Ride Quality?

[mtbikernate]

Mine is a regular 4x4 (non FX4) and I am pleased with the ride. Smooth off the top for some road manners, but get into it deep and it starts behaving more trucklike.

I haven't really loaded it down yet except for driving it across the yard twice with the bed full of mulch, but it suits me well.

I won't be doing burly off-road with it, so the FX4 suspension is probably overkill. I'm looking forward to seeing how it handles the gravel forest roads in my area, but most have been shut down for now (or, were just never opened back up after the usual seasonal closures).

Also haven't pulled my camper yet, but looks like my wiring kit should be showing up in the next day or two, so I'll at least be doing a test tow once I get my brake controller installed.

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[mustang marty]

For me, its a bag of mixed sensations.

Very nice ride on good roads, harsh on road imperfections and I swear the Ranger rocks at stops from the fuel sloshing around in the tank.

To guess, the springs are a bit on the stiff side, the shocks on the soft side.

I mostly agree , would multi leafs been better ? Funny on slightly bumpy roads I see my lights appear to be switching hi beams on and off from the bumps . That is annoying !My old 90 Ranger road better . Forgot to say mine is 2wd .

 

[rang19ca]

Mine is a 4x4 no FX4. Highway ride is very good and is actually better than our '17 Escape. Off road it takes the terrain very well and hill climbs with good traction. I like how it rides and handles the turns. My wife and I both like the ride.

 

[ParkRanger90]

Thanks for replies. Always helps to hear from actual owners

 

[PAUL J CAIN]

More comfortable on longer rides than my Ridgeline was

 

[Zanardi]

I have a 2019 XLT 4x4. Not the FX4 version. When I was shopping trucks I read every Ranger review I could get my hands on. Many talked about the "floating" and "soft" characteristics of the ride. When I first test drove the Ranger I thought it was indeed true. I didn't care much for the ride but liked enough other aspects of the truck that I bought it. Now - about 5 months into it I honestly have not thought about the ride one bit for months until I saw your post. It's fine. I like it now. I think it's surprisingly quiet and smooth on the highway. It gets the job done off road. It is a bit "bouncy" on rough surfaces but as someone said earlier - it's a truck. I think if I had not read the reviews telling me the ride sucked I probably would never have given it a thought to begin with. It might indeed be different than other trucks but it definitely is not a bad ride quality in my opinion. Corners like a champ on curvy roads and such by the way. Definitely drive one and determine for yourself. Reviews can be very helpful but they can also put ideas in your head to where if you go in anticipating a problem you will likely find it. Amazing how that works!

 

[HighCaliberMitch]

I have an FX4. The ride is soft, for a car, but stiff for a truck. When I take a turn fast, when I brake, turn, gas, I feel very confident in it.

The "sea sickness" probably comes from people expecting a modern SUV ride which is more car like.

 

[Lc4]

One of the original questions was "Is it comparable to other trucks" My personal experience of having a 2016 Tacoma and a 2019 Ranger XLT is that the ride quality in my opinion IS comparable to a Tacoma. The Ranger XLT is comparable to the Tacoma SR5 and the Ranger FX4 is comparable to the Tacoma TRD Off Road. To me the Tacoma has slightly better suspension balance front to rear likely from having LESS rear biased height from a lower max load capacity. Tacoma relies on body to frame bumpers to settle things down over bumps. The Ranger definitely has better ride quality with a 500-1000# load. My Tacoma was loose and a little bouncy with 2 motorcycles and gear in the bed. The Ranger ride quality would be better and near perfect with more front shock rebound dampening. Despite that I still favor my Ranger overall ride quality.

 

[Sashimi_Moto]

FX4 shock valving is bad. Almost indistinguishable from a blown shock. I’ve driven cars with blown shocks, hell, I got stuck racing a car for 2 hours during an enduro with a blown shock and everyday I drive my truck it reminds of that. I love the truck but can admit when it has a fault (like the oil filter location). When you load up the rear, like with a trailer/tongue weight, the lack of rebound becomes painfully apparent.

The thing is that there is zero reason this truck shouldn’t be able to ride well as it sits especially because the single leaf design is rather brilliant and greatly improves upon the multi-leaf experience.

I’m really looking forward to installing my Eibachs - only heard great things.

Anyone need a set of fx4 shocks with only 13k miles?!

 

[2020FX4]

FX4 shock valving is bad. Almost indistinguishable from a blown shock. I’ve driven cars with blown shocks, hell, I got stuck racing a car for 2 hours during an enduro with a blown shock and everyday I drive my truck it reminds of that. I love the truck but can admit when it has a fault (like the oil filter location). When you load up the rear, like with a trailer/tongue weight, the lack of rebound becomes painfully apparent.

The thing is that there is zero reason this truck shouldn’t be able to ride well as it sits especially because the single leaf design is rather brilliant and greatly improves upon the multi-leaf experience.

I’m really looking forward to installing my Eibachs - only heard great things.

Anyone need a set of fx4 shocks with only 13k miles?!

I agree!

The FX4 shock valving in my personal opinion is way off.

I luv my Ranger..... but I knew as soon as I drove it off the lot that I would be changing out the shocks asap.

I will be going with the FOX set up soon...

 

[lobsta11]

Last year I had a 2019 XLT 4x4 Ranger replacing my same 1999 Ranger. I lemon lawed that one & bought a 2020 XLT FX4. After getting the 2019 I posted that it felt like I was back driving my 1966 Caddy down the highway. Meaning that I felt like it was wallowing around. When I got my FX4 the tires were filled to 37 psi & I thought the ride was better. Following advice I got here I lowered them to 35 front & 33 rear. I thought the ride was good at those settings but I decided to try 31 all around. Back to wallowing so I'm going back to 35/33 as a good compromise.
Al
P.S My 2020 FX4 subjectively appears to have a tranny with crisper shift points & a quicker response to downshifting. I've noticed at highway speeds it will quickly downshift from 10th to 8th gear with only a slight push on the pedal.

 

[RANGER_MARC]

I’m reading reviews for a ‘20 and a few of them say the Ranger has a soft/rolling/bouncy ride. One professional reviewer said they got “Seasickness” driving it.

I’ve test driven it and I haven’t really noticed that. But I’ve also never owned a truck before and could only compare it to sedans. Any “truck people” out there comment on the ride quality? Is it comparable to other trucks?

Dear Park Ranger: I bought the FX4 and, while I loved everything else about the truck, found the stock suspension both too harsh and too bouncy. I even created a thread to seek members' advice, THE RANGER BOUNCE, and got about the same range of replies that you have here (from some of the same members): some guys like the ride, some don't mind it, some hate it. Everyone is entitled to his opinion. But since I hated it, I had the Ford Performance Two-Inch Leveling Kit put on as soon as it came out. I was not the first on the forum to do this, but one of the first. Now I love everything about my truck, including, especially, the ride! So, since you are considering buying a Ranger and asking for advice, I would say, if you like the other features, go for it! If you don't like the ride, there are options. Whatever your decision, I wish you the best. This is a great time to buy a truck!

 

[gcan]

can you folks that are replacing the front shocks report back please......curious if that improves the ride

 

[jsphlynch]

I've had my 4x4 for almost four months. I test drove it back-to-back-to-back with a Colorado (Ford and Chevy are almost across the street from each other, so I was going back and forth between the two dealerships). Suspension on the Ranger is notably softer, and it clearly has more body roll. The Colorado just overall felt more solid going over small-to-medium bumps, more like I expect from a work truck. I didn't really have a preference for one over the other. I generally liked the solid feel of the Colorado, but the Ranger was much less harsh over some bumps.

Bottom line, though, is that never in my nearly four months of ownership have I ever had the thought cross my mind that I dislike the ride quality of my Ranger.

 

[thewhiteranger]

I’m reading reviews for a ‘20 and a few of them say the Ranger has a soft/rolling/bouncy ride. One professional reviewer said they got “Seasickness” driving it.

I’ve test driven it and I haven’t really noticed that. But I’ve also never owned a truck before and could only compare it to sedans. Any “truck people” out there comment on the ride quality? Is it comparable to other trucks?

I did notice that the seats make a difference (or Im just crazy) I tested several different trucks and the 19s with the manual seats ---XLTs seemed very soft or rolled a lot, my wife gets motion sickness easily and she couldn't ride in it at all (we tried 3 different ones) but the 20 I drove (2 of them) with the power seats 302a package seemed to ride better... more firm seats? better padding? suspension? I have no idea but the 19 XLT was just not a good drive to me. The one I bought was a FX2 with the 302 package power heated seats and the ride in that one is bumpy (like a small truck) but no noticeable rolling etc ---- point being, yes I did think some rode very poorly and if you get motion sickness like my wife does that is not the truck for you.

I'd say to drive a few different ones the 20s seem to ride better but I can't find any mention or changes in suspension and check the tire pressure when you drive them It really does make a big difference in ride. These are not cheap trucks so if you're seriously looking, take the ones you are interested in for a long test drive -- 20- 30 miles at least to make sure you like it. I love mine. Oh and by the way, the autostop can be eliminated very easily for less than $90 (or less there are a lot of posts on the different ways to do that) that was modification #1 for me because I really hate it.

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