Should I buy the new Ford Ranger for towing 3.5 tonnes?

QUESTION

Hi John,

Hope you are well. Love your work. We purchased with the help of AutoExpert a Kia Sorento GT in 2018 and a Hyundai i30 SR premium which have been two of the best cars we have ever owned.

We now have purchased a big caravan (I can hear your sigh) that will require a car that can tow 3500kg. We am not going off road so usual bitumen driving and caravan parks.

We know you refer to this as ‘serious towing’ so we need the right car to do the job in your opinion.

What car or cars do you recommend for the job up to say $80,000? Do we should we pay more for the optimum vehicle?

Could we get it delivered in say August this year or is that a silly question with delivery times reported at 12 months?

We were thinking a 2022 Ranger Wildtrak with the 3.0 V6 diesel but we will be guided by you.

We want to purchase through AutoExpert again so this is starting the ball rolling.
Thanks

David

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ANSWER

Hey David,

OK - so you haven’t told me how much this van actually weights, loaded, but let’s assume 3500kg for the sake of argument. I’m also going to assume it’s got a 350kg towball download.

New Ranger V6 diesel Wildtrak: 6400kg GCM, 3350kg GVM, 2353kg kerb weight.

So, GCM: 6400 - 3500 - 2353 = 547kg: This is the total weight you can put in the vehicle without exceeding the GCM. It includes people, items in the cab, items in the tray, and any accessories you fit.)

GVM: 3350 - 350 - 2353 = 647kg: As above, but not to exceed the GVM. Therefore the vehicle is GCM-limited at 3500kg tow capacity, and you can’t carry more than 547kg.)

Now, 547 kilos seems a lot, but if you allow 200kg for people and personal crap (assuming 2 people) plus 200kg for stuff in the tray (some water and a second spare tyre; some tools, fire extinguisher…) you get about 150kg for accessories. So, it’s easy enough to exceed the GCM by fitting a bullbar and a winch - whatever.

Elephant in the room: (This is the laws of physics calling…) Legal compliance is not the same thing as ‘safe’ or ’smart'. A 3.5-tonne van behind a 2.4-tonne vehicle is the tail wagging the dog. Pig-type trailers (vans, boats, etc.) are intrinsically unstable in pitch and yaw. The heavier they are, the greater their ability to push the vehicle off the road when their instability manifests, in one or both rotational planes.

So I’d suggest that what you’re proposing can be done legally, which is not the same as it being a good idea.

In my view, the vehicle doing the towing needs to weigh as much as the thing being towed. And that means a truck is the only ‘good idea’ kind of vehicle for towing a 3.5-tonne trailer.

I know this is not what you want to hear. (Engineer talking.) I can’t help you make a decision on the prudence of this kind of choice. All I will say is: I wouldn’t do it.

Also, Ford is crap at customer care and worse at reliability. And Ranger is all-new. So that’s a real roll of the dice.

Sincerely,

JC

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