After 211,123 miles, my Ford Aerostar is giving up the ghost - it's overheating and the air conditioner has given out.
I use the Aerostar to pull a trailer. The weight of the trailer can go up to about 1500 pounds.
Will a Ford Ranger with the 6 cylinder, 3.0 engine pull my trailer? (I'm looking at the XL version, 2WD.)
Thanks,
Dave
with a BIG transmission cooler (assuming auto), in 3rd, not OD, at reasonable speed, with a trailer brake controller, yes
It should be okay but I would suggest a 4x4 version as they tend to have deeper gearing and better cooling too and the 2wd’s are generally built as lightweight commuters.
For 1500lbs you do not need a BIG tranny cooler like this guy says, (he has also been telling people to hook up aux coolers incorrectly and that Detriot has been doing their aux coolers wrong for years) a small one will work just fine as you can over cool the oil and the brake controller is debatable too unless you plan to tow in hills or your state requires it with that load. (some states it is 1000lbs)IF you get up to 2000lbs with that vehical I would go for trailer brakes either electric or surge brakes.
yeah, well, over 250 satisfied customers say my method works just fine
you can't 'overcool' it
no way
'surge brakes' ????
is there any end to your utterly idiotic advice ?
What are you responding to? Did I miss something or is my news server screwed up??
Al
My 1991 Ranger, 3.0L V6 with 5 speed OD transmission, hauls a 1200lb utility trailer quite easily. I've had my 250 Honda ATV on the trailer (500lbs with trailer) plus my buddies 250 Honda (400lbs by itself) on the bed of my truck, and the truck hauled it quite easily. My truck has no tranny cooler installed and there were no indications of it overheating, burning clutch or anything else. Mind you, this is all I ever plan on hauling with it, but it would probably handle a 1200lb load just as easily.
Sharky
On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 23:53:45 +0000, Sharky rearranged some electrons to form:
Ummm, transmission coolers are for AUTOMATIC transmissions.
I am sure it does okay towing the load but a small aux cooler is cheap insurance because I can promise you that tranny is running warmer towing and when the oil smells burnt it is to late and it can get warm enough to shorten life some without burning the oil. With current setup, when you tow the engine works hard so it make more heat so it cools tranny fluid a little less because coolant is warmer due to increased flow and tranny need cooling more because it is getting warmer to. You do not need to add a big cooler as in your case something around 5" x 10" or so would work fine. It will extend tranny life and give you piece of mind because even if engine gets hot, tranny will stay cooler because with current setup when engine gets hot, so does tranny.
Where did I indicate that my transmission was automatic in that post? Because of the fact that my transmission is a 5 speed, it makes it easier to tow because I can manually select the gear as I need it. However, I only haul my trailer every so often, and when I do, it is not very far, so I am not concerned about damaging my transmission. Besides, if I need to haul a larger load, I have a half ton truck geared up for towing as well.
SnoMan, I agree with you, but you'd be suprised how easy that little truck hauls a large load. Possibly it may be because of the rear axle gearing, I'm not sure. But when I had that load of just under 1000lbs on the truck, the engine was not struggling for power or lugging up any hills. For a 3.0L V6, it sure seems to have a fair amount of torque in the first 3 gears. Like I said earlier, if I towed with it every day, I would be more concerned about damage. But if that were the case, I would have a larger truck more suited for towing regularly.
Getting back to the original post, depending on the amount of usage of the trailer, he may want to look at a different truck. Possibly a 4wd Ranger, with the 4.0L V6, which are known to have quite a bit more power than the
3.0L, but less reliability.Sharky
be sure you check fluid level EVERY oil change
the manual used in your truck has the shift rails in the top cover, with the rear openings closed by rubber plugs
the plugs dry up and shrink, the gears throw oil up onto the shift rails, it runs backand out the holes that are poorly plugged
every manual that comes in here with the 'all I have left is 4th (straight-thru)' has about a handdful of sludge and gear dust in the bottom of the case
Transurgeon, thanx for the warning. Unfortunately, I learned about this problem 3 years ago, just after I bought the truck. By the time I was sitting on the highway with the rear output shaft snapped in two, it was too late. But that's what happened to it, fluid had not been checked since the original owner bought it new in 1991. Up until that point, it had been leaking out of those 3 rubber plugs that are known to leak.
Sharky
Stick shifts are usually geared deeper (not always) because the lack the avantage of a torque converter. My wife has a 2000 Cherokee with a
4cyl and 5 speed and it came with a factory 4.10 axle ratio. I have towed 2000 lbs with it with not much effort and it does surprizing well with it because of gearing and engines power curve which has good low speed and mid range torque. I would not want to go cross country with a lot of long hills to climb with that much weight with it but I am sure it would hold up as that thing appears well built. 1000 lbs behind it is no big deal and you can cruise on hiway with that amount too. ALso, I would not just check tranny fluid level in the gear box, I would change it too every 30 or 40 k miles because manual trannies are often neglected in that regard which can shorten there service life too.On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 01:00:11 +0000, Sharky rearranged some electrons to form:
You didn't. That's why I wondered why you thought not having a cooler was even relevant.
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