Ride Quality Complaints

[Dgc333]

According to my stepfather, my 2wd XLT can tow about 300lbs less than his Diesel 3/4ton 4x4 Ram and I try to tell him, there's no way my truck can do that. I know what Ford says about these trucks, but 7000lbs is a lot to be behind a 4cyl Ranger, but that's just my opinion about it, I don't pull trailers everyday anymore, only once in a blue moon.

Your step father is mistaken. A 3/4 ton Ram with the Cummins diesel engine can tow 20,000 lbs.

It's not the number of cylinders the engine has its the HP and torque. The 2.3 Ecoboost makes as much or more than a V8 of just a few years ago.

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[halligan1201]

I’ve had an Xterra for 11 years and bought a Lariat Tremor in December. I looked at pretty much every body on frame mid-sized truck & SUV on the market before buying the Ranger, because I wanted something as close in size and capability to the Xterra as possible with a modern drivetrain and other niceties like CarPlay.

My first Ranger test drive was a Lariat FX4, which I felt bobbed and wallowed like a boat, even compared to the 7 year old Pro-4X shocks in my Xterra. It felt like it just had no damping whatsoever, at least with only me for a payload. I ended up with the Tremor, which to me is very well composed both on road and off. My $.02.

Similar findings. The only other midsize I drove (and I drove everything other than a Bison) that rode and handled better than the Tremor was the Colorado ZR2 - that DSSV is fantastic.

 

[Mark T]

I have to agree with you on everything. So many people bitching about the ride quality and towing/cargo capacity on these little trucks. I want to say, they're not full sized trucks damnit! According to my stepfather, my 2wd XLT can tow about 300lbs less than his Diesel 3/4ton 4x4 Ram and I try to tell him, there's no way my truck can do that. I know what Ford says about these trucks, but 7000lbs is a lot to be behind a 4cyl Ranger, but that's just my opinion about it, I don't pull trailers everyday anymore, only once in a blue moon.

But yes, back to the ride quality complaints... I just don't understand the negative reviews about it. My '03 Ranger Supercab 4x4 rode rough as hell, cause it's, well, it's a truck damnit, that's how trucks ride!

But my little '21 Ranger Super Crew 2wd, even being lowered 3"F/5"R rides & handles great! Definitely nothing I'd ever expect from a truck, but I'm definitely not complaining about it

I rented a base (non-FX, non-Tremor) Lariat for a few hours yesterday to get a good taste of how Rangers ride (too bad I couldn't rent a Tremor : ). The ride is very nice. I was especially impressed with how smooth it was on gravel. I drove up to 60 m.p.h. on gravel (would have gone faster but didn't want to hit deer that popped out from the trees, which nearly happened), and it was very smooth, and very composed. Even driving on curves and down hill on gravel, it was composed. In 130 miles of a combination of freeway, city streets, country roads, and gravel, not once did I feel a hard knock or jarring thud like I used to regularly in my Xterra. Plus the Ranger was fun to drive. Overall, my only hesitation is that the truck does have a slight vibration on the freeway. For those of us with spinal issues, that may take its toll on longer drives. But based on what I have heard and read about the Tremor, that may not even be noticeable.

 

[Mirage775]

Your step father is mistaken. A 3/4 ton Ram with the Cummins diesel engine can tow 20,000 lbs.

It's not the number of cylinders the engine has its the HP and torque. The 2.3 Ecoboost makes as much or more than a V8 of just a few years ago.

Oh, I certainly know this about that Dodge. I borrowed it once to get one (1) skid steer bucket of pea gravel in the bed. It didn't even drop the bed down any or if it did, it wasn't much... He freaked out after he found out and said that by doing that, lead to 1st gear going out and needed the trans rebuilt, due to me have less than 2000lbs in the bed...

I also know this about the engine size too. Co-workers were pissed off when I was about to take ownership of it, (why? I cannot tell you? I work with a bunch of jealous folks, I guess?), anyway, the Ranger was taller/bigger than most of their 20+ year old fullsize trucks and has more power than an 20+ year old Ford 5.0 or Chevy 5.7 truck ever did.

 

[SilverXLT6]

I have to agree with you on everything. So many people bitching about the ride quality and towing/cargo capacity on these little trucks. I want to say, they're not full sized trucks damnit! According to my stepfather, my 2wd XLT can tow about 300lbs less than his Diesel 3/4ton 4x4 Ram and I try to tell him, there's no way my truck can do that. I know what Ford says about these trucks, but 7000lbs is a lot to be behind a 4cyl Ranger, but that's just my opinion about it, I don't pull trailers everyday anymore, only once in a blue moon.

But yes, back to the ride quality complaints... I just don't understand the negative reviews about it. My '03 Ranger Supercab 4x4 rode rough as hell, cause it's, well, it's a truck damnit, that's how trucks ride!

But my little '21 Ranger Super Crew 2wd, even being lowered 3"F/5"R rides & handles great! Definitely nothing I'd ever expect from a truck, but I'm definitely not complaining about it

I'll take you for a ride in mine, when you bang your head off the side window you "might" understand what we are talking about

 

[Cabose-1]

Unless some has owned a '79 F-250 with like a million miles on it I really can't hold much stock in the opinions of how the Ranger rides. I know from experience. The Ranger is a truck, not a Lincoln. In my old feable mind I think much of the complaints are from some that have never owned a truck until Ford brought the Ranger back, and they expected it to ride like their Camry. I can understand that, and I undersatnd Ford could have done a bit better with the shocks. I will say it is a bit stiff of a ride, but nothing I didn't expect. But, on the highway the ride is quite impressive.

I drove a 1980 f250 ,3spd, 351m, regular cab, long bed, factory 8track, sliding rear window, triangle windows on front of door, cruise cintrol, with a rear bumper!! No ac, factory roll up widows, no power locks 16.5 inch rims, transmission cooler, no abs, huge rear drums, huge front disc, twin i beam, long bed, no carpet,

My most bestest and favorite truck.
Regret selling it.
Regret leaving the infantry
Best truck ever.

I have always bought used, so the ranger actually being my first car with 5 miles at purchase, i think it drives just peachy.
I cant compare to other trucks. But i like it, if i didn't, wouldnt have bought it. Lets see if it lasts 23 years
like the 250.
Man i regret selling that truck

Or if i can get a 250 with the Godzilla engine

 

[Mirage775]

I drove a 1980 f250 ,3spd, 351m, regular cab, long bed, factory 8track, sliding rear window, triangle windows on front of door, cruise cintrol, with a rear bumper!! No ac, factory roll up widows, no power locks 16.5 inch rims, transmission cooler, no abs, huge rear drums, huge front disc, twin i beam, long bed, no carpet,

My most bestest and favorite truck.
Regret selling it.
Regret leaving the infantry
Best truck ever.

I have always bought used, so the ranger actually being my first car with 5 miles at purchase, i think it drives just peachy.
I cant compare to other trucks. But i like it, if i didn't, wouldnt have bought it. Lets see if it lasts 23 years like the 250.
Man i regret selling that truck

I've regretted selling a lot of vehicles over the last 30 years... and I've had a few new vehicles before, but this one is the first one I've ever actually ordered with the options I wanted and I like it just fine.

 

[Mirage775]

I'll take you for a ride in mine, when you bang your head off the side window you "might" understand what we are talking about

How??? Our trucks are the same, mine's just 2 years newer than yours? How the hell does you head hit the window? I'm 6'5" and 260lbs and haven't come out of the seat yet....?

 

[Superdannyboy]

To me there are 2 big differences.

1) a ride I'm comfortable with, which could be firm as hell or soft and plush like a big couch
2) a ride that my wife doesn't complain about

I would always keep my truck firmer if my wife never rode in it. I keep the compression down when she's in the truck and she likes how it soaks up everything better than the f150, but I'm not spending 11k to get that truck like mine.
These are very different thresholds because even as a driver I can brace for things in the road and be just fine but my wife looking down at her phone when my truck was stock would rock back and forth and she has hit her head on the window multiple times.
Haha it was funny but these are the differences, I wouldn't have put Bilsteins to get rid of the side to side rocking if I was single or always rode by myself. My truck is completely different now but that was to build it to an off-road race truck.

 

[Marpater]

My take on ride quality complaints,
#1. - Justification for modification,
#2. - Never had a truck before.
I'm all in on #1!

 

[wanted33]

I drove a 1980 f250 ,3spd, 351m, regular cab, long bed, factory 8track, sliding rear window, triangle windows on front of door, cruise cintrol, with a rear bumper!! No ac, factory roll up widows, no power locks 16.5 inch rims, transmission cooler, no abs, huge rear drums, huge front disc, twin i beam, long bed, no carpet,

My most bestest and favorite truck.
Regret selling it.
Regret leaving the infantry
Best truck ever.

I have always bought used, so the ranger actually being my first car with 5 miles at purchase, i think it drives just peachy.
I cant compare to other trucks. But i like it, if i didn't, wouldnt have bought it. Lets see if it lasts 23 years
like the 250.
Man i regret selling that truck

Or if i can get a 250 with the Godzilla engine

I do understand Eli. My old '79 was my first truck. We had only been married a few years, paying for a new house, and living from pay check to pay check. It had over 100K miles, and had been rode hard and put up wet too many times. However, it was tough as nails and never let me down. Of course gas ran through that huge ass 460 cid engine like it was a sieve. It rode like a 2 horse wagon, and I think it would pull the Empire State building when it was in "granny" gear. But, I did enjoy the old truck that I called the "Battering Ram". No one would get close to that beat up old thing on the highway.

 

[wanted33]

To me there are 2 big differences.

1) a ride I'm comfortable with, which could be firm as hell or soft and plush like a big couch
2) a ride that my wife doesn't complain about

I would always keep my truck firmer if my wife never rode in it. I keep the compression down when she's in the truck and she likes how it soaks up everything better than the f150, but I'm not spending 11k to get that truck like mine.
These are very different thresholds because even as a driver I can brace for things in the road and be just fine but my wife looking down at her phone when my truck was stock would rock back and forth and she has hit her head on the window multiple times.
Haha it was funny but these are the differences, I wouldn't have put Bilsteins to get rid of the side to side rocking if I was single or always rode by myself. My truck is completely different now but that was to build it to an off-road race truck.

I've been quite lucky in the wife department. I have always owned some type of sports car. When we met I had a 72 Vega (yeah, I know) that I had tweeked the suspension to make it a corner carver. Rode stiff for sure. Through the years most all of my cars have had a stiff ride, so when took her first ride in the Ranger she thought it rode just fine. Even on the shitty city streets in my town (where they pave over the paved spots) she nevers complains.

I do have to say that the Ranger is one of the smoothest vehicles I've owned when out on the good interstate highways.

 

[Superdannyboy]

I've been quite lucky in the wife department. I have always owned some type of sports car. When we met I had a 72 Vega (yeah, I know) that I had tweeked the suspension to make it a corner carver. Rode stiff for sure. Through the years most all of my cars have had a stiff ride, so when took her first ride in the Ranger she thought it rode just fine. Even on the shitty city streets in my town (where they pave over the paved spots) she nevers complains.

I do have to say that the Ranger is one of the smoothest vehicles I've owned when out on the good interstate highways.

Well damn it's a millennial thing then.

 

[slowmachine]

I do understand Eli. My old '79 was my first truck. We had only been married a few years, paying for a new house, and living from pay check to pay check. It had over 100K miles, and had been rode hard and put up wet too many times. However, it was tough as nails and never let me down. Of course gas ran through that hugh ass 460 cid engine like it was a sieve. It rode like a 2 horse wagon, and I think it would pull the Empire State building when it was in "granny" gear. But, I did enjoy the old truck that I called the "Battering Ram". No one would get close to that beat up old thing on the highway.

Speaking of first trucks,
Mine was a ‘72 Chevy 1/2 ton short bed. 305 with 4 speed. I traded a banjo for it. Yes, a banjo! Drove it for three years, then traded it back to the original owner for the very same banjo. Simple days…

 

[Mirage775]

Well damn it's a millennial thing then.

It must be then, LOL!

My wife and I are both almost 47 years old and she wants a Ranger now. My stepfather is 64 and he bought a '21 Ranger CC Lariat FX4 in December.

I haven't seen a lot of the younger generations driving a new Ranger. It's mostly older folks around town.

The younger, spoiled ass kids at work, mostly have "short man syndrome", where they're small/short guys and drive these jacked up older 4x4's trucks or even some fairly newer trucks and they're all in full size trucks, LOL! I know myself and another older employee are the only 2 Ranger owners. And there's not many Ford fans at work either. Mostly, you guessed it, Chevy/GMC owners, LOL! Then Fords, then Dodges, then a few non-domestic brands and I would say 98% of the employees at work are in trucks over cars/SUV's..., but we do live in the South, LOL!

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