Towing 3 Bikes with a Ford Ranger i4?

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Bigevildoer

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Hi.
I'm planning a trip down to the Dragon with 2 other buddies.
Problem is, I'm the only one with a pickup truck and access to a trailer.

My truck - 2008 Ford Ranger 4 cylinder.
The GVWR is 4299 lbs. Towing capacity of 1541 lbs.

Here's my dilemma - I can theoretically carry my bike in the bed (Buell 1125r - 400lbs wet), and load 2 bikes in a trailer (R1 and something else (bike just stolen, being replaced by something else very shortly)). I'm figuring 400 lbs each bike. That makes 1200-1300 lbs (give or take) total load. Well within spec I think.

To make it more interesting, I don't have the dedicated towing hitch, but just the step hitch with a max tongue load of 200 lbs (not a big deal I don't think).

Anyone have experience towing with a truck this size?
I've only carried my bike in the bed so far.

I don't want to overload my truck. All the numbers are within spec, but I don't want to stress it to the max either.

Any thoughts?

p.s. oh yeah - there will be a second vehicle going down as well to carry gear and such. Not crazy enough to try to cram 3 people in a regular cab pickup (without air conditioning) for 13-14 hours each direction.
 
I used to tow a 2000 pound pop-up with a 1986 Ford Ranger inline 4 cylinder. You had to plan ahead for the hills with that one. The newer engines should put out more power these days so that will be less of an issue.

What's the weight of the trailer? If the two bikes on the trailer are 900 pounds total, that means your trailer can be no more than 641 pounds in weight if you want to keep within specs. Going slightly over should be no real issue though. For proper towing stability, tongue weight on your step bumper should be 10 to 15% of the total trailer weight, so proper trailer loading to get that weight balanced is something to keep in mind.

Curb weight of a regular cab Ranger will be somewhere around 3120 pounds, leaving 1179 pounds for driver/passenger and fuel, plus weight of the bike in the bed, plus the tongue weight of the trailer on the step bumper hitch.

Full load of fuel will be about 100 pounds. Bike in bed will be 400 pounds. Trailer tongue weight will be around 200 pounds, maybe a bit more. That leaves 479 pounds for the rest. You will be? Carrying a passenger, yes or no?

It looks like you're going to be near the truck's spec limits. Plan ahead for the hills. And plan ahead for the stops. The Ranger's brakes will be working hard to get you stopped.
 
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^ Pretty sure the bike in the bed would count towards the towing weight.

You will be over the rated towing capacity with three bikes and a trailer.
 
A friend of mine had an older ranger with the 4cyl and with 3 250 2-strokes in the back + gear it wasn't happy.
 
It can be done, in fact a friend of mine just did it. I was on a ride from Toronto to memphis with a bunch of friends and three of them decided to do the Dragon's tail on the way back (I didn't have time). While they where on their way one bike broke down and one guy got hurt ( nothing major) so they rented a uhaul trailer and hitched it to the 1997 ford ranger sport that had been our support truck. They threw one bike in the back and two in the trailer and drove back to Canada. The roads are pretty straight and flat the whole way back, so it was an easy haul and they had no issues.
 
bvickerd said:
It can be done, in fact a friend of mine just did it. I was on a ride from Toronto to memphis with a bunch of friends and three of them decided to do the Dragon's tail on the way back (I didn't have time). While they where on their way one bike broke down and one guy got hurt ( nothing major) so they rented a uhaul trailer and hitched it to the 1997 ford ranger sport that had been our support truck. They threw one bike in the back and two in the trailer and drove back to Canada. The roads are pretty straight and flat the whole way back, so it was an easy haul and they had no issues.
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Umm.. I-75 through Tennessee and Kentucky is a lot of things.. straight and flat it is not.

What motor did the Ranger have? There's a big difference between the 2.3L I4 and the 4.0L V6.
 
dricked said:
A friend of mine had an older ranger with the 4cyl and with 3 250 2-strokes in the back + gear it wasn't happy.
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How the *$^#@ did they get 3 bikes in the back?!? 1 fits nice, 2 would be tight... sure, they're dirt bikes so a bit narrower, but egads! The bikes must have been like sardines...
 
caboose483 said:
^ Pretty sure the bike in the bed would count towards the towing weight.

You will be over the rated towing capacity with three bikes and a trailer.
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After reading the manual a bit, the bike in the back doesn't count towards towing capacity - just towards the GVCR.

So, it sounds like the truck could potentially do it, but it would be near the limits of it's capacity.

Think I'm going to have to pass on this idea then. Last thing I want to do is get there with a wrecked powertrain...

Thanks for all of your input everyone!
 
Weight in the box is payload, not towing weight. It rates the same as passenger weight.
Your poor little truck will be working, and it certainly isn't ideal, but it can be done. Get a trailer that is absolutely as light as possible. If you can get one with brakes you will be doing yourself a favour. 4 times, I used a very light single axle trailer without brakes, and towed a CBR600F3 and an FZR600 to Deals Gap behind a 1992 Jetta turbi diesel (pre-TDi) that made 59 hp. And I had no problems managing highway speed, and never had to leave 5th gear on I75 all the way there. STarts and stops were a matter of accelerating very gently and being patint....and I managed 40+ mpg doing it!!

Be patient, and drive like you have a glass of water on the dashboard.
Once you get to Knoxville, drive very gently from there on-it will be easy to overload and overheat the brakes. If the truck is a 5 spd, that will be an advantage on the backroads down there.
 
My biggest concern would be brakes, especially in hilly terrain. That is quite a load for those brakes to deal with. Glad to see you are passing on this idea. Ride the bikes down. That's what they are for. I've done it three times in colder weather than this.
 
Ride a bike to reduce weight (at least during the hilly portions)? Take the truck and trailer incase one isn't rideable on the way home.
 
Thom said:
My biggest concern would be brakes, especially in hilly terrain. That is quite a load for those brakes to deal with. Glad to see you are passing on this idea. Ride the bikes down. That's what they are for. I've done it three times in colder weather than this.
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Would consider that, but we're on a limited time frame (leave Sunday afternoon or at worst, early Monday morning, and absolutely must return on Friday). Riding the bikes down by highway slab would also kill our tires (I think we've all got Michelin Pilot Power 2CTs) - we'd have flat spots down to the cords by the time we got back.

As for brakes - I agree - that's one of the biggest reasons I'm deciding against taking all 3 bikes. It's an automatic, so I could turn off the overdrive to help with gear seeking and some minor engine braking but that's it.
 
GreyGhost said:
Ride a bike to reduce weight (at least during the hilly portions)? Take the truck and trailer incase one isn't rideable on the way home.
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That's not a horrible idea to be honest, but as commented a few minutes ago, I think I'm going to pass on taking all 3 bikes on my truck. We'll have to see about getting a larger more capable vehicle.
 
I towed about that much to Nova Scotia and back, and to Grattan MI and back several times, with a 4-banger carbureted Toyota pickup years ago. Foot to the floor all the way to NS and back, no problem. But, mine was a manual. I wouldn't do it with an automatic, particularly in the mountains of KY and TN.
 
Dosn't sound like a good idea.
Your at the max of your towing with 2 bikes + trailer. When a maunfacturer rates there towin limit on a vehicle they always use the max number. And these max numbers are calculated from 0-70kph and 70-0kph on a level surface.
I just got back from the gap with 5 bikes, riders, gear and a 1000lbs trailer with my v8 f150. She did it ok but was working the entire time, and that was about 3000lbs below what it's rated to tow.
 
boooya said:
I just got back from the gap with 5 bikes, riders, gear and a 1000lbs trailer with my v8 f150. She did it ok but was working the entire time, and that was about 3000lbs below what it's rated to tow.
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Well let's see - 5 bikes = 2000-2600 lbs depending on bikes, more if any were cruisers, 5 riders = 1000 pounds give or take, Gear and suitcases etc = 250-300 lbs, trailer = 1000 lbs... that's getting close to 5000 pounds! Friend of mine has a v8 F150 as well and uses it to tow his big camper... gets lousy gas mileage doing it, but doesn't suffer beyond that. The F150s are a solid product.

Thanks for your info on tow limit etc - very helpful (seriously!)
 
Bigevildoer said:
Would consider that, but we're on a limited time frame (leave Sunday afternoon or at worst, early Monday morning, and absolutely must return on Friday). Riding the bikes down by highway slab would also kill our tires (I think we've all got Michelin Pilot Power 2CTs) - we'd have flat spots down to the cords by the time we got back.

As for brakes - I agree - that's one of the biggest reasons I'm deciding against taking all 3 bikes. It's an automatic, so I could turn off the overdrive to help with gear seeking and some minor engine braking but that's it.
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Your truck should have the same brakes as the one with the 4.0. The only thing you will be down on is power.

If you used a lightweight, rail type trailer with one bike in the box you shouldn't have much trouble. Since there is another vehicle coming along put all the gear in it and just use the truck for the bikes. Tranny cooler is a good idea and would be a wise investment anyway.
 
i regularly loaded ~2000 lbs of scrap metal into the bed of a 1996 i4 ranger. it eventually died after a few years of that, but it was running 10 hours a day 5 days a week. it was the shop truck... picking up/delivering engines and cleaning out the scrap pile in the back.

your truck wont have a problem handling this
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