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Apples or oranges, if you’re over 75% of your rated max tow weight, or even close
to it, in my experience, there are much safer tow vehicles, especially with someone new to towing. I’m gonna stand by my original (and safer) recommendation.
Never said you “couldn’t” do it, just said maybe your “shouldn’t”.
Again, YMMV
And I will say when you have towed as much as I have, over 150k miles both open and enclosed, I can speak from experience. Nothing wrong or unsafe with towing ~5000# car/trailer combo behind a Ranger/Colorado.
I was just towing a U-haul Auto transport with a BMW 525 touring on it in a fully loaded 26’ U-Haul box truck on a 3.5 hour haul from Summit Point to the Norther Neck VA . That was an … experience.
My neighbor who has a construction biz was just talking about this, he said that he looks at the GVW of the truck, adds up everything that's going to be in it and in one of his trailers and sees how close the numbers are. The issue is not mileage or how it will pull up hills, it's more about how it will stop down those hills.
mileage isn’t a factor . It’s the size and parking in urban areas like Washington DC parking garages .
I had the same perspective when buying my 2022 Ford Ranger last year since I also live in a fairly dense outer urban area. Size matters (in this case, a little smaller was better). I looked at all the other comparable mid-size pickups and chose the Ford.
I have towed from the top of the DC beltway to Summit Point, VIR, WGI, and Pitt Race. The only time I really felt underpowered was going up that hill leading to the WGI track. I know there is a flatter route, so I'll use that this year.
And I use a UHaul steel trailer, which weighs 2200 lbs (so they say). With my 3300 lb car that's 5500 lbs towed. I wish I had a lightweight aluminum trailer, but I've got no room to store it. I bought a tongue scale and measured my setup at 500 lbs.
Obviously, one is better off towing with an F-150 or even bigger. But it's a matter of making tradeoffs for other life factors. I am still very happy with my choice. BTW, I got the Lariat and love all the features (it's my DD). Got me the old guy parking sensors front and rear.
I looked at Rangers and similar and settled on a Durango R/T with the "Tow N Go" package and the 5.7 Hemi / 8spd. It is a little wider, but a fair bit less long than a Ranger so I find it easier to park in my tight downtown office tower, but it has an 8,700lb tow capacity and I actually really enjoy it as a DD and it also seems to be a very capable tow rig. My trailer is light because of how light my car is, but the wind resistance of the enclosed very likely offsets the lighter weight and you can tow at 60 or 80mph with very little difference in comfort and feeling. I highly recommend it!
To clear up the towing specs for the Ford Ranger, this is for the Lariat model but I think it is the same for the other two (XL and XLT). Interesting how the 4X4 configuration costs you a couple hundred lbs payload capacity. Best payload is for the leanest configuration. I can vouch for the 750 lb tongue weight capacity with the normal hitch receiver, stated here (2023 Ford Ranger Towing Information).
Just got back from a DE weekend at Summit Point WV. Roundtrip is about 160 miles. I pull a U-Haul trailer which is supposed to be 2200 lbs, loaded with a 3250 lb 997.1 C2S. Call it 5500 lbs against a 7500 lb truck towing rating (73%).
I checked the mileage for the trip, which has some pretty hilly parts, and I got about exactly 18 MPG. By the way, I always use 93 octane when towing. Top tier gas, of course. Always, in all cars.
Ranger tow mode does a nice job, IMO, of adjusting shift points accelerating and uphill, and also downshifting to help control downhill speeds. And the BLIS is extended once you program your trailer length. Nice. I never feel uncomfortable because I practice what I learn at the track - situational awareness.
I've towed a 981S Cayman on a Trailex trailer with our Ford Ranger, no problem at all, didn't really notice any difference between it and the F150 I owned before, apart from the Ranger being easier to manage when I'm not towing around town (easier to get into parking spots etc). The ranger has a 7000lb tow capacity so no worry at all. Also the ranger does need to be filled up about every 200 miles when towing due to the much smaller tank, but it does get better mileage when not towing.
I've got several thousand miles that says it works fine as long as you take that into consideration. Don't go pulling an enclosed trailer loaded with stuff with one for sure, but one of the lighter trailers like a Futura or a Trailex no problem at all.
02-21-2023, 07:34 PM
I looked at all the other comparable mid-size pickups and chose the Ford.
