Ford lost a sale.

I will be buying a new truck in 2019 or 2020. Right now I'm doing the research so there will be no surprises after purchase. Was considering the 'new' Ranger or a Tacoma SR as I now longer really need the capability of a 1/2 ton. Was reading through the Rangers owners manual that is available online. In the towing section there is a chart based on which hitch you have and what chassis. The max allowed towing capacity WITHOUT trailer brakes is only 1650#. Folks are crowing over the impressive 7500# capacity with trailer brakes but are either not being honest or are not reading the fine print. I find this interesting as most trailers under 3500# gwvr don't have brakes of any kind. Yes there are exceptions and yes a few states have low trailer gwvr restrictions for brakes. However most states allow for 3000 or 3500# trailer gwvr without trailer brakes. This has to be one of the lowest towing capacities for a truck in modern times. It's not what the truck can pull, it's what it can stop. The 4 cylinder SR has no restrictions up to 3500#. The Tacoma is looking better everyday.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome to TW, and Ford lost a sale from me too, but for a different reason. I could not handle the Start/Stop technology in the new Ranger.

 

To be honest the unbraked capacity was probably determined by the lawyer and not the engineer. And as a confession I wouldn't feel safe pulling an unbraked trailer over 1650 on the taco either. At first glance it seems too insignificant to make a difference, but a thousand pounds of trailer can still jackknife a truck under the right conditions. Not to mention it can still really burn your front discs in the suburban hills.

That said, Ford lost a sale to me because Ford is boring.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Funny thats the one thing I wish we had!

 

My pop up camper is posted at 2,500 lbs dry and it has trailer brakes. I installed a brake controller and it has worked just fine. I'd prefer the Taco over the Ranger for many other reasons though.

I generally don't look at a new model of anything until they have 2 years to work out the bugs.

 

Hate to disappoint you but 1000-2000 lbs. without brakes is pretty normal for small and midsized trucks. My 2017 Tacoma’s manual states unbraked TWR is 1000 lbs.

 

My nephew has a 150 with start stop technology.
it is a pain in the ass at stop lights when you lose air conditioning in the summer because the engine has stopped.

 

Oh hadn't thought of that part... ok guess I dont want it.

Btw you can disable it in the ranger

 

Yea you can disable it, but you have to do so at every key start. I bet someone is making a kit for always disable, like the always on ECT for our trucks.
It just makes my skin crawl when I get next to a vehicle in town with this, hearing that starter engage and disengage at every red light.

 

The only Ford I would be interested in is the 2019 Ford GT...

 

I’d settle for a GT350R

 

No way I’d ever buy a vehicle that does that. Too hot here in the summer.

 

I think you're the one mixing apples and oranges. See post #8

From what you are specing, the Ranger is has a higher (stated) capacity both with and w/o a brake equipped trailer.

And don't conflict state law with vehicle capacity. State law relates to the trailer, not what it's hooked to. So basically the vehicle specs for your comparisons both are more conservative than the law requires. Not sure that's bad. Since most folks can hardly drive well, much less tow well.

 

My wife’s Highlander has the stop/start. If the engine kills, the AC keeps running and if it starts to warm up a little, the engine starts back up.
Still it irritates the shit out of me. I really wish you could set it to default without the stop/start. Every time the engine stops, I curse Toyota.

 

The new Ranger gives you the option to disable the Start/Stop feature.

Edit: I saw this was mentioned above. Oops!

 

Ford lost me at Ford. Also, the Ranger is bland and they refused to make a Ranger mini-Raptor (Ranger Microraptor?).

I have auto start/stop on my bimmer and it has always been disabled. I leave it enabled when I get loaners but would not on my own vehicle. At least BMW gives you the option to disable it and it will persist until you enable it again or change the drive mode to Eco. With FCA and Ford vehicles, you have to disable it every time you start the car.

 

That's not true. My GF's Cherokee has a menu where you can enable or disable it. If it's enabled there is also a button to temporarily disable it until the key is cycled. She leaves it enabled but hits the button on super hot days for the AC.

 

This feature is 100% certain to come on the Tacoma in the next few years.

I had an F-150 rental for a week and when the engine shut off the A/C didn't go off, just got a bit weaker, and once the air temp got a bit higher the engine came back on. Also there is a button to disable the auto shutoff feature.