The Ranger ’ s tare weight is 2200kg , so 2500-2200 = 300kg of payload . That ’ s not very much at all , if we put four people in the truck they ’ d need to be 75kg each as 75kg * 4 = 300kg . Now you see what we mean when we say that the 3500kg tow ratings aren ’ t always realistic .
And the Ranger ’ s kerb weight wouldn ’ t even include a towbar . If we go the other way for the Ranger , looking at how much we can tow when at GVM then it ’ s this : GCM of 6000kg – GVM of 3200 = tow capacity of 2800kg , the most a trailer ’ s ATM can be .
Bottom line is if you work off the GCM then you can only tow 3500kg in a Ranger if you have no more than 300kg of load on the truck , or if the truck is at GVM , you can tow 2800kg . However , there ’ s more to it . Remember those axle loads ? You don ’ t want to exceed them , that ’ s for sure .
A 3500kg trailer will need round about 300kg of towball mass and that needs to be taken into account too . I cannot do the maths here as I don ’ t know what the axle load is on a Ranger when empty ( only its maximum ), but let ’ s assume that the vehicle is at GVM and the front axle is weighted to the maximum .
We know from the table above there ’ s 130kg left to play with , so let ’ s put all that on the rear axle . We know that 10 % of trailer mass is the rough rule ( and Ford recommends this too ), so 130kg makes for around a 1300kg trailer . But in reality less , because a 130kg towball mass over a metre behind the rear axle produces a moment ( leverage ) so the net effect on the rear axle is greater ( and the load on the front axle is reduced too ).
Sound complicated ? That ’ s because it is .
Now let ’ s now look at the Nissan NP300 Navara . Here we have a GCM of 5910kg , subtract the 3500kg tow rating and we have 2410kg , the maximum the truck can now weigh . So 2410kg – 1910kg tare = 489kg of payload . Or the other way around to determine what trailer we can pull at GVM : we have the GCM of 5910kg , subtract 2910 GVM = 3000kg towing .
Then if we look at the axle load we see that there ’ s not a lot of play , with a maximum combined axle load only 110kg more than the GVM . A 110kg towball mass translates to a trailer of around 1100kg .
Some people claim this calculation is double-counting . It ’ s not . A trailer that weighs 3500kg still needs to be controlled by a vehicle and whether the mass is on the trailer ’ s axles or the towball makes no difference , it ’ s all part of that 3500kg figure . But , the towball mass at the same time does create a significant downforce on the rear axle which is load on the towcar .
Some have said if the vehicle is at GVM you cannot tow . Remember there is usually some rear axle load left once the vehicle is at GVM . That can be used for towball mass provided the load is reduced to keep the vehicle below GVM .
The Pajero is another case again . Mitsubishi state that the maximum towball mass is 250kg : “ maximum towball download ( kg ) when towed weight is 2,500kg or less ” but above that ( 2500- 3000kg ) it is 180kg . They also say that “ a weight distribution hitch is recommended for towball downloads exceeding 135kg .”.