2019 Ford Ranger

[Squigie]

Great to hear.

The hunt, as well. I try to tell my son every year: It's not about the killing. It's about the experience.
(Which is a good thing, because I don't fill many tags. I get lazy once I'm able to enjoy the view, watch some herds meander around, and feel that crisp fall air at high altitude.)


The advantage on tight roads and switchbacks is one of the reasons why I bought mine. ...And one of the reasons why I still can't sell it. (Even though the new Ranger has more than doubled the value of my 15 year-old model over the last 12 months; and now would be the time to do so.)
The turning radius of my '04 isn't much better than my brothers' F-250s. But the fact that I'm notably narrower and do still have a shorter wheelbase mean I can set up for the turns differently and get through corners they'd have to 3-point (or more). (The other brother's GMC was the same story, but he downgraded to a Honda Pilot...)

[mtbikernate]

After a bunch of looking, I still can't find what the tow package includes other than the hitch & wire harness. Not sure about transmission or engine oil coolers, or a different radiator. I'm still looking...

Tow package includes some extra electronics. Tow/haul mode, which changes the shift points and allows for more engine braking while descending, for one. I'm not sure if the BLIS accounting for the trailer is part of the tow package or not, but mine with the tow package has it (seems to enable when I turn on tow/haul mode). Had to set up trailer length/width in the dash system.


0430201205 by Nate, on Flickr

I got a coronavirus deal on mine. So far loving the truck, but have only taken my camper out for a test tow so far.

[noseoil]

After doing a few tows, I can say I'm still happy with the truck. The longest was into Texas & back, a bit over 1200 miles, to help a neighbor get some deer hides for tanning. We loaded the camper & a small flat bed trailer then returned to Raton. Good towing, no problems & plenty of power, but this was 95% flat land towing, so it wasn't much of a challenge for the truck.

We had planned a trip this month into northern New Mexico, but due to the virus concerns, it was placed on hold. This would have been a better test with the teardrop & a lot of hills to climb & descend, but for now we're waiting for things to get back to normal again. There are too many campgrounds closed still in New Mexico to do this type of trip. Maybe later this year, or perhaps next spring might be better.

One negative on the new Ranger is the need to do a PITA brake controller installation. It involves removing some interior stuff & it's a bit time-consuming. I'm glad I listened to "Sheddie" for a brake module location. Ours still resides in the tongue box of the trailer, not the tow vehicle, so it was a simple plug-in of the harness at the rear bumper & things were ready to go. I like this system, especially with the Ranger.

[mtbikernate]

I just did a standard controller install on mine using the 4 wires under the dash.

Installing this way doesn't brake the trailer with the automatic emergency braking, sure. But the install works.

Might eventually upgrade my controller to the Ford-approved Redarc with the extra module and the complicated install, but the truck really has no problem braking with my Hiker Trailer in the first place.

I've took my camper out for a couple shortish trips in 2020 and got some good mountain towing with it. I seem to average about 20mpg while pulling my camper all loaded down. Had an early Oct trip planned, but a big tropical storm was going to hit my destination the same weekend I planned to be there. We already had an uncomfortable trip earlier in the year because of weather, that wasn't even as rough as a tropical storm, so rather than holing up in the camper for the weekend, we cancelled those plans.