Re: 4 Cyl tow 3k lb rig?
The stats say that both 4 cyl Toyotas and Nissans are rated to tow 3,500 lbs. Do you think they are really capable of that? A Ranger is rated for only 1400 lbs so that is a big difference that I don't understand. The size and HP of the Ranger is a little less.
Do any of you pull 3000 lbs boats with a small 4 cyl?
The latest Ranger 2.3L is a Mazda built motor, not the well known and proven 2.3/2.5L Lima built engine that they had used for so many years. My 1994 Ranger has the earlier 2.3L engine. The engine is not the problem with my truck, the motor makes power just fine, it's the choice or rear axle gears that they built the truck with. The 7.5" ring and pinion with a 3.08:1 gear ration just isn't low enough for a truck. It would do much better with a 3.73:1 axle ratio.
It does tow fine on the road, you just have to take your time getting going.
I've towed far more than 3500lbs with it on flat road, it has no problem stopping but taking off is done with some caution. I am sure I could push it and move out faster, but I just don't see the need for any added wear and tear on the truck.
If the rear ever happened to fail, it would get rebuilt with 3.73 gears.
If I were to buy a new small truck, I'd probably opt for a 3.0L manual trans Ranger, it still uses the well proven American Made 3.0L engine and you can opt for the towing package and the lower rear axle ratio. The milealge difference would be very slight. Probably better with the V6 vs the 4 cylinder working twice as hard.
One thing I have always noticed was the affect of running the A/C when towing with mine, it can make a huge difference on a small motor.
I don't think the Ranger is a smaller truck than the Toyota? I've had both, and the Ranger is wider, longer and has always seemed like way more of a truck. The Toyota was always too car like for me, I never liked the legs outward seating position and low narrow seats. My Ranger is only an XL and even the low end bench seat is way more comfortable than the SR5 buckets that were in my Toyota. Not to mention that the Ranger has gone twice the mileage with no major repairs, the Toyota always needed something, and even the most minor parts seemed to cost double what the comparable Ford part would have. I kept my last Toyota only 4 years, at 100K it was getting tired, it had lost a lot of it's power, had major body rust, and needed a second complete front end overhaul. Over the coarse of 4 years it needed five manual transmission repairs, all within the first two months, (they finally replaced the entire trans), two engines, (first 22Re threw 2 rods while sitting at a stop light at under 8500 miles), 5 A/C compressors, and it had a real problem with ball joints, the best I could get out a set of ball joints was about 44k. I didn't offroad, the only towing that truck did was an aluminum 16' bass boat every other week or so, which I towed about 10 miles each way to the water. It was ordered with an OEM hitch, whatever the factory towing package consisted of, and the full SR5 package. While I am sure a lot of the problems were due to a very poor dealer at the time, Toyota was of no assistance in getting any of the ongoing problems resolved. It got totaled in the end, and I must say I was relieved to see it go. I went back to a Ford after that and haven't had any problems since. The Toyota was the only 4x4 other than one STX Ranger I had just before I bought that Toyota. I had liked the look of the Toyota and had gotten a good price, so I traded a perfectly good Ranger for what turned out to be the worst truck I've ever owned. The reason why I had gone to the Toyota was that I was impressed with how much better the Toyota accelerated compared to the 2.9L Ranger back then.
It was at least twice as fast and got better mileage, but it just didn't hold up. I sold the Ranger to a neighbor at the time and he's still driving it today.
