Ford Ranger and a Fiver

NMRandy · 10-13-2020, 11:09 AM

I passed a Ford Ranger pulling a Fifth wheel RV last weekend. It was a strugglin'. PLEASE DONT'T DO THIS!!! I couldn't get away fast enough. This guy must have had a death wish.

travelin texans · 10-13-2020, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NMRandy

I passed a Ford Ranger pulling a Fifth wheel RV last weekend. It was a strugglin'. PLEASE DONT'T DO THIS!!! I couldn't get away fast enough. This guy must have had a death wish.

"But it says it'll tow XXXXX lbs & I'm 100 lbs less than that so I'm good!"..............

JJaxon · 10-13-2020, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelin texans

"But it says it'll tow XXXXX lbs & I'm 100 lbs less than that so I'm good!"..............

Riiiiiiiggghhhht.

At first thought, was if you don't have a pic it didn't happen.... but then, some things we see these days remove all logic from the equation, so, anything is possible. If true, it'll likely show up again with pictures, and twisted in a pile. I can't imagine what the payload sticker reads on that truck, and is the bed wide enough for a hitch?

wiredgeorge · 10-13-2020, 12:37 PM

2020 Ford Ranger

UP TO 7,500 LBS. TOWING AND BEST-IN-CLASS PAYLOAD*

You carry gear – and lots of it. That’s why the 2020 Ranger delivers an impressive 7,500 lb. tow rating and a best-in-class maximum 1,860-lb. payload rating.* So whether you need to haul it or tow it, the 2020 Ford Ranger is ready for your next adventure.

(very very fine print)

*Max payload on SuperCab, 4x2. Not shown. Class is Midsize Pickups. SuperCrew, 4x4 shown. See label on vehicle door jamb for the carrying capacity of a specific vehicle. Max towing when equipped with Trailer Tow Package. Max towing varies based on cargo, vehicle configuration, accessories and number of passengers. Towing and payload are independent attributes and may not be achieved simultaneously.

-----------
The above is from the Ford website. And 5th wheel hitches ARE being manufactured:
https://realtruck.com/c/exterior-accessories/towing-equipment/hitches/5th-wheel-hitches/v/ford/ranger/2020/

Next Keystone fifth wheel model out will be the THIRD TON TOWABLE Fifth Wheel!

wiredgeorge · 10-13-2020, 12:42 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh5vRdquvzU

Northofu1 · 10-13-2020, 12:47 PM

Beats this set up.

travelin texans · 10-13-2020, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh5vRdquvzU

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Here's what I say to that!!!

wiredgeorge · 10-13-2020, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northofu1

Beats this set up.

Pretty sure that tow vehicle might be an experimental 2022 Ford Ranger!

Northofu1 · 10-13-2020, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Pretty sure that tow vehicle might be an experimental 2022 Ford Ranger!

Probably electric

rhagfo · 10-13-2020, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NMRandy

I passed a Ford Ranger pulling a Fifth wheel RV last weekend. It was a strugglin'. PLEASE DONT'T DO THIS!!! I couldn't get away fast enough. This guy must have had a death wish.

Well was it something like a Scamp or more like a 1/2 ton Keystone?

NMRandy · 10-13-2020, 01:23 PM

No ... It was an older ranger, like early 90's. I didn't know it was a Ranger until I started to pass. I wanted a pic but didn't have the camera ready, and wasn't going to hang around him any longer than necessary. He probably had the hitch strapped down with ratchet straps!! LOL. Both the truck and fiver were rough.

wiredgeorge · 10-13-2020, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NMRandy

No ... It was an older ranger, like early 90's. I didn't know it was a Ranger until I started to pass. I wanted a pic but didn't have the camera ready, and wasn't going to hang around him any longer than necessary. He probably had the hitch strapped down with ratchet straps!! LOL. Both the truck and fiver were rough.

I paid cash for a 1993 Ford Ranger. It was stripped; no rear bumper, no A/C, little bitty engine and stick shift. I can assure that truck couldn't support the weight of even the smallest fifth wheel. Wow. Next time you REALLY need to get a pic as it is astounding that a teeny ranger could pull anything. My youngest was looking for her first vehicle in 1995 and couldn't find one in her budget so I sold it to her for $3K and bought a used 1996 F150 Texas Edition. Staight six and four speed and LOVED gas...

**sourdough** · 10-13-2020, 03:25 PM

Come on now. Ford Rangers were a beast!! Bought a new 83 w/2.3L (140c.i.) 4 cylinder/4 speed. Actually, it was a pretty good billy goat and I drove it in some places 4wd vehicles had troubles with (but it was tiny). And with 80hp I have no doubt it could have pulled a giant 5th wheel.....but didn't want to try; that Jayco pop up was all my particular truck wanted...

wiredgeorge · 10-13-2020, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourdough

Come on now. Ford Rangers were a beast!! Bought a new 83 w/2.3L (140c.i.) 4 cylinder/4 speed. Actually, it was a pretty good billy goat and I drove it in some places 4wd vehicles had troubles with (but it was tiny). And with 80hp I have no doubt it could have pulled a giant 5th wheel.....but didn't want to try; that Jayco pop up was all my particular truck wanted...

Fondness for a particular vehicle is perhaps a bit age induced. I remember my knees uip near my shoulders the front seat was so cramped. My friend I worked with bought super cab or whatever they called the model with the jump seat so he could scoot the seat back a couple more inches. The little Ranger was red so I looked fairly stylish for a driver with his knees visible in the side driver window.

**sourdough** · 10-13-2020, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Fondness for a particular vehicle is perhaps a bit age induced. I remember my knees uip near my shoulders the front seat was so cramped. My friend I worked with bought super cab or whatever they called the model with the jump seat so he could scoot the seat back a couple more inches. The little Ranger was red so I looked fairly stylish for a driver with his knees visible in the side driver window.

Ahhhhh, nostalgia! Mine was blue. Speaking of towing; in 1985 gave it to my son to use for his large and growing lawn business. He had to have a trailer and I bought him an OLD WWII suprlus water buffalo trailer (painted bright yellow); built like a tank (literally) with a wood frame around to top (water tank was long gone). Worked well. This think had the original, very old, wire wheels and what were I'm sure the original tires - about 90 plies, hard as steel (doubt you could have drilled a hole in them with a HS bit). Loaded it up to go deer hunting and had a blowout on one about 75 miles from the nearest town. Pulled the wheel/tire and took it to a tire shop in Carlsbad NM. That tire was so old and stout their machines wouldn't touch it. They ended up using hammers, chisels and everything else they could find to break, and then remove, the bead. Manager said they had never seen anything like it - it was almost grown to the wheel. But I digress.....back to the Rangers...trucks.

gearhead · 10-14-2020, 02:48 AM

I had the super cab model, I guess a mid 1990's. Pretty good truck for what I bought it for...40 mile one way commute to work. Had a V-6 and I pulled a utility trailer with 2 ATV's on it to the hunting lease about every weekend of hunting season. Relatively trouble free, one little issue. I passed it on to the son and he drove it forever.
My brother just bought a new one. It's a good bit bigger than the earlier models.
Were the first ones actually Mazda's? We had several of them at work for "in the plant" use and seems when you looked under the hood everything said Mazda. Dang that was a while back.

**JRTJH** · 10-14-2020, 06:24 AM

If I remember correctly, the 1980 Ford Ranger was an F-100 designation and was a "full size truck". That year, Ford was still producing the Courier as the "compact truck". In 1981, Ford introduced the compact Ranger with a base 2300cc engine. I had a regular cab, 4x2 version and the payload was somewhere around 900 pounds.

In 2009, when we moved to northern Michigan, I bought a new Ford Ranger "supercab" V-6 4x4 with the folding side seats. It was "slightly larger" than my previous Ranger, but still "significantly compact"... The payload was 1120 pounds. That was, I believe, the maximum payload for Rangers in that era.

It was a very capable truck, sized properly to travel on "2 track roads" through the forest and still "tall enough to navigate unplowed, snow covered roads".

I'd be concerned with either of my Rangers and anything larger than a Scamp or Escape 5.0 size fifth wheel. The Scamp (single axle) GVW is 3500 pounds with a 20% pin weight of 700 pounds. The Escape is a dual axle with a GVW of 5500 pounds and a 20% pin weight of 1100 pounds.

So, even some of the "fiberglass bubbles" are going to push the "old style" Ranger's payload beyond reasonable safety margins.

Towing any "full size fifth wheel" even the shorter "super-light" models produced in the early 2000's, would dramatically overload the "heaviest of the compact Ranger trucks".

NMRandy · 10-14-2020, 07:36 AM

The Mazda B2300 was a rebadged Ford Ranger. The B2000 was all Mazda, and a entirely different truck. Ford sold a Mazda truck rebadged as a Ford Courier.

**chuckster57** · 10-14-2020, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NMRandy

The Mazda B2300 was a rebadged Ford Ranger. The B2000 was all Mazda, and a entirely different truck. Ford sold a Mazda truck rebadged as a Ford Courier.

I had a courier...’72 I think. took almost a mile to get to 55mph on flat highway

**flybouy** · 10-14-2020, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckster57

I had a courier...’72 I think. took almost a mile to get to 55mph on flat highway

Had a mid-late '70s Datsun pick up. 4 speed with a granny gears 1st. gear that would pull a house down but in 4th gear was wound up doing 65 mph. I think WOT was about 74 mph downhill. That little truck had more frame and springs under it than the big 3 full size pick ups of the time.

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