The Black Beast of AAAAGGGHHHHHH!

Michel Jeanneau

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Well, here we go...

I am not really planning a "build" for my truck, so this is just to document some mods/add ons for the benefit of others; at the most, I might eventually throw in a set of leveling spacers or longer coil springs like I did with my first Ranger, a '94 XL 3.0 manual with the twin traction beam suspension
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I will have to wait a little for longer coils...

So far I started with a black '19 STX with the FX-4 package, vinyl floors and sliding rear window. So far these are the add-ons:
Curt 2" hitch receiver
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Gator tri-fold soft tonneau cover
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Wheelskins black leather wrapped steering wheel cover
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Weathertech front and rear floor trays

In the plans are:
OEM splash guards
Roll-on bed liner
Swing out bed cargo bin
Tailgate dampener

Thanks for watching,
Mike
Sponsored

 
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Michel Jeanneau

Michel Jeanneau

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The latest add-on were the Weathertech trays. The Truck came with vinyl floors, which I prefer over carpet for ease of cleaning, though I noticed that the vinyl used for this looks a little wimpy; enter the floor trays, which arrived today! The front trays come with stick-on anchoring nipples which they conveniently pack along with alcohol cleaning patches and vinyl primer ampulle.

Here is the front without trays and with trays:
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Though they appear to be off a little, the fit is tight and these things are rugged;I had them in my '14 Forester and withstood 7 years of abuse. The rears are also a tight fit and look 10 times better than the stock vinyl
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By the way, I ordered them direct from Weathertech for $189.00 plus shipping for the lot of them, and both front trays came with anchor nipples (which was great because the stock vinyl floor has none). Easy to install and they look great. When ordering from Weathertech, you need to select whether your truck is Scab or crewcab and whether carpet or vinyl floors
 
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Michel Jeanneau

Michel Jeanneau

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Of course, the beauty of the 2" hitch receiver is that all my hitch accessories that I bought for my Forester fit nicely on the Ranger, like my Tyger 4-bycicle carrier and especially my Curt cargo carrier, for those occasions when a 5' bed is not big enough for say, a dump run :like:.

I have two more hitch "accessories" that I can't wait to try: my 14-ft skiff and my 17' O'Day Daysailer. THe wife has a couple of 12' kayaks that might me a problem transporting without a bed rack or one of those bed extender doohickeys. I see that Ford Accessories offers a couple of options by Yakima ($$$), but surfing the interwebs I also found some options from THULE, and s similar one sold by Home Depot for $100 less, plus some other, cheaper, more utilitarian models...Hard for me to justify prime $$ for a product that will be used sporadically, like the odd taking-my-20'-ladder-to-my-inlaws trip. One thing about the bed on the new Ranger that makes me miss my old Rangers, where a bed rack made from 2x2/2x4's ran me around $6.00, including hardware.

Ah, the ramblings of a new Ranger owner...
 
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Michel Jeanneau

Michel Jeanneau

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Figured a comparison of what you got back in 1994, 1998, and 2019 might be interesting...especially since I found my window stickers (a.k.a. maroneys-sp) from both my old Rangers:
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Look at what we used to get for standard features on those things, especially what they called "off road package" back in 1998...for the record, that truck was an off road beast straight out of the dealer lot; the only thing I did to that truck besides a jump in tire size from 235-70-16 to 245-75-16 (never even bothered with a speedo calibration) was a K&N filter and when the stock shocks gave out I slapped Rancho 5000's and called it good. My green truck came "radio ready" (I forgot what I put there...Pionner deck and 4 speakers I think-cassette player days!), over time that also wore larger tires from the stock 215-75-15's it came with (235-75-15 general grabbers was the tire of choice back then), the speedo correction consisted in changing the speedo cable gear off the transmission from green to brown, I think).

Notice the EPA fuel mileage between trucks, back in the 90's when I drove my green ranger, my combined average MPG was 24 using super unleaded gas and 235-75-15 AT tires! In contrast to my 98 stock with 245-75-16's never gave me over 20 MPG combined...more like 18-19; same engine, same transmission, same rear end....

As far as bed protection, all I ever did to both trucks was a rubber bed mat (In fact, when I traded the green for the blue, I took the bed mat off the green ans slapped it o the new one), but on the black beast I think I will be trying my luck at DIY spray on bedliner...leaning for the Raptor kit. I thought roll-on first but since I own my own air compressor, why not? Waiting for slightly warmer weather for that mod...I'll keep you posted
 
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Michel Jeanneau

Michel Jeanneau

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Langwilliams

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I picked up my pivot storage box today. Cost me about $30 after cleaning out my ford pass rewards points. I have a drop in liner right now. I may have a spray in installed before I mount it up.
 
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Michel Jeanneau

Michel Jeanneau

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Picked mine up at the dealer today....on in 15 minutes, however; word to the tri-fold-tonneau wise: if you are like me and bought one of those (mine is a Gator), the lock handle on the side of the box gets in the way of the darn box. The solution? chop off about 1-1/2" off the end of the handle and PRESTO! it fits (redneck engineering 101)

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They sent me driver side despite having ordered passenger, but I really don't care. I harvested bolts from the forward tie-down because I didn't feel like driving to the hardware store to get some. Apparently XL's only come with four tie-downs; has anyone sourced those things aftermarket?

All in all, a nice add-on to the beast, very convenient place for hitches, tow lines, straps, etc.
 

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I would not assume the XL's only come with four tie-downs
My 2019 Ford Ranger Lariat built in Sept 2019 and purchased mid Oct 2019 only had four corner tie-downs upon delivery. I came to the realization after reading multiple forums here Ford "must have decided" in the May-June time frame of 2019 to only install the four tie-downs in the corners and not install the two center tie-downs.

Total speculation on my part, but IMHO Ford at the time was having supply issues with the tie-down hook manufacturer (states on the parts packages for the hooks and bolts they are manufactured in Taiwan, not that there's anything wrong with that at all), so a decision was made to keep the trucks rolling off the assembly line to only install four vs six.

Others in this forum have stated it was most likely an accounting cost reduction mandate. My issue with that position is the 2019 Ford Ranger marketing brochure is VERY specific regarding the number of tie-downs.

The 2019 Ford Ranger marketing brochure CLEARLY states on the STANDARD FEATURES page for XL, XLT, and Lariat models In the Exterior Section Pickup box tie-down hooks (6). In print, one "might" consider that a contract since it is the sales marketing material.
 

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Michel Jeanneau

Michel Jeanneau

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I would not assume the XL's only come with four tie-downs
My 2019 Ford Ranger Lariat built in Sept 2019 and purchased mid Oct 2019 only had four corner tie-downs upon delivery. I came to the realization after reading multiple forums here Ford "must have decided" in the May-June time frame of 2019 to only install the four tie-downs in the corners and not install the two center tie-downs.

Total speculation on my part, but IMHO Ford at the time was having supply issues with the tie-down hook manufacturer (states on the parts packages for the hooks and bolts they are manufactured in Taiwan, not that there's anything wrong with that at all), so a decision was made to keep the trucks rolling off the assembly line to only install four vs six.

Others in this forum have stated it was most likely an accounting cost reduction mandate. My issue with that position is the 2019 Ford Ranger marketing brochure is VERY specific regarding the number of tie-downs.

The 2019 Ford Ranger marketing brochure CLEARLY states on the STANDARD FEATURES page for XL, XLT, and Lariat models In the Exterior Section Pickup box tie-down hooks (6). In print, one "might" consider that a contract since it is the sales marketing material.
quoting an old TV commercial: "that was precisely my hypothenuse"...I guess I can try to shake a couple of tiedowns out of the dealer then; I notices a couple of people here did that...why not? they charge enough for trucks these days anyway (gosh, I sound like an old faaht!)
 

Texas Scout

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I posted my previous post here in this forum because in early March I ordered the passenger side Swing Case storage from RealTruck ".com". FYI, if you call and order vs. ordering directly online they usually will give a 10% discount.

"Step 3" of my Swing Case installation states: Remove the four (4) T40 torx bolts and the existing tiedowns. They were indicating to remove the rear corner tie-down and the center tie-down on the passenger side, because the bolts used to install the striker bracket (and tie-downs) are the original center and corner tie-down bolts.

Problem: I did not have a center tie-down with bolts to remove, and since I had purchased my truck with the Ford Tough factory spray-in bed liner I did not want to remove a second tie-down hook from another corner. Of course I could have purchased two M8, 1.25 bolts to complete the install without the center tie-down original bolts, but the Swing Case installation allows for the use of the original tie-downs after the install.

Solution: Moved the original corner tie-down hook that had been sprayed to the center on the driver's side of the bed, used the two new hooks for the installation, so I now have my Swing Case and six tie-down hooks.

Just the facts: 4 Bolts -W505594-S450B, 2 Hook-Tie KB3Z-21550A74-A
Used a M8, 1.25 tap to clean the tie-down bolt threads, used M6, 1.0 tap to clean the holes for the truck bracket.

Attempted to order from my local Ford dealership, was told 6-8 week nationwide back order.
Ordered from the Ford dealership where I purchased my truck, same story as local dealer.
Decided to order online from Varsity Ford Parts, ordered March 17, shipped March 19, arrived March 21, Swing Case installed March 21, Saturday afternoon.

FYI: Since I live six miles from the Atlantic Ocean I did apply the galvanic corrosion protection on all bolts for the install. Ordered Marine Grade non-metallic Anti-seize from 1-877-ANTI-SEIZE, OR ANTISEIZE ".COM"
 
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Michel Jeanneau

Michel Jeanneau

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I used Loctite blue...and still procrastinating that trip to Aubuchon hardware for the two missing M8x1.25 bolts for the corner tie-down
 

Texas Scout

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The rest of the story: I decided to NOT fight city hall (in this case Ford or the dealership) to compensate me for the $27 in parts and $9 shipping for the two tie-down hooks and four bolts. I was very happy with my dealership and the "deal" for my Ranger, and I continue to enjoy and am very happy with my 2019 Ford Ranger. Life is Good, Enjoy the Ride!
 
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Michel Jeanneau

Michel Jeanneau

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Latest addition to the black beast of aaaaaggghhh!
OEM splashguards....well, not really, but swear they are the ones they advertise at accesories.ford.com except that the set of 4 through Amazon were $42, instead of $45/pair through Ford...the fit and finish is spot on and it took a whopping 15 minutes to install all of them
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Michel Jeanneau

Michel Jeanneau

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Michel
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