Ranger Trail Tongue

rjn cajun · July 07, 2016, 02:53:52 PM

I wanted to ask my fellow Ranger owners here before I take this to the shop. I have a 2005 Ranger Trail trailer with surge brakes. I noticed this year that the tongue itself has been moving back and forth. The only reason I noticed is because there is a little grease there and I can see where it has been sliding back and forth. I haven`t noticed this up till now. Its only the the front portion where the ball goes, back about 4" where the housing is for the surge brakes. Maybe I`m just a worry wart but I have never noticed it and I want to make sure I`m not jumping to conclusions. I backed it up the other day and the brakes came on. granite I didn`t have the rod in but I have never needed the rod either unless backing up a hill. There is a nut up inside the tongue that is loose. It does not have a nut or bolt on the backside so I`m assuming this is to tighten or loosen the brakes. There is no way to tighten this up without removing the assembly. Even then I`m not sure I can tighten it since there is nothing to hold. Hoping someone has some experience and can help me with this. My boat shop is backed up about a month. Hopefully I explained this so you guys can understand it.

Bigwrench · July 07, 2016, 03:10:29 PM

Do you have the removable or breakaway tongue on yours ? Im pretty sure you have a A60 brake actuator , which is the same one I have but Mine has 2 pins that hold it to the trailer and I can remove the entire tongue after removing those pins and the electrical jumper harness and disconnecting the quick connects on the hydraulic lines
Here's the owners manual , look at this and see if that's the same as yours

rjn cajun · July 07, 2016, 03:26:56 PM

Yes sir I have a break away tongue. It looks very similar to the A60 but made by Tie Down Engineering. Reading through the manual it seems like the tongue should slide back and forth. What concerns me is the nut on the front of the shck absorber. I hadn`t noticed it was loose until I started looking in there. There is no nut on the back to hold while tightning the front. There are 2 screws on top I could take off. There are also the 2 clips holding the bolts with 2 zerc fitting that would need to come off. I could remove at that point. I was hoping all of this is normal and I`m looking to far into it.

Bigwrench · July 07, 2016, 03:48:05 PM

Quote from: rjn cajun on July 07, 2016, 03:26:56 PM
Yes sir I have a break away tongue. It looks very similar to the A60 but made by Tie Down Engineering. Reading through the manual it seems like the tongue should slide back and forth. What concerns me is the nut on the front of the shck absorber. I hadn`t noticed it was loose until I started looking in there. There is no nut on the back to hold while tightning the front. There are 2 screws on top I could take off. There are also the 2 clips holding the bolts with 2 zerc fitting that would need to come off. I could remove at that point. I was hoping all of this is normal and I`m looking to far into it.

Here's a Tie Down manual that has parts lists that may help with which model and the nut your wondering about

May be able to help you figure it out , I hadn't heard of that brand until you mentioned it. Ranger must have switched over in the early 2000's

rjn cajun · July 07, 2016, 04:05:49 PM

Mine is Model 70P. On the actual cutout it is Model 70LP. On the actuator there are 2 studs with nuts. One of them has a spring and one does not. The stud without the spring is the one I`m refering to. The nut is loose and I do not see a way to tighten it up. There is no nut on the backside. When I try to tighen it just keeps spinning. Doesn`t seem to do anything at all because the stud is moving as well.

I`m assuming the actual tongue is supposed to slide back and forth a little. This is what engages the actuator and brakes?

Bigwrench · July 07, 2016, 04:26:37 PM

Quote from: rjn cajun on July 07, 2016, 04:05:49 PM
Mine is Model 70P. On the actual cutout it is Model 70LP. On the actuator there are 2 studs with nuts. One of them has a spring and one does not. The stud without the spring is the one I`m refering to. The nut is loose and I do not see a way to tighten it up. There is no nut on the backside. When I try to tighen it just keeps spinning. Doesn`t seem to do anything at all because the stud is moving as well.

I`m assuming the actual tongue is supposed to slide back and forth a little. This is what engages the actuator and brakes?

Yes Sir it does slide back and forth , as pressure is applied via the weight of the boat as your truck is stopping it pushes in on the master cylinder rod in the same fashion your vehicle does when you push on the pedal . When your truck is slowing down the boat is pushing against the ball which applies the trailer brakes. You don't happen to have drum brakes do you (on the trailer)?

Bigwrench · July 07, 2016, 04:43:15 PM

Is this the nut and Rod ?

That Rod appears to be the main actuator rod for the master cylinder . Have you checked your fluid level ? Reason I was asking about drum brakes is they require adjusting. Just throwing that out there in case it could be something simple like that. Wish you lived close I'd like to work on one

I'm gonna see if I can find a rebuild or tear down on that model number now and get an idea how it is adjusted if any. It would appear you'd have to hold the Rod somehow to tighten that nut (maybe the Rod has flats on it for a open end wrench?)
But also it seems like it was set at the factory and it's probably just adjusted up enough to stop from having slack on that return spring behind the washer. It may just have a rubber cup or a ball end on the end that is inside the rubber boot and will most likely just spin is my guess

Bigwrench · July 07, 2016, 06:33:57 PM

Also here's a nice repair kit for them that has a lot of info

And this photo ha a great cutaway view of the internals which gives you an idea why that Rod keeps spinning. The one with the spring has a seal attached and the one on the other side is just a rounded end that pushes against the valve.

rjn cajun · July 07, 2016, 10:17:27 PM

It's actually the rod without the spring. I got home and got a wild hair so I went after it. It does have a nut on the other side. I was able to put a wrench on it and tighten them up. Not an easy task putting it all back together. I'll hook it up tomorrow and see if it works like it should. It's different I'll tell you that. If you work on one in the near future let me know how it goes. I appreciate the help.

rjn cajun · July 07, 2016, 10:19:24 PM

I have disc brakes as well. Supposedly they are self tightening with this system.