THE RANGER BOUNCE

[CompDude]

An empty truck rides rough, that's the nature of the beast, and for Ranger's a SuperCab is rougher than a SuperCrew. If that's an issue, add some weight to the bed, or another alternative is to buy a non-truck, like a Honda Ridgeline.

Agreed.. I wished I would of checked the tire pressure.

Thinking of going back and checking..

I am comparing it to my Brothers F-150 and my Dads F-250

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[RedlandRanger]

Does anyone notice this being fatiguing during long trips? We just test drove a ranger a couple weeks ago and me and my boy noticed the bounciness right off the bat. My wife said it feels like a truck. Wish I would of checked the tire pressure. This has me starting to consider other options..

Longest trip I've taken has been about 6 hours but I felt it was a VERY comfortable trip. I will say that I don't really mind the "bounciness". To me, it smooths out the truckiness of the ride very nicely. There are a few occasions when it goes get a bit floaty, but overall, I like the ride. It is much more civilized for a daily driver than an older Ranger (or other older trucks) are, IMO.

 

[CompDude]

Agreed.. I wished I would of checked the tire pressure.

Thinking of going back and checking..

I am comparing it to my Brothers F-150 and my Dads F-250

I am going to swing by and drive it again later today... Also driving the Taco and the Colorado..

 

[CompDude]

I am going to swing by and drive it again later today... Also driving the Taco and the Colorado..

Well just got back.. The Taco drove like a truck from the 90's.. Reminds me of our old feeding truck..

The Colorado was actually the best of the bunch in terms of ride there was very little body moment while hitting bumps, accelerating and hard breaking.

The Ranger on the same route felt bouncy and disconnected. The tire pressure was not correct! We lowered the pressure before we left as they were around 48-49 PSI

I am still leaning toward the Ranger the interior/Tech is just leaps and bounds ahead of the competition I may try some after market solutions if I purchase one.

 

[DavidR]

Does anyone notice this being fatiguing during long trips? We just test drove a ranger a couple weeks ago and me and my boy noticed the bounciness right off the bat. My wife said it feels like a truck. Wish I would of checked the tire pressure. This has me starting to consider other options..

I've mostly gotten used to it on longer rides. So far, the longest single stretch has been 250 miles. Some people have described it as a rough ride, but it's not rough in the sense of being jarring or extremely stiff like our old '93 Ranger is when unloaded. It's more like you feel tossed around a bit rather than jarred by stiffness. On longer trips, we've found that it only occasionally gets bad enough to make us look at each other in surprise, most of the time it has just become part of the overall feel of the truck.

 

[DavidR]

Well just got back.. The Taco drove like a truck from the 90's.. Reminds me of our old feeding truck..

The Colorado was actually the best of the bunch in terms of ride there was very little body moment while hitting bumps, accelerating and hard breaking.

The Ranger on the same route felt bouncy and disconnected. The tire pressure was not correct! We lowered the pressure before we left as they were around 48-49 PSI

I am still leaning toward the Ranger the interior/Tech is just leaps and bounds ahead of the competition I may try some after market solutions if I purchase one.

The tech was definitely one of the reasons we went for the Ranger. It's pretty amazing how far behind the other mid-size trucks are in that area. The second big reason is that our first Ranger has lasted 26 years and 260,000 miles without needing any serious repair until 220,000. This new one has big shoes to fill!

A neighbor and I went out earlier today and in a very unscientific experiment, we rocked the truck back and forth from the middle of the bed as hard as we could and then let it go. The new Ranger continued rocking back and forth around 5 more times before it settled down. We then did the same thing to our old '93 Ranger, and it only rocked once after letting go. We then tried it with his F250, which rocked 2 times. They were all unloaded and had similar tire pressures of 32-35psi. While it's not a very scientific experiment, I'm not surprised that some earlier posters said they've gotten good results by replacing the shocks. The factory shocks, at least on the FX4, seem a little under-damped for the suspension, at least when unloaded. The rear shocks are pretty easy to change out, so I might put that on the list of things to spend more money on..

 

[P. A. Schilke]

The tech was definitely one of the reasons we went for the Ranger. It's pretty amazing how far behind the other mid-size trucks are in that area. The second big reason is that our first Ranger has lasted 26 years and 260,000 miles without needing any serious repair until 220,000. This new one has big shoes to fill!

A neighbor and I went out earlier today and in a very unscientific experiment, we rocked the truck back and forth from the middle of the bed as hard as we could and then let it go. The new Ranger continued rocking back and forth around 5 more times before it settled down. We then did the same thing to our old '93 Ranger, and it only rocked once after letting go. We then tried it with his F250, which rocked 2 times. They were all unloaded and had similar tire pressures of 32-35psi. While it's not a very scientific experiment, I'm not surprised that some earlier posters said they've gotten good results by replacing the shocks. The factory shocks, at least on the FX4, seem a little under-damped for the suspension, at least when unloaded. The rear shocks are pretty easy to change out, so I might put that on the list of things to spend more money on..

Hi David.

What you are feeling is the FX4 brand for offroad...not on road. When we first developed the FX4, it was for off road, where it shines, not on road. My engineer on the FX4 also supported my Ford Racing Off Road effort where he learned how to tune off road racing trucks. The FX4 package is doing its job... You might have ordered the STX. FX4 is not tuned for the street...but is for offroad.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[HenryMac]

FX4 is not tuned for the street...but is for offroad.

As it relates to the "Off-Road Tuned Suspension" itself as stated below in the FX4 description, other than the FX4 shocks and struts, is anything really different at all? I'm talking about swaybars, rear spring rates, etc

Thanks.

FX4 Off-Road Package Includes:
• Off-Road Tuned Suspension
• 17-inch or 18-inch Off-Road OWL Tires
• Electronic-locking Rear Differential (3.73)
• Exposed Front Tow Hooks
• Exposed Steel Bash Plate
• Off-Road Screen in Cluster – provides feedback on pitch and roll, plus steering angle
• Front Air Dam Delete
• Skid Plates – Fuel Tank, Transfer Case, and Front Differential
• Terrain Management System™
• Trail Control™
• 4x4 "FX4 Offroad" Bodyside Decal

 

[Roofhopper]

Hi David.

What you are feeling is the FX4 brand for offroad...not on road. When we first developed the FX4, it was for off road, where it shines, not on road. My engineer on the FX4 also supported my Ford Racing Off Road effort where he learned how to tune off road racing trucks. The FX4 package is doing its job... You might have ordered the STX. FX4 is not tuned for the street...but is for offroad.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

This is exactly why I wanted an FX4, not that I will get it into consistent serious off-roading... But the roads and highways are so degraded around me that the FX4 suspension had a chance to shine on every drive, my Ranger glides over crap roads like my old Towncar did lol

 

[P. A. Schilke]

As it relates to the "Off-Road Tuned Suspension" itself as stated below in the FX4 description, other than the FX4 shocks and struts, is anything really different at all? I'm talking about swaybars, rear spring rates, etc

Thanks.

FX4 Off-Road Package Includes:
• Off-Road Tuned Suspension
• 17-inch or 18-inch Off-Road OWL Tires
• Electronic-locking Rear Differential (3.73)
• Exposed Front Tow Hooks
• Exposed Steel Bash Plate
• Off-Road Screen in Cluster – provides feedback on pitch and roll, plus steering angle
• Front Air Dam Delete
• Skid Plates – Fuel Tank, Transfer Case, and Front Differential
• Terrain Management System™
• Trail Control™
• 4x4 "FX4 Offroad" Bodyside Decal

Hi John,

I can't answer these questions as I was not part of the development of the 5G FX4. Back when Marketing proposed the FX4, my Vehicle Dynamics engineer Doug S and I developed the Brand to mean something above the STX in off road performance on the compact Ranger 4x4 truck. How the team chose to develop the 5G to be true to the brand, I have no knowledge of that they chose for the suspension dynamics.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[DavidR]

Hi David.

What you are feeling is the FX4 brand for offroad...not on road. When we first developed the FX4, it was for off road, where it shines, not on road. My engineer on the FX4 also supported my Ford Racing Off Road effort where he learned how to tune off road racing trucks. The FX4 package is doing its job... You might have ordered the STX. FX4 is not tuned for the street...but is for offroad.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Thanks Phil, that makes sense. I'm sure it's hard to optimize for both - you want to pick one and do it well. I haven't done too much off-roading yet other than to test out the 4WD system and make sure it all worked, but as someone else pointed out, it does also tame crappy roads pretty well, which is similar.

While I might try after-market shocks at some point, I'm not really in a hurry to. We've gotten used to the ride, which is actually pretty comfortable overall, and the "bounce" is only bothersome on rare occasions. I'm really happy with the FX4 choice so far and having a trade-off that favors off-road and rough-road performance, as we live in an area that has a lot of rough and dirt roads.

It's way better than the '93, which seems biased on the stiff side and can be a bit jarring off-road when unloaded. It's not an FX4 but I don't know if that existed back then.

 

[Traneman]

Hi John,

I can't answer these questions as I was not part of the development of the 5G FX4. Back when Marketing proposed the FX4, my Vehicle Dynamics engineer Doug S and I developed the Brand to mean something above the STX in off road performance on the compact Ranger 4x4 truck. How the team chose to develop the 5G to be true to the brand, I have no knowledge of that they chose for the suspension dynamics.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

What am I getting with the STX?

 

[HenryMac]

What am I getting with the STX?

Stock suspension...

The STX Appearance Package adds bold styling elements to the Ranger XL model.

Package includes:

• 17-Inch Silver-Painted Aluminum Wheels
• Premium Cloth 4-Way Ebony Black Seats
• Carbon Black Front and Rear Bumper
• "STX" Bodyside Decal
(not available with FX4 Off-Road Package)
• Fog Lamps
• Tow Hooks

 

[P. A. Schilke]

What am I getting with the STX?

Hi Jay,

I cannot answer this from the program perspective as this defined by the program.. You have been quoted the sales brochure but from an engineering standpoint I can only speak to the Ranger when I was it Ford, and the STX at that point was standard Vehicle Dynamics tuning. FX4 when we as developed it was Bass Ackwards to conventional tuning and I believe this is the case here with the 5G Ranger as well, but having not driven an STX to compare against my FX4, I am only speculating.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[dceggert]

I test drove an XLT 4x4 non-FX4 and an XLT FX4 back to back two weeks ago. I was concerned about the FX4 tuning and wanted to determine which to purchase. I did not drive them at higher speeds (above 45 MPH) but I was targeting the roughest pavement I could find to see how the ride was for each package. I found the two to have similar feeling dynamics overall but with one exception; when the FX4 hit a hole or section of raised concrete the initial impact of the tires was less harsh. Based on my test drives I decided to go after the FX4 due to the conditions of the roads on my work commute loop...just like driving off road.

I hope this helps.

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