Towing weight?

I have a 2001 4x2 Ranger, 3.0, 5 speed, XLT, extended cab. 83,000 miles in tip top condition and well maintained. I am considering pulling a motorcycle trailer (with 800 pound motorcycle) about 1500 miles. I currently have the stock bumper hitch with standard flat 4 pole connector. (Hole in bumper for 2" trailer ball). The bumper appears to be solidly mounted to steel frame members. I don't see any rating on the bumper or anywhere else on the truck, and I don't have the owner's manual. Total weight I'm guessing is about 1200 pounds, with properly distributed tongue weight, of course. Am I good to go with such a set up? Thanks.

Reply to
Frank Parloverita
Loading thread data ...

On Tue, 02 Aug 2011 19:31:59 -0700, Frank Parloverita rearranged some electrons to say:

Go to motorcraftservice.com to download an owner's guide.

Reply to
david

Here is the answer I gave you on your 1st post:

Here are the specs:

formatting link
You'll be over the specs, but if you make sure you don't have over 500# tongue weight at the hitch and watch the heat gauge and use lower gears up & down the mountains you should be OK.

Tom J

Reply to
Tom J

Your truck has a towing capacity of, example, 1500 pounds. This means the total weight of the trailer AND the load can be 1500 pounds. Your bike and trailer sound as if you will be right at this limit (the example), but if the limit is higher, then you are golden.

Your Tongue Weight cannot exceed 10% of the total weight of the trailer plus load. So, in this example your tongue weight cannot exceed 150 pounds.

Since you have a 4-pin connector and the bumper has a hole for a ball, then it should also have the trailer weight (trailer + load) and the tongue weight physically stamped into the bumper. A typical bumper will carry 300 pounds of tongue weight, and 3000 pounds of trailer weight.

You balance the trailer by putting the load directly over the axle so there is virtually no weight on the tongue. You can easily lift the tongue because the bike is evenly divided fore and aft of the axle. DO NOT PUT YOUR BIKE ON THE FRONT OF THE TRAILER BECAUSE THE FULL WEIGHT OF THE BIKE IS ON THE TONGUE. Carefully move the bike forward so more weight is on the tongue. When there is 150 pounds resting on the tongue, mark the wheel position so you know where to place the wheel stop. Take the bike off, install the wheel stop, put the bike back on and strap it down. Drive happy.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.