NOTICE Where are the serious off-road Ford Ranger builds!!?? Show me....

[Shran]

I still wheel my Ranger a lot, it's more the "build" part that's not active... it's more or less done and I'm not intending to change anything.

That said it is definitely not a family wheeler and having two younger kids that need seats and seat belts, I am working on a solid axle swap on a 2 door Explorer. It will be on 36" skinny TSLs and will have full width D44 and 9" axles - 3 link in the front with air shocks and leaf springs in the rear. Sadly I have not touched it in a few months and it's been off the road since 2021 or so I think and as a result I had to wheel the OTHER family wheeler, the beater YJ Jeep, all summer...but that is just the way she goes.

 

[ryan]

He's already been on here whining like a old Ford power steering pump because his isn't street legal or some nonsense like that.

Not my fault they want to have a watered down half serious adventure!

I don't think you can do really serious offroading without a beadlock, and running them on the street in an insured rig would make me very nervous if anything should happen

 

[Jim Oaks]

I like the point of the Unreal Adventure to a point. I like that they have to drive their rig from point to point for a week, but it would be more impressive if they had to drive them home afterwards. Day one into the event and Fred Williams already had to retrieve spare parts for someone from where the participants all parked their tow rigs.

Obviously they're pushing these trucks to find their breaking points.

I love a cross-country off-road adventure. Even better with a group. I've been wanting to find some Ranger owners that could do this in more of a moderate setting with occasional serious wheeling and not a hardcore break-shit setting where at the most we fix less serious issues and drive home.

I think it would be cool to build a UA Ranger, but I wouldn't do SAS. Maybe a beefed up Dana 44 TTB or a Dana 50 TTB, but it would have to be a TTB. Something that still gives the look and feel of a Ranger suspension. SAS is too typical. Too easy. Be unique.

I'd also consider a 1-ton IFS setup if I could come up with one under a 1998-2011 Ranger. Hummer? IDK. That would be impressive.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I like the point of the Unreal Adventure to a point. I like that they have to drive their rig from point to point for a week, but it would be more impressive if they had to drive them home afterwards. Day one into the event and Fred Williams already had to retrieve spare parts for someone from where the participants all parked their tow rigs.

Driving home is kind of a loose metric. There will be one guy that lives around the corner and another guy lives in Florida etc.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Driving home is kind of a loose metric. There will be one guy that lives around the corner and another guy lives in Florida etc.

It's either going to make it or it's not.

The first thing that comes to mind is watching @bobbywalter trying to climb a trail we were building up a hill at Sparkz place in Kentucky, seeing him flop it in its side, steer into it to stand it back up, and watching this all happen in disbelief knowing he had to drive the thing back to Michigan when we were done. This is back when he still had a Ford V8, Dana 35, 8.8, and front and rear air lockers.

 

[dvdswan]

I was actually building my Nissan for UA when it was known as Ultimate Adventure around 12-13 years ago. The idea was to keep the full interior and luxuries (you know AC, windows, carpet, etc.). I got to the point in 2013ish and had it close to completion minus the roll cage and work got in the way. So now it still sits hoping to start on it again.

After SAS

After V8 and KC swap

I'm not willing to invest in the money that rigs they chose have.

 

[Shran]

Judging from the club event that I attend every year and other locals and a few forums, the traditional "I built it" style rig is really waning in popularity. These are kind of the trends I have noticed:

Those who had rigs like mine who wanted to run hard trails ended up selling and building a buggy.
Some who had buggys got bored with them and bought less capable rigs to make things interesting again
Many who own very capable rigs don't wheel them at all.
UTVs/side-by-sides... I think these things are stupid... but many do not and choose this route instead of a much more capable Jeep/Toyota/Ranger/etc
People are opting to buy a capable rig (IE, Jeep Rubicon, etc) right off the shelf because:
- easy credit, anyone can buy one
- no need to invent things
- incredible selection of off-the-shelf parts and upgrades that did not exist 20+ years ago
- no need to invent fixes for stuff that breaks
- old rigs are way more valuable, no reason to beat them up
- old rigs are much harder to find in good shape (and parts availability can be a challenge.)
- their old rig was just in awful shape and it's easier to buy a new one than build a replacement.
- newer less capable vehicles are not as easy to modify as old ones were

As a club we have also noticed that there are a lot of people who want easy trail rides, and a lot that want very hard trails, and not a lot in between. The middle ground is disappearing somewhat. I still like wheeling my old junk.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Judging from the club event that I attend every year and other locals and a few forums, the traditional "I built it" style rig is really waning in popularity. These are kind of the trends I have noticed:

Those who had rigs like mine who wanted to run hard trails ended up selling and building a buggy.
Some who had buggys got bored with them and bought less capable rigs to make things interesting again
Many who own very capable rigs don't wheel them at all.
UTVs/side-by-sides... I think these things are stupid... but many do not and choose this route instead of a much more capable Jeep/Toyota/Ranger/etc
People are opting to buy a capable rig (IE, Jeep Rubicon, etc) right off the shelf because:
- easy credit, anyone can buy one
- no need to invent things
- incredible selection of off-the-shelf parts and upgrades that did not exist 20+ years ago
- no need to invent fixes for stuff that breaks
- old rigs are way more valuable, no reason to beat them up
- old rigs are much harder to find in good shape (and parts availability can be a challenge.)
- their old rig was just in awful shape and it's easier to buy a new one than build a replacement.
- newer less capable vehicles are not as easy to modify as old ones were

As a club we have also noticed that there are a lot of people who want easy trail rides, and a lot that want very hard trails, and not a lot in between. The middle ground is disappearing somewhat. I still like wheeling my old junk.

This spring I bought an old Rancho lift off of a guy that got rid of his Ranger for a side x side. Probably has as much invested in it than my '96 Ranger.

I get the whole idea of buying a new Ranger FX4, Tremor, or Raptor as a turn-key package instead of building a vehicle, but they're crazy expensive. I don't regret my 2021 Ford Ranger FX4 and love to travel and explore with it, but I'll never be able to push it as far as I could the 1996 Ranger.

Being on this Colorado trip makes me want to rebuild TRS-2 into an off-road adventure vehicle. Call it off-lander if you will although I hate the term overlander.

If you want the middle ground, you have to inspire it. A lot of people built trucks back in the day because of vehicles they saw in Magazines such as Off-Road and 4Wheel & Offroad. Or because they read articles like the Ultimate Adventure. We've even had a couple of people here participate in it.

Now people are seeing a lot of 'overlanding' on social media and YouTube, so that's what's inspiring them. It's become big business. The two things that will drive the price up bigger than anything is saying something is for a 'wedding' or 'overlanding'.

Jeeps and Tacoma's are the big money makers right now. If you watch much of Skyjacker's content, it's very 'Jeep' focused to the point you'd think that's all they sold suspensions for. Heck, the Jeep they had at their booth was owned by a guy with less social media presence than me, and my Ranger was parked no more than 100 feet away with a Skyjacker suspension and 'Skyjacker' on my rocker panel. You'd think they would have asked me to park my truck at their booth just to be able to show off more of their product.

The idea of a Ford Ranger as an off-road vehicle will become a distant pass if we sit back and let it. I don't want to see that happen. I (WE) just need to figure out how to inspire these younger generations.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Judging from the club event that I attend every year and other locals and a few forums, the traditional "I built it" style rig is really waning in popularity. These are kind of the trends I have noticed:

Those who had rigs like mine who wanted to run hard trails ended up selling and building a buggy.
Some who had buggys got bored with them and bought less capable rigs to make things interesting again
Many who own very capable rigs don't wheel them at all.
UTVs/side-by-sides... I think these things are stupid... but many do not and choose this route instead of a much more capable Jeep/Toyota/Ranger/etc
People are opting to buy a capable rig (IE, Jeep Rubicon, etc) right off the shelf because:
- easy credit, anyone can buy one
- no need to invent things
- incredible selection of off-the-shelf parts and upgrades that did not exist 20+ years ago
- no need to invent fixes for stuff that breaks
- old rigs are way more valuable, no reason to beat them up
- old rigs are much harder to find in good shape (and parts availability can be a challenge.)
- their old rig was just in awful shape and it's easier to buy a new one than build a replacement.
- newer less capable vehicles are not as easy to modify as old ones were

As a club we have also noticed that there are a lot of people who want easy trail rides, and a lot that want very hard trails, and not a lot in between. The middle ground is disappearing somewhat. I still like wheeling my old junk.

+1

Everybody is chasing the turn-key option now. Just gotta get one bigger than your buddy and make the payments.

Jeople are probably the exception... but watching a Jeep build is like watching an episode of "this old house" where they just replace light switch covers and the couch. Just take this off and bolt the new one on...

The idea of a Ford Ranger as an off-road vehicle will become a distant pass if we sit back and let it. I don't want to see that happen. I (WE) just need to figure out how to inspire these younger generations.

I don't hope that he builds his truck this drastically but I do have a winch bumper coming via Pony Express for my son's truck, he has been fascinated with winches since about the time he could talk. We also did get a hitch plug for it Sunday lol.

Fun fact: Him building a '91 would be like me building a '56... (truck is 28 years older than him)

 

[Jim Oaks]

I bought my 2021 because it seemed crazy towing my 1996 across the country with my F-150 to go to an off-road park for a weekend and then towing it back home. I wanted a truck that could do it all, but now I'm wanting an older version of 'do it all' that isn't so complex and expensive.

 

[Shran]

The idea of a newer Ranger as a legit offroad vehicle needs support from Ford. They're 95% of the way there with the Bronco and that is exactly why Jeep has been so successful - you can go buy a new Jeep right now and bolt a pair of 1 ton Currie axles into it right off the shelf or get a set of portals for example... 97 and older Rangers were easy to build, 98-11 were a bit harder with the IFS front and now the 19+ with IFS, all the electronic junk and huge vulnerable body panels honestly do not strike me as a good platform to start a moderately built truck from. It will be very rare to see people putting big axles and big tires under them - but for a mild "overlander" style rig, they are great. The new Bronco is a way better platform for building a "moderate" rig... just my opinion.

FWIW I have heard through the grapevine that the Toyota world is not what it appears to be. This is 100% hearsay on my part - there is/was a company local to me that built only Toyota parts. They recently sold off their business because there has been a sizable decrease in demand for offroad late model Toyota upgrade stuff in the last couple years - what I was told was that they felt the market was going to bottom out in the future and wanted to get out while the getting was good.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

now I'm wanting an older version of 'do it all' that isn't so complex and expensive.

The idea of a newer Ranger as a legit offroad vehicle needs support from Ford. They're 95% of the way there with the Bronco and that is exactly why Jeep has been so successful - you can go buy a new Jeep right now and bolt a pair of 1 ton Currie axles into it right off the shelf or get a set of portals for example... 97 and older Rangers were easy to build, 98-11 were a bit harder with the IFS front and now the 19+ with IFS, all the electronic junk and huge vulnerable body panels honestly do not strike me as a good platform to start a moderately built truck from. It will be very rare to see people putting big axles and big tires under them - but for a mild "overlander" style rig, they are great. The new Bronco is a way better platform for building a "moderate" rig... just my opinion.

FWIW I have heard through the grapevine that the Toyota world is not what it appears to be. This is 100% hearsay on my part - there is/was a company local to me that built only Toyota parts. They recently sold off their business because there has been a sizable decrease in demand for offroad late model Toyota upgrade stuff in the last couple years - what I was told was that they felt the market was going to bottom out in the future and wanted to get out while the getting was good.

Bronco is... but it isn't.

The pricing seems to get stupid faster than it does with a Ranger and the payload and towing is nowhere near comparable. Also the removable top and frameless windows add more complexity (and noise) And kind of weirdly the Bronco is somewhat hobbled by having to look like a 60yo econobox with poor visibility and a less than ideal (but retro) dash layout.

 

[Shran]

Bronco is... but it isn't.

The pricing seems to get stupid faster than it does with a Ranger and the payload and towing is nowhere near comparable. Also the removable top and frameless windows add more complexity (and noise) And kind of weirdly the Bronco is somewhat hobbled by having to look like a 60yo econobox with poor visibility and a less than ideal (but retro) dash layout.

I agree with you 100% there. I think though, if you had absolutely no bias towards any late model platform & money was not a huge factor, and wanted to build a rig that was on say, 35's, with two lockers, rock sliders, skid plates, decent bumpers on both ends, possibly two solid axles, and could perform well on what I would consider "medium" trails - Jeep would be your first choice by far, followed by a new Bronco, then everything else. Manufacturer and aftermarket support being the main factors there, followed by ease of cutting the rig up and inventing the front suspension. IFS does not work well in big rocks. TTB is marginal.

The target buyer is the main thing holding up moderate builds here. I want a vehicle that I can easily SAS............. new Ranger buyers want IFS.

Not trying to be a negative nancy here, if we could figure out IFS that has really good suspension travel and convince RCV to make bad ass shafts for it, I might entirely change my mind.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I don't know. I've driven a Wrangler and I've taken the Bronco through Ford's off-rodeo park in Texas. I still like the Bronco more.

I also like Land Rover. It sort of amazes me how it's become a luxury vehicle, yet they still promote it's off-road abilities and still make sure it lives up to its off-road heritage.

But back on topic, I think there still has to be an interest out there for an older affordable vehicle you can take off-road on the weekend and drive to work during the week.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Rover tries... but then so do steers.