Re: How much boat can my Ranger pull?
My current Ranger is a 2.3L with a 2.73 rear, (yes, that's a 2 not a 3, counted the turns, etc.), it tows fine on the road like I said up to about 2000 lbs but I'd not launch much more than 1100 lbs or so on anything but the best ramps. I do find that I do better in 4th than in 5th gear when towing, it just don't have the gears to pull OD with a trailer on. I've been looking for a 4.11 8.8" rear for it from an Explorer. I did that swap with my 1993 and it felt like I added 4 more cylinders, not to mention the lower gears actually helped my mileage, especially around town since I no longer needed to keep my foot in the throttle as hard.
Traction is an issue with any light vehicle, if your a 4x2 model, the size of the motor won't matter much if you don't have traction.
I've owned 11 Ford Rangers now, the best by far is the 3.0L with a 5 speed for all around use. I don't like the clutch set up but it's better and cheaper to fix the occasional bad hydraulic cylinder vs. a $2500 trans overhaul.
Only one of my 11 trucks were 4x4, that was a 1989, with a 2.9L Auto. Both the trans and that engine were junk, I hated that truck, almost as much as I hated my last 4.0 Ranger. I can't for the life of me figure out why they kept plugging away at that engine with all the cracked head issues it had.
I've owned 4 with the 3.0L, a 1992, 1995, 1998, and a 2000. All of those were bullet proof trucks, all were 3.0L with 3.73 gears I believe. One may have been a 3.55 rear but I can't remember which one. The rest were 2.3L trucks. All, including my current truck went well over 200K except the 1989, and 1995 2.9L and 4.0L trucks which had trouble making it to 60K on their original engines. If they hadn't have dropped the 3.0L, there would be a 2010 in my driveway right now.
A lot of things will dictate what you can pull and what you can launch, mostly the ramp conditions, but tires, weight in the bed, tongue weight, and trailer type or wheelbase. (Put the wheels off the end of the ramp, and no matter what your driving, your in for an ordeal). I use my 2.3L truck now to pull up to an 18' boat, probably no more than 1800lbs in all, and it launches that just fine but the ramp where I take that is scarified concrete, but yet if I use the Ranger to launch my 12' aluminum V hull on a matching 8" tire trailer on a gravel ramp, and the truck gets stuck if I let the rear tires get wet or into the loose dirt. Luckily the boat is light and I can manhandle it on and off the trailer. It's a partially washed out gravel ramp, a bit steep, with a sudden drop about 8' into the water down to about 8' of water. If the axle was farther forward, it would do better as the trailer would remain on the same level as the truck. I used to pull a 19' Renken V hull, fiberglass boat, with a 150 V6 on the back and a tandem trailer with the same model truck years ago, there were two ramps that it did fine on, all others were a definite no. I run a fairly aggressive tire, even though it's a 4x2, partly for the traction on the ramp but also for the extra plies to prevent flats off road.
If the ramp is sand, forget it without 4x4.
I also had a 4x2 F150 with a 5.0 engine, it was really no better than the Ranger in most cases, it would just haul a bit more on the highway and handle more tongue weight.
