Just can't see it

OffGrid · #1 04-04-2019, 08:33 PM

What's up with the new announcement about the 2019 Ranger payload capacity of 1860lbs or something? Supposed to be all the rage. ??!

I bought a new 2006 Ranger V6 standard cab, Auto,payload package 2, long box just for hauling next winter's green firewood(ash mostly) in the spring. I would load 2 face chords at once. It did the job without the slightest complaint for 8 years. Built a cage of 2" square screening around the box. Put a pair of Monroe Air compress shocks on and took the stock shocks off. Pumped it up to around 80 lbs. (Made the truck look undignified like it just got kicked in the a$$). Went to get the wood, and the bumper was still a good distance from the asphalt. I turned the radio to Possum so I don't hear the horns, and drove at moderate speed down the road. Didn't even bottom out on dips. I had to find other loads during the summer to make up my 10 face chords.

At home my buddy Rob the mechanic from the garage across the street came over to see the new truck. Right away he said it was over loaded, and said it was at least a ton on there. Worried a bit, I said it didn't seem to complain. So he watched for 8 years, did the brakes and scheduled maintenance and waited for the dreaded day of tranny or engine failure, ....nothing. I had some F150's stop for gas with me, and the driver was intrigued as to what I was carrying.

In 2014 I sold it and we moved to town. I saw the truck on occasion when we went in to the city. The lady who bought it worked at the same place, so the truck was always there.

So my conclusion is that it must have been because I was sensitive to strains that the engine and tranny were experiencing. I would watch to ensure the truck was responding to the torque the tachometer was showing me. The wheels from a dead stop only moved to a slow crawl (much to the chagrin of the drivers waiting behind me), before allowing to gain momentum.

When unloaded I would deflate the shocks to around 20lbs as it's normal level. It would still consume an awesome 1/2 of a quarter tank to get me to a major city. (I couldn't understand the complaints from the drivers of the 4X4 with 4 Litres who were not happy about the mileage.)

But yeah, so the Ranger can haul that, so what else is new.?

Dirtman · #2 04-05-2019, 05:05 AM

What the factory designated payload is and what a truck can physically carry are two wildly different things. You overloading your truck once a year and not having it explode is not the same as the manufacturer stating the truck was designed to haul, stop, and handle with said load 24-7.

If you tried to pass the same testing criteria with your 2006 to meet payload specs of a 2019 it would fail. Miserably.

Dont get me wrong I love my 2009 and wouldn't trade it for anything but the only thing my truck shares with an 2019 is the name. They are not in even in the same class (literally). The old rangers were compact pickups the new ones are midsize trucks so besides having larger brakes, almost twice the torque, and literally twice the gears it is also substantially wider and longer than the old rangers. Which is why it can meet all rhe rigorous engineering and safety specs to claim a huge payload while the old ranger could not.

I have no doubts yours or my truck could haul 2,000 pounds but our trucks are never going to accelerate, stop, or handle anywhere close to a 2019 with the same 2,000 pounds in the bed.

OffGrid · #3 04-05-2019, 04:29 PM

That was my point. In those days I found I was, out of necessity breaking the rules of staying within the compact truck limits the designers expected. I guess I must have been naïve. I had F150 guys questioning me why I was carrying such machinery or whatever.

Another example, I did a lot of welding projects in the 90's and new millennium. I made a short dbl axle (3500axles)dump trailer with a 5ft X 4ft X 24" box for the truck. I went to the quarry and the loader filled that overflowing with rock powder. Must have been little over a ton on that too. The quarry depth made it necessary for vehicles to climb a 25 degree incline to get out. I put it in 1, and very slowly let the engine find it's own comfort zone. Went up, just past idle, passed a bunch of guys coming back from lunch and slowly drove out. Leveling my driveway, I went back for a few more loads.

I made a two wheel back hoe for the truck, and it was tossed around by the back end a lot doing odd jobs. I just needed to remember to keep it in neutral and I was OK.

I'm not debating the reason why they phased out the Ranger for the full size, but I will debate it if the reason is it could not match in work ability some of the work it's big brother could.

sgtsandman · #4 04-05-2019, 06:22 PM

Marketing. All the makers are trying to push an edge or benefit that is better than the competitor's offering. Pay load is one of those bench marks. Anything to get you to buy their product, they will push. Payload, horsepower, torque, so forth and so on.