Towing a boat with a 2002 Ranger V6 without 4x4?

First off...four wheel drive certainly shouldn't make much difference. Secondly, it's probably too much weight. Give it a try and see how it works.

I meant to say 4wd for getting out of the water but I jusr forgot to type that before.

Another thing I should have stated was that I am only going to be towing it about 1.5 miles from my campground to the boat dock to launch it,then back. No distance travelling,I am just worried about actually getting the boat out of the water once on the trailer.The ass end of those rangers have no grip at all.

I just found a few sites with the stats for the V6 and the towing capacity is 4000-4100 pounds. I should be in good shape,especially with my small towing distance. As long as the tires dont just spin when coming out of the water I will be fine :)

2005 owner's manual says 3.0 4x2 w/ manual transmission regular cab max. trailer weight is 2640, super cab 2460. (* but there are foot notes)

b.w.

Must have been reduced with the 2005. Plus the manual transmission even in

2002 is 2000 lbs lower in capacity than the automatic tranny.

There is an old trick for accomplishing that. I used to tow a 6,200# straight inboard boat with an El Camino with a 350 cu in. The rear end of that vehicle is so light, it was hard to get the load moving without spinning your wheels. Using a Float-On type trailer, one person would stay in the boat while the other drove the El Camino. You would fire up the boat engine, put her in gear and hit the throttle. At the same time, the guy in the El Camino would get on the gas. Most times the boat would have pushed it half way up the ramp if the car had been in neutral.

"Most times the boat would have pushed it half way up the ramp if the car had been in neutral. " Thanks for my morning laugh. I really wonder if anyone would be dumb enough to take advice like this seriously. I hope they tape it for break.com if they are.

The spinning wheels concern is valid. The only answer is to try it. Do it on a real slow day so if you do get stuck, you'll be able to unload the boat and then pull the empty trailer out. But what I'd think is that the boat trailer tongue weight will be on your side. Once successful, I'd check the ramp each time to be sure that the cement hasn't broken off or a hole developed. With the driving wheels in the water, you'll need to be a bit more careful than the 4X4s. ...thehick

Go for it. I see no issues at all for your planned usage

Oh and one more thing i would do to be real sure i could get out would be to bring some traction pads. like the metal ones sold for snow. or just some 2X10s to jam under the drive wheels if they bury themselves. be careful tho. ...thehick

Ok here is my take on what you can and can't do with your ranger. I have a

2000 Ranger 3.0, 5spd, Trailhead Pkg. I also have 3.73 rearend. I have pulled, and this is no lie, a 1998 Dodge Ram Ext. Cab about 5 miles on a tow dolly. I have pulled a 1988 Ford Aerostar for about 10mi on a tow dolly, and a 1900 lb 5x8 U-haul trailer 2200mi from Seattle to Southeast Kansas, all with my truck. First thing you should do with your truck is go buy a Class III hitch, and bolt it on. It will take about an hour to do it. Its real simple. After that, you can haul anything you want. And I mean just about anything. Oh, and I have loaded 18, 150lb bails of hay on the back of my truck and hauled them about 30mi, and I have hauled about 2000lbs of rock in the back of my truck at a distance of about 30mi. MY truck is a workhorse, yours should have no problem doing what you are asking if it can do. In fact, if you look on the door plate, it should have a weight listed on there, and it should say something like tow capacity, or look in your owners manual. It will definitely be listed in there. It should define what you cant do with it. But as a rule of thumb, I always add 10% to what they say I can tow, cause they downrate to make sure that you dont break anything. If you do it smart, and balance the load, you wont ever break your truck.

I too would like to see someone driving the boat on the trailer trying to push the truck up the ramp. Then maybe I can see it on WTFpeople.com or a Roadrunner cartoon.

pkurtz2 wrote: > First thing you should do with your truck is go buy a Class

But good luck stopping it. While those tows sound reasonable for the truck in question, there are certain loads that will bolt up to a Class III but be an absolutely unsafe situation. Know the weight, always.

Dave

Maybe I should tape some of the folks that show up around here. Here being Trenton, Ontario, Canada. The first weekend in May is the annual Walleye fishing derby. There are some pretty good prizes for walleye and pike catches. Anyway, there are some folks who have the darndest ways of getting their boats back on their tailers and I would swear that some of them are actually trying to push the trailer and the truck up the ramp by putting their throttles balls to the wall and jumping up on their trailers. Some of it would make for some pretty hilarious video. Anyway, I've got an F150 4x4 so I help out some of the folks who can't get their trailers up the ramp after a bazillion people have been trying all day and dragging all sorts of junk up the ramp that makes it really slippery. The 4x4 helps out but I have found the nicest thing that works is I have a front mount Class III hitch. Check the hidden hitch web site and you will be able to get the part number of a front mount hitch for your vehicle. I've got a longer 2x2 insert (about 2 feet long) which works great for the front hitch setup. The manouverability you get with a front mount hitch makes life really nice. Now if you have to put the front end into deeper water than this might not be what you are looking for.

Cheers, Lawrence

Todd wrote:

I wasn' t trying to be a jerk. I have an F350 with the powerstroke. I pull a 31' trailer and love the fact that there are not many situations that I can't pull my way out of. I work in the oilfields and I see people do things that are crazy and unsafe. So I believe people do this. I just want to see it

I agree with your statement about the crazy and unsafe folks out there. And then they get upset with you when you happen to mention the fact that they just might do themselves or their vehicle damage if they keep doing what they are doing. I'm like you in the fact that I just want to see it too. Sometimes it is like a really bad accident, it is horrible to look at but you just can't take your eyes away. I suppose it takes all kinds to make the world go around.

Cheers, Lawrence

Todd wrote:

Lets not forget the prop wash that washes out the soil under the end of the ramp resulting in the end of the ramp breaking off over time. The hitch on the front bumper works like a charm, and I've seen trailers modified so that the tongue extends like on sail boat trailers. Come down to Florida, an a slow Sunday if I want a good laugh I head to one of the boat ramps on the intercostals waterway and watch the show. If it weren't for needing model releases, I probably would video and make submissions.

Whitelightning