Ace Holliday
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Scott K
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2020
- Threads
- 5
- Messages
- 405
- Reaction score
- 885
- Location
- South Kalifornikstan
- Vehicle(s)
- 2019 Ranger XLT Super Crew
- Occupation
- Aerospace Machinist/CNC Programmer - Retired
Welcome! I am not far from you. I live in Valle Vista (Eastern San Jacinto Valley on the way to Idylwild)Hey hey Ranger5G, my name is Jeremy and I just picked up a 2020 XLT Sport 4x4 in Oxford White!
I have been employed at ICON Vehicle Dynamics as a marketing guy for the past 8 years, and have been lucky enough to drive a wide range of vehicles in that time. I'll admit, when the Ranger first showed up in our shop I wasn't all that impressed. In stock trim, the truck just looked a bit "soft". After my first drive I was pleasantly surprised by the power the 2.3L and the 10R80 were putting down, but the FX4 factory shocks were a bit off for my liking, and I felt like the spring rate from front to rear was fairly out of balance. Driving off-road (wide open desert) in stock form, the parts of the truck I felt were unbalanced before were only more apparent when pushing the truck. I was intrigued by the strong drivetrain and the rigid chassis, but not too excited about the overall performance that I felt was limited by the factory suspension.
HOWEVER...that all changed once ICON developed their first few Ranger parts, including an IFP 2.5 coilover, a 2.0 rear shock, and a billet upper control arm. This "Stage 2" system paired with a set of our wheels and some 285/70R17's completely transformed the truck into something that was not only much more comfortable on the road, but much more capable in the dirt. I went from not being too crazy about it to seriously being able to get behind it as something that rivaled the Tacoma that's been dominating the midsize truck market for the past decade or so.
Well I recently bought a house and my commute went from 12 miles a day to 60. I was daily-ing my beloved 2008 Nissan Titan that's currently getting around 10mpg, and $100 a week in gas was not working out. The "smart" decision I was supposed to make was picking up a used VW Golf TDI, getting 50-55mpg, and saving tons of money...but where's the fun in that? COVID hits, and amongst all the TP hoarding and mask debating I hear about Ford's 84 mo/0 interest deals on 2019 models. I started online shopping trucks on a Wednesday, was hitting up the dealerships by Friday, and on Sunday I was sitting at the sales table making a deal. After a long day of test drives, contemplation, and made up scenarios about all the other crap I could do with the money it had come down to a white 2019 FX4 with the 302A interior package and a white 2020 Sport 4x4 with the 301A. Although the 2019 was a "nicer" truck and the payments would have been the same per month, I opted to spend less overall and go with the 2020. I signed the papers and drove off the lot just as downtown San Bernardino was going from protest to riot.
I'm almost 3 weeks in with the truck, and am very happy with the purchase. There are a few things I've found that I'm nitpicking, but this is my first brand new vehicle and maybe I'm expecting too much? Regardless, I know how capable this thing will be once I hook it up with all the right parts! I look forward to learning more and sharing more with this community, and hope to see you at an event as soon as they let us back out there!!!
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