Anyone check out the Bronco yet?

[VAMike]

something else to think about here....I wonder how much of the goodies in the bronco will migrate over to the off-road versions of the new Ranger? 7 speed with a 94-1 crawl ratio. the breakover and departure will still be better in the bronco but lawd it would make the ranger fun for trails and such.

We won't know until they announce. They could migrate that stuff to the ranger, or they could keep it for the rumored bronco pickup. It's not a technical question, it's a marketing question. My personal feeling is that they'll keep that kind of thing under the bronco label unless they decide to give up on making bronco a sub-brand, because if they put too much off-road capability in the ranger it muddies the message too much. But this is the company that came up with the Edsel brand, so who knows.

I thought the escape was on a focus platform and the explorer was on the Ranger platform.

The only SUV on the same platform as the ranger is the Everest/Endeavor. Ford has shown no interest in selling it in north america, because they think this market is happier with a more car-like unibody SUV like the explorer.

Edit to add: I forgot about the T4. Another SUV/ORV on the ranger platform available only in Brazil. I wonder if they used the same short frame for the 2 door bronco?

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[db_tanker]

I agree. The Everest and Endeavor would be a great competitor to the 4Runner but those don't really sell that much...that is even more niche than the Jeep I think nowadays.

 

[r1ch999999]

The only SUV on the same platform as the ranger is the Everest/Endeavor. Ford has shown no interest in selling it in north america, because they think this market is happier with a more car-like unibody SUV like the explorer.

Edit to add: I forgot about the T4. Another SUV/ORV on the ranger platform available only in Brazil. I wonder if they used the same short frame for the 2 door bronco?

The original Explorers and Bronco II before that were RBVs.

TBH I think the Ford Ranger is dead, that this model is the only one to be called the Ford Ranger and the next one will be the Bronco Ranger.

Also, somewhere, perhaps on The Ranger Station, I posted that I was convinced the Bronco was just going to be a rebadged/facelifted Troller T4

 

[VAMike]

The original Explorers and Bronco II before that were RBVs.

Talking about now

TBH I think the Ford Ranger is dead, that this model is the only one to be called the Ford Ranger and the next one will be the Bronco Ranger.

My feeling is that the ford ranger will stay pretty much as it is, topping out its off-road capability at FX4 (that is, for fairly modest mud track/forest road/etc driving, not rock crawling), and will be marketed to truck buyers. The bronco whatever (not "ranger", IMO) will be marketed as a trucky off road vehicle like the gladiator. I don't think they have any desire to sell a $25k work truck under the bronco marque but would be perfectly happy to get the ranger back into fleet sales the way they were in the orkin days. The only way I can see that going differently is if they attach the ranger name to the bronco ORV variant and rename the current ranger to the F-100 so they can add those sales to the "F series" total.

 

[r1ch999999]

Talking about now


My feeling is that the ford ranger will stay pretty much as it is, topping out its off-road capability at FX4 (that is, for fairly modest mud track/forest road/etc driving, not rock crawling), and will be marketed to truck buyers. The bronco whatever (not "ranger", IMO) will be marketed as a trucky off road vehicle like the gladiator. I don't think they have any desire to sell a $25k work truck under the bronco marque but would be perfectly happy to get the ranger back into fleet sales the way they were in the orkin days. The only way I can see that going differently is if they attach the ranger name to the bronco ORV variant and rename the current ranger to the F-100 so they can add those sales to the "F series" total.

Maybe @P. A. Schilke can chime in if he knows, but I thought they were originally listing a regular cab work truck Ranger. I had one all priced out, but it wasn't available with a bed.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Maybe @P. A. Schilke can chime in if he knows, but I thought they were originally listing a regular cab work truck Ranger. I had one all priced out, but it wasn't available with a bed.

Hi Rich,

Can't really comment as posts by a member that I view is non value added and thus I ignore makes it likely I will miss the boat. However with respect to Work Truck. We launched the Ranger in 1982½ with work as an option called DSO...Dealer Special Order. The DSO truck could be ordered with box delete so a "work truck box" from the aftermarket could be installed Basically a cab and bare frame to which the buyer could install any number of configurations. Launch did not see any DSO optioned at first but as the aftermarket took to the Ranger, many unique aftermarket options became available. Weirdest one for me was the Ranger Wrecker! A wrecker bed on a Ranger with a Dual wheel option with fender flairs. Had to be the precursor to the Smart Car need to be towed.... My guess is the company sold a few and that was it...not capable of towing much beyond a Pinto or some miserable GM mini car....

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

 

[VAMike]

There's some cool footage of a current Aussie ranger based tow truck floating around but I can't come up with the right keywords to find the clip.

 

[r1ch999999]

Hi Rich,

Can't really comment as posts by a member that I view is non value added and thus I ignore makes it likely I will miss the boat. However with respect to Work Truck. We launched the Ranger in 1982½ with work as an option called DSO...Dealer Special Order. The DSO truck could be ordered with box delete so a "work truck box" from the aftermarket could be installed Basically a cab and bare frame to which the buyer could install any number of configurations. Launch did not see any DSO optioned at first but as the aftermarket took to the Ranger, many unique aftermarket options became available. Weirdest one for me was the Ranger Wrecker! A wrecker bed on a Ranger with a Dual wheel option with fender flairs. Had to be the precursor to the Smart Car need to be towed.... My guess is the company sold a few and that was it...not capable of towing much beyond a Pinto or some miserable GM mini car....

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

I might not have been clear, and I might be expecting you to know more than you should.

I swear after the '19 Ranger was first confirmed there was a Ford Fleet website leaked that had a build configuration available for the Ranger. At that time I thought you could only order the fleet Ranger without a bed, but it looked like you could order a crew cab, 4x4, for about $25K. Perhaps I'm dreaming.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

I might not have been clear, and I might be expecting you to know more than you should.

I swear after the '19 Ranger was first confirmed there was a Ford Fleet website leaked that had a build configuration available for the Ranger. At that time I thought you could only order the fleet Ranger without a bed, but it looked like you could order a crew cab, 4x4, for about $25K. Perhaps I'm dreaming.

Hi Rich,

Yeah...I do not know for certain on this, but it would not surprise me if there was a box delete available for fleet customers...not sure if this is available to the general customer, but likely the Dealership folks would know..particularly big dealerships with a fleet sales area. If such an option existed for 2019, it would likely be in effect for 2020 and 2021.

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

 

[Dr. Zaius]

A new video of the Broncos in Moab has been posted.

Looks like good stuff.

 

[AzScorpion]

A new video of the Broncos in Moab has been posted.

Looks like good stuff.

Great video DR.! We're going to Utah in October and I want to go to Moab but I don't think the Ranger would be up to that trail. lol

 

[Deleted member 1634]

Great video DR.! We're going to Utah in October and I want to go to Moab but I don't think the Ranger would be up to that trail. lol

TFL took the Ranger to Moab when it first came out. I'm not sure it was that trail (I haven't watched that Bronco video yet). But it did better than most other trucks they take to Moab.

 

[AzScorpion]

TFL took the Ranger to Moab when it first came out. I'm not sure it was that trail (I haven't watched that Bronco video yet). But it did better than most other trucks they take to Moab.

I forgot about this video. I did see it last year before I bought mine. It's not the same trail as in the Bronco video, that ones pretty tough. Makes me want a Bronco now. lol

 

[Deleted member 1634]

I forgot about this video. I did see it last year before I bought mine. It's not the same trail as in the Bronco video, that ones pretty tough. Makes me want a Bronco now. lol

Yeah, now that I've seen the Bronco video(s), I see not the same trail, not even close. haha The TFL video makes me happy with my Ranger though, since that's basically the absolute max I would ever do, and I likely will never get close. haha Hell's Revenge is a pretty crazy one. And those Bronco's are eating it up, even with less experienced driver's at the helm!

 

[AzScorpion]

Yeah, now that I've seen the Bronco video(s), I see not the same trail, not even close. haha The TFL video makes me happy with my Ranger though, since that's basically the absolute max I would ever do, and I likely will never get close. haha Hell's Revenge is a pretty crazy one. And those Bronco's are eating it up, even with less experienced driver's at the helm!

I don't know how the trails are out there but I'd like to go to Hell's Revenge and watch others doing it. I can't wait to see the pricing on the Bronco. I like that you can add the Sasquatch package to the lower models and not have to buy into the top tier ones. I'll definitely go check them out at the dealer once they come in. Although that could be dangerous as one might follow me home.

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