New XLT 4x4 ford Ranger crew cab

hi Maria o,
haven't heard anyyhing myself but it is what i was looking at buying as well. will be watching to see what you dig up. good luck. don't know much about 80 series as i'm not a toyota lover.
cheers Peter.

Hiya Maria

Could you please Specify the so called issues


Cheers

Howdy Maria, We have the Mazda BT50 twin cab ( same thing, different name) 4x2 with manual transmission & have used it to tow a 16 ft pop top Jayco.
We recently updated to an 18 Ft pop top which has a tare of 1500 Kg & have not had any problems. We tow in fifth, if circumstances permit ( not up hills, into head winds etc) We have had the vehicle just on twelve months and are very happy with it.

I purchased a BT-50 (as mentioned earlier, same thing as a Ranger) a little over a month ago.

I believe that the Ranger handbook says not to tow in 5th.

However, the Mazda book makes no mention of this. I rang Mazda head office technical area. They advised that towing in 5th was ok, just don't labour it. My mechanic advised against towing in 5th. Given the gearing, you can do 100 in 4th with no problems (it's doing aroung 2500 rpm).

I tow a three horse float, all up just over 2t with horses. Great tow vehicle. More economical, faster and easier to tow with than the D22 Navara that it replaced.

I'd recommend one to anyone.

cheers
Russell

Get the auto, very good tow vehicle, tows in 5th really well , if it starts to lug (up hill, wind, or need acceleration ... etc ..) just press the button & back to 4th immediately. as I said good to tow with & good to use

that is correct there is a 5th gear problem. Not only towing also loaded.
Look at the size of the gearbox and diff on the Mitsi Triton 3.2 and the Ford Ranger and see the Triton is 2x bigger.
For a tow vehicle the current Triton ML 3.2 is the best in 1T range and warranty. 5 yr warranty on everything and 10 yr warranty on drive train. If you can find a better tow vehicle compared to Triton buy it.
80 series turbo were scarce, 80 series with after market turbo is not great. Fuel consumption compared to modern common rail is woeful.

Hi. I have just gone through looking at all the vehicles and in the end went for the Holden Rodeo 3ltr common rail turbo diesel that boasted a 3ton braked towing capacity. So far it has towed my large boat with ease, heaps of power, though on a hot day climbing hills the temperature tends to rise and you have to back off a bit. I went with the 4cyld so when not towing fuel consumption is affordable. No problems with 5th gear at this time, but I will now keep an ear on it. Regards Tony