Hi,

I have had my Ranger for 7 years. It's a 4x2, V6 4.0 automatic Supercab. I thought I was told at one point by a Ford dealer that this year was made with 3 different rear differentials and my truck was made to pull a lot.

I want to buy a travel trailer and my mechanic in Greeley (who hasn't seen my truck in 3 years) told me that 2800 lbs would kill my truck.

I need help as all of the Ford dealers that I have called could not give my any information on how heavy of a trailer I can pull. And I'm a newbie and not certain what I need besides the obvious of lights and a brake controller. Could someone please help me out here?

Thank you!!!

Oh, and I just had my transmission rebuilt and it only has 600 miles on it. What can I do to protect my transmission pulling any weight of trailer? Also, my truck has an Overdrive, which I never use...

 

I haven't hauled anything with my Ranger, but I've hauled stuff in a couple similar Fords. The only big issue I can see is that the Ranger is a small, light truck, and hauling stuff that weighs nearly as much as the vehicle itself is dangerous from a handling point of view.

As far as improving the transmission performance, you should be fine ... you can add a 4wd oil pan to the tranny, along with a 4wd filter, to increase capacity and keep temps slightly lower ... but that's for the 5r55e and I'm not sure if that's what the '99 comes with.

There are plenty of aftermarket trans coolers you can add but you'd have to consider the effort of modifying the body to install one, and they only provide a slight improvement.

 

I am actually looking at getting a full-size truck that can easily handle 4,000 - 5,000 lbs. Not need to kill my little Ranger. Thank you for your response and help!