Litter Ranger Biger boat.
Hi all, My Ranger is a 1998, two wheel drive, four cylinder, Five speed. Amazingly, it can handle it. Only have twenty two miles from my house to the Hudson River. My biggest concern at first was being able to pull the boat out of the water. I figured with all the water that fills up the frame of the trailer and all of the drag from the water, it would be too much. My trailer is balanced so I don't have a lot of tongue weight. Therefore, I wouldn't expect to get the necessary traction to pull it out. Well, it yanks it right out of the water without a question. I don't even burn up my clutch. The ramp I am using is excellent. The best case scenario would be to have an automatic. It takes me about 45 minutes to get there. It is always tough taking off. It does beat on the clutch a little. On steep hills I sometimes have to use first gear. On level ground, I can do 55 in fifth. I would say, I am about maxed out, I wouldn’t want to pull more. My trailer doesn’t have breaks. When I stop, if there is gravel the trailer pushes the truck. The can be really scary. I try to keep my speed at 45 or below and watch for gravel at stop signs. I think 19” would be the max for this truck with safety in mind. I was on more of a budget when I got the boat. By next year, I hope to have something bigger to pull it with. We just got a 21” 2700 # (empty) 1964 Avion camping trailer. I need something with more guts. I also need to put breaks on the trailer if I ever want to go very far with it. My brother-in-law pulls the same boat with a full size Older Chevy 1500 I think. He has all the stopping power he need. Acceleration is not even a question. If you don’t have far to go, the Ranger will get you by. I hope this helps, Kevin Sailing and lovin it!
