30 Day Mini review on New Ranger

[dhdaniel]

Had this truck about a month now. Thought I would mention a few things. Gas mileage is great. 75 mile round trip to work. Mileage is consistantly 24.5 to 25. The dashboard readout is 26. 5. I know the AFE Bias can be adjusted but not really needed.
I had all windows tinted as dark as possible for Texas Law. The A/C is the coldest unit I have ever owned. If my home unit only worked this good. Only complaint is the Temp and Fan + & - buttons are not real easy to see at times and the Tactile feel is weak.
I installed the Husky Exact Contour mats in the front. Fit is very good. Seat is comfortable for me. I like the electric adjustments and especially the lumbar. Interior lighting is pretty good, I would like to add some type of white led's for the footwell area.
Sync 3 performs well. I've had this same system in 2 other Fords. I like it. Its easy to operate. The Navigation package is really cool.
Especially the live traffic updates. I need to get a trailer hitch installed. The Ford hitch is less than $300.
I saved the worst part for last.
Ride Quality. It rides smooth going down a smooth highway. City streets with small bump, potholes. speed bumps, it will toss you around. Buckle up. I've never had a car or truck handle like this. Almost like there is no suspension, Tires pressures have been reduced a bit as well. Hopefully its just new & stiff. Time will tell all. Maybe the shocks are inferior. I dont see where Bilstein offers anything for the Ranger.
Thats about it. I do like The Ranger and have no regrets. I'll get used to the ride stiffness, hopefully it will calm down.

Dave

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

FX4 or a “normal” truck?

They have different shocks.

Nav package sounds nice. My little Garmin spoiled me on our vacation.

 

[dhdaniel]

XLT 302a, 2 wheel drive, 18" wheels
The Navigation is very usefull

 

[The Donald]

I'm surprised there are not more posts on this one.
After 2 110 mile round trips to work, I have to say I love this truck. I never really connected with my F-150, it just wasn't there.
Mileage is showing 21 mpg right now, I'm still keeping it at 70 mph for break-in. It's cold here right now, to be expected.
The ride quality is not a negative for me even with the FX4 package, it's great on the freeway and just enough bounce to let you know your driving a 4WD truck on the little stuff.
I did notice that the door sticker shows tire PSI of 30 which I thought was low but they were at 40 which could lead to the stiffness. I brought them down to 32 psi.
I really like everything about it so I will just say what I thought was just okay.
The seat recliners... I am disappointed. Everything else power and then this unfriendly handle and limited resolution. That's it so far.
Rode in a Colorado, felt like a car, this still feels like a truck and I swear it still feels like a Ranger. Somehow they made it modern and never got away from it's roots.
Taking it across Michigan tomorrow to show some more Ford freaks.
This thing fits me like a glove too, not the "apartment" feeling of the F-150.
Just my 2 cents. I hope everybody is enjoying their Rangers!
Merry Christmas,
Don

 

[sgtsandman]

I've found over the years that the factory psi recommendation is usually a good number. Even after crunching the numbers myself with the max tire load rating and max psi to figure out what the new tire would need to meet the load the OEM psi is holding. The numbers either match the OEM recommendation or are really close.

As far as my review on my truck, I've pretty much stated it elsewhere after I was able to spend some time in it. My biggest negative is the bouncy suspension. I think that will be fixed with a stiffer dampening shock. Interior storage is less than I expected as well. Unfortunately, the high bed walls and tailgate are the in thing right now, so rear visibility is not great but I know how to use my mirrors and as long as I haven't been driving on wet roads, the rear camera is helpful. Beyond that, I like the truck and don't have buyer's remorse. There is a few things I would like to do to the truck over time but I need to finish doing the things I would like to do to the 2011 first that needs them more than the 2019 does.

 

[HenryMac]

I grew up in pickup trucks. Grandpa's 1966 Twin I-Beam 100, Dad's 72 C-20. 1st new truck I ever bought was an 85 S-15 and since then (2) Tacoma 4x4's and a 65 C10 short stepside.

Most of the complaints I read about the 2019 Rangers is from people with unrealistic expectations: They expect a 4x4 truck to ride like a Buick, They expect their 4x4 truck to have luxury creature comforts.... like a damper on the tailgate. A damper on the tailgate? Really? The tailgate on these trucks is super lightweight.

We pretty much love everything about our 2019 Ranger. Will it be as dependable and maintenance free as our 2002 Tacoma was in the 17 years we owned it? I'm skeptical..... time will tell.

 

[sgtsandman]

I agree. The big thing seems to be a comfortable ride and whether the tailgate is dampened. It’s a truck. If you don’t like it, get a Ridgeline or a Baja.

 

[91stranger]

I cant stand tailgates that are slow when opening. Drives me crazy. Who needs a tail gate to be quiet? That's just dumb. If you don't like your truck being loud then don't buy a truck... Instead, they need to be re-designing the tailgate to compete with the Sierra. That alone has been a selling point for people.

 

[sgtsandman]

They made those tailgates so that GM owners had a place to sit while waiting to be rescued or towed.

 

[91stranger]

They made those tailgates so that GM owners had a place to sit while waiting to be rescued or towed.

Still nicer tailgate than the normal ones on any given ford.... To pretend you don't like it is funny.... It can still do all the normal tailgate stuff and then about 27,000,000,000 times more.... Just saying... STEP UP YOUR GAME FORD

 

[sgtsandman]

I don’t mind it really. Some of them come with speakers for tailgating. Still, it’s fun to give GM owners a hard time after all those years of ridicule they gave Ford owners for the “man step”.

 

[HenryMac]

Still nicer tailgate than the normal ones on any given ford.... To pretend you don't like it is funny.... It can still do all the normal tailgate stuff and then about 27,000,000,000 times more.... Just saying... STEP UP YOUR GAME FORD

Please Ford leave the tailgate alone. I get tired of paying for silly shit I don't want... If they make it an option, fine. But all these trucks are already so bloated with creature comforts it's ridiculous.

A step bumper is good enough. Stop the insanity.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Still nicer tailgate than the normal ones on any given ford.... To pretend you don't like it is funny.... It can still do all the normal tailgate stuff and then about 27,000,000,000 times more.... Just saying... STEP UP YOUR GAME FORD

Normal tailgate stuff is all my tailgate needs to do.