2017 Ford Ranger Wildtrak

johanso

Adventurer
With the Ford Ranger being introduced in the US I thought I'd share our European 2017 Ford Ranger Wildtrak. I wouldn't go as far as calling our truck an overlanding vehicle, more of a family camping platform that we use to get to remote places in the Nordics. This model of Ranger has been around since 2011 and was given a facelift in 2016. Ours is fitted with the 200hp 3.2 liter I5 diesel paired with a 6-speed automatic. The Wildtrak edition gives you all the bells and whistles like rear diff lock, 18" wheels, lane assist, rear camera, heated windscreen, electric seats, 18" wheels etc etc. In Sweden they also fit Eberspräscher diesel heater as standard which is really nice in the winter.

Right of the bat we got rid of most of the exterior Wildtrak stickers, the "sports bar" in the bed and the 18 inch wheels.

Mods so far:
- Alucab aluminium canopy
- 17x8 Evo Corse Dakar Zero, ET +20
- 265 70 17 Cooper Discoverer At3
- 4 Lightforce Striker 170 xenon lights
- 2 Lightforce ROK 20 reverse lights mounted in the bumper
- Lightforce Ranger fascia to mount light switches
- Ez Down tailgate damper
- Hella led map light
- Provent oil catch can
- Deleted last muffler and replaced with 3 inch stainless straight pipe (did nothing to the sound but saved some weight).

In the past I've had a couple of Land Cruisers, a Hilux and another Ford Ranger. So heres my take on whats good and bad about this Ranger.

Good:
- This truck comes standard with a lot of the stuff I had to modify and build my self on the previous vehicles. For instance it has a built in inverter with a 230 volt outlet in the cab and a 12 volt outlet in the bed. It comes with a rear locker stock.
- You can fit rather large tyres without a lift
- Compared to the Hilux especially the cab seems a bit more spacious and even an adult can ride in the backseat for longer drives.
- All the electric gizmos like Sync3 carplay and adaptive cruise control is nice.
- The 5-cylinder diesel has nice grunt

Bad:
- Fuel consumption isn't really great. We get 20-23 mpg depending on speed. I believe the automatic transmission is a big part of the reason it doesn't get better mpg. The engine has a lot of torque but the trans doesn't lock up the converter early enough in my opinion.
- The low beam xenon lights are good but the high beams are like candle lights. I've cured this with the Lightforce xenon lights so it's not really a problem anymore.

Future mods:
- Some kind of drawers in the bed. It's a hassle to pack and unpack the bed when things are stacked on top of eachother.
- Looking it to possibilities to have someone program the transmission.
- Perhaps some suspension upgrades.

Last week I drove the new Ranger Raptor that has a 213hp 2-litre I4 engine and 10-speed auto and Fox suspension (coils instead of leafs in back). What a truck! Thanks to the awesome 10-speed auto it felt like the truck had 50 horsepower more than ours. It was flying away. And the suspension was incredibly impressive from what I could experience on the short test drive.

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johanso

Adventurer
Hehe, good question. Like all over the world Toyota and the Hilux has a very good reputation but the competition is getting really fierce and I think Toyota has lost a lot of market share. In terms of perceived quality I think the Hilux comes at the top but when the final decision on what to buy is taken many, like my self, choose something else. In Sweden the Hilux is only offered with a 150hp 2.4L I4 diesel which I think is a big problem for Toyota. Nissan Navara can be opted with a 230hp v6 diesel, the Ranger with a 200hp I5, VW Amarok 250hp v6. Ideally I would like to have a Hilux because I like Toyota and have had great experience with their reliability in the past but when I was comparing the Hilux to the Ranger I couldn't disregard the fact that I was getting so much more with the Ranger in terms of features, power and size.
 

phsycle

Adventurer
With the Ford Ranger being introduced in the US I thought I'd share our European 2017 Ford Ranger Wildtrak. I wouldn't go as far as calling our truck an overlanding vehicle, more of a family camping platform that we use to get to remote places in the Nordics.

I would take your family camper over any "Overland" vehicle out there. Mainly because I hate the term "Overland." It's a dumb made-up marketing term that means a camping platform used to get to remote places. :D

Very nice truck, by the way.
 

nickw

Adventurer
Hehe, good question. Like all over the world Toyota and the Hilux has a very good reputation but the competition is getting really fierce and I think Toyota has lost a lot of market share. In terms of perceived quality I think the Hilux comes at the top but when the final decision on what to buy is taken many, like my self, choose something else. In Sweden the Hilux is only offered with a 150hp 2.4L I4 diesel which I think is a big problem for Toyota. Nissan Navara can be opted with a 230hp v6 diesel, the Ranger with a 200hp I5, VW Amarok 250hp v6. Ideally I would like to have a Hilux because I like Toyota and have had great experience with their reliability in the past but when I was comparing the Hilux to the Ranger I couldn't disregard the fact that I was getting so much more with the Ranger in terms of features, power and size.
Thanks for the feedback. We are juggling the same sorts of things here in the US as well.
 
I-5 diesel, some would go nuts for that here. We get a 270 hp 2.3 turbo here. I am currently on the fence myself between Toyota and Ford, the Tacoma is really disadvantaged by payload capacity. Though I am a bit put off by the twin turbos of the Ford, not sure about its longevity, but it is pretty quick!
 

nickw

Adventurer
I-5 diesel, some would go nuts for that here. We get a 270 hp 2.3 turbo here. I am currently on the fence myself between Toyota and Ford, the Tacoma is really disadvantaged by payload capacity. Though I am a bit put off by the twin turbos of the Ford, not sure about its longevity, but it is pretty quick!
FYI - the Ford is a single turbo, "twin scroll" which differs from a twin/bi-turbo setup.

Tacoma is at a big disadvantage performance wise too - one of the main deciding factors for me.
 

Overlandtowater

Well-known member
I-5 diesel, some would go nuts for that here. We get a 270 hp 2.3 turbo here. I am currently on the fence myself between Toyota and Ford, the Tacoma is really disadvantaged by payload capacity. Though I am a bit put off by the twin turbos of the Ford, not sure about its longevity, but it is pretty quick!
Yep, If they would have brought the Diesel in I would have a new truck in the drive way... I do like the power of the f150 ecoboost but I see a lot of them on the farms around having problems with oil consumption...I think a lot of farmers let them idle all day and that is where the problems start....
 

johanso

Adventurer
Yep, If they would have brought the Diesel in I would have a new truck in the drive way... I do like the power of the f150 ecoboost but I see a lot of them on the farms around having problems with oil consumption...I think a lot of farmers let them idle all day and that is where the problems start....

I think with gas motors becoming more and more fuel efficient and diesel engines getting more and more complex and expensive to maintain the advantage of diesels isn’t so clear anymore. Sure for long distance and really remote overlanding and heavy towing the extra fuel range is a huge plus but under other circumstances I’m not sure the pro’s overweight the con’s.

Totally agree on the idling. Since 2006 I’ve had 5 or 6 vehicles (all second hand with different mileage when I got them) with diesel particulate filters and I’ve had zero dpf related issues. You hear and read people complain about their dpf’s but I think a lot of it comes down to how you use the vehicle.
In my case I think the lack of problems comes down to three things I don’t do.
1. I don’t let my vehicle idle in the drive way to heat up. In the winter time I use a block heater or a diesel heater, start the car, let it build oil pressure for 30 seconds or so and then drive away.
2. I try to avoid short drives with my diesels. I use my motorbike, bicycle or feet for short trips.
3. I don’t follow long life oil service intervals. I change my oil every 10000km. Oil is cheap. Turbos and dpf’s are expensive.

That became really off topic:)
 

johanso

Adventurer
I finally came around to install some upgraded suspension parts. I choose a kit from Ironman with their Foam Cell Pro shocks, coils and leaf springs. It's still no Ranger Raptor, which of course can't be expected with leaf springs, but it handles rough gravel roads better and is now leveled thanks to adjustable coilovers in the front. I also installed a drive shaft spacer to avoid vibrations.

I forgot to measure the stock height but I'm guessing I achieved around 2" lift in the back and 2.5" in the front.

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Hanzo

Member
How you liking your Ironman setup? I’m considering it for a tundra and would love to know your thoughts?
 

johanso

Adventurer
How you liking your Ironman setup? I’m considering it for a tundra and would love to know your thoughts?
Sorry for the late reply!

So far I like it a lot. It seems to handle corrugated gravel roads better than before. With the original suspension and unloaded bed the truck sometimes bounced sideways on bad gravel roads. It didn’t transform it in to a Ranger Raptor but it handles everything it did before just as good or better with the benefit of more ground clearance.
The big question is if the Foam Cell Pro kit is worth the extra cost compared to a more simple kit... I’m not sure. On my Land Cruiser I had OME springs and Bilstein shocks, the cost was around 60% of the Foam Cell Pro and I liked that setup a lot.
 
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