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Towing a single place glider trailer with a Ford Ranger or Chevy S-10



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 28th 09, 05:15 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Posts: 11
Default Towing a single place glider trailer with a Ford Ranger or Chevy S-10

Does anyone have any experience towing a single place glider trailer
with a Ford Ranger or Chevy S-10? I am considering purchasing one of
these trucks, but am concerned they may not have enough mass to be
stable while towing a trailer.

  #2  
Old April 28th 09, 05:25 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
rlovinggood
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Posts: 268
Default Towing a single place glider trailer with a Ford Ranger or ChevyS-10

A friend of mine used to have an older Ford Ranger and it pulled my
single seat glider in a homebuilt trailer, without brakes, just fine.
His Ranger was the "extended cab" version and had a small V-6 engine
and automatic transmission. Two wheel drive.

I don't remember the year model of the truck. Probably late 80's or
early 90's. But as a tow vehicle, it was fine. No problems. The
only times I could realize the glider trailer was when I looked in the
mirrors. This little truck was not swayed by the glider and trailer.

Of course, your mileage may vary...

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

  #3  
Old April 28th 09, 05:29 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
BrianC-V6
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Default Towing a single place glider trailer with a Ford Ranger or ChevyS-10

I have towed my HP16 with a Schreder Trailer with my father in-laws
Ranger.
It towed just fine. He tows his boat with it all the time. A Ranger
should have no problem towing a glider trailer. I personally don't
care to tow with automatic transmissions but this is just my
preferance.

I haven't towed with the S-10 but Towed one of the Kitfox Factory
Demonstration Trailers (20ft+ enclosed Trailer with a kitfox inside)
with an S-15 from Oshkosh to Boise. it towed great.

Brian
  #4  
Old April 28th 09, 06:35 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Bob Whelan[_3_]
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Default Towing a single place glider trailer with a Ford Ranger or ChevyS-10

wrote:
Does anyone have any experience towing a single place glider trailer
with a Ford Ranger or Chevy S-10? I am considering purchasing one of
these trucks, but am concerned they may not have enough mass to be
stable while towing a trailer.


I towed a number of single-seat gliders (1-26, HP-14, Zuni, others) plus
a 2-32 (in the Colorado mountains) behind a 2600lb Ford Maverick,
3-speed manual, V8, from 1972 through 2008, all over the U.S. Never had
a trailer with brakes. No issues good driver awareness didn't always
easily handle. (It typically got over 20mpg, too, hauling a glider.)

When it came time to retire the Maverick, my preference was a Toyota
4-banger, 2WD P/U, but I was overruled by my wife who insisted on a V6
4WD for her two-horse trailer. The Mav-replacement weighs 3600 lbs, and
(other than a noticeable lack of torque going up hills, compared to the
Maverick's [lower numerically HP/torque values] V8) tows the horse
trailer rock solidly (as did, BTW, the Maverick). Better brakes, too!

IMHO, mass of the towing vehicle is WAY overrated. Much more important
are trailer balance, tongue weight, and stopping power (which the
Maverick never had). The only real incident I ever had w. the Maverick
while towing was yaw instability of a homebuilt HP-14 wooden-trailer
that weighed considerably over 2000 lbs w. HP inside, and came w.
insufficent (20 lbs?) tongue weight. (The previous owner had towed it
behind a school bus, and never noticed anything amiss, so to that extent
I suppose mass of the towing vehicle *does* matter, wry chuckle. Behind
the Maverick, that combo was dangerously unstable above 45 mph.) Moving
the axle aft to get ~70 lb tongue weight permanently cured that issue
with that (godawful) trailer.

Regards,
Bob W.
  #5  
Old April 28th 09, 07:38 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
John Smith
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Default Towing a single place glider trailer with a Ford Ranger or ChevyS-10

A single seater in a decent trailer (like Cobra) can be towed with just
about *any* of todays cars. But this has been discussed before.

http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/uploads...a0411e.jpg.jpg
  #6  
Old April 28th 09, 08:01 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Wayne Paul
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Default Towing a single place glider trailer with a Ford Ranger or Chevy S-10


wrote in message
...
Does anyone have any experience towing a single place glider trailer
with a Ford Ranger or Chevy S-10? I am considering purchasing one of
these trucks, but am concerned they may not have enough mass to be
stable while towing a trailer.


I towed my first glider, a Ka-6E, from Kentucky to Idaho with a Bronco II.
The Ranger has a longer wheel base, so I see no reason it wouldn't be fine.

Wayne
http://www.soaridaho.com/


  #7  
Old April 28th 09, 08:55 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Eric Greenwell
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Default Towing a single place glider trailer with a Ford Ranger or ChevyS-10

John Smith wrote:
A single seater in a decent trailer (like Cobra) can be towed with just
about *any* of todays cars. But this has been discussed before.

http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/uploads...a0411e.jpg.jpg


As incongruous as that looks, I suspect it's very stable. A very
important factor is the distance of the tow ball from the rear axle, and
that's about as short as it can get!

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* Sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more

* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org
  #8  
Old April 29th 09, 05:23 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
BT
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Posts: 995
Default Towing a single place glider trailer with a Ford Ranger or Chevy S-10

I have towed both a 1-26 on an open trailer and an LS-4 in an enclosed
trailer with a Ford Ranger across the Nevada desert and mountains. Make sure
you have the 4 Liter V6 in the Ford. A Ford Ranger is the same as the Mazda
B4000. My '97 Ranger was the 4.0 Liter V6 Automatic.

More than enough mass for stability, with the open trailer on the 1-26 I
could feel the wind drag resistance but I never had stability issues. I was
not towing in "high wind conditions" prevalent across the desert in the
spring with winds of 20G60.
BT

wrote in message
...
Does anyone have any experience towing a single place glider trailer
with a Ford Ranger or Chevy S-10? I am considering purchasing one of
these trucks, but am concerned they may not have enough mass to be
stable while towing a trailer.



  #9  
Old April 29th 09, 01:00 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Pete Smith[_3_]
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Posts: 4
Default Towing a single place glider trailer with a Ford Ranger or Chevy S-10

this is a joke right?

various cars i have used to tow a single seater

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peugeot_205 1.4 petrol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Saxo 1.1 Petrol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Punto 1.9 diesel

All towing at 60mph+


At 04:23 29 April 2009, BT wrote:
I have towed both a 1-26 on an open trailer and an LS-4 in an enclosed
trailer with a Ford Ranger across the Nevada desert and mountains. Make
sure
you have the 4 Liter V6 in the Ford. A Ford Ranger is the same as the
Mazda
B4000. My '97 Ranger was the 4.0 Liter V6 Automatic.

More than enough mass for stability, with the open trailer on the 1-26 I


could feel the wind drag resistance but I never had stability issues. I
was
not towing in "high wind conditions" prevalent across the desert in the


spring with winds of 20G60.
BT

wrote in message
...
Does anyone have any experience towing a single place glider trailer
with a Ford Ranger or Chevy S-10? I am considering purchasing one of
these trucks, but am concerned they may not have enough mass to be
stable while towing a trailer.




  #10  
Old April 29th 09, 01:49 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
JC
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Posts: 37
Default Towing a single place glider trailer with a Ford Ranger or ChevyS-10

On Apr 29, 9:00*am, Pete Smith wrote:
this is a joke right?

various cars i have used to tow a single seater

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peugeot_205*1.4 petrolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Saxo* 1.1 Petrolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Punto*1.9 diesel

All towing at 60mph+

At 04:23 29 April 2009, BT wrote:




I donīt think itīs joke.. Probably not ideal but if you are careful
you can tow with just about any car. I have a 1.3L
Fiat Uno and it can handle most single seaters. The hitch is very
close to the rear axle so that together with pumping the tires to 35
psi helps with stability. Proper tongue weight makes a big difference
too.
A Ranger/ S 10 or any small truck is great for soaring!! Plenty of
room to throw dollies and assorted junk in the back and good ground
clearance to get into fields.. I wish I could afford to get one for
flying!...

Regards,

Juan Carlos

 




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