I've got a lead on a older Ford Ranger with a V6 (3.0 I think, but don't hold me to that). I've been looking for a truck to deal with all the stuff I need to haul around, and I was wondering if it would also be sufficient to pull my boat. I'm sure it could do the short 2 mile hops to my local launch ramp, but would it be possible to make extended trips with it? I would assume a trans cooler would be required. Anyone used a Ranger or similar small pickup to pull their Mac?
Jared
"Bandit"
1991 Mac 26S
Can a Ford Ranger tow a Mac?
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Frank C
No experience in a Ranger. However, my son towed my 26X using his Toyota Tacoma half-ton pickup. That was about 900 miles round trip and it was pretty unpleasant. The Tacoma had plenty of grunt to tow through the Sierra Nevada but the rear springs were entirely inadequate. The pickup had an obvious case of squat, causing severe steering wander. It was downright scary when big rigs blew past. If he had planned to do that more than the one time, it would have required significant rear suspension work. Not a very good answer Jared, but it may be something else to think about when considering a mid-size pickup.
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Chip Hindes
- Admiral
- Posts: 2166
- Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2004 6:13 am
- Location: West Sand Lake, NY '01X, "Nextboat" 50HP Tohatsu
You didn't say what year and you need to find out how else it's equipped. Factory stated towing capacity for the Ranger is all over the place, ranging I believe from under 2,000 to over 5,000 lbs.
I have a '94 Ranger shorty, 4.0L V6, 4x4, 5-sp manual trans w/ 3.71? differential. My max tow weight is, I believe 4,000 lbs. The higher numerical differential ratio and the larger engine on my truck make this one of the higher rated combinations. If it had an auto trans it would be higher still; I believe 5,000 lbs.
Though I've not yet weighed it, I believe my 26X loaded for cruising is pushing 4,500 lbs GTW. I haven't yet installed the hitch, but my Ranger has a recently rebuilt engine and while I had it out I put in an extra heavy duty clutch with the idea I could use it as backup to save wear and tear on my Expedition. I have no illusions about this being an easy tow and I intend to limit it to fairly short trips, and where some of the stuff is left home.
I think my truck will have the grunt to pull the Mac. It's eleven years old and I won't be heartbroken or out huge money if something breaks, but that doesn't mean it's a wise thing to do. It's not even half the story. Besides going straight ahead, you also have stay on the road, stop and turn corners. Occasionally you might have to do all three of these at the same time. My trailer has a second axle with disc brakes on both axles, and the tongue weight (IMO the second worst feature of the stock Mac trailer) is up where it belongs, so I'm thinking it will be OK. I've previously decided an Explorer was suitable for short hops only, but not long distances at high speed, though that was before the second axle. I intend to give this new setup a critical workout before I decide it's OK.
Even if I decide it's OK I don't think I'd consider towing my boat to FL with it.
Unless you've loaded it up to an incredible state, your 26S should come in several hundred lbs lower than my X, which makes everything slightly better for you. Even so, if your proposed truck doesn't have 4WD you may not be able to pull the boat up even a moderately steep or slippery ramp; I've seen full size pickups without 4WD just spin the tires with similarly sized boats.
To me, it's worth the cost of the hitch to find out; if it's not OK, I'm out a couple $100 at most. Does your proposed truck already have a hitch? Hook it up, tow it around the blocks a few time, see if you can live with it. If you have to buy the truck and set it up for towing, only to (possibly) find out later it doesn't work, I might not do it.
One other thing, most Class III hitches for the Ranger are rated at only 3,500 lbs deadweight.
I have a '94 Ranger shorty, 4.0L V6, 4x4, 5-sp manual trans w/ 3.71? differential. My max tow weight is, I believe 4,000 lbs. The higher numerical differential ratio and the larger engine on my truck make this one of the higher rated combinations. If it had an auto trans it would be higher still; I believe 5,000 lbs.
Though I've not yet weighed it, I believe my 26X loaded for cruising is pushing 4,500 lbs GTW. I haven't yet installed the hitch, but my Ranger has a recently rebuilt engine and while I had it out I put in an extra heavy duty clutch with the idea I could use it as backup to save wear and tear on my Expedition. I have no illusions about this being an easy tow and I intend to limit it to fairly short trips, and where some of the stuff is left home.
I think my truck will have the grunt to pull the Mac. It's eleven years old and I won't be heartbroken or out huge money if something breaks, but that doesn't mean it's a wise thing to do. It's not even half the story. Besides going straight ahead, you also have stay on the road, stop and turn corners. Occasionally you might have to do all three of these at the same time. My trailer has a second axle with disc brakes on both axles, and the tongue weight (IMO the second worst feature of the stock Mac trailer) is up where it belongs, so I'm thinking it will be OK. I've previously decided an Explorer was suitable for short hops only, but not long distances at high speed, though that was before the second axle. I intend to give this new setup a critical workout before I decide it's OK.
Even if I decide it's OK I don't think I'd consider towing my boat to FL with it.
Unless you've loaded it up to an incredible state, your 26S should come in several hundred lbs lower than my X, which makes everything slightly better for you. Even so, if your proposed truck doesn't have 4WD you may not be able to pull the boat up even a moderately steep or slippery ramp; I've seen full size pickups without 4WD just spin the tires with similarly sized boats.
To me, it's worth the cost of the hitch to find out; if it's not OK, I'm out a couple $100 at most. Does your proposed truck already have a hitch? Hook it up, tow it around the blocks a few time, see if you can live with it. If you have to buy the truck and set it up for towing, only to (possibly) find out later it doesn't work, I might not do it.
One other thing, most Class III hitches for the Ranger are rated at only 3,500 lbs deadweight.
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mark,97x
towing
towed my x over 100 miles one way lots of times with my 4 cyld toyota with auto trans,truck was rated 3850 t/w,always tried to use back roads and put the weight as far forward as i could in the boat. the boss lady would amaze everyone at the ramps with how easy she seemed to pull the boat out,always used "L"but never had any trouble,seems a v6 should do about as well,good luck 
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Jeff S
- First Officer
- Posts: 371
- Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2004 2:13 pm
- Location: Cherry Point, NC 2000 26X Tohatsu 50
Hi all, just got back from a 5 week mini-deployment. It is good to be back reading this board again.
On topic- the ramp has a lot to do with needing a 4wd or not- My F-150 (351- 2WD) slid backwards with an empty trailer on a steep slippery ramp- I had to get an Isuzu Amigo and my tow strap to get out (embarrasing to say the least).
It is also apparent that everyone's perspective on what "feels" acceptable as they tow is different. I teach guys how to fly a fairly demanding airplane (Harrier) and sometimes they scare me and not themselves as they don't know just how close to the edge they are. I am by no means a towing expert (not even close) but I do recognize that I don't want to be near the edges of the towing envelope especially not knowing exactly what the edges are. I thought my F-150 was adequate for towing- but I didn't feel like I would be comfortable with something less on long trips like a Ranger, and in fact I wanted something a little more stout that would still be able to accelerate and do well up hills with 4+k strapped to the bumper. I suppose if you have enough experience and skill at towing that you could know the bare minimums required to tow across any given situation you may encounter- I don't.
I just got my new tow vehicle- Dodge Ram 2500 4WD with the diesel and a 6sp manual. It is rated at over 12k towing so I may have overdone it a bit but in the right direction at least. Drove it first time today- the owner's manual actually recommends towing early in the engine life to help it break in faster. The brakes are strong and I can get an add on exhuast brake (towing the Mac won't require that). I am looking forward to hooking up the Mac and seeing how it goes.
Jeff S
On topic- the ramp has a lot to do with needing a 4wd or not- My F-150 (351- 2WD) slid backwards with an empty trailer on a steep slippery ramp- I had to get an Isuzu Amigo and my tow strap to get out (embarrasing to say the least).
It is also apparent that everyone's perspective on what "feels" acceptable as they tow is different. I teach guys how to fly a fairly demanding airplane (Harrier) and sometimes they scare me and not themselves as they don't know just how close to the edge they are. I am by no means a towing expert (not even close) but I do recognize that I don't want to be near the edges of the towing envelope especially not knowing exactly what the edges are. I thought my F-150 was adequate for towing- but I didn't feel like I would be comfortable with something less on long trips like a Ranger, and in fact I wanted something a little more stout that would still be able to accelerate and do well up hills with 4+k strapped to the bumper. I suppose if you have enough experience and skill at towing that you could know the bare minimums required to tow across any given situation you may encounter- I don't.
I just got my new tow vehicle- Dodge Ram 2500 4WD with the diesel and a 6sp manual. It is rated at over 12k towing so I may have overdone it a bit but in the right direction at least. Drove it first time today- the owner's manual actually recommends towing early in the engine life to help it break in faster. The brakes are strong and I can get an add on exhuast brake (towing the Mac won't require that). I am looking forward to hooking up the Mac and seeing how it goes.
Jeff S
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Jack O'Brien
- Captain
- Posts: 564
- Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2004 6:28 pm
- Location: West Palm Beach, Florida, 2000X, Gostosa III
HUH
Jeff wrote: "I can get an add on exhuast brake....
Whoa! You have thrust reversers on the Dodge??????
Whoa! You have thrust reversers on the Dodge??????
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Chip Hindes
- Admiral
- Posts: 2166
- Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2004 6:13 am
- Location: West Sand Lake, NY '01X, "Nextboat" 50HP Tohatsu
towing with a 2000 Grand Voyager (3.3 L )
I just purchased a 98 26X on Friday in Meridian, MS. Towed it the first 90 miles towards the MS Coast with an '04 Armada (10,000 # capacity). Didn't even know the Mac was back there.
Stopped off about halfway home where my friend lived and changed vehicles. I towed it the rest of the way (~90 more miles) with a 2000 Chry. Grand Voyager (3.3 L, class 3 hitch). I took my time, kept it slow over the moderately hilly terrain and had no problems. It was about 70 deg. outside, and the engine temp never even made it to the middle peg.
I won't make a habit of this, of course. But for short distances, I don't forsee a real problem towing the Mac with medium sized vehicles.
Stopped off about halfway home where my friend lived and changed vehicles. I towed it the rest of the way (~90 more miles) with a 2000 Chry. Grand Voyager (3.3 L, class 3 hitch). I took my time, kept it slow over the moderately hilly terrain and had no problems. It was about 70 deg. outside, and the engine temp never even made it to the middle peg.
I won't make a habit of this, of course. But for short distances, I don't forsee a real problem towing the Mac with medium sized vehicles.