Ranger 2.3L Towing 4000+ lb. Winnebago Trailer -- pic & impression

[RichR]

Just towed this home - three hour drive. No weight distribution hitch. Truck only dropped 2"

Was pretty impressed - the 2.3 did a better than expected job even climbing grades.

The 2" drop in the rear raises the headlights up into the eyes of oncoming drivers. Do yourself a favor and get a WDH.

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[mattmico]

Just towed this home - three hour drive. No weight distribution hitch. Truck only dropped 2"

Was pretty impressed - the 2.3 did a better than expected job even climbing grades.

We’ve towed our 2015 1706FB MiniWinnie with our newly received 2024 last year. Both times have been fairly local to music festivals. I’ve towed with and w/o the WDH and found it’s worth having. Yes, the Ranger comes with sway control that works well but not well enough for me. I already had the WDH and used it with the 2015 Buick we used to tow with. High mileage had me looking for a replacement and the Ranger fit the bill. Our RV is 3000lbs empty and 4495 loaded. The Ranger gives us the ability to tow more, when the time comes and have more payload.

 

[The Lone Ranger]

Be sure to weigh the axles and tongue when it is fully loaded with fluids and your personal stuff. It may appear to be satisfactory with a simple ball mount, but a good WD hitch like an Andersen will control that annoying jouncing on choppy highways, keeping your copilot happy, plus it will level out the truck and put extra weight on the steering tires (more stability)... Have you checked the trailer tire pressures yet? I bet they are grossly over inflated. Don’t pump them up to the max sidewall value, use those axle scale weights to adjust them correctly Add a good TPMS if it doesn’t already have one.

Remember that high elevations require you to “derate” the tow figures by 2% per 1000 feet, as per the Ranger Towing Guide and common sense.

Do you have any previous towing experience?

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

Previous tow experience (other than a 2500 lb. sled boat I have towed for 15 years and a 20 ft. Komfort trailer I towed 30 years ago) has been an Rpod 190 for the past 3 years. That trailer is 1000# lighter and single axle and 6.5' wide body compared to new trailer 7' wide body.

 

[The Lone Ranger]

Why no weight distribution hitch?

No WDH because I wanted to see how it towed without one. For what it is worth Winnebago stated it was not necessary on this trailer with the tow vehicle I proposed. When I bought my last trailer - an Rpod- dealer wanted me to buy a WDH - but I did not and never felt any need for one.............. so always a little leery of dealer "over sell" if you know what I mean ?

 

[The Lone Ranger]

This looks like the trailer’s in the sweet spot for ranger towing, assuming it has the max tow package. The truck looks pretty close to level, but in the photo it looks like the trailer could benefit from a height-adjustable hitch as the front seems to be higher than the back (putting more weight on the trailer’s rear axle).

Picture is a little deceiving - it actually is sitting pretty level.

 

[The Lone Ranger]

Because a WD hitch is an expensive, heavy, long term hassle that takes away from your already minimal payload, and it is debatable if it is truly needed for light weight trailers like a Micro Minnie; it does indeed add safety, but if you tow on unimproved forest roads, it is becomes a serious liability. So is a regular ball coupler in that case. The OP is in Oregon, I doubt that he will never stray off pavement, but I would appreciate hearing about his intended usage.

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

Intended use- paved roads, maybe a gravel road, no off road or forest roads.

 

[superj]

all i know is it looks great. i think that will be a blast to use and hope yall gets tons of fun out of it.

we used our travel trailer so little that i regretted buying it. it got used maybe 3 times and then around the house when people came to visit. it sat so much i had to replace the tires when i sold it because of rot and i had to repalce the ac because the fins had corroded off and it wasn;t cooling enough to keep the interior temps below 80 in our south texas 110 degree and 90% humidity summers. i upgraded it to a 12000 btu from the 8k and it was a huge improvement for the next owners. a little old lady who was a retired school teacher and wanted to take her dog camping with her nissan frontier as a tow truck.

i wanted to use it alot but just never got to go anywhere. my wife is anti camping so that threw a wrench in the plans

 

[LLCCPA]

No WDH because I wanted to see how it towed without one. For what it is worth Winnebago stated it was not necessary on this trailer with the tow vehicle I proposed. When I bought my last trailer - an Rpod- dealer wanted me to buy a WDH - but I did not and never felt any need for one.............. so always a little leery of dealer "over sell" if you know what I mean ?

Yes I know what you mean. If you are towing fine without one then that's good. I use one with my camper that is similar in size to yours- just my preference.

 

[30coupe]

I suppose it depends on your state laws, but we have to have sway control here in Iowa for anything over 3000 pounds. I've towed my tandem axle utility trailer without a WD hitch and I'm pretty sure I was close to 7500 pounds. No sway control needed behind my 2017 F150. On the other hand, my travel trailer is 4100 pounds dry, 5900 pounds maxed out. I wouldn't tow without the WD hitch with sway control simply due to the aerodynamics or lack thereof with a camper.

I'm still debating whether I could do this camper, 2013 Rockwood Mini-lite 2502s, with a Ranger simply due to the frontal area since it is 8' wide.

 

[Greatlakespilot]

Just towed this home - three hour drive. No weight distribution hitch. Truck only dropped 2"

Was pretty impressed - the 2.3 did a better than expected job even climbing grades.

Nice Rv! My wife and I are looking at the exact same one. How do you like?

 

[jeffers]

4000lbs is well under the tow rating, which where you want to be. Just have to be careful adding weight in your own gear/luggage.

 

[jeffers]

I towed 45,000 lbs trailers for about ten years. My advice is get off the road whenever you have bad weather especially high winds or snow and ice. It doesn't take much for things to go wrong with light trucks and light trailers

 

[The Lone Ranger]

Nice Rv! My wife and I are looking at the exact same one. How do you like?

Haven't had a chance to take it out yet - just got it home. It's a 2023 model 2018TB - we really like that floorplan with the twin beds- converts to King bed if you want and has nice large dinette and bathroom - plus Dometic absorption refrigerator !!

 

[chasc]

For what it’s worth, in 2 years of towing our 3,500lb (dry) travel trailer the only time I’ve experienced real sway (bad enough the electronic Ford sway control kicked in) was the one time I skipped installing the WDH spring bars to go 10 mi across town at 65mph. The WDH has also made squat equal at all 4 tires and from CAT scale measurements it equally distributes weight across front and rear axles (plus shifting a bit off onto the trailer axle).

 

[HHIRAP]

Just towed this home - three hour drive. No weight distribution hitch. Truck only dropped 2"

Was pretty impressed - the 2.3 did a better than expected job even climbing grades.

Looks great! I am jealous!
We had been looking back in December and January at 19’ E-PRO’s, we decided to wait and really think it through first. We are just worried that life will get busy and we won’t use it enough. In all honesty we would be lucky to use one 3-4 times a year.

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