I will try to keep this short with a little background info. I do not own a Ranger, however I have a small Fab/Prototype shop that is my hobby / side business. I also have a neighbor who’s brother is paralyzed from the waist down. He wanted a solution for a problem, and I have been solving problems for 16 years so I suppose that is why he asked me to help.
The problem: He has installed hand controls on the 2015 Ranger Crew and his brother can operate it well, however on their deer lease they have had several encounters parking on a fairly steep grade and minor difficulties getting it out or PARK. They usually travel with his brothers TraXX Chair in the bed which adds about 350# of weight. He is like me, you know the type.. Never parks anything on an incline without using the E-Brake. Anyways, he found a mechanical parking latch (perhaps you guys know what it is) that mounts to the brake pedal, seems to be simple and functional. However the problem is that his brother can’t use his legs so it renders the mechanical brake useless.
I just figured why not use a line lock with the rear tires and keep the transmission pawl from getting bound up. Add two switches for the 12 volt solenoid (two for safety lockout) and be done.
So yesterday I had my friends shop make me some test lines to see if this would work, got everything mocked up and tested a few times before bed. It seems to work great. I then took it to the Ranch and parked on the bank’s of the ponds, which has a nice steep slope (50 degree angle or so) and see how it did.
I parked uphill, downhill, without passengers, with passengers and with 100# or grain in the bed. The solenoid held perfectly, I just had it temporarily wired to a 12Ah battery from my daughters power wheels that was weak. I also found another place this really shined was when I towed the Ranger on the trailer. My neighbor said even when he throws a strap around it that it will still rock back and forth some. While I don’t think that would hurt the transmission Pawl I think locking the the drive-line with the line lock would keep it in better shape, and was a nice piece of mind seeing it not move the slightest. I left the solenoid engaged for the 30 minutes to the ranch, another hour in various locations on hills and another 30 minutes to my house. The amp draw is so little that I would not fear a long 10+ hour trip with it engaged, depending on the size of the battery of course.
Another thing I noticed is that even with the Ranger idling you can still hear the positive engagement of the solenoid. I think I’m happy with the outcome and will probably make him up a nice quick attach bracket for the permanent location, run the wires for the switches and get some one piece Goodridge SS lines made up.
His brother will be in town Monday so I will let him try it out, I can say that flipping a dash mounted switch will be much easier than the other options out there that mechanically hold down the brake lever.
More to come as we continue testing.
I just wanted to pick anyone’s brains about what I had come up with and see if someone has something to add.
Thanks for taking the time to read , if you made it this far.
Please feel free to comment, I’m looking for feedback
The attached picture on the slope does not do it justice, it was steep enough that I would not have placed in Park because it would not have come out without rocking it.
