SuperDuty Guy New to the Midsize Ranger

[Ranger Mel]

I bought my 2019 Ranger XLT FX4 in August of '24. Been a full size F250 guy since 1985. My last truck was an '04 F250 Lariat crew cab, long box, 4x4, 6.0 diesel. What a huge difference. We don't tow but a couple times a year and our travel trailer GVWR is 4100 lbs. Hated to let it go. Hard to justify a 7000 lb. diesel truck when the Ranger will handle our needs. No big mods planned other than the tailgate damper before anyone suggests that! Brake controller is likely the first thing. Might add a CB since I'm old school and always had one in my trucks. Already bought a tailgate pad for the mountain bikes. Loving the truck more all the time. Looking forward to learning more about my truck to understand it better.

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[OGMix376]

Welcome, nice color. Coming from a f250 I bet driving is a lot easier getting around town.

 

[Ranger Mel]

Welcome, nice color. Coming from a f250 I bet driving is a lot easier getting around town.

Night and day! Parking, too. I still back in whenever I can. Funny thing about the color it wasn't my first choice as the red, blue and dark gray are really what I wanted. White bumpers or chrome with white just looked washed out. This one came up at the dealer auction (my mechanic shop owner is also a dealer and will hand pick a rig at the auction for you for a few hundred bucks) with the blackout or sport package and it spoke to me. Never say never! I got it at 3K under my limit for the auction. My wife's '15 Explorer Sport is white with the black trim package so they're kinda matching.

 

[OGMix376]

I like my vehicles to match so I’m all for it ?. You may have already heard from doing any research about the 5g is that the stock suspension is a bit of a meh. Tremor package with the fox shocks is ok but most folks on here even replace those as soon as they needed servicing. Truck basically a stock fx4? Or any mods previously done on it?

 

[Ranger Mel]

All stock with 38,800 miles when I bought it. Even on the original Hankooks but this will be the last winter for those. Spray in bed liner, Ford tonneau and Ford floor mats. I like the way it feels right now but shocks don't last forever. When the time comes I will look for equal or better shocks. Not a serious off roader but with a smaller truck I will likely be doing more than in the SuperDuty which was none other than snowy logging roads when hunting! I will be towing the travel trailer some so I don't want to sacrifice that ability.

 

[OGMix376]

I wanna say a guy on here went with bilstien shocks for the rear and was claimed it made a noticeably better ride overall and with towing. I haven’t been able to get in the snow with mine so I’m a little jealous.

 

[Ranger Mel]

Thanks! I will keep that in mind. I did some wheeling in the snow during deer season. I didn't push it too far since the tires aren't fresh. It did really well though in spite of the tires. I got to play with the FX4 goodies while out there so that was nice getting to know how to operate the system.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Nice looking FX4, Mel - welcome!

 

[Jason B]

Nice truck and welcome.
Don't delay on getting a TBC, the Ford sanctioned one are the only ones approved to work with
Pre-collision Auto Emergency Braking. And they are getting hard to find.
This is what you need for TBC VKB3Z2C006A.

 

[got3fords]

Nice truck and welcome. But your profile says crew cab. I think technically it's a super crew cab.

 

[ControlNode]

Looks good. FX4 makes for decent off-road fun I hear, mine is just a 4x4 with locking rear diff, no drive modes, crawl control or skid plates. I really wanted RWD, but not easy to find with tow and other options I wanted.

I don't think there is any package affecting the bumper color though, just the standard no package bumpers. Chrome package would add the chrome bumpers, and the Black Appearance package would add the body-colored bumpers.

 

[OrangeStreak]

I bought my 2019 Ranger XLT FX4 in August of '24. Been a full size F250 guy since 1985. My last truck was an '04 F250 Lariat crew cab, long box, 4x4, 6.0 diesel. What a huge difference. We don't tow but a couple times a year and our travel trailer GVWR is 4100 lbs. Hated to let it go. Hard to justify a 7000 lb. diesel truck when the Ranger will handle our needs. No big mods planned other than the tailgate damper before anyone suggests that! Brake controller is likely the first thing. Might add a CB since I'm old school and always had one in my trucks. Already bought a tailgate pad for the mountain bikes. Loving the truck more all the time. Looking forward to learning more about my truck to understand it better.

I would like to suggest a Tailgate Damper...

 

[RedlandRanger]

Thanks! I will keep that in mind. I did some wheeling in the snow during deer season. I didn't push it too far since the tires aren't fresh. It did really well though in spite of the tires. I got to play with the FX4 goodies while out there so that was nice getting to know how to operate the system.

Those Hankooks are terrible in the snow - you will definitely appreciate better tires in the snow. New shocks in the rear also will give you a much better ride.

Welcome to the club!

 

[veedubtuner]

Welcome Mel!

 

[Doc]

I bought my 2019 Ranger XLT FX4 in August of '24. Been a full size F250 guy since 1985. My last truck was an '04 F250 Lariat crew cab, long box, 4x4, 6.0 diesel. What a huge difference. We don't tow but a couple times a year and our travel trailer GVWR is 4100 lbs. Hated to let it go. Hard to justify a 7000 lb. diesel truck when the Ranger will handle our needs. No big mods planned other than the tailgate damper before anyone suggests that! Brake controller is likely the first thing. Might add a CB since I'm old school and always had one in my trucks. Already bought a tailgate pad for the mountain bikes. Loving the truck more all the time. Looking forward to learning more about my truck to understand it better.

Nice !

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