Well, since my Jeep won't be getting driven from the 19th to god knows when, I am going to start doing what I originally planned for it: Making it my trail rig.

My friend has an 18 foot trailer that he used to use to dolly his cars around on, and said that I can use it any time I want if I want to take my Jeep out on the trail.

I am wondering if anybody has pulled an 18 foot trailer behind their Ranger before, or any trailer for that matter. I know the gas mileage would plummet like crazy, but does a 4.0 have enough power to pull a trailer with a XJ Jeep on the back of it?

I would find a full sized truck to borrow.

I have a 97 3.0 splash reg cab auto and I have pulled a complete 90 iroc camaro,
a half stripped 76 transam and 60 something beetle on an 18 foot 2 ale trailer
without protest or drama 20 or so miles each one . And yes it get's thirsty but it
did not get hot was not as slow as I suspected. YAY! Ranger!
However it's not something I would do often though

A jetski tralier is all ive pulled, but I have a 2.3 it didnt even like that lil trailer.....

i can pull my 14 foot smoker craft bass boat with my 4 banger. It's not too bad but i just have to be a little more on the clutch

i put almost a ton of stone in the back of my truck once, sagged like hell and bottomed out pulling out of the stone lot but other than that it managed.

I've pulled an 18' OLD Monte Carlo Bowrider, with motor weighed close to 2000+ lbs. No problems, just had to take it easy when stopping. I have the 4L Auto. I have also pulled a '93 Taurus on a dolly at about 3800lbs roughly 50 miles hills and highway with no issues. Just take it easy when stopping, but if it has trailer brakes it shouldn't be a problem.

I would recommend one thing, definitely get an aux, or LARGER tranny cooler if you plan on doing this often.

If your going to do a lot of trailer pulling you should consider putting an external trans cooler on your truck. The heat from the extra load will kill your auto trans.

i got picture somewhere pulling a trailer filled with hardwood floors and it took lil longer to get up to sped obviously but im sure it was close to what your wanting to pull and my ranger did it just fine

I have a 99 5spd xlt 3.0V6 w/ 80K. Is it safe for me to tow my 16 foot jon boat and motor? The total load is prob around 500 lbs. Do i need a tran cooler or is that only for auto? Thanks

I have a 99 5spd xlt 3.0V6 w/ 80K. Is it safe for me to tow my 16 foot jon boat and motor? The total load is prob around 500 lbs. Do i need a tran cooler or is that only for auto? Thanks


You will be fine.....

Lets see. I pulled a jeep all the way home through the mud this weekend, I pull a 15' boat, a 20' boat, and a lawn trailer. I have also pulled a small car trailer to tote the mazda around.

06' 4.0L maunal tranny 4.10:1 gears.

When I had my 86 Ranger 4 cyl. 5 speed I don't think a week went by that it wasn't hualing a car somewhere. Trailer brakes are a must, it don't matter how much you can get started if you can't stop it. Don't try breaking any speed records and know whats going on in front of you and towing with it should not be a problem. That old Ranger had over 100,000 miles when I bought it and just over 200,000 when I sold it and I would say at least 5,000 miles of that was with a car on a flatbed trailer behind it. No clutch or engine problems at all

Pulled out a 96 GMC, with 8'' lift out of a mud hole one night, going in reverse.

I've pulled my dad's 17.5 foot Nitro bass boat and according to their website the entire rig weighs 2325 Lbs. My truck had no problems with it, just had to be sure to allow plenty of room to stop since it doesn't have trailer brakes.

i have a 2.5 and i pull my 19ft jet boat with no troubles up hills or even up n down the lauch so a jeep shouldnt be a problem w a 4.0

My 97 Ranger 4cyl pulled a 16 foot dual axle trailer with 4 ATV's and three people in da cab. I couldnt shift higher than 3rd.

An air compressor that weighed in at over 2000lbs. The same kind you'd see when road crews are using jack-hammers or other large air tools.

Only problem with that weight behind you is that is makes stopping quick tricky, especially in wet road conditions. As the truck pulled it with no problems, I highly suggest anticipating your stops and stay back from traffic. A 2000lb weight pushing behind you does not stop on a dime. Now if it had electric brakes, well that would be a different story.

Anywho......you can feel that weight on take off's and when slowing down....but when you're at a constant speed....you forget it's there.

The only thing I have pulled with my '91 2.3L 4.10 axle was a 6x12 Enclosed trailer with heavy duty wooden shelves all over the insides and loaded with equipment. Probably somewhere in the range of 1500-2000lbs. No trailer brakes, stock brakes on the truck, no cooler on the tranny. Let's just say after the 30 some miles total that I pulled it at 40-45 MPH, my tranny and brakes wanted a divorce from the rest of the truck. Little bit of tugging from the rear at start up and you could certainly feel her wanting to push the truck through traffic when braking, but she lived through it to see another day...and all this with U-Joints that were completely shot.

Like someone else said make sure the trailor has breaks and they work! You can get most anything rolling, stopping is something else.

I pulled my friends s10 blazer with a comaro engine in it. I even went up a steep hill accelerating with him. the 3k band is your power band. I was in that band mainly in acceleration. with my 3.0 it did fine, btw it has 4.10. No worries