What are you towing with your 6th Gen Ranger?

[crawford]

I'm not sure how you meant it, but when I hear "not recommended" that suggests it could be harmful. Looking over the 2024 towing guide again I can't find anything suggesting you "should not" use a WDH with a Ranger, only several places that confirm it's not "required". Page 41 does have an example where WDH is "not recommended" for the Transit van, but for Ranger it just says "Not Required". There is also a suggestion in the guide that small travel trailers are usually towed with a WDH (screenshot attached).

I weighed my 2021 Ranger and trailer at a CAT scale. The published base weight for my 20' trailer is 3,400 lbs. Without WDH bars installed the weight on my rear axle was 3,120 lbs, which is only 250 lbs away from the rear GAWR of 3,370 lbs. This was empty trailer, single person, empty truck. Any more than 250 lbs of payload in the bed or truck and I'd probably be over my GAWR.

Compare that to with the WDH spring bars installed: Now my rear axle is 2,640 lbs and my front axle 2,680 lbs. I have a ton of usable payload capacity left without exceeding GAWR and I've got equal weight on the front and rear axles (instead of removing 280 lbs from the front, steering wheels).

So could you tow 7,500 lbs without a WDH? Probably yes, but you'd likely need the truck to be completely empty to avoid maxing out your rear axle. That's not realistic for most people taking a trip with their camper though. Add in the benefits of the sway control you get with most WDH and it can add up to a much more comfortable/enjoyable (and probably safer in emergency situations) experience.

thank you for your reply. i probably didn't choose my words well when saying "not recommended"...i was thinking more along the lines of "not required". your cat scale measurements are interesting for sure and make me think that the WDH is actually very helpful. where i usually get hung up is the weight of the WDH itself and the extra weight that that takes from payload capacity. i have plenty of payload left with the trailer hooked up and probably shouldn't worry about the extra WDH weight. but i always did wonder why the tow guide didn't mention a WDH in the ranger section at all while other trucks give a weight with and without weight distribution. was it just an oversight in the tow guide or is it really "not required".

i am pretty new to all this and have towed a trailer about 5 times (including small trips from the dealer and back). we bought our trailer last year and used it only 1 time this summer because one of our family members got sick and we had to change our plans and cancel our other camping trips. before that we rented a trailer last summer that was closer to 4000 lb and towed it a few hundred kilometers with my 2020 ranger. i didn't feel like it was difficult to control or that the trailer was too much for the truck at all. i did keep my speeds on the slower side though at around 55 mph. i actually got pretty decent fuel economy too at around 15mpg. there weren't many hills involved and the winds were calm. i am excited to try my 2025 with the 2.7 but might have to wait until next summer and i will put more thought into getting a WDH.

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[chasc]

thank you for your reply. i probably didn't choose my words well when saying "not recommended"...i was thinking more along the lines of "not required". your cat scale measurements are interesting for sure and make me think that the WDH is actually very helpful. where i usually get hung up is the weight of the WDH itself and the extra weight that that takes from payload capacity. i have plenty of payload left with the trailer hooked up and probably shouldn't worry about the extra WDH weight. but i always did wonder why the tow guide didn't mention a WDH in the ranger section at all while other trucks give a weight with and without weight distribution. was it just an oversight in the tow guide or is it really "not required".

i am pretty new to all this and have towed a trailer about 5 times (including small trips from the dealer and back). we bought our trailer last year and used it only 1 time this summer because one of our family members got sick and we had to change our plans and cancel our other camping trips. before that we rented a trailer last summer that was closer to 4000 lb and towed it a few hundred kilometers with my 2020 ranger. i didn't feel like it was difficult to control or that the trailer was too much for the truck at all. i did keep my speeds on the slower side though at around 55 mph. i actually got pretty decent fuel economy too at around 15mpg. there weren't many hills involved and the winds were calm. i am excited to try my 2025 with the 2.7 but might have to wait until next summer and i will put more thought into getting a WDH.

I think it's great to have an open mind about it. There's definitely a lot of opinions about WDH usage and even tribalism when it comes to brand loyalty. Even if it's too late to go camping this year you might find it a good excuse to use the new truck to pull your trailer to the nearest CAT scales and get your own measurements to help you decide. I've had the BlueOx Track Pro since the day we bought our trailer, but as a test I've gone without the spring bars for a couple short highway drives: Those were the only times I've ever had the trailer feel like it was starting to sway. If I'm just pulling the trailer at in-town speeds or on slow rutted dirt roads I'll go without WDH, but those few experiments have convinced me personally in the benefit of using it with our trailer on the highway.

 

[Dino Jockey]

I have a Modern Buggy BB16 that we camp in. It is around 2700 dry and i estimate around 3800 to 4k that I have once all goods are loaded. Camper has brakes and off road axle. Tows well and i get an avg of 10.9-11.3 mpg while towing, tow/haul mode of course. We towed the camper home with my wife’s 2024 xlt, 2.3, tow/haul and camper was m/t.

 

[schwartzki]

Have a Ranger Raptor and tow a NuCamp T@B 400 Boondock. Empty weight is 3k and typical camping weight is 3500lbs with about 400lbs on the hitch and under payload limits of the truck. Running an E2 WD hitch which is needed with the Raptors’ soft rear springs. Have just over 1300 towing miles and average mpg is 10.1 going at normal highway speed limit. Previous tow vehicles were a 3rd gen Tacoma(terrible at towing) but not as good as my diesel BMW X5

 

[Morningpride]

We tow our 20ft Gulfstream all over the country behind our XL. It weighs 3,000lbs dry, so I would imagine about 3800 loaded. I upgraded the trailer tires to LRE, and plan on adding a set of LT's to the truck to help with stability. She pulls the camper no prob (12.5mpg) but away is an issue. I couldn't imagine pulling this down the highway without a WDH.

 

[superj]

We tow our 20ft Gulfstream all over the country behind our XL. It weighs 3,000lbs dry, so I would imagine about 3800 loaded. I upgraded the trailer tires to LRE, and plan on adding a set of LT's to the truck to help with stability. She pulls the camper no prob (12.5mpg) but away is an issue. I couldn't imagine pulling this down the highway without a WDH.

i wonder if a rear sway bar would help also?

 

[ADVNTURR]

We tow our 20ft Gulfstream all over the country behind our XL. It weighs 3,000lbs dry, so I would imagine about 3800 loaded. I upgraded the trailer tires to LRE, and plan on adding a set of LT's to the truck to help with stability. She pulls the camper no prob (12.5mpg) but away is an issue. I couldn't imagine pulling this down the highway without a WDH.

Part of the problem with a lot of campers is that they end up tongue heavy which would make a WDH more critical. I tow my track car on a 17' open trailer that with spare tires and car is a shade above 5000lb but I can strap the car down where I want on the trailer to achieve the ~10% tongue load target and everything tows just fine with no sway. Would a WDH hurt me, I'm sure it wouldn't, but as of right now with my trailer setup it tows quite well.

 

[Mean Dean]

I did a trip for Labor Day weekend, towed my ~3000lb bass boat 2 hours to Lake Hartwell. Pulled it fine and plenty of power (2.3L) to get up hills. I was pleasantly surprised when the average MPG in the instrument cluster said 15.5MPG, it did better than my old 2017 Expedition with the 3.5L that I was lucky to get 14.5MPG.

 

[Wayfaring Ranger]

Picked this 2025 T@B 400 boondock up in May. Weight with tanks filled is probably just under 3500. Truck pulls it great, only downside is our smaller gas tank but at 70mph i can still go 2-3 hours before needing to fill. My truck is a 2.3L.

No WDH necessary but I was required to install a sway bar when taking it off the dealer's lot.

 

[MedicineMan4040]

Picked this 2025 T@B 400 boondock up in May. Weight with tanks filled is probably just under 4500. Truck pulls it great, only downside is our smaller gas tank but at 70mph i can still go 2-3 hours before needing to fill. My truck is a 2.3L.

No WDH necessary but I was required to install a sway bar when taking it off the dealer's lot.

Great looking set up!!

 

[chasc]

Picked this 2025 T@B 400 boondock up in May. Weight with tanks filled is probably just under 4500.

4,500lb seems like a lot compared to my trailer which is bigger. NuCamp seem to list the T@b 400 as 2,900lb dry, 3,900 GAWR. Is there something different about yours?

 

[Wayfaring Ranger]

4,500lb seems like a lot compared to my trailer which is bigger. NuCamp seem to list the T@b 400 as 2,900lb dry, 3,900 GAWR. Is there something different about yours?

you're right, i mispoke. I do have the slightly larger front tub on the 2025 plus the full size spare but wet weight on mine is probably closer to 3500.

 

[Dingus83]

Have a tongue weight question, but didn’t want to make a new topic. Looking at teardrop/square drop/small toy haulers. Specifically looking at the Intech Flyer Discover. States a tongue weight of 520 lbs; would the general consensus be that’s too close to limit of the truck?

Dry weight is max 2,700 so even loaded up maybe 4,000 lbs which would be fine.

 

[bigb]

Have a tongue weight question, but didn’t want to make a new topic. Looking at teardrop/square drop/small toy haulers. Specifically looking at the Intech Flyer Discover. States a tongue weight of 520 lbs; would the general consensus be that’s too close to limit of the truck?

Dry weight is max 2,700 so even loaded up maybe 4,000 lbs which would be fine.

Could you supply some more info? What is your payload and what all will be in the truck when you travel? Does the quoted 520 lbs of tongue weight listed include things mounted on the tongue like propane or batteries? I see they show the GVWR at 5,200 lbs, so it looks like they figured the 520 lbs TW at 10% of 5,200 which may be a little light, most towing recommendations are for 13%. But if you stay at 4,000 like you say 13% of that is 520. The difference between 10% and 13% can mean sway or no sway. (In other countries they use lesser tongue weights because they are limited to slower towing speeds than we are, so with only a 10% TW you'd probably want to drive slower).

It can add up quick though by the time you add in all your camping gear, your water and your toys. Most people don't realize how fast all that stuff adds up.

I always recommend that people weigh their truck at the CAT scales before buying a trailer just to see how much actual payload they have. Then subtract the weight of the people, pets, fuel and gear that will be in the truck for a trip and that's how much you have left for your TW. If you get the CAT app you don't even need to go inside the building.

I would suggest that you go with 13% of 5,200 which is going to give you a TW of 676 lbs. Especially if you plan to put any motorized toys back there.
(You might also be bumping pretty close to that 5,500 lb Raptor towing limit)

 

[Morningpride]

i wonder if a rear sway bar would help also?

Rear sway bar??

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