What did you do to your Ranger today?

[jflogerzi]

Yea.. I’m about ready to pull the trigger as well. Saw them a few months ago on their Amazon store. https://www.amazon.com/Putco-87163-Bumper-Grille-Insert/dp/B083F7FWJL/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1DPWANOB0LVO3&keywords=putco+grill+inserts&qid=1677028571&sprefix=Putco+gr,aps,95&sr=8-3&ufe=app_do:amzn1.fos.08f69ac3-fd3d-4b88-bca2-8997e41410bb

Do it! Looks so more complete if you don't run a FP. The Whole is so massive.

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[Shoran12]

Impo…that is far from a simple rant. You touched on every important point and are completely correct on every one as well. Well put sir. BTW, I still look back at mine as well; I hate that it hurts so much to love it though.

Definitely get where you are coming from. If I was sure a tune would fix the issues I’d pay the money and be done. Same goes for a Tom Woods driveshaft. My only issues with this truck are the transmission and the harmonic droning I get 50-60 mph. Can’t feel it really, just hear it with the radio off. Guessing that’s either the front axle or the driveshaft. I’ll see what they say at my appointment. I pushed off my suspension upgrades so they can look at my truck stock. If I knew for sure that I could fix these two issues by spending 1400 dollars or so then I would do it for sure. Everything else I dig about the truck. I’ll see what the dealership says but I’m guessing I’ll get the runaround. I asked for the drive along with a tech so I can show him exactly what I’m talking about. I want this truck to last me 8 years and 150k miles so it can be my kids first truck. 150k should be easy considering today trucks but with how the transmission acts I have my doubts. Only 5800 miles on mine and the transmission drove perfect the first few weeks.

 

[Figarou]

How much do you charge

I have no idea how much to charge. A lot of labor did go into my truck.

I also removed the skid plate and detailed the fan shroud. Plus everything else.

I also did inside wheel rim. 303 tire dressing on both sides of the tire.

Here are the cotton swabs for hard to reach areas.

Grip 325 pc Cotton Swab Assortment - Auto Detailing, Electronics Cleaning, Lubricant Application, Cleaning Firearms - Super Absorbent, Low Lint, Wood Handles - Home, Garage, Workshop, Office https://a.co/d/eWxx0rV

 

[Rod B]

Definitely get where you are coming from. If I was sure a tune would fix the issues I’d pay the money and be done. Same goes for a Tom Woods driveshaft. My only issues with this truck are the transmission and the harmonic droning I get 50-60 mph. Can’t feel it really, just hear it with the radio off. Guessing that’s either the front axle or the driveshaft. I’ll see what they say at my appointment. I pushed off my suspension upgrades so they can look at my truck stock. If I knew for sure that I could fix these two issues by spending 1400 dollars or so then I would do it for sure. Everything else I dig about the truck. I’ll see what the dealership says but I’m guessing I’ll get the runaround. I asked for the drive along with a tech so I can show him exactly what I’m talking about. I want this truck to last me 8 years and 150k miles so it can be my kids first truck. 150k should be easy considering today trucks but with how the transmission acts I have my doubts. Only 5800 miles on mine and the transmission drove perfect the first few weeks.

I would guess it’s the carrier bearing and output shaft bearing going because of the wobble. After they replaced those plus the drive shafts on mine the drone went away, but I have the vibration at any speed over 75 still. At 85 it gets worrisome enough that I slow down. Never really a noticeable problem until I made two round trips to Indy within 2 weeks for the passing of my mother last week. Around town and my local small town highway it feels like a tire slightly out of balance.

 

[that408guy]

This past Saturday I finally buttoned up my exhaust system and installed CVF's Catted Downpipe. 15mm gear wrench and THIS breaker bar made things a lot easier than I was reading/expecting. Biggest pain in the butt was the top bolt closest to the limited edition engine cover. Took about 2 hours and I am not the brightest crayon in the box.

VERY happy with the performance and new BRAAAAAP.

 

[Colo_Ranger]

This past Saturday I finally buttoned up my exhaust system and installed CVF's Catted Downpipe. 15mm gear wrench and THIS breaker bar made things a lot easier than I was reading/expecting. Biggest pain in the butt was the top bolt closest to the limited edition engine cover. Took about 2 hours and I am not the brightest crayon in the box.

VERY happy with the performance and new BRAAAAAP.

What do you think about it? Performance gains in the butt dyno? Noise?

 

[JeffWoodall]

Do it! Looks so more complete if you don't run a FP. The Whole is so massive.

I thought mine was clean. That's cleaner than my kitchen table.

 

[JeffWoodall]

Yes...I drive it. But not when it's raining.

The undercarriage took half a day.

I placed the truck on some ramps. Washed it 1st then used an air dryer. Then I applied the dressing. Huge difference once you are done. I had to use cotton swabs for the hard to reach places.

Wow, I'm not even going to call myself OCD anymore. You have dibs on that for sure. I see a lint ball in my truck, I gotta get it, but you're on another level.

 

[that408guy]

What do you think about it? Performance gains in the butt dyno? Noise?

IMO it is a lot louder on cold starts (quieter once warmed up) and when you are in the lower gears maintaining a slower speed by having your foot sligtly pressed on the gas. It could be in combination with everythign I have though, (AWE Tuning 0FG Dual Exit Cat-Back, CVF hot/cold pipe kit, Injen CAI, Ford Performance Tune). But definitely got louder after the downpipe. Noticing some more gurgling when you take your foot off the gas and just coasting it out too.

As far as performance, I have not had too much driving time to really test it out but I WOT it earlier this morning entering the freeway and it threw me back into my seat a little. Don't remember the truck doing that to me before. Feels like a dramatice difference in driving experience for me with the sound and feel. I love it.

 

[JeffWoodall]

Picked it up from the dealership and with 100mi on it drove out to Cades Cove in the Great Smokey Mountains!! Installed the Short antenna first though hah

Nice..and a homeboy too.

 

[JeffWoodall]

Atlas gloves... good choice. i wonder if he knows that intake hose is supposed to be connected to something.

His immune system is probably so weak, a mosquito bite would put him in the hospital. Crazy rich people.

 

[Figarou]

Wow, I'm not even going to call myself OCD anymore. You have dibs on that for sure. I see a lint ball in my truck, I gotta get it, but you're on another level.

I can't be the only one here that does it.

Show room quality means every square inch needs attention. Top to bottom. Front to back. I'm just glad there's products out there to help achieve this.

 

[MrBusses]

Forgot to share this from the other weekend but I added seat covers. $85 from amazon universal fit, fronts fit great rears are so so but they work and there is a zipper to get access to the arm rest.

And this one is what I will be doing next week

 

[Azhang253]

Yeah I agree. My opinion only and probably wrong but here it goes. This is in regard to these trucks as a whole and not just mine. We’re in the 21st century and still having issues with a billion dollar company failing to produce an automatic transmission they can produce in mass which shifts well and is reliable over a large scale. The money is definitely there. It can be done and has. Seems like most people are paying over 40k on these trucks and for that price expect them to perform. Simple as that. And the ones that do have issues can’t be diagnosed properly or fixed. Look at the EGR sensors and how those were originally diagnosed. Money wasted on a 35 dollar fix. It’s an automatic transmission, not putting a man in the moon. It all comes down to cutting costs, lack of quality control, bs emissions standards for fleet vehicles, lack of experienced service techs and just a lower number of techs/vehicle in general, and Ford’s overall large scale reliability tanking. These issues are far from only Fords fault. If these things weren’t the case we would be using a reliable, time tested 6 speed (maybe 8). The 10 speed was strictly designed to meet emission standards and it shows. There is no need to change something that worked very well unless A the company is forced to by an outside source and/or B they think they need to in order to compete and gain or maintain consumers. The best selling midsized truck has changed very little yet sells way more trucks than any other competitor. Probably a correlation there. The Ranger has a lot going for it over the Tacoma, but I do wish Ford would really dedicate some more man power to fixing issues at the beginning and rather than immediately rolling out new vehicles with the same issues as fast as they can, fix them on the assembly line. The fact that 2019 Ranger with the blend door issues isn’t 100 percent covered by Ford is a complete slap in the face to consumers. Yes they fixed it but have yet to rectify the issue with early truck owners whom most are out of warranty already. Ford has built an empire but every so often needs to take a few steps back in order to make leaps forward. You can’t please everyone that’s for sure but you can definitely setup a program where if the truck you made is having issues it can be diagnosed and fixed properly. The technology is moving much faster than the training for the ability to fix it. That I can say with 100 percent confidence. Like Ive said many times before, if they sold a basic truck, even like those of 20-30 years ago with just whatever problems they had back then fixed, take my money. I just find it odd that my 20 year old trucks never missed a single shift, lugged, and got close to the same mileage I get now. Yes they were much simpler, but I like that. Maybe I’ve just always been lucky. Who knows. I still really like my truck, and still turn around to look back at it, but I hate seeing people spend this kind of money on trucks just to have issues and be dicked around or lied to at dealerships. There always in a hurry to get you in and out of their hair. Not all but many. If it’s true they tested your transmission by driving your truck in their parking lot I’d call them out on it. Or file a complaint with Ford. I’d be happier having to wait a bit longer to be seen if I knew my truck concerns were actually going to be addressed. Working for production companies I took pride in my work day in and day out. Anytime I could improve a machine or reliability I would. It’s benefits everyone. Yet again about half of the younger guys would quit within a day to a few weeks because it was hard so maybe we’re seeing a bit of that here as well. Anyway rant done and hope you hear back some good news. If not then at least you have a paper trail and maybe file a complaint with Ford suggesting you have issues that haven’t been addressed properly. That way if something happens you have proof you tried before your warranty is up.

You're 100% rights. It's unfortunate that I sometimes feel like I'm "taking a gamble" with a Ford over a Toyota, and that's a problem that Ford needs to fix. They must get a handle on their quality control.

That being said, I don't regret ordering the Ford at all (at least right now), since the test drive showed me 100% that while both vehicles are 100% operational, the Ranger is FAR superior. I decided I was willing to risk possible issues down the line to have a better driving experience. That being said, I will definitely get an ESP before my factory warranty is up. Another factor that played into my decision is that regardless of Ranger/Colorado/Tacoma, I don't have plans to keep them past 100K miles. I want my truck to be my no-fuss daily driver; meaning it's modern enough, comfortable, easy to drive, and most importantly, I DON'T want to work on it outside of regular maintenance. I already have two Jeeps for my offroad toys, and those SOB's seem to need constant attention to stay running (especially the darn JK, the XJ has ironically been far more reliable; it's just old).

And as much as I try not to be a "Brand guy", I did have a 2001 Ford Ranger 4x4 Scab with the flareside bed that I really loved. However; the timing system in the 4.0 SOHC engines can go to hell. That's what ultimately killed it.

 

[underwhelmed]

Had the Bilsteins installed all around. Set at 1.2” front level. Still have some rake. Got those from Stage3 for a great deal and quick shipping.

Had the 5 255/75/17 Bridgestone Dueler ATs mounted and balanced. Got all 5 for 600 bucks from a guy who drove his new Big Bend Bronco home and took them off. Replaced the factory spare with the new Bridgestone on a Sport rim I picked up off EBay.

Had everything aligned and went home! Truck feels so much more in control with the ‘Steins.

Going to take a few pounds of air out…installer put them at 38.

No noticeable difference in acceleration or shifting.

Really happy with the installer, Rocky Top Customz in Knoxville. Very professional from my experience.

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