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TruckGuySC

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When I was growing up, four wheel drive was exotic. The vast majority of light trucks were used on farms to do work. They were two wheel drive with open differentials. By today's standards they did not have a great deal of ground clearance, but they didn't need it because they didn't go "four-wheeling." Farmers typically put deeply lugged tires with flat faces on the back of their trucks, and waited for a good weather if they had work to do that was off-road, not just to keep from getting stuck but also because they didn't want to tear their place to pieces. If they needed more capability than that, they probably would use their tractor.

I'm sure those Old Farmers would have bought four wheel drive trucks if they had been available and they could afford it. But the idea that vehicles which don't have 9 inches of ground clearance and pull less than 9,000 lb are useless for work is just silly.
There are many old things that still function and perform their jobs... a more recent example is flip-phones. They make phone calls fine, they have basic location, and can text message...

But it doesn’t mean they’ll be flying off the shelves anytime soon..

It’s called: progress
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TruckGuySC

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You don't need a frame to build a truck:

If Ford did something like this, and the rear panel on that protoyype cab sure looks reinforced, then you might be surprised by both payload and rigidity:

1617465527617.png


Source: https://jalopnik.com/mid-size-trucks-dont-need-frames-1785674405

Ford knows trucks, and knows physics. Honda did them a solid by showing how it could be done. I suspect we'll be surprised by the capability.

It would also explain why it can only be sold in a crew cab offering.


Source: https://jalopnik.com/mid-size-trucks-dont-need-frames-1785674405
I hope you’re right. I need at least 4,000 lb. tow capacity.

Ford showed they knew what they were doing with the Bronco Sport. They made it truly off-road capable (something Honda did not w the Ridgeline).

There are limitations w unibody.. for instance the Honda Ridgeline AWD only has 5,000 lb. towing capacity vs. The 7500 lb. tow capacity of the Ranger 4WD. My Ridgeline is not happy towing my boat, and boat and trailer combined is only 3900 lb.

The other limitation w unibody is, it makes it very expensive to create multiple cab styles/configurations (something we hear complained about a lot on this forum). Whereas w BoF, it’s much easier and less expensive to mix and match cab and bed sizes.
 
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Tennessee

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There are many old things that still function and perform their jobs... a more recent example is flip-phones. They make phone calls fine, they have basic location, and can text message...

But it doesn’t mean they’ll be flying off the shelves anytime soon..

It’s called: progress
Good point!
 

MarcusBrody

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I hope you’re right. I need at least 4,000 lb. tow capacity.

Ford showed they knew what they were doing with the Bronco Sport. They made it truly off-road capable (something Honda did not w the Ridgeline).

There are limitations w unibody.. for instance the Honda Ridgeline AWD only has 5,000 lb. towing capacity vs. The 7500 lb. tow capacity of the Ranger 4WD. My Ridgeline is not happy towing my boat, and boat and trailer combined is only 3900 lb.

The other limitation w unibody is, it makes it very expensive to create multiple cab styles/configurations (something we hear complained about a lot on this forum). Whereas w BoF, it’s much easier and less expensive to mix and match cab and bed sizes.
There are plenty of unibody vehicles that tow more than the Ridgeline, though. Land Rover has a few, the Grand Cherokee, the Cayenne, heck even Ford's own Transit 150 can tow 7500 in some configurations. I'm not saying that body on frame doesn't make it easier to build a vehicle that can tow a lot, but being unibody isn't a disqualifier for decent towing if it's a design concern. Given the 7 pin plugs we're seeing on these, I'm hoping that it was for Ford!
 

theek

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The Maverick is likely a harbinger of a unibody truck future especially as the world moves to electric vehicles.

The current Ranger tows 7500 pounds. The 2022 Ranger will probably tow more in some configs, and do more, with a bump up in price.

The Ranger won't be $25,000 anymore, it will be closer to $30,000. It could be as simple as the Maverick tows 5000 pounds with the largest engine, the Ranger 7500-10,000, and the F-150 10,000-15,000. I very much doubt they'll fail here. The base kit might tow only 2500 pounds but I suspect a special towing package with an oil cooler will raise that to 5000. This might be limited to a hybrid setup or the 2.0L.
 

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TruckGuySC

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The Maverick is likely a harbinger of a unibody truck future especially as the world moves to electric vehicles.

The current Ranger tows 7500 pounds. The 2022 Ranger will probably tow more in some configs, and do more, with a bump up in price.

The Ranger won't be $25,000 anymore, it will be closer to $30,000. It could be as simple as the Maverick tows 5000 pounds with the largest engine, the Ranger 7500-10,000, and the F-150 10,000-15,000. I very much doubt they'll fail here. The base kit might tow only 2500 pounds but I suspect a special towing package with an oil cooler will raise that to 5000. This might be limited to a hybrid setup or the 2.0L.
Just curious, why would an all-electric have to be a uni-body? 🤷🏼‍♂️

The all-electric F-150 that Ford has demo’d pulling a million pound freight train is BoF..

see for yourself:
 
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You don't need a frame to build a truck:

If Ford did something like this, and the rear panel on that protoyype cab sure looks reinforced, then you might be surprised by both payload and rigidity:

1617465527617.png


Source: https://jalopnik.com/mid-size-trucks-dont-need-frames-1785674405

Ford knows trucks, and knows physics. Honda did them a solid by showing how it could be done. I suspect we'll be surprised by the capability.

It would also explain why it can only be sold in a crew cab offering.


Source: https://jalopnik.com/mid-size-trucks-dont-need-frames-1785674405
Thank you for this. Very good article.
 

theek

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Just curious, why would an all-electric have to be a uni-body? 🤷🏼‍♂️

The all-electric F-150 that Ford has demo’d pulling a million pound freight train is BoF..

see for yourself:
Ride quality, interior room, room for batteries. In any case that's a prototype, and very few use cases need towing a million pounds.
 

TruckGuySC

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Ride quality, interior room, room for batteries. In any case that's a prototype, and very few use cases need towing a million pounds.
Says the guy who never worked in the auto industry vs. The Ford F-150 Product Manager featured in the video... 🙄
 

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For over a decade, folks have been lamenting the loss of the original Ford Ranger, it's smaller size and footprint. Now, folks are bellyaching about license plate placement (btw, looks just fine to me as it makes room for the reciever hitch mounted in a higher position it would be with a more traditional center plate location) or that it looks small. Well, that's the whole point of this vehicle, no?

I believe the Crew Cab configuration will be it, cause to do a Super Cab configuration means tooling up a completely different uni-body structure. And I don't think Ford has the kind of capital to make that happen.

I pay mind to the major car magz and I have to say that this Maverick is getting very little airplay. It's even absent on Ford's website. In my eyes, this truck is going to be an absolute sales winner that it's going to siphon sales away from the Ranger as well as the GM Twins. I imagine Mary Barra in GM Corporate Headquarters is screaming at her subordinates why they did not have a counterpunch (S10?) to "head this Maverick off at the pass!"

Kudos to the Maverick Club for staying up on this important truck and I look forward to the site progressing with the truck once the aftermarket gets ahold of it!!
I’m sure Ford has plenty of capital to tool a factory but the truth is 90% of truck buyers buy the crew cab. Also this truck has not been officially announced so it won’t be on the website.
 
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Hurray for lower beds. Looking at modern truck heights and the depth of beds hurts my back. Please no fancy swinging tailgate. Certainly not mad at the license plate just seemed curious. Perhaps giving the design it’s the best place for it. Only recently have I considered a new truck. Always been looking at old rangers so that’s what I compare any truck to.
Well the Ridgeline dual-action swing tailgate has two purposes. The first is to allow easy access to the in-bed trunk. It would be hard to reach over the tailgate to put larger or heavier or smaller things into deep trunk. Also couldn't have access to spare tire inside trunk on sliding tray. The other benefit to swing open tailgate allows easier access to items up in the bed like behind rear window. If its heavy or big you can't lift over bed sides you can step up on bumper step into bed. Or without tailgate in the way puts you closer into bed. So you would want a tailgate to open like Ridgeline or drop completely down for this better access to bed.
 

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Well the Ridgeline dual-action swing tailgate has two purposes. The first is to allow easy access to the in-bed trunk. It would be hard to reach over the tailgate to put larger or heavier or smaller things into deep trunk. Also couldn't have access to spare tire inside trunk on sliding tray. The other benefit to swing open tailgate allows easier access to items up in the bed like behind rear window. If its heavy or big you can't lift over bed sides you can step up on bumper step into bed. Or without tailgate in the way puts you closer into bed. So you would want a tailgate to open like Ridgeline or drop completely down for this better access to bed.
Agreed. I’m hoping Ford is looking at incorporating this at least into the upper trim levels..
 
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oljackfrost

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Well the Ridgeline dual-action swing tailgate has two purposes. The first is to allow easy access to the in-bed trunk. It would be hard to reach over the tailgate to put larger or heavier or smaller things into deep trunk. Also couldn't have access to spare tire inside trunk on sliding tray. The other benefit to swing open tailgate allows easier access to items up in the bed like behind rear window. If its heavy or big you can't lift over bed sides you can step up on bumper step into bed. Or without tailgate in the way puts you closer into bed. So you would want a tailgate to open like Ridgeline or drop completely down for this better access to bed.
Ford had a tailgate that worked just like that in the 70s. It worked very well. All they gotta do is dust off some old blueprints!
 

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Ford had a tailgate that worked just like that in the 70s. It worked very well. All they gotta do is dust off some old blueprints!
Whoops! Forgot to mention that the tailgate was on station wagons.
 
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Well the Ridgeline dual-action swing tailgate has two purposes. The first is to allow easy access to the in-bed trunk. It would be hard to reach over the tailgate to put larger or heavier or smaller things into deep trunk. Also couldn't have access to spare tire inside trunk on sliding tray. The other benefit to swing open tailgate allows easier access to items up in the bed like behind rear window. If its heavy or big you can't lift over bed sides you can step up on bumper step into bed. Or without tailgate in the way puts you closer into bed. So you would want a tailgate to open like Ridgeline or drop completely down for this better access to bed.
I'm glad you find these things useful and maybe i would too if I had one. However I've never found myself wishing i had one. Really deep beds is a deal breaker. When i walk by trucks I often guess if I could reach into the bed and many times I dont think it would be comfortable. These are probably lifted also. Do they put spare tires inside of beds now? Like bed storage? Dont want any bed storage compartments that just seems like something for tweakers to break into
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