07 ranger as bronco tow truck?????

[maggard12]

anybody ever pull an eb with a ranger? considering getting a 70 off craigslist and dont have a real good tow vehicle other than dads 07 ext cab 4x4 ranger.....would it pull it and most importantly, would it stop it?

 

[wheelsblank27]

What motor is in the ranger? Stick or auto? I used to have a 2000 w a v6 5spd.and tow package that pulled a 17ft boat no problem. Also consider where you are towing.. Up hills? Long dist? I wouldnt tow up any steep grades . If auto I would add a trans cooler for sure

 

[lonesouth]

I wouldn't even consider it without trailer brakes. That said, people have hauled the moon with a 4cyl yugo, so I'm certain it could be done.

 

[maggard12]

thats some good points. its a 4.0 auto with towing package, i think it has a tranny cooler but not entirely sure

 

[KyleQ]

How far do you have to go and do you have trailer brakes? The EB is heavy-

 

[maggard12]

probably about 100 miles and i will probably be renting a uhal trailer, do those have brakes? i think they do.

 

[68rockcrawler]

Last time I rented a Uhaul trailer it had surge brakes, not standard trailer brakes that tie in to the vehicle's brakes.

 

[asinor]

I wouldn't. I'd rent a truck and trailer for the day.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Would it pull it? yes.
Safely? Probably not.

Lots of variables. Are you looking at bringing back a gutted shell on a properly set up trailer, that is probabaly OK. Flat tow, now way. Bronco is too heavy and will move the lightweight ass end of the ranger sideways on you when you least expect it.

 

[Fireball05]

The Uhaul trailer I rented the other week, and all others I've rented in the past have trailer brakes. That being said, the trailer is on the heavy side as is the EB.

My '02 Tundra, 4wd, V8, admittedly a bit tired with 200k miles, didn't like pulling it. It was fine, but certainly not great and I wouldn't want to have tried to tow the Bronco with anything less!

My $.02

 

[JSBX]

I owned a 2004 Ranger FX4 with a 4.0 V6 and auto transmission and pulled a 16' dual axel trailer with about 3000#on it. Total weight around 4500# and had no problems. I think the Ranger was rated at 5500# towing capacity. Your Bronco on a Uhaul trailer may be over what the Ranger is rated for. Then you may run into legal issues and if something does happen your insurance might not pay. These are some things you might want to look into before hand. Also Uhaul will want to know what car or truck you are going to put on there trailer and what you are going to tow with and they will let you know if it will work or not.

 

[needabronco]

I seriously doubt U-hual would even rent you a trailer if you showed up in a Ranger?

I'd also be willing to bet the Ranger is rated at closer to 3500 pounds not 5500

Yes the Ranger could probably pull it, but when you have to make a panic stop the Bronco will push your Ranger through whatever it is your trying to avoid...

 

[Airborne69]

Uhaul turned me down when I tried to rent a trailer to pull my bronco with an 89 f-250 tow rig. There is no way they would let you take the trailer off the lot with a ranger.

 

[broncnaz]

Would it pull it yes. Safely No. Should you do it ? Well thats up to you it can be done you just have to drive smart plan ahead and slow down way before you need to stop. but really it would be better to do the right thing and get a truck that can handle it.
Actually uhaul will rent you a trailer I believe 12 or 14 foot is the limit. I rented one to move with not long ago. 5500 lbs is the tow capacity rating for 4x4 extended cab ranger with auto.
I bumper pulled a bronco II with my 03 Ranger 4x4 extended cab. While it pulled ok it definetely was not the safest thing to do I ran fairly slow speed just to be safe. If you were making a turn from a stop the backend would push from the weight of the BII. While towing on a trailer would probably be safer as the uhaul trailer I towed handle much better than the bronco II did. I dont think uhual will rent you a car hauler for a ranger although I guess you could tell them you will be hauling a VW bug. Just have to figure that a bronco plus a trailer will most likely put you over the rangers tow rating.

 

[Justafordguy]

Uhaul turned me down when I tried to rent a trailer to pull my bronco with an 89 f-250 tow rig.

why, the f250 is rated to tow much higher than a bronco. are their trailers not rated to tow 4500lb vehicle?

 

[jw0747]

never...

trailer + Bronco together probably weigh way more than the Ranger. when you stop their weight will want to push the Ranger forward. also it'll be tough pulling that load uphill. it's a dangerous combo. flat towing the Bronco w/o the trailer would be more feasible but still that Ranger doesn't have the guts to make it work well.

 

[jw0747]

why, the f250 is rated to tow much higher than a bronco. are their trailers not rated to tow 4500lb vehicle?

Probably turned down for this reason: U-haul doesn't rent their car haulers to people who want to haul a vehicle with tires bigger than about 29s. bigger tires won't fit their front tie-downs. if you ever plan to rent a U-haul car hauler for your Bronco don't ever say your tires are big or identify what vehicle you plan to haul. tell them it's a Prius or a Ford Focus, rent the hauler and load it up at your house.

 

[Airborne69]

why, the f250 is rated to tow much higher than a bronco. are their trailers not rated to tow 4500lb vehicle?

They don't rent out based off of the towing ratings of the vehicles. They have a program which compares the weights of both the trailer and towed vehicles with that of the tow rig. If the weight ratio isn't within their limits, it becomes a liability and they wont do it. I ended up coming back another day and told them that I was towing a stock jeep yj.

 

[Hubba]

Go for it dude, I saw a POS Toyota pull the space shutle.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Go for it dude, I saw a POS Toyota pull the space shutle.

But it could only do 4MPH, could not turn, and had some very good trailer brakes. After a quarter mile they gave up and unhooked it.

What they should have done was put a little fuel in the tank and lit the engines on the shuttle for a second. That would have pushed it across the bridge;D