5th Gen Ranger Discussions / Reviews / News

[85_Ranger4x4]

I hunted with a guy that owned a 250 King Ranch with those rear bucket seats. I loathed them for actually using it as a truck. It killed the under-seat storage space so everything ended up under people's feet.

They were comfortable to ride in, though, if all you do is haul gearless people.

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It would not be hard to design around that. Heck minivans have them them that flop into the floor when not needed and have huge cubby holes in the floor when the seats are not in use.

I have never been around them but figured if nothing else you could still stuff your ratchet straps or whatever under the seats like I do under the front seats on my F-150.

 

[JD Anderson]

Center infodistracto area gets a bit crowded in midsize trucks. Not sure where you'd put the brake controller. The dealer add-on above looks pretty cheesy (and that's a 2WD? Not sure if I'd put it in the same place in a 4WD).

I used this panel

Replacement Switch Fascia to suit Ford Ranger & Everest

Lightforce replacement switch fascia (Australian design patent, US design patent pending) compatible with Ford Ranger PX2, PX3, Raptor, and Everest models. This replaces the existing fascia that is located in the central lower dash that has the 2 12v outlets and is compatible with all PX MK2 and...

www.lightforce.com

Not my actual truck. The switch blanks in mine a just black

 

[Todd780]

Still, with so many people buying trucks specifically to tow, I can't understand why it took so long for manufacturers to finally start integrating brake controllers into their trucks. Hell they SHOULD have done it 20 years ago, if not more.
It can't cost them that much to add on and it makes the truck more useful.

Plus, I'm sure they make money on them...

 

[Todd780]

Just be glad Ford doesn't put it on the left side like Chevy

View attachment 560649

I'm curious as I've never had a truck with it placed there, what is the downside to the trailer brake in that location? Seems like it would be easier to see and use compared to where the factory location is in my F150. (It's under the 4x4 switch to the left of the fan speed dial:

 

[vintagepatina]

90% of the population is right handed and i want to be using my dominant hand when reaching for the brake controller in an emergency.....

 

[Martinjmpr]

I'm curious as I've never had a truck with it placed there, what is the downside to the trailer brake in that location? Seems like it would be easier to see and use compared to where the factory location is in my F150. (It's under the 4x4 switch to the left of the fan speed dial:
View attachment 560653

I have to concur, having it on the left wouldn't be a problem for me. In fact, when I had my old 4runner the brake controller was mounted on the left underside of the dashboard.

Now that I think about it, I had it on the left side of the under -dash on my Suburban when I first mounted it. I moved it a few months later, not because I was right handed, but more because I got tired of slamming my knee on it when getting out of the truck.
The problem with the F-150 brake controller is that it's so low you have to take your eyes off the road to look for it. If you have the trailer backup control it's even worse because that actually blocks your view of the brake control paddles.

It's not a huge deal once you get used to it and know it's there. Same for having it on the left side like Chevy. Once you get used to it and know it's there, you'll be fine.

 

[phsycle]

To me, it's just easier to look for it on the right side. I don't touch controls to the left much--lights (set to auto), dimmer, etc. CC, 4WD, locker, etc. are all on the right side.

GM must have gotten enough complaints, because for 2020, it's on the right side.

 

[Wallygator]

I would rather have an aftermarket brake controller anyways as I feel they are simply better and my P2 has a boost feature the factory ones don't. Also I have heard that if you have an anti-lock brake system fail then the factory brake controller won't work. That would sure suck on a down hill in the rain or snow if you have this failure. An ABS sensor gets bumped the wrong way or goes bad and guess what, no ABS and no trailer brakes.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I would rather have an aftermarket brake controller anyways as I feel they are simply better and my P2 has a boost feature the factory ones don't. Also I have heard that if you have an anti-lock brake system fail then the factory brake controller won't work. That would sure suck on a down hill in the rain or snow if you have this failure. An ABS sensor gets bumped the wrong way or goes bad and guess what, no ABS and no trailer brakes.

I would be a lot better with that if they could give you a nice place to mount it.

When EVERYTHING has to have a full length center console now a lot of real estate is gone to mount things like brake controllers and radios.

 

[JD Anderson]

I would be a lot better with that if they could give you a nice place to mount it.

When EVERYTHING has to have a full length center console now a lot of real estate is gone to mount things like brake controllers and radios.

I used a Redarc Tow Pro and it mounts up under the dash with just the adjustment knob exposed.

 

[JD Anderson]

This past weekend I moved the majority of my household items from Sweeny to Austinwith my Ranger. I have a 7x16 trailer that crossed the scales at just over 3900 lbs on the trailer axels and probably the worst aerodynamics you could hope for. Never once did I have any trouble maintaining 75mph and came back with a hand calculated 9.8 mpg. It didn’t hunt for gears on the hills, didn’t down shift and crank a ton of rpm, or struggle to keep up with traffic. Sure the mileage kinda sucked but I didn’t buy it to be a dedicated tow rig I bought it to DD and do those things when needed and it does them pretty well.

 

[phsycle]

This past weekend I moved the majority of my household items from Sweeny to Austinwith my Ranger. I have a 7x16 trailer that crossed the scales at just over 3900 lbs on the trailer axels and probably the worst aerodynamics you could hope for. Never once did I have any trouble maintaining 75mph and came back with a hand calculated 9.8 mpg. It didn’t hunt for gears on the hills, didn’t down shift and crank a ton of rpm, or struggle to keep up with traffic. Sure the mileage kinda sucked but I didn’t buy it to be a dedicated tow rig I bought it to DD and do those things when needed and it does them pretty well.

I don’t think you’ll do much better towing with any other gas engine. Maybe couple mpg better in a diesel.

 

[JD Anderson]

I don’t think you’ll do much better towing with any other gas engine. Maybe couple mpg better in a diesel.

Yeah I’m not upset about it at all. My 16 Ram 2500 5.7 didn’t do much better than that unloaded

 

[Todd780]

I don’t think you’ll do much better towing with any other gas engine. Maybe couple mpg better in a diesel.

Yeah I’m not upset about it at all. My 16 Ram 2500 5.7 didn’t do much better than that unloaded

Only downside there to me is 9.8 MPG combined with a small tank means a not a lot of range while towing a travel trailer.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Only downside there to me is 9.8 MPG combined with a small tank means a not a lot of range while towing a travel trailer.

Sounds like the trailer that netted 9.8mpg wasn't the most aerodynamic thing though either. A teardrop or something similar with an eye towards efficiency would probably help the mpg.