I Traded My Ranger Today - So Long, and Thank You

[dobs88]

this is true....not everyone tows a trailer that requires a brake controller....those who do can add one at a reasonable cost, much less than their investments on the trailer and extras.
its just a nit pick item that whaawhaa whaaaa, i paid $40K for this...i want it all for free.

Agreed, not everyone that tows a trailer needs a TBC, but, you do need one when you tow over 3,000lbs GVWR. With the Ranger having a 7,500lb tow capacity Ford should have offered the option from day one. I certainly would have paid for it if available . They’ve just only recently offered a Ford approved option and it’s a dealer add on. (and most likely only because the aftermarket options don’t work with AEB and they’re afraid of the lawyers.)

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[VAMike]

Agreed, not everyone that tows a trailer needs a TBC, but, you do need one when you tow over 3,000lbs GVWR.

No, you don't. Too many people seem to confuse "trailer brakes" and "integrated electric brake controller". I don't know if that's just because they don't know there are other options, or they just define the entire spectrum of needs by what their own camper requires. Anway, there are quite a lot of people towing trailers with hydraulic surge brakes, and there are other options than in-cab controllers for electric brakes.

With the Ranger having a 7,500lb tow capacity Ford should have offered the option from day one. I certainly would have paid for it if available . They’ve just only recently offered a Ford approved option and it’s a dealer add on.

Again, the majority of midsize trucks don't offer a factory brake controller. There is no functional difference between a factory installed controller and a dealer installed controller. Additional fun fact: many factory options are installed by the dealer, the factory just throws the boxes into the vehicle. Now, you may really be asking for a step up from just having a brake controller installed at the factory and what you really want is a whiz-bang hi-tech setup that's tied into the dash display. Ok, but there are other things from the f150 I'd rather have before that (looking at you, 360 cameras and ventilated memory seats!) Or for trailering, that automated backup system is pretty hot.

I won't argue that ford's solution for the ranger isn't obnoxiously over-complicated and clearly an oversight during the design process. But regardless of that, the pearl-clutching about not having an integrated controller (which was something that's only been a thing for something like 15 years--prior to that they were all aftermarket) is just ridiculous.