Ride Quality?

[Tangent]

The stock suspension is very soft and "bouncy" to the point where "The Ranger Bounce" was a thing.

This is to give it a more comfortable ride on roads. It sucks, but its not anything HUGELY detrimental.

I'm going to upgrade to the Fox Stage 1 kit when I get the spare cash, specifically to get rid of that bounce. You hit a wavy part of the highway and it's borderline a safety hazard.

Sponsored

 

[outdoorphotog]

The stock suspension is very soft and "bouncy" to the point where "The Ranger Bounce" was a thing.

This is to give it a more comfortable ride on roads. It sucks, but its not anything HUGELY detrimental.

I'm going to upgrade to the Fox Stage 1 kit when I get the spare cash, specifically to get rid of that bounce. You hit a wavy part of the highway and it's borderline a safety hazard.

Just out of curiosity what air pressure are you running?

 

[Floyd]

I am running 30 psi in all four . In my old ranger , I could could corner at 40 mph no problem in town driving . This 19 version I am not sure of yet . I flew around my corner street and the brakes ( driver controls ) braked me right down . AT THE TIME I SAID WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT !

You could raise your tire pressure, Maybe even change tires next time around.
In SCCA it is said that a road race car is just tires, and everything else is there to make the tires work.

I love my Ranger but the wheel base is long and the chassis height is high and it is after all an automatic .
It works great as a truck, and even handles better than I expected, but it will never corner like my Transit Connect, let alone my Mustang with Nittos.
Of course the Mustang will never tow or haul cargo like the Ranger either.

This is not Grampa's old Ranger.... I know, 'cause I'm Grampa!

 

[Tangent]

Just out of curiosity what air pressure are you running?

39 psi in 170/65/r16 Falken Wildpeak if I remember right. It was just as bouncy with the stock tires at 35 psi, Discount Tire recommended the higher pressure for the fatter tire.

 

[SubVet]

Well there's always a Ridgeline. Solves the back seat storage problem with plenty of storage under the bed as well. If you've ever driven a Honda pilot, you would know how smooth at right is because of the unibody. The last version was really ugly. I actually test drove the Ridgeline before buying the Ford. I tested the GMC as well. Honda wasn't competitive even though I paid full MSRP out the door for my truck. Early adopter tax.


With the new version just looks like an "executive" pick up truck. LOL in a couple years I'm going to shop that and the new Tacoma against the new Ranger. Going to be fun. But it's not and off-road truck. All-wheel drive or front wheel drive. This Market is going to get very competitive very fast. Once the word gets out on the excellent Ranger reliability I think we'll see more Tacoma owners especially if the new Tacoma has a naturally aspirated dog of a motor and matching trans. or goes for a 4 CYL Turbo. Won't the Tacoma World members start gnashing their teeth.......I hope Toyota does just that.

It's nice to have an open mind regarding these pick ups...I am not a "ford" defender or any brand defender for that matter. I buy the best truck at the time for my needs.

The other nice thing about the ridgeline is no accessories needed, no lift kit, no Line EX, no Raptor grills, Good enough at what they are. Maybe an ARE would look ok. for those that want the driving character of an SUV in a pick up. The thing I didnd't like re the Honda was the NAV screen and Hondas software. SYNC 3.4 is great!!!

 

[Glocker]

Wow! I thought I had the last one on the planet I had a '91 with a six and a four speed, drove it for 220K miles.... When you go to tow with your Ranger, you'll notice right off the bat, when you leave a stop, it just goes off the line. The combination of the 1st and 2nd gear (very low in the 10 speed tranny), the low end torque with the 2.3L, puts the torque curve right where you need it for towing. Even on the ramp, it just pulls the boat right out.

I bought this thing for $50 and fixed it up. It was fun but I was ready for an adult car that wasn't 22 years old and didn't rattle all of the time!
Before:

After:

And now!

 

[gcan]

on the interstate its a very comfortable ride but to me on city streets it bounces, swims, or rolls to much so after a couple of months I grew tired of the bouncy ride and this week replaced the rear shocks with the Fox 2 and could tell immediately it was a better ride for me, feels more stable and grounded. This is not from being overly picky or because I had $200 I needed to get rid of rather it was because this FX4 rolls way more than the last 2 F150 FX4's I've owned and in the end I grew tired of splashing the coffee out of my cup and feeling like a bobble head. I've never before purchased a new vehicle and replaced any of the suspension.

At this point I don't believe I'll do the front because evidently most of the bounce was from the rear being these made such a difference.

I do believe it's all up to the owner and where they drive and what they're happy with

for me I can now drink coffee without a lid on the cup ...... to me that's a win!

 

[mustang marty]

on the interstate its a very comfortable ride but to me on city streets it bounces, swims, or rolls to much so after a couple of months I grew tired of the bouncy ride and this week replaced the rear shocks with the Fox 2 and could tell immediately it was a better ride for me, feels more stable and grounded. This is not from being overly picky or because I had $200 I needed to get rid of rather it was because this FX4 rolls way more than the last 2 F150 FX4's I've owned and in the end I grew tired of splashing the coffee out of my cup and feeling like a bobble head. I've never before purchased a new vehicle and replaced any of the suspension.

At this point I don't believe I'll do the front because evidently most of the bounce was from the rear being these made such a difference.

I do believe it's all up to the owner and where they drive and what they're happy with

for me I can now drink coffee without a lid on the cup ...... to me that's a win!

I too believe most of the problem is from the rear shocks and mine is 2wd .

 

[HenryMac]

What tire size do you have on your truck?

 

[Porpoise Hork]

on the interstate its a very comfortable ride but to me on city streets it bounces, swims, or rolls to much so after a couple of months I grew tired of the bouncy ride and this week replaced the rear shocks with the Fox 2 and could tell immediately it was a better ride for me, feels more stable and grounded. This is not from being overly picky or because I had $200 I needed to get rid of rather it was because this FX4 rolls way more than the last 2 F150 FX4's I've owned and in the end I grew tired of splashing the coffee out of my cup and feeling like a bobble head. I've never before purchased a new vehicle and replaced any of the suspension.

At this point I don't believe I'll do the front because evidently most of the bounce was from the rear being these made such a difference.

I do believe it's all up to the owner and where they drive and what they're happy with

for me I can now drink coffee without a lid on the cup ...... to me that's a win!

An undersized or relatively soft front sway bar will cause most of the body roll when cornering. IT can also cause some of the front end floating The bounce issue is due to how the front struts are setup. The non-FX front struts are a touch too soft for the truck and thus are not adequately dampening the front to reduce the bounce. On a standard passenger car/truck you want the suspension to quickly absorb the impact of a bump (unsprung wright), but slow down the spring's ability to return the suspension to normal ride height (vehicle's sprung weight). Where the problem lies here is in the extension stroke of the front struts. The way they are metered, the front suspension is under-damped, but specifically on the extension side of cycle. The stock structs allow for too rapid of a return to normal ride height. This causes the suspension to raise above the set ride height and then as the it returns to normal the suspension again compresses then rebounds. Thus we get the bounce. What is needed to fix the issue is front struts that have a similar compression but slower extension rate than the stock. This would keep the general softer ride of the non-FX equipped trucks, but eliminate or significantly reduce the bounce.

You can test this by doing the bounce test on the front suspension. First push down on a bumper and let the suspension act as normal and count the oscillations. Then repeat the bounce test but this time keep pressing down on the bumper and slow the truck's rebound. You will see the significant change in how "bouncy" it is.

I'm curious if Ford used the same coil springs for the FX and non-FX models. If they did, then maybe just putting the FX suspension on the front but not the rear will likely help a lot. If they have different springs, then swapping just the struts but using the non-FX springs to keep the ride softer. I'll have to look into it and see if I can fund the part numbers for the springs to see if they are the same or different.

 

[SOHK_Alumni]

Ford lists different part numbers for the RWD, 4WD & FX4 front coils.

The FX4's use .620 wire, the RWD's use .600". That .020" adds a LOT to the spring rate.

But, Ford only shows 2 part numbers in the back, RWD and 4WD. Appears the 4WD springs have more arch in them.

Scratch that, the FX4 gets the different springs. The 4WD and RWD share the same springs. I HATE Ford's on-line parts catalog.

 

[Jackson84]

I found a local seller here that has 265 60 17 nitro ridge grappler 10ply M/T that wants 800 bucks. Brand new stickers still on them. Good deal? Any thoughts? Said he had a shop that closed down.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Ford lists different part numbers for the RWD, 4WD & FX4 front coils.

The FX4's use .620 wire, the RWD's use .600". That .020" adds a LOT to the spring rate.

But, Ford only shows 2 part numbers in the back, RWD and 4WD. Appears the 4WD springs have more arch in them.

Then the FX springs will definitely be much stiffer. So replacing the stock struts with just FX series, ARB nitro sport struts or something like that with the stock springs would make a marked improvement in ride quality.

 

[SOHK_Alumni]

Then the FX springs will definitely be much stiffer. So replacing the stock struts with just FX series, ARB nitro sport struts or something like that with the stock springs would make a marked improvement in ride quality.

Should do, I'm going to try FX4 struts on the front of my gray rwd. Hands down, my wife's FX4 has better around town manners on imperfect roads.

Not sure yet if I'll keep the .600 springs or try the .620's with the fronts

 

[Gazmic]

I have a 19 lariat FX4 and agreed it felt like a boat. Also had the pulsating brake feel some complain about. Took it to the dealer yesterday for the fox 2.0 upgrade. I was given a 19 XLT FX4 as a loaner and couldn't believe how much stiffer the suspension felt. Less body roll in curves and brakes stopped smoothly as well.
I got my truck back today and the fox shocks are even stiffer, the rake is gone. I'm pretty happy with the ride now but wonder about the difference I felt between the loaner and my original ride quality.
Brakes still have the pulsing feeling but I wasn't expecting any change with the shock upgrade.

Pretty sure it's not just in my head but you never know.

Sponsored