Re: Towing with a 95 4cyl manual Ford Ranger?
I've been a transmission tech for over 20 years, the better part of that at a Ford dealer.
I currently have 3 Ranger/Explorer automatics awaiting overhaul, I did about 12 others so far this year, and that's not counting complete factory replacements done under warranty contracts. I've done a fair share of slave and master cylinders on manual trans Rangers but only one or two manual trans overhauls come to mind in the past few years.
I too use a 2.3L 1995 Ranger with a manual as my primary tow vehicle, it's a 2 wheel drive, with 120K on it, the clutch and slave cylinders have gone out a few times but more so the master cylinder. No I don't like the clutch set up but a good driver should have no problem launching a boat up to say 1500 lbs or so on a good clean ramp. The truck runs great and has no issues that come to mind, I would buy a new one in a minute if they still made the same truck. I too had a 4.0 die early, I had one lock up tight in my first Ranger, a 1999 4x4 at 8,800 miles, they replaced it under warranty citing a defective batch of oil pump drives. The new motor broke a right timing chain at 24,000 miles, I fixed that along with 2 new heads and a piston, then dumped it after seeing what an abortion that motor was inside. Never again would I ever consider owning that motor.
The 2.3L/2.5L motors were rock solid and with even the very least amount of maintenance will run several hundred thousand miles, the 3.0L is another solid motor being used from the early 80's till just last year. Its a good alternative to the 4 banger but for one, they dropped it this year, two, it gets a bit less mileage overall, and is more affected mileage wise when towing.
The most important thing on any 4 banger Ranger is the rear axle ratio, the lower the better. Even the lowest 4.11 ratio will no prevent normal highway use with overdrive and it actually makes 5th gear a functional gear.
I tossed my stock 3.05 gears in mine in favor of a set of 4.11:1 gears out of a 4x4 Explorer, also gained rear disc brakes in the swap. The truck runs great with the lower gears, the motor never lags, and feels like it was meant to work. My mileage towing improved by 5 and my empty mileage for the most part didn't change. I may have lost a mile or two per gallon but it still averages over 24 mpg, and rarely drops below 20 towing. I don't run it super fast, but it does fine at say 70 mph or so on the freeway. I don't have a tach but I'd guess it's still under 2500 in 5th gear at that speed.
In the 9 years I've owned this truck, I've replaced the clutch master twice, the slave cylinder once, (I did the clutch for peace of mind then but it wasn't really bad), one new battery, one fuel pump, (it stalled once and I had been running some trash fuel so I figured that the 115K fuel pump had been the problem, besides I had a new for it in the garage so it tossed it in just in case).
The truck had no other issues, I bought it with 33K on it in 2000 from an older guy that used it to tow his small boat, I had known the truck since it was new at the dealership.
I had four F150 trucks, a 1985, 1987, 1989, and a 1992, All but the '85 were 5.0L trucks, none ever broke the 15 mpg mark empty and would drink pretty heavy with even a small trailer. The 1985 got a solid 16 towing, and 18 empty. All were 4x2 trucks.
None came close to the economy of the Ranger. My first Ranger was a 1986 2.3L stick 4x2 truck, no air, nothing, I kept it for 240K, towed with it almost daily. The rear axle pinion bearing failed at 235K, I fixed the rear and sold it in favor of one with less miles.
In my opionion, they should build a Ranger with the 2.3/2.5/ or 3.0L engine, and a larger, heavier duty trans with a bolt on exterior clutch hydraulic system or a larger automatic, along with an optimum gear ratio. That would yield a great truck but for what ever reason, they've never done it.
The weak point in my opinion towing wise with the older Rangers was the 7.5" rear axle, the 8.8" is a much better rear. I'd even like to see one of the above motors pushing a 4R70W or AOD trans, even though the larger trans would eat up a few more horses, the added durability would be tremendous.
HP to weight ratio can be cured with the right gearing and an experienced driver. The Ranger isn't a light truck, it weighs in at nearly as much as the F150, my 1995 weighs in at 3890 on the scales with a glass cap, on a long bed truck with air and a full tank of fuel. I believe they only list an F150 at about 4100 or 4200 lbs or so. Thats only the difference of maybe some fuel and a big passenger. They list the 1995 Ranger 4 banger stick bare bones model at about 3600lbs.