsula Michigan then down to Wisconsin, Minnesota again, South Dakota, Utah, Nevada and back to home in Sacramento Ca. Returned home on Interstate 90 and 80. It pulled just great. Lots of power.

Sweet setup, must have been an amazing trip. I'm going to start towing a 3,500 lb camper around and wondered if you used a weight distribution hitch system.
Thanks. - Tom

 

[Trey1940]

That just screams lots of money for aesthetics unless you spend a heck of a lot of time towing heavy. I'd probably get a bigger truck before putting airbags on a midsize, but everyone customizes for themselves.

I see it more as a consistent ride thing, a level truck that doesn't bounce, no headlight adjustments, I'd put bags on anything I towed a moderate weight with regularly.

 

[ztbird]

EDIT 24 Dec 2019:

I was able to adjust the WDH and remove the stability issue mentioned below.


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New to the forum; been lurking for a while.

2019 Ranger XLT w/ tow, FX4, spary-in bed liner, had it about a month and have 1200 miles on it. Today I picked up my 2020 Rockwood 2104s from the dealer and took it to my storage site. Sticker says 4727 lb dry, have yet to measure tongue weight (it's not on the TT anywhere, their website says 614# with the two 30lb LP Gas tanks full).

Using a 10k/1k equilizer hitch with WDH and sway control.

The winds here (San Antonio) today were 18mph sustained, 29mph gusts at the time I actually towed it the 15 miles. I definitely felt the wind when on flat areas and overpasses. There was some... interesting towing for a new TT owner... what was either tail-wagging-the-dog effect or bouncing (not sure which, thanks FX4?) when I got above 55mph in the same zone, but not outside of it. Trucks definitely pushed me when they passed but I was able to keep it in the lane. The electronic sway control never kicked in.

Power was not once an issue. Only challenge was the wind. Power train performed beautifully.

Quite honestly it was rather harrowing given the biggest thing I've towed before was a 2k# (loaded) u-haul when I PCS'ed to San Antonio with my '17 Escape (traded for the Ranger - if I had known rangers were coming I would have waited). Given the day's towing was in poor conditions, I think I'll learn to work it comfortably.

Pickup and drop-off pics attached. I'll be loading it up tomorrow and taking weights at a CAT scale, will update then on the details.

 

[ausable]

Towing in wind and truck traffic is challenging. We are essentially pulling a wind sock through the air. Wind pushes on the sides of a trailer something fierce. Try a couple things perhaps. Try tweaking the hitch setup. You may want a bit more transfer of distributed weight to the front end of the truck. Not too much or you'll feel it make the front end too heavy and unresponsive. Also try a setup where the trailer puts a bit more tongue weight downward, onto the truck.

We still haven't decided on using the F-150 or using our new Ranger. We will be heading south next week with our Rockwood, but it is a GeoPro that is only 7' wide. This then is my question. Can you see without towing mirrors around that 8' MiniLite? Curious.

Finally, there is endless debates on RV forums as to whether the anti-sway in the hitch fights the anti-sway software built into the computer of the truck. I've no good answer for you as I've towed 10's of 1000's of miles trying different combinations of turning on/off the truck's anti-sway to using only the truck's system, etc. I haven't found a clear cut answer.

 

[ztbird]

We still haven't decided on using the F-150 or using our new Ranger. We will be heading south next week with our Rockwood, but it is a GeoPro that is only 7' wide. This then is my question. Can you see without towing mirrors around that 8' MiniLite? Curious.

Though Ford says the blind spot sensors work with trailers under 8' 2'' wide, this 8' definitely lost a good 5 feet of coverage at the back. When going straight, I didn't feel there was a need for a tow mirror, however whenever there was even a slight curve I lost visibility. I plan to buy tow mirrors before I go on any trips.

With a 7' wide I'd expect you'll be fine, just don't change lanes on highway turns, wait for straighter roads.

I'm going to work on loading/WDH setup tomorrow when I have all the stuff for it. Most of it is arriving from Amazon today. Only had chalks, blocks, and locks before today. But I'm betting I'll have a much easier time in the summer when Fronts aren't moving in like today, and once I get outside of the city traffic. 30 mph gusts, 3 interstates, and 2 million people make for a terrible towing experience.

 

[ausable]

Though Ford says the blind spot sensors work with trailers under 8' 2'', this 8' definitely lost a good 5 feet of coverage at the back. When going straight, I didn't feel there was a need for a tow mirror, however whenever there was even a slight curve I lost visibility. I plan to buy tow mirrors before I go on any trips.

With a 7' wide I'd expect you'll be fine, just don't change lanes on highway turns, wait for straighter roads.


I'm going to work on loading/WDH setup tomorrow when I have all the stuff for it. Most of it is arriving from Amazon today. Only had chalks, blocks, and locks before today.

I tweaked the dealer's "setup" on our equalizer hitch. The lowest guy on the shop's totem pole usually gets the task and it's typically only "close enough for horse shoes" and get the customer down the road. LOL. Anyhow, lots of study and I came to appreciate how the washers in the head, the height of the L brackets torquing the arms, height of the ball, etc all work to change the way the hitch functions. I measured the trailer, wheel well heights over and over. SMH. I'd then pull it 25 miles and often, I'd be right back tweaking some more.

There's also no doubt that FX4 rear shocks are designed to be soft for off-roading. I'm sure some Bilsteins will go on the back of our Ranger soon. Take care, take your time, don't be afraid to get those CAT scale weights and don't be afraid of tweaking your setup until you like the results and feel it's about the best it can be done. Enjoy your new camper and the times you have with it.

 

[Trey1940]

Pulled a Ditch Witch SK-1050 home from work to fix my dirt road. I'm very impressed with how this truck tows, the ol' butt dyno estimated the trailer weight around 3,750lbs, actual weight was 6,580!

Also had to pull the trailer through 8 inches of muddy topsoil to get the trailer out of the pit, no problem with the 285 Duratracs in 4H

 

[ztbird]

I'll definitely try to work with the hitch setup. The front only went up 1/4'' and the back down 1 & 1/2'' when hooked up, so I'm not sure how much room I have to work with there.

I plan on loading the tongue as close to the 750 as I can to help stabilize it.

 

[Black Knight]

Towed this today, The truck did really well. I was thoroughly impressed with the way the truck behaved.

 

[tombdmot]

This 16' Bambi Airstream is what I'll be towing once we get the hitch and 7-pin installed next month. Can't wait for winter camping! Also installed a retractable Pace Edwards/LEER tonneau cover and roof rack to complete the setup.

 

[ztbird]

I tweaked the dealer's "setup" on our equalizer hitch. The lowest guy on the shop's totem pole usually gets the task and it's typically only "close enough for horse shoes" and get the customer down the road. LOL. Anyhow, lots of study and I came to appreciate how the washers in the head, the height of the L brackets torquing the arms, height of the ball, etc all work to change the way the hitch functions. I measured the trailer, wheel well heights over and over. SMH. I'd then pull it 25 miles and often, I'd be right back tweaking some more.

There's also no doubt that FX4 rear shocks are designed to be soft for off-roading. I'm sure some Bilsteins will go on the back of our Ranger soon. Take care, take your time, don't be afraid to get those CAT scale weights and don't be afraid of tweaking your setup until you like the results and feel it's about the best it can be done. Enjoy your new camper and the times you have with it.

Alright, a little late here but I actually got out to adjust the WDH today and re-weigh. Trailer loaded with all the gear, battery, and 2x 30lb FULL propane tanks that it will carry, but the truck only had some tools and I stood aside for the weights (I wanted a good idea of how much room I have left for me, dogs, gear in the truck).

1. Empty truck with 3/4 tank and a few tools in the back seat had 2560# on the front axle.
2. Same day weigh WITHOUT the WDH engaged pulled 360# to the back axle, leaving 2200# on the front.
3. Same day weigh WITH the dealer's WDH setup only moved 120# back to the drive axle, #2320 on the front.
4. A week later but with the same tools and the same level of gas, I moved the L brackets up one position on the EQ hitch. It moved an additional #100 over for a final result of #2420 on the front axle. Trailer is pretty level with this setup; I'll attach a picture in an edit.

I would prefer to move the L brackets up another spot, but the Trailer's emergency brake release is in the way. I don't want to screw with re-positioning that unless I have to. Just driving to/from the scales, it felt much better in the front - not a single hint of instability. In the next week I'll plan an interstate route and test it out.

Tongue weight calculation says it's 800lb without the WDH engaged, ~720 with. I'll have to either leave one of the propane tanks at home or store it in the bed when I go camping.

It still bounces some, but that's kinda just how the Ranger is - it bounces even without the trailer attached.

Also about the mirrors: After I installed the trailer's backup & observation camera I don't think I need tow mirrors. There's plenty of visibility with the trailer backup camera and stock mirrors.

When I head out for my first trip I'll post a full weight chart with all the weights.

 

[DerangedPony]

Pulled this through the hills of the driftless region in WI. The parent's have a new Super Duty but couldn't find the adapter for the hitch. I would say around 3500 lbs with a single pony in back? Did very well, power was not an issue. BTW, that driveway was no joke.

 

[Three Ponies]

1960 Corvette.

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