Love this truck! Ocala & Osceola National Forest

[Gary Jones]

I bought a FX4 back in March which due to Covid and work from home has primarily functioned as decoration for the driveway. This weekend we joined a group and did a trail run in Ocala national forest which eventually ended up in Osceola National Forest to find out what the truck was capable of before we started fall camping. We were the only ranger in the group of about twelve vehicles. I was surprised at the number of gladiators in the group - 4 or 5. Conditions in Ocala were primarily heavy ball bearing sand while Osceola was wet and nasty due to all the rain from the recent hurricane.

Even sticking to the numbered forest roads and abiding by the rules, due to the wet conditions, it was extremely challenging. My truck is totally stock at this point and while there was nothing that really challenged the gladiators most of which were running 35" mudders, everyone was amazed that the ranger was able to stick with the group and never got stuck. The 2.3 delivered power exactly when needed and had plenty of torque to keep the tires moving even when hub deep in the mud. With the rear locker, I was able to balance the momentum needed to keep moving and avoid beating the truck in the washouts and holes. A couple of people added to the ranger to their list of potential future vehicles.

We camp primarily by ourselves and will probably never encounter conditions this extreme where we normally go, but It's good to know what this truck is capable of handling. The wife and I ended up in dispersed camping at Sand Hill and had the entire area to ourselves. A fabulous ending to a great weekend.

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[7600]

In my opinion, which is based on 42 years ain the gas patch in the appalachain basin, the new ranger is the most capable off road truck on the market.

 

[VoodooRanger]

Sounds like a good time. My brother(in his Power Wagon) and I will be taking our trucks to camp with the wife and kids in Ocala national forest for Halloween weekend. Hoping to set up camp around Hopkins Prairie .

 

[Stangman570]

Gary, I can attest to every attribute you've mentioned about this awesome version of the Ranger. First hand knowledge and experience of this platform and has ran circles around my old tacoma, which by the way was a very capable off road vehicle. The pulling power this little Ranger has is just outstanding! Im just north of Destin and I'm always 4 wheeling on Eglin AFB. This was from last weekend's adventure. Although this looks drastic I still had power and traction on tap to pull out. However after moving slightly forward I didn't know if the side of the bed was going to be crushed on that high embankment. Decided to shut it down at this point and pull it at an angle to avoid any damage. I got lucky as the drivers side step bars supported the entire weight. I was impressed how well Ford made these.

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