Terrain management upgrade?

[Frenchy]

Has anyone put these modes to the test? I'm thinking of adding it but sorta unconvinced that it's not a gimmick. If all it does is fiddle with ABS and Traction control, how much difference could it actually make? I have 4x4 but no locker.

So I have used all the terrain modes. In general they are helpful for off road. Something to be aware of is it is not a replacement for a locker. This last weekend I decided to go play in the off-road for a little bit and I came up to some very soft dirt and to say the least without a locker I was not getting through. If I would have had some traction boards I might have been able to get away with it but I did not have that either. With that said I still feel the drain management is a upgrade worth doing.

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[MountainGoat]

So I have used all the terrain modes. In general they are helpful for off road. Something to be aware of is it is not a replacement for a locker. This last weekend I decided to go play in the off-road for a little bit and I came up to some very soft dirt and to say the least without a locker I was not getting through. If I would have had some traction boards I might have been able to get away with it but I did not have that either. With that said I still feel the drain management is a upgrade worth doing.

For the price of a switch I guess it's hard to argue. I wish I had gotten the locker though.

 

[A Tale Of Two Rangers]

So I have used all the terrain modes. In general they are helpful for off road. Something to be aware of is it is not a replacement for a locker. This last weekend I decided to go play in the off-road for a little bit and I came up to some very soft dirt and to say the least without a locker I was not getting through. If I would have had some traction boards I might have been able to get away with it but I did not have that either. With that said I still feel the drain management is a upgrade worth doing.

I completely agree. I was in a situation with only three wheels on the ground. Without a locking rear diff there may not have been any forward progress.

 

[FunInTheSun]

Has anyone put these modes to the test? I'm thinking of adding it but sorta unconvinced that it's not a gimmick. If all it does is fiddle with ABS and Traction control, how much difference could it actually make? I have 4x4 but no locker.

Older Anti-Skid Braking systems could selectively DUMP pressure to unlock a skidding wheel, but could not GENERATE brake pressure to APPLY a brake selectively. Modern ABS is capable of pressure generation and applying brakes to individual wheels, as well as sensing individual wheel speed. The ability to sense a slipping wheel (spinning faster than other wheels) and selectively apply the brakes to that wheel makes it possible to simulate the effect of a limited-slip differential using software programming. Other cute tricks are possible, (Yaw control / other stability modes) and the different modes represent a selection of useful programs playing around with the sensitivity and gain of the control channels to accommodate different types of low-traction control strategies.

Subaru's X-mode is a similar system, and it can indeed keep the car moving with a wheel in the air. There is a YouTube guy putting it through the paces using individual roller "skates" placed under various combinations of wheels. Whether the Ford programmers are as good as, or better than the Subaru programmers, remains to be put to the test, but I saw a shootout between a Jeep Gladiator, a Ranger, and a Taco, which showed the Ranger Terrain Controls doing the wheel in the air trick successfully. I don't remember if the Ranger had a locker, though, but the wheel in the air was a front one, and you could see the ABS grab the wheel and stop it, and the truck kept moving.

I's like having a handbrake for each wheel, and a smart robot assistant using them to control torque transfer on the fly.

 

[Dangerdan85]

I'm looking at adding the Terrain Management switch to my 21 xlt. My usb elm327 tool is pretty old, but it works, well it worked on my 2019 f150 to look at stuff when I used it on that, I haven't tried on the ranger yet. It doesn't have the switch for MS-can/HS-can, just wondering if I'll be able to get into IPC settings to enable Terrain Management?

 

[A Tale Of Two Rangers]

I'm looking at adding the Terrain Management switch to my 21 xlt. My usb elm327 tool is pretty old, but it works, well it worked on my 2019 f150 to look at stuff when I used it on that, I haven't tried on the ranger yet. It doesn't have the switch for MS-can/HS-can, just wondering if I'll be able to get into IPC settings to enable Terrain Management?

Some of the USB ELM327 cables do not have a switch. This fact is mentioned in several of the YT videos I've watched. Worst case is it won't work, best case is it does. If it doesn't work you'll be out about US$20 to buy one that does. I bought mine online from a link provided by FORScan (has the HS-CAN/MS-CAN) switch.

 

[t4thfavor]

Has anyone put these modes to the test? I'm thinking of adding it but sorta unconvinced that it's not a gimmick. If all it does is fiddle with ABS and Traction control, how much difference could it actually make? I have 4x4 but no locker.

I ran them all at silver lake sand dunes, I was able to climb the big ass dunes with sand mode on stock tires with 45k on them. I have an xlt fx4 with fox 2.0” level only. I am 100% convinced it’s not a gimmick as I was going places in the sand where big ass built jeeps weren’t able to follow. I also use grass/gravel/snow mode a lot in Michigan, and it really helps keep you from spinning tires. I really wish that you could decouple the drive modes from the 4x4 though as I would love to run the grass/gravel/snow throttle map all the time.

 

[MountainGoat]

I ran them all at silver lake sand dunes, I was able to climb the big ass dunes with sand mode on stock tires with 45k on them. I have an xlt fx4 with fox 2.0” level only. I am 100% convinced it’s not a gimmick as I was going places in the sand where big ass built jeeps weren’t able to follow. I also use grass/gravel/snow mode a lot in Michigan, and it really helps keep you from spinning tires. I really wish that you could decouple the drive modes from the 4x4 though as I would love to run the grass/gravel/snow throttle map all the time.

Yeah but did you try to climb the sand dunes with the sand mode off too? Maybe the traction control works well on it's own?

I will probably end up getting the switch anyways as I've gone down the FORscan rabbit hole and it's too cheap to resist.

 

[t4thfavor]

Yeah but did you try to climb the sand dunes with the sand mode off too? Maybe the traction control works well on it's own?

I will probably end up getting the switch anyways as I've gone down the FORscan rabbit hole and it's too cheap to resist.

I ran it every way I could, the sand mode was noticeably better that any combination of locker on/off and every other mode.

 

[Frenchy]

Yeah but did you try to climb the sand dunes with the sand mode off too? Maybe the traction control works well on it's own?

I will probably end up getting the switch anyways as I've gone down the FORscan rabbit hole and it's too cheap to resist.

In general the factory traction control is good but the terrain modes actually help with different terrains. Even though it is not a replacement for a locker it does help with OffRoad all together.

 

[jblc]

Now if only people could figure out how to enable Trail Control ...

So many of us (me included) have the button installed, but it's looking like it's perhaps not going to be possible. Maybe vehicles with TC have additional modules, etc.

 

[Frenchy]

Now if only people could figure out how to enable Trail Control ...

So many of us (me included) have the button installed, but it's looking like it's perhaps not going to be possible. Maybe vehicles with TC have additional modules, etc.

Honestly from what I have heard it isnt worth getting. Yes it might be nice but in certain conditions I heard it is jerky. A jerky feel is something I dont want both on and OffRoad.

 

[jblc]

Honestly from what I have heard it isnt worth getting. Yes it might be nice but in certain conditions I heard it is jerky. A jerky feel is something I dont want both on and OffRoad.

I haven't felt what it's like, so wouldn't know But for those instances where it does work well and/or offloads thinking, it could be nice to have (even if jerky)

 

[t4thfavor]

Now if only people could figure out how to enable Trail Control ...

So many of us (me included) have the button installed, but it's looking like it's perhaps not going to be possible. Maybe vehicles with TC have additional modules, etc.

I’ve read and talked to a lot of people and it’s looking like that feature might be hard programmed in the tcm via hardware we don’t have in ours. I was working on it heavily until I started hearing there are different part numbers for trucks with and without it. Thus far nobody wants to spend the 1200$ (Or whatever) for a tcm off of an fx4 and have it programmed for their vin.

if that worked, I’d be buying one from a Ranger raptor.

 

[gwhalin]

Honestly from what I have heard it isnt worth getting. Yes it might be nice but in certain conditions I heard it is jerky. A jerky feel is something I dont want both on and OffRoad.

I have used it only on steep downhills and found it to be pretty smooth. No idea how it behaves in other situations?

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