5th Gen Ranger Discussions / Reviews / News

[85_Ranger4x4]

Yup, you are the target market for midsize trucks. Wish my family could comfortably fit into one. I'd have less desert pin striping!

Probably not really the target market...

And whatever I get... my '85 will still make it look like a whale offroad lol.



I was kinda bummed I couldn't park on the other side of so between the two trucks the tailgates would have spelled out "Ford Ranger"

 

[Grassland]

If Ford starts using aluminum on the Ranger upgrade and it sheds a few hundred pounds, I may consider a crew cab and figure out what the hell to do about the tiny bed.

Hopefully some photos and specs of new Ranger and the shrouded in mystery Bronco come out in the next few months.

 

[phsycle]

If Ford starts using aluminum on the Ranger upgrade and it sheds a few hundred pounds, I may consider a crew cab and figure out what the hell to do about the tiny bed.

Hopefully some photos and specs of new Ranger and the shrouded in mystery Bronco come out in the next few months.

Maybe a flat bed? It'd be cool if Ford ever makes them available as an option.

 

[Todd780]

Yeah, it's a new trend for sure! It would've happened a year or two into the 3rd gen I think. A friend of mine had a 2017 DCSB Trd Off-Road with an auto trans. It's the first time I remember seeing this. I'm guessing 2017 is when it changed?

Sounds about right? Not sure why Toyota took so long to offer this combo in Canada when they had it in the US for so long...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

If Ford starts using aluminum on the Ranger upgrade and it sheds a few hundred pounds, I may consider a crew cab and figure out what the hell to do about the tiny bed.

Hopefully some photos and specs of new Ranger and the shrouded in mystery Bronco come out in the next few months.

A polymer bed like Toyota could be neat too.

 

[JD Anderson]

I have about 18000 on my Ranger and so far my only real complaint is the small fuel tank. It does everything I ask of it pretty well. I would have liked a long bed for sleeping in but I do most of my hauling with a trailer and have for years even when I had a full size it’s so much easier to load and unload while reducing damage to the truck. It tows well especially after adding a brake controller why Ford left that out who knows. My two kids in booster seats fit fine in the back and I’m 6’ and don’t have to readjust the seat for them. The rear locker and terrain management work pretty well too.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Where are these bajillion? What if I want new, or barely used? Not going on 20 years old.

LOL, I'd have liked to find them too when I was searching my Tacoma in 2014-2015. Took me a few months to find one that wasn't worn out. It's not easy to find a 2005+ stick shift Tacoma in general and the ones with V6s I think go to people who like me tend to keep trucks until they're worn out. Since 2016 the only Tacomas with sticks are TRD trim. They dropped the 4 cylinder/5 speed and SR5 is automatic only.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have about 18000 on my Ranger and so far my only real complaint is the small fuel tank. It does everything I ask of it pretty well. I would have liked a long bed for sleeping in but I do most of my hauling with a trailer and have for years even when I had a full size it’s so much easier to load and unload while reducing damage to the truck. It tows well especially after adding a brake controller why Ford left that out who knows. My two kids in booster seats fit fine in the back and I’m 6’ and don’t have to readjust the seat for them. The rear locker and terrain management work pretty well too.

I asked the Ranger design team about that the day after they launched the truck, they didn't see it being needed since it wasn't a work truck.

Shortly after that (you can hold your applause, its no big deal) they added a dealer add on brake controller, I don't know how it works but it is a knob that goes on the console.

LOL, I'd have liked to find them too when I was searching my Tacoma in 2014-2015. Took me a few months to find one that wasn't worn out. It's not easy to find a 2005+ stick shift Tacoma in general and the ones with V6s I think go to people who like me tend to keep trucks until they're worn out. Since 2016 the only Tacomas with sticks are TRD trim. They dropped the 4 cylinder/5 speed and SR5 is automatic only.

I have a friend trying to find a nice FX4 Ranger with a 5 speed... they are few and far between. The newer you go the worse it gets.

 

[JD Anderson]

That is the same brake controller I added. I used a switch panel from Lightforce to mount it but It works pretty well.
I understand it isn’t a “work truck” but at 7000 lb + towing capacity you’d think it would have been easy enough to parts bin from a F-150.

 

[phsycle]

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).




Same with Chevy.

 

[tennesseewj]

KR did back when they had the neat saddle looking leather:

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.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Todd780]

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).

View attachment 560643

What about by the 12V socket? Or to the right of the USB outlets? Where there's a will, there's a way....

 

[Martinjmpr]

Center infodistracto area gets a bit crowded in midsize trucks. Not sure where you'd put the brake controller.

Well, on the F-150 they put it darn near the underside of the dashboard! It would have been nice if they'd put it where it was easier to see, as Chevy and Dodge (Ram) both do.

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.

I sure don't miss the "knee buster" hanging below the dash on my previous tow vehicles!

Then again, that may be because electric trailer brakes seem to be a North America phenomenon anyway. I heard through a Facebook group I'm on that electric brakes are actually not legal in the EU. There was a couple that had a trailer like ours (R-Pod) that they shipped over to France and they had to modify the tongue to use an intertia/surge brake in order to get it "road legal" in the EU. They also had to add some additional lights to the trailer.

Don't know about other parts of the world, although most "caravanners" worldwide tend to pull trailers that are small enough that brakes are not as big an issue as they are in the US with our big trailers.

 

[phsycle]

What about by the 12V socket? Or to the right of the USB outlets? Where there's a will, there's a way....

I think they just need to redo the whole bottom half. I mean, why they need the play/pause/rew/ff button, I don't know. But take that out and move the whole CC cluster up.



And on an XL/XLT, CC button layout just seems so ugly to me. And if they didn't make the A/C, recirc, defrost buttons 3x the size of the other buttons, they'd probably have more than enough room to add other switches, at the same time, making it look cleaner.

 

[phsycle]

Well, on the F-150 they put it darn near the underside of the dashboard! It would have been nice if they'd put it where it was easier to see, as Chevy and Dodge (Ram) both do.

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

Then again, that may be because electric trailer brakes seem to be a North America phenomenon anyway. I heard through a Facebook group I'm on that electric brakes are actually not legal in the EU. There was a couple that had a trailer like ours (R-Pod) that they shipped over to France and they had to modify the tongue to use an intertia/surge brake.

Yeah, those europeans sure know a thing or two about towing