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The 2019 'Loan Ranger', and 2019 Ranger Adventure


Jim Oaks

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Jim, are you sending any of this information to Ford? Your photos would make AWESOME promotional photos for the new Ranger.
I'm pretty sure they know where to find them. Thanks though. I hope you guys enjoy following along. Please feel free to share the link to this thread with others. Especially when I head out for the Trans America Trail.
 


sgtsandman

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Good tip to know about the icing of the front sensor. I can't remember if the one I ordered is coming with adaptive cruise or not. The word I got today is that it's sitting in the Michigan Rail Yard awaiting shipment. ETA at the dealer, June 4 - June 13th.
 

Jim Oaks

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Good tip to know about the icing of the front sensor. I can't remember if the one I ordered is coming with adaptive cruise or not. The word I got today is that it's sitting in the Michigan Rail Yard awaiting shipment. ETA at the dealer, June 4 - June 13th.
Can't wait to see it!
 

sgtsandman

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Jim Oaks

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Tuesday May 21st:

I don't know what I expected to find in Roswell. Perhaps I expected a small country town with a bunch of cheap alien attractions to attract tourists. Roswell is actually a pretty good size city with an estimated population of 48,000 people. And you do see little alien statues around, but it wasn't to crazy.

Roswell is probably best known for the alleged crash of a UFO 30 miles north of Roswell in 1947. In the summer of 1947, a Project Mogul balloon crashed in the desert near Roswell, New Mexico. The subsequent military cover-up of the true nature of the balloon and burgeoning conspiracy theories from UFO enthusiasts led to a celebrated "UFO" incident. Project Mogul (sometimes referred to as Operation Mogul) was a top secret project by the US Army Air Forces involving microphones flown on high-altitude balloons, whose primary purpose was long-distance detection of sound waves generated by Soviet atomic bomb tests. The project was carried out from 1947 until early 1949.

If you've never been to Roswell, then you may not know that it was home of the Roswell Army Airfield from 1941 to 1967. It was renamed Walker Air Force Base in 1948. It was once the Strategic Air Commands largest base, and its bomber fleet and Atlas missiles were key deterrents during the cold war. It makes sense that it would be here. The Trinity Test site (first atomic bomb test) was only 140 miles west of here. New Mexico was the birth place of this countries nuclear defenses.

When the base closed, it became the Roswell International Air Center, but much of the area still has the look and feel of the former Air Force Base. Many former Air Force buildings, including aircraft hangars, maintenance shops, barracks, and office buildings have been reused for private interests. The large housing area still exists, with the former government housing units in private hands.

There is a historic marker along the road near the base.

walker_air_force_base-1.JPG


walker_air_force_base-2.JPG

Leaving Roswell, I headed east on US 380 towards Texas. 38-miles east of Roswell is the Mescalero Sands North Dune Area. If you stick $3 in a registration envelope, you can play in the sand all day here. You can even camp!

mescalero_sands_north_dune-1.JPG


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mescalero_sands_north_dune-3.JPG


mescalero_sands_north_dune-4.JPG


mescalero_sands_north_dune-5.JPG


mescalero_sands_north_dune-6.JPG


mescalero_sands_north_dune-7.JPG

This was the first time I got to play in the sand, and use the Terrain Management's 'Sand' mode. The Cooper Discoverer STT PRO tires had no problems clawing their way through the sand.

mescalero_sands_north_dune-8.JPG


mescalero_sands_north_dune-9.JPG


mescalero_sands_north_dune-10.JPG

I'll admit, I was cautious at first. I was by myself, and was worried that I'd get the truck buried. I had the X-bull traction mats, so I probably could have got myself unstuck, but I was still being cautious. the more I drive in it, the deeper in to it I got, until I finally didn't care anymore and just went for it. I was having a blast, but my time was limited. I needed to get back to Texas because I was watching my daughters house and her (2) dogs in the morning.

 

Jim Oaks

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Finally getting back in to Texas, I was greeted by a dust storm. At first, I just watched it in the distance in the fields. Then it was blowing over the road and literally everywhere. It was even blowing through the small towns.

texas_dust_storm-0.JPG


texas_dust_storm-1.JPG


texas_dust_storm-2.JPG


texas_dust_storm-3.JPG

This was the first time I had experienced a dust storm of this magnitude.


I started thinking that these people needed some rain to knock down all of that dust. Well, God apparently had the same thought, and a little further ahead I came to an overflowing abundance of it.

texas_dust_storm-4.JPG

If this was my Ranger, I probably would have just driven through it. But since it belongs to Ford, the road had a closed sign, and it would technically be illegal to do that, I turned around and found a side road to detour around it. There was still plenty of water, but no signs saying the road was closed.

texas_dust_storm-5.JPG

I finally got to my daughters around 10:30 PM. It was a great trip, but really just a test run before my June trip. You'll have to stay tuned for that one ;)(y)
 

Jim Oaks

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Here's a walk around video of the Ranger now that it's setup for adventure.

 

adsm08

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Thanks.

If anyone has questions about the truck, or just something they're curious about, I'll try to get the info, photo, etc for them.
How hard is it to get the engine out?
 

Jim Oaks

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Do you have a torch?
 

ericbphoto

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I need to find a way to retire and hang out with Jim all the time.
 

adsm08

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Jim Oaks

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The first night I spent in the Yakima Skyrise tent was in New Mexico on my way to Overland Expo.

I wasn't happy when I saw that this corner was popped out, and it wouldn't budge when I tried to slide it. When I got to Overland Expo, I spoke to a rep at the Yakima Display, and they suggested that I try to push it back in with a screwdriver.

yakima_skyrise_tent_repair-1.JPG


I was really about to flip out when I got home, opened it up, and saw that another corner was pulled out even worse.

yakima_skyrise_tent_repair-3.JPG


It wasn't going in by just pushing on it with a screwdriver. I decided to grab a chisel because it had a wider surface to spread the force.

First I used the flat end that you strike with a hammer, and started tapping it down with a mallet with a plastic head. The following two photos showing the chisel were taken after I got the tent back in its mounting track. The photos are just for reference.

yakima_skyrise_tent_repair-4.JPG


Then I tapped it in the rest of the way with the chisel end. Although I didn't tear any holes in the fabric, I think if I had to do it again, I would have put some tape in the end of the chisel to protect the fabric.

yakima_skyrise_tent_repair-5.JPG


So Ford had the tent installed by a local company. When I first opened the tent, the rainfly was attached to the tent. I never removed it, and continued to close it just the way it came. The rainfly attaches at the corner of the tent with a strap and buckle.

yakima_skyrise_tent_repair-6.JPG


I'm thinking that in the process of closing the tent, the rainfly pulled on the corners, and pulled the tent out of its mounting track. I would strongly suggest that anyone using one of these tents make sure that they unbuckle the rainfly before closing the tent, or remove the rainfly all together. I removed it for now because it's kind of a pain trying to get everything tucked in to put the cover back on.

Below you can see the strap and buckle that I referred to.

yakima_skyrise_tent_repair-7.JPG


In the next pics, you can see where I got the tent back in it's mounting tracks.

yakima_skyrise_tent_repair-2.JPG


27693
 
Last edited:

Jim Oaks

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2019 Ranger Adventure - Trans America Trail (TAT)

I've been wanting to do the Trans America Trail (TAT), and I figured I might as well put the wear and tear on Ford's Ranger than mine. LOL ;)

Seriously though, I've had this truck in an off-road park in the rocks and mud, and then drove it to Overland Expo and explored some Forest roads, and played in sand dunes. This next adventure is going to put 1,000's of off-road miles on this truck, and I anticipate having to deal with mud, rocks and even snow on the high mountain passes. If this 2019 Ford Ranger has any weak areas, I'll probably find them. Hopefully it doesn't go home on a flatbed.

I'm typing this right now while parked in a rest area and using the Ranger's WiFi.

My only issue at the moment is the 110 volt outlet on the back of the console. The plug for my laptop is very loose in the outlet, and the loose connection probably isn't good for the laptop. IDK. I had issues with it on my Arizona trip. I was trying to use a USB wall charger in it, and it kept falling out of the outlet. This truck was used by others before I got it, so maybe something happened to it when they had it. I can't imagine that it came from the factory this loose. It reminds me of an old worn out outlet in an old house when you have to go through and update the electrical.

Day #1 - Sunday June 2nd, 2019:

I had planned on leaving on Monday, but the road was calling me, so I decided to leave a day sooner. It took me a little longer than expected to get the truck loaded, and then I needed to find Marley's (my Labrador Retriever) vaccination paperwork. Some campgrounds require that you have proof of vaccination, and I usually keep a copy in my console, but it's in my Expedition, and it's parked at my daughters.

I looked up his records online, and realized he was do for his rabies booster in May. Crap! I use www.vippetcare.com for my vet. They hold clinics at various pet stores and Tractor Supplies during the month, and they were going to be at a Pet Supplies Plus 8-miles from me today at 4pm. That's going to slow me down, but at least I can get it taken care of before I leave.

After getting Marley caught up on his shots, we headed north From Fort Worth Texas towards Amarillo. My goal is to catch the Trans America Trail around Boise City Oklahoma. The (official) Trans America Trail starts in Tennessee, but the most interesting portions start in New Mexico headed west. I couldn't see driving from Texas to Tennessee just to back track. I'll be going to Ohio this summer, so I may head up to Oklahoma and take the TAT east to Tennessee on my way.

27694


27695


27696

Checking out the Sirius XM Travel Link current weather radar map.

27697

Riding off in to the sunset chasing a new adventure.

27698

Nothing exciting to share today, but I'm off. Hopefully I'll have some good photos tomorrow. I'm going to try and update this every day, and hopefully get some video.

For now, it's time to get some sleep in a rest area. :sleep:
 

mtnrgr

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I remember those sunsets in the mid west in my days of driving my 94, lots of memories. Enjoy your summer travels. Keep us updated, and be safe. Off topic Jim, have you heard anything from the individual who bought that sea splash ranger...think that was the name of it. Curious how that Ranger has come along.
 
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Ranger850

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Glad to see you got the tent corners fixed. It also gave me a little insight on how they built the tent.
 

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