My long winded one year review of 5th Gen Ranger ownership

[TheRoushRanger046]

Good honest write up Ben. No vehicle is perfect but the Ranger does check most boxes for a stock truck. A few mods and you make it the way you like it. Of course you already know which mod is the best. ?

You tell him … those damn valve caps are the mod of the century.

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[TheRoushRanger046]

How many miles have you put on your truck? Good review, the fuel economy is great if you keep your foot out of it and don't do a bunch of mods. On my 22mi back road commute this summer I was averaging 25mpg. Living in the city this winter and doing a lot more highway/city driving I am averaging more like 20mpg. Still respectable imo.

Must be nice. I have 305 with 18’s. I barely get 16MPG

 

[AzScorpion]

You tell him … those damn valve caps are the mod of the century.

But only if you have the green ones that show you overpaid for nitrogen. ?

 

[Blmpkn]

Christ, I thought I did good getting 4k off msrp.. good jerb!

 

[Peragrin]

I like your review. Nice and thorough. I hope to have a good outlook down the line like you have. My only “complaint” so far was the cost of my 21 tremor was 45k in December. I like your cost a lot more ?

I paid $31K for my 2021 XLT. the idiots gave me $10k for a 2016 jeep. that should have been totaled in 2019 due to an accident.

mileages 23-24 in summer, 20 ish in the winter (remote start to warm it up every morning as I take the kids to daycare and I am not putting a toddler in a vehicle that is at -5 degrees)

towing only towed a couple of times in my 6k 6 months worth of miles. will update more by the 1 year marker as we now have a camper and have 3 trips books before then.(and 2 more after)

 

[MXGOLF]

Nice write up Ben. I too pretty much agree with your report. I too have the same model basically. I did put Bilstein's on after a few months and Borla exhaust. I absolutely love my truck. I would give it a 90 out of 100 rating. After I have fixed it up a 95/100.

 

[Ranger54]

Nice write up Ben. I too pretty much agree with your report. I too have the same model basically. I did put Bilstein's on after a few months and Borla exhaust. I absolutely love my truck. I would give it a 90 out of 100 rating. After I have fixed it up a 95/100.

Must be nice. I have 305 with 18’s. I barely get 16MPG

Put the Roush tailgate dampener on? ?

 

[TomC]

Final thoughts:
The more I own this truck, the more I love it. My truck MSRP was $45k, but I paid $36k for it which is more in line of where I think it’s worth anyway. After a year I revisited a few new trucks and test drove them and hands down the Ranger is still my favorite. Biggest reason is size. It’s the sweet spot in between old compact pickups and the new gigantic full size trucks of today. If you want comfort, excellent driving experience, a truck bed and towing capabilities that will fit in your garage and is easy to park… the Ranger does it better than any other truck available today.

Great writeup. I have the same truck in supercab form with 29k miles in one year, and agree w/almost everything you said. Two additional points:

1) For comfort, would like a heated steering wheel. When the temp dropped in NC to the teens I really noticed this.

2) I got a great deal on the Ranger but recently opted for a 5 year 150k warranty thru Zeigler, so I reinvested my savings, so to speak, in the truck as I intend to keep it for 5 years. I'm not sold on the long term reliability of the Ranger.

 

[RangerPNW]

How do you like the Ford Performance Tune overall? DId it bump your fuel economy? How's the shifting, i.e is it better that the somewhat dopey nature of stock? I'm eyeing either that or the Livernois tune for mine to try and get some mpg's back (leveling kit and duratrac's didn't do me any favors) alongside the benefits of more power, cuz we all want more in the end.

 

[TheRoushRanger046]

Put the Roush tailgate dampener on? ?

Lol waiting for it. Supply shortages ?

 

[Ranger54]

If I had to do it over

How do you like the Ford Performance Tune overall? DId it bump your fuel economy? How's the shifting, i.e is it better that the somewhat dopey nature of stock? I'm eyeing either that or the Livernois tune for mine to try and get some mpg's back (leveling kit and duratrac's didn't do me any favors) alongside the benefits of more power, cuz we all want more in the end.

If I had to do it over again I would’ve gone with Torrie at Unleashed or Livernois. The FR is great. Very smooth. Noticeable power gains, but no adjustability for future mods, also my traction control seems to be stuck on ever since. Mpgs stayed about the same.

 

[CB750F]

Nice write up.
We love our truck but got the crappy mpg edition. Most of the driving is mixed & around 18-20.
I did get 23 once, on a long highway trip. I was hoping for at least 21 mixed.
At 0F it's 15mpg... yuk. Stock too.

 

[jblc]

Nice write up.
We love our truck but got the crappy mpg edition. Most of the driving is mixed & around 18-20.
I did get 23 once, on a long highway trip. I was hoping for at least 21 mixed.
At 0F it's 15mpg... yuk. Stock too.

Same here -- mine is stock 2WD and can't get above 22-23 mpg even on flat highway at 70 mph I just don't understand why!

 

[RedlandRanger]

Same here -- mine is stock 2WD and can't get above 22-23 mpg even on flat highway at 70 mph I just don't understand why!

Anything above about 60 is going to hit your MPG in a bad way. I once got 25, but it was on a windy, flat road and I couldn't go faster than about 45. Normally I do about 20 - a little lower in the winter and a little higher in the summer.

 

[jblc]

Anything above about 60 is going to hit your MPG in a bad way. I once got 25, but it was on a windy, flat road and I couldn't go faster than about 45. Normally I do about 20 - a little lower in the winter and a little higher in the summer.

Agreed...Even at 65 or 60 it's still 23-24 -- definitely not the 26 mpg highway claimed on the sticker.

I might be able to get 26 mpg at 45 mph :|

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