Peas
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This is a story of sacrifice and altruism. A story of a dad who modified his truck, not for himself but for the safety and ride comfort experienced by his family. Do I enjoy drinking beer and wrenching on my truck with my buddies? Hell NO! I do it for my family.
OG Truck... 2019 XLT FX4, 302A, Tow Package, Technology Package, 265/65/17 Tire "Updgade". Backstory: I had been waiting for the Ranger to come back out ever since I sold my 2005 XLT FX4 Ranger when we had our second kid. Ordered the truck and it was built in the summer of 2019 at the plant my father in law used to work at. From Michigan but now live in Colorado. Been driving FORDS my whole life. What up Doe!
First set of mods:
Carhardt Seat Covers
Weather Tech Floor Mats
ARE Overland Topper
Linex Bedliner
These mods were intended to build out our adventure rig for basic use. My kids call it the ColoRanger (no offense to the actual @Colo_Ranger). But after some time it seemed like the truck just wasn't riding right on forest roads and mild off roading. When your kid pukes all over your new seat covers because of the rough bouncy ride, it's time to take action. My wife looks at me and says, "is the truck dolphin diving like a Cadillac? Is there something we can do to fix that? I want the truck to ride more.... planted". I took this feedback seriously and worked to upgrade the truck to make it more ... safe and to ride more planted (as directed). Thank goodness for this forum or I would have been lost for ideas....
Next set of mods:
Fox 2.0 Coilovers and 2.0 rear shocks
Diode Dynamics Amber Fog Replacement
Self installed the suspension upgrades with some friends and some beers and some unfortunate time away from the family (had to do it). I adjusted the preload on the coilovers to what I thought would be 2.5" of lift, turned out to be a bit more. Evenly leveled the truck and instantly improved the ride quality. The difference in ride quality was noticeable and much appreciated by the family. At some point, it was brought to my attention (I think by the three year old) that amber lights are safer in snow (which we get a lot of) than stock white fog lights so had to invest in more safety equipment and add the Diode Dynamics Amber Fogs. Very bright and cast a very wide pattern. Huge safety improvement.
Next set of Mods:
DeeZee Tailgate Damper
Ranger Tailgate Lettering
Front Air Dam Delete
Crash Bar plastic cover delete
These are purely to add horsepower, torque and (wait for it....) safety.
Final set of mods... for now:
BDS Shackles
BFG KO2s 275/70/17
Faction Fab 1" spacers
Rounding out the safety upgrade are the new tires which are larger (and naturally safer) which required 1" spacers (because rubbing on the spindle is a safety issue) and a small lift in the rear. That rear lift with the BDS shackles was needed to get more rear articulation in the suspension and to get the truck back to having some rake because we do tow our raft from time to time and a squatting truck is well... unsafe.
Very pleased with the truck for the past two years and these modifications are simply amazing. I can't believe how right my family was and I'm happy that I listened to their sage advise to upgrade the truck. Onto more adventures.... and maybe a Roush Tune, CAI, more lights, etc!!
OG Truck... 2019 XLT FX4, 302A, Tow Package, Technology Package, 265/65/17 Tire "Updgade". Backstory: I had been waiting for the Ranger to come back out ever since I sold my 2005 XLT FX4 Ranger when we had our second kid. Ordered the truck and it was built in the summer of 2019 at the plant my father in law used to work at. From Michigan but now live in Colorado. Been driving FORDS my whole life. What up Doe!
First set of mods:
Carhardt Seat Covers
Weather Tech Floor Mats
ARE Overland Topper
Linex Bedliner
These mods were intended to build out our adventure rig for basic use. My kids call it the ColoRanger (no offense to the actual @Colo_Ranger). But after some time it seemed like the truck just wasn't riding right on forest roads and mild off roading. When your kid pukes all over your new seat covers because of the rough bouncy ride, it's time to take action. My wife looks at me and says, "is the truck dolphin diving like a Cadillac? Is there something we can do to fix that? I want the truck to ride more.... planted". I took this feedback seriously and worked to upgrade the truck to make it more ... safe and to ride more planted (as directed). Thank goodness for this forum or I would have been lost for ideas....
Next set of mods:
Fox 2.0 Coilovers and 2.0 rear shocks
Diode Dynamics Amber Fog Replacement
Self installed the suspension upgrades with some friends and some beers and some unfortunate time away from the family (had to do it). I adjusted the preload on the coilovers to what I thought would be 2.5" of lift, turned out to be a bit more. Evenly leveled the truck and instantly improved the ride quality. The difference in ride quality was noticeable and much appreciated by the family. At some point, it was brought to my attention (I think by the three year old) that amber lights are safer in snow (which we get a lot of) than stock white fog lights so had to invest in more safety equipment and add the Diode Dynamics Amber Fogs. Very bright and cast a very wide pattern. Huge safety improvement.
Next set of Mods:
DeeZee Tailgate Damper
Ranger Tailgate Lettering
Front Air Dam Delete
Crash Bar plastic cover delete
These are purely to add horsepower, torque and (wait for it....) safety.
Final set of mods... for now:
BDS Shackles
BFG KO2s 275/70/17
Faction Fab 1" spacers
Rounding out the safety upgrade are the new tires which are larger (and naturally safer) which required 1" spacers (because rubbing on the spindle is a safety issue) and a small lift in the rear. That rear lift with the BDS shackles was needed to get more rear articulation in the suspension and to get the truck back to having some rake because we do tow our raft from time to time and a squatting truck is well... unsafe.
Very pleased with the truck for the past two years and these modifications are simply amazing. I can't believe how right my family was and I'm happy that I listened to their sage advise to upgrade the truck. Onto more adventures.... and maybe a Roush Tune, CAI, more lights, etc!!
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