The 2005 Ford Ranger was the smallest truck made by Ford in '05, but it still packed a punch when it came to it's towing capacity, if your truck was equipped with the right setup. Some models were able to achieve a maximum trailer weight rating of over 5,900 pounds, which is decent considering their size.
That sounds great, but there were other models that were only able to achieve a 1,600 pound rating, which is more than 4,300 pounds less than some of the most powerful models, so you need to look at all of the variables for these trucks to see where your vehicle comes in at.
I recommended that you read through your owner's manual because it contains so much information about your truck and is the absolute best resource you can possibly read. Also make sure that you follow Ford's recommendations and requirements.
2005 Ranger Overview
Overall Capacity: The overall towing capacity for the 2005 Ford Ranger ranged from 1,600-5,980 lbs. and was affected by a few different variables. These variables included things like the engine you had equipped, which was the biggest factor, whether you had an automatic or manual transmission drivetrain, your cab style and a couple of other variables.
Capacity By Trim Level Options: I decided to look at the different trim levels that were offered for these trucks and break down the maximum trailer weight ratings according to the trim level's options that were available. The only two variables that came into play were the engine options that were available and the drivetrain options that were available for each trim level.
This is how I got the ranges listed below, which show the different options that were available for each trim level and is fairly accurate when it comes to the overall capacity ranges.
- XL: 1,600-5,980 lbs.
- XLT: 1,600-5,980 lbs.
- Edge: 2,300-5,980 lbs.
- FX4 Off Road: 3,100-5,660 lbs.
- FX4 Level II: 2,760-5,660 lbs.
⚫ Standard ⚪ Optional — Not Available
By Engine Options: There were three different engine options for these trucks, which are listed below and I decided to look at the data and compare the overall trailer weight ratings based on the engine options that were available.
It was no surprise that the 2.3 l engine, which was the smallest out of the three options provided the least amount of power which equated to the lowest overall ratings on the chart but what was surprising is that the 3.0 liter engine only had a 400 lb advantage over the 2.3 l engine models on the higher end of the spectrum.
The 4.0 liter engine was definitely the powerhouse out of the three options, having more than double the capacity of the other two engines, when we look at the highest ratings in the chart. The lowest rating was actually more than the highest ratings of the other two engine options as well.
- 2.3L: 1,600-2,260 lbs.
- 3.0L: 2,300-2,640 lbs.
- 4.0L: 2,760-5,980 lbs.
Automatic vs Manual Transmission Models: I wanted to break down the data even further and decided to compare automatic transmission models versus manual transmission models and after breaking down the data, we can see that the trucks that had an automatic transmission equipped had a substantially higher overall capacity range than models that had a manual transmission equipped.
- Automatic: 2,260-5,980 lbs.
- Manual: 1,600-3,400 lbs.
The Tow Chart:
There was only one chart for the 2005 Ford Rangers, but it looks like there were two separate charts if you look at the image below. The single chart was just divided up into automatic transmission models, which were shown at the top and then manual transmission models which were shown at the bottom.
In order to get an accurate trailer weight rating from the chart you will need to know a couple of things about your truck like the cab style you have, whether you have a two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive model, how long your bed is, what engine you have equipped and what axle ratio your rear axle is equipped with.
Trailer Packages & Hitch Capacities...
I was able to find two more images that I posted below that I think a lot of people will find useful and these were screenshots of the trailer towing packages that were available for these trucks and then the hitch receiver weight capacities that talks a little bit about a weight distributing hitch versus a conventional weight-carrying hitch.
The first image is the trailer packages that were offered for these trucks and the accessories that came with the standard package and then the optional package. If we look at what's included, we can see that it really wasn't much in for the standard package oh, it only included a 4 pin trailer wiring harness, well the optional 53L package only had a hitch receiver but I also assumed it had a wiring package of some sort for trailer lights.
The next screenshot that I took was of the hitch receiver weight capacities, which can be confusing to some people because we already had the maximum trailer weight ratings listed in the chart.
Most people don't realize that Ford specifies their higher ratings (for some of their vehicles) when using a weight distributing hitch, as you can see from the image below and if you are not using one of these hitches then the maximum trailer weight rating is significantly reduced, down to 3,500 pounds in this case. We can also see that if you have a step bumper hitch equipped on your truck, the specs are also given for that type of hitch.
A Note On Trailer Brakes: I did find a small excerpt from the owner's manual that does mention trailer brakes, but it only talks about how certain states require trailer brakes for trailers that weigh over a certain amount of weight and how you will have to check those requirements in order to comply with your local regulations.
They also mention that these trucks are not equipped to accommodate electric trailer brakes, so this is something you might have to have installed, via an aftermarket controller of some sort.
A Little About The Certification Label...
GVWR & GAWRs: The gross vehicle weight ratings and the gross axle weight ratings can actually be found on the truck itself and were not listed anywhere in any of the resources I used for this article. These metrics can be found on the certification label, which looks very similar to the image I have posted above and if you look towards the top of this label you will see the two ratings listed in both pounds and kilograms.
You can locate the sticker on your driver side door pillar, which will be clearly visible if your door is open. On a side note, there is all kinds of other helpful information on this label for future reference.
GCWR: The gross combined weight ratings were provided in the charts for these trucks which makes it really convenient and if we refer to the data, we can see that the gross combined weight rating range from 4,800-9,500 pounds.
Axle Code: The axle code is listed at the bottom of the certification label and is basically a two-digit code that refers to the axle ratio that you have equipped on your truck for the rear axle. You will need to know what axle ratio you have equipped because that is one of the variables that you need to plug into the chart in order to find your maximum trailer weight rating.
Do you have to use a third-party website in order to decipher this code because Ford did not provide a legend for the 2005 models in their guide, but there is a good website that has all of this information where you can easily find your axle code and decipher it.
There's also a small metal tag attached to the axle housing and if you climb under your truck and look for the tag, you will also see a stamped number on it which would indicate your axle ratio.
Some Helpful Links:
The massive amount of information in this article was gathered from just three different resources, as you can see below. The guide provided most of the data and most of the images that are found in this post, but the other two resources were also helpful when it came to other aspects like trim levels and optional equipment.
Feel free to check these resources out for yourself, as there are tons of information in all three of them that I think a lot of you out there would find very helpful.
Last updated on April 27th, 2022 at 07:25 pm