How Well Does the 2024 Ford Ranger Tow?
A mid-size pickup truck might not be the first choice for towing heavier loads, but the 2024 Ranger is rated to tow up to 7,500 pounds. Having towed trailers with full-size trucks like the Ford F-150 hybrid and Chevrolet Silverado 1500, I wondered how different the experience would be when towing a similar trailer with the redesigned 2024 Ford Ranger given its big capabilities and smaller size.
Related: 2024 Ford Ranger Review: Substance Lacking Style
My test truck was a four-wheel-drive Lariat trim level with the standard 270-horsepower, turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine and a 10-speed automatic transmission. The Ranger’s 7,500-pound towing capacity is available with this base engine or the optional 315-hp, twin-turbo 2.7-liter V-6 and is a significant amount of weight to have behind your truck. The Ranger offers an available integrated trailer brake controller for use with heavier trailers that have electric brakes. The Ranger also offers helpful towing features like Ford’s Pro Trailer Backup Assist.
While the Ranger was up to the task and towed the roughly 4,400-pound trailer and cargo combo without issue, it was clearly more affected by it than the full-size trucks I’ve used in the past.
Busier Towing Manners, Decent Fuel Economy
This was most evident on rougher roads where the trailer had a tendency to wag the dog, so to speak; I could feel it tugging the Ranger in a way that it didn’t do with the full-size pickups. The Ranger’s shorter wheelbase also seemed to magnify the trailer’s effect on the truck, with the Ranger having a very choppy ride at times on concrete highway surfaces. It was in these driving situations that I missed the greater towing composure offered by a full-size truck.
The Ranger’s turbo 2.3-liter four-cylinder and 10-speed automatic, however, proved to be a highly capable powertrain for towing. The engine didn’t feel especially burdened lugging around the trailer, and it was strong enough to merge onto highways without any white-knuckle drama.
This powertrain also got reasonable fuel economy when towing. My towing trip was around 140 miles of mostly flat highway driving, and on the outbound trip, the truck’s trip computer showed average gas mileage of 16 mpg with an average speed of 52 mph. On the return trip, average fuel economy jumped to 17.9 mpg, while average speed was a bit less at 49 mph. For perspective, the 2023 Silverado 1500 ZR2 Bison off-road pickup got 13 mpg towing roughly the same load on a prior trip. EPA-estimated fuel economy for the 4WD Ranger with the 2.3-liter four-cylinder is 20/24/22 mpg city/highway/combined and 19/23/20 mpg with the 2.7-liter V-6.
My rental U-Haul auto transport didn’t have electric brakes, but rather had hydraulic surge brakes. This setup, along with the truck’s brakes, did a decent job on the flat terrain I was driving on, but had things been more hilly, using some engine braking would have made sense.
Useful Towing Tech
A number of towing-related features have migrated from the F-150 to the 2024 Ranger. There’s an available 12.4-inch fully digital instrument panel with a Tow/Haul view, and you can store trailer profiles using the center touchscreen on the dashboard. The dual four- and seven-pin trailer wiring connector that’s part of the Ranger’s Trailer Tow Package might seem like a small thing, but if you’ve ever struggled with a finicky adapter so a truck with a seven-pin connector can work with a trailer’s four-pin wiring, you’ll be very appreciative of it, as I was.
More From Cars.com:
- Is the 2024 Ford Ranger a Good Pickup Truck? 5 Pros, 2 Cons
- Redesigned 2024 Ford Ranger Priced From $34,160, Raptor From $56,960
- 2024 Ford Ranger, Ranger Raptor Up Close: All in the Family
- 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor Review: Jumping for Joy
- Shop for a New Ford Ranger Near You
A Good Truck for Occasional Towing
The Ranger wouldn’t be my first choice if I was towing all the time, but if you only tow a travel trailer a few times a year or pull a boat only when putting it in for the season or taking it out, the Ranger could work quite well. And for the rest of the year, you’d have a truck with much more manageable dimensions than a full-size pickup; this Ranger attribute was a big plus for me when driving on Chicago streets.
So, if you live somewhere where the roads are narrow and parking space is at a premium, the Ranger’s smaller footprint is a big benefit — and it can still tow a trailer when you need it to.
Related Video:
Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
