Ford Ranger 2012 XLT Towing Thoughts Please Help ???

Mick,
have a look here. You may have to register but that is pretty easy.

You wil get actual data from those who have one.

New Ranger Forum

RA.

Here one on the Ford forum over 100 pages of it from inception. Hope it is helpful.
http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11286740

Trev

The ranger or Mazda is a good tow vehicle. Witht the 3.2 5cylinder delivering good torque and combined with an auto it is the best for towing rather than manual.
Be aware that Mazda and most probably Ford don't keep sufficient spares for this vehicle and many have had problems but there are usually no parts immediately available to repair it with.
Common problems are. Loose incorrectly fitted crank angle sensors on both makes which stop the vehicle with dealer blaming/claiming all sorts of things. 3 vehicles reported so far.

If you are outback NO service is available unless YOU have it transported to a dealer at your cost. Only the repair is warranted if they do warrant it an don't try to avoid the responsibility.

Auto gear selection linkage has dropped off both makes and rendered them undriveable. I know of three.
Poor assembly again.

One reported vehicle had esc controller fail and it applied the brakes full on ABS and this can be dangerous. 1 vehicle

Poorly fitted bull bars and tow bars. Loose bolts , bolts missing, in wrong places. Lots of these.

Auto trans hesitates and shifts poorly on low gears on some vehicles. Many of these.

It is sad a good vehicle such as this can be a cause of concern is some instances with nearly all the faults/issues being the fault of the company or it's representatives.

4wdaction has BT50 section which you have to find once in old BT50 section by choosing at the top. Some surprising reading there.

Cheers
Ross M

I have had one (XLT auto) for the past 6 months and have now covered over 15,000km's trouble free. Most of that is towing a 1.25t boat both on the highway and offroad as a work/commercial vehicle. Sure that isn't 3 tonne but it does it with absolute ease. There doesn't appear to be any turbo lag for me, though there is a slight gearbox hesitation if you try to jump out into traffic from a standing start which has been fixed with a software update.

It is comfortable and economical with plenty of room. I would happily tow a big boat with it.

Hope that helps.

Don't the Rangers have a recall on them about the towbars?

Bill

Hello Mick
I have the ranger and just completed 10000 klm trip to Mt Isa, Karumba Atherton, Cairns and back down to Echuca, towing a 2800kg van and approx 500kg in the back of the tug and did not have a problem towing.
We mainly had head winds and up and down mountains and it had no trouble pulling the van
Got 15.5l/100klms and very happy with the economy, and the misses said it was more comfortable than the prado
Very happy
Ken

Mick
Yes the van is standard,but the van is 340kg on the ball and it dropped the back down about 40mm and raised the front, so I am looking at what can be done
ARB suggested airbags but on the forums it is saying stay away from them as they put to much stress on the chassis and may break it
Am looking at ways to lower the ball weight
Ken

Hi Mick,
I own a 2009 Ford Ranger Wildtrak, I have towed all around Australia with several different vans following, but when you say the boat is 3.1 tonn possibly without fishing gear, fuel etc, and your limit is 3.2 tonn, I would say you are expecting too much. You are going to be at your limit. Good vehicle but!
Alan

I have just towed our caravan from Brisbane to Darwin via Airlie beach, the van was around 2.2 ton. The BT 50 GT auto was excellent and handled all conditions with no trouble at all.At approx 95kph it returned 15lt per 100km .The BT50 has approx 16000km on the clock and I have had no problems at all.The BT 50 has a ARB bull bar and warn winch as well as a ARB canopy fitted.Best thing I ever did

Hiya ...I have the 2012 XLT ranger and manual, and what an awesome car it is.
Yes I do tow a boat with it when loaded up with all our gear which would add up to roughly 1800kgs. which does not include gear in car. I have found NO issues at all when towing.
This turbo lag crap seems to have gone viral on the net as all I seem to read is it being a problem. I DO NOT notice anything of the sort. Nothing that would cause me not to buy such a car.
as already stated NO TURBO DIESEL CAR IS IMMUNE TO THIS PROBLEM !!!!!!!!!!!!!
However it does not draw any issues with my vehicle and certainly isnt a danger when needing to sink the boot in.
Where do people get this garbage from. Obviously dont know how to drive a car correctly !!!!!!!
As for the original question and answer it is a sweet tow vehicle.
Last week I went to the 4wd show in adelaide and they had ALL the new utes in the same room, so we had a good look at each inside and out. Pity I could not compare them all in offroad and onroad driving conditions. BUT !!!!!!
I am soooooooooo glad I have what I have.