New owner observations

[lobsta11]

Picked up my truck on Tuesday. My 1st drive around the parking lot & I went "Oh my God the mirrors are so big they create two huge blind spots". I'll get used to it but it was a shock. Being vertically challenged I find that it can be a little difficult swinging to pull into a parking spot. Also taking a sharp left turn at a Y intersection I was unable to see the granite curbstone I was passing by. More getting used to. After 20 years I guess I'm just to used to the smaller size of my 1999 Ranger.

Driving down the highway the throttle response brings a smile to my face. I do wish Ford had made the suspension a little tighter. The ride reminds me of the 1966 Caddy I bought when I got out of the army in 1972. I also prefer the greater storage space in back in my 1999 Xtra cab as those seats folded up out of the way.

My nitpicking aside I think I made a good choice in my Ranger & expect to happily drive it for many years to come.
Al

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[dmeyer302]

I too remember being surprised by the mirrors at first. You’ll get used to them obviously. Pull a trailer and you’ll wish they were just a “little bit bigger”.

 

[RCMUSTANG]

Maybe I'm in the minority but in my FX4 I think the front is perfect and the rear was too stiff. I swapped to a set of Fabtechs in the rear and it matches the front now. I couldn't think of wanting it stiffer. I love the way it rides.

 

[pa-fatboy]

I saw a thread on here about tire pressure. It mentioned your tire pressure should match what the sticker says in the driver door jam.

The post went on to say Ford inflates the tires on purpose for shipping into the 45+ psi range. The dealership is supposed to reset the tire pressure as part of the delivery prep.

Once I deflated my tires to match my sticker, I had a whole new truck. It drove so much better. It handles and drives as I would expect it.

 

[Rp930]

I like them at 32. Sort of takes a little of the bounce out. What a great truck. Love it.

 

[SandBaja]

I'm going to tag along with initial impressions on this thread. My tires were set to 47 PSI and I deflated them to 30 PSI this AM. It's certainly smoother. It got me to think about off road and deflating tires. With my Jeep it was standard practice to deflate tires to <15 Lb's PSI when going offroad. Depending on your wheels and tires the PSI was lower or higher. I always carried a deflator and compressor to air down and up. I wont have a chance to drive off-road for several months so I cannot test the capabilities of TM, 4 lo and hi, rear lockers and impact of airing up and down.

So, why do I bring this up? I was looking at a video of two ladies testing the of-road capabilities on this site last night and they got stuck in sand. No trail friends, no shovel, no airing down, no tow strap, no recovery tracks, winch, no radio (Ham or CB), probably no safety or med equipment either. They were digging out with their hands until someone happened to mosey by and pull them out. They were fortunate and not prepared. Don't be them. Sometimes airing down is all you need to get unstuck. I'm refraining from using the adjectives to describe what they did.

I'm still learning the features. It's quieter, smoother, more comfortable and easier to drive than my ex-jeep. The 4 cyl, turbo is pretty darn nice. I know it won't be as capable but I won't be climbing rocks unless I mod the Ranger and that won't be for years.

 

[mntbighker]

My truck was delivered with 45 psi. I'm actually not sure what "dealer prep" means. #eyeroll And they left a razor blade on my back seat.

 

[RCMUSTANG]

My air pressure monitor says 39 lbs recommended. Might be because I have the LT's.

 

[DrRoger]

My truck was delivered with 45 psi. I'm actually not sure what "dealer prep" means. #eyeroll And they left a razor blade on my back seat.

A month or so ago someone posted the "dealer prep" checklist that the dealer is supposed to follow. Adjust tire pressure AND fill wind shield washer fluid are both on the list.

 

[mransr]

My windshield washer fluid was showing as low after I used it twice and my tires were at 45lbs....sigh...but I bought it on a Sunday so the "A-team" probably wasn't on duty.

 

[mntbighker]

A month or so ago someone posted the "dealer prep" checklist that the dealer is supposed to follow. Adjust tire pressure AND fill wind shield washer fluid are both on the list.

Yeah, my salesman had to fill the washer fluid too.

 

[CWO2LT]

I'll add my 2 cents here too. Dealers are eager to sell you a new truck but fall short on delivery. Had to wait 2 hours for them to do a state inspection, tires were still over inflated at 47 psi, and the windshield washer was empty. It was washed but wasn't vacuumed out. Couldn't put on the bed cover that was included because they didn't have an installation expert on hand. Bought the truck at noon and finally rolled out at 4.

 

[NickTheEnforcer]

My truck was delivered with 45 psi. I'm actually not sure what "dealer prep" means. #eyeroll And they left a razor blade on my back seat.

Mine was delivered with 48 PSI all around, if it wasn't for setting up the ford link app at the dealership I would have drove it off the lot that way. Instead of the sales-clerk just saying 'sorry' we dropped the ball he went into spin [lie/stupid] mode and tried to claim the factory adjust them that high to compensate for our Illinois winter air loss. I totally shook my head at that point and proceeded to school this know-nothing. Needless to say after just signing off on a new $40k note I had to adjust my own pressure b/c it was 9pm and all the shop monkeys were gone. Lucky for me I had a digital gauge in my other vehicle. Wonder if the nuts are torqued for the spec of 100 ft/lbs... not.

Im new here and am excited about this forum and my purchase! Last truck I bought was 10 years ago, 2009 Ram 1500 crew 4x4 Big Horn HEMI. One of the best vehicles I ever owned and the longest, in fact my son turns 16 soon and is excited to get it. Its nearly mint with exception of cab corners that started rusting from inside out a year ago

 

[NickTheEnforcer]

My windshield washer fluid was showing as low after I used it twice and my tires were at 45lbs....sigh...but I bought it on a Sunday so the "A-team" probably wasn't on duty.

In my experience 'A' teams are extinct. no matter where I go I get vehicle back with dirty door handle, steering wheel and arm rest. I spenT quite some time managing a few Goodyear franchises in the late 80's-90's and we used to write up and fire tech's for not putting in a paper mat, plastic in seat and cover on steering wheel. Guys we had were so good that they would take a clean fender cover in to lay on arm rests...

THOSE DAYS OF GIVING A S**T ABOUT ONES' WORK ARE OVER.

 

[Hairball]

New guy here! Been thinking about a new ranger since I first heard they were coming back. My conundrum is all the reviews I've read or watched on boobtube said the ranger rode like a truck??? duh it is a truck. I test drove an XLT non fx4 crew cab today and I think it rode more like a 66 caddy as the o/p stated in the first post than truck like. I think my 2017 Escape titanium rides way more like a truck than the ranger does. I felt it wallowed over every bump and almost seemed like it was on the verge of being out of control. I know it was just a short test drive but I have to say my Escape feels much more stable and in control than the ranger did. Is it just me or am I missing something.

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