Help me not buy a Ranger Tremor

[dcmdon]

Frankly I'm convinced the 'right' car is a Ridgeline but I also gotta be seen driving the thing

The Ridgeline is the logical choice for probably 90% of Gladiator, Colorado, and Ranger buyers.

It works well enough as a truck, drives like an Accord, has a trunk as big as a cars that can be used as a cooler. The tailgate opens down or sideways.

Its brilliant.

But like you said, you have to be seen in one. ha.

My dad has a Ridgeline. Its been flawless for going on 10 years. He tows his 240Z race car with it all up and down the East Coast. (He's in Summit Point WV this weekend, from CT).

Like most Honda's, its a brilliant vehicle that is well built and will last for decades.

But boy is it ugly.

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[Papa Jawa]

Edit: Let's get the obvious out of the way, I don't need a front locker. I off-road probably more than 95% of the people here who don't go to off-road parks and I've needed a front locker a total of 0 times. If a road is even slightly engineered for actual vehicular use, our trucks are stupid capable and the front locker is a pretty damn expensive thing to not really ever need. Even if you're in those off-road parks, if we're honest.

OK, just went a built a couple of Tremors. You can get a well equipped XLT for about MSRP $45K, and the Lariat for around $50K MSRP. Based on the discussion, the most capable JT that fits your needs is the Mojave, same price as the Rubi. Based on your statements I think you should really look at the Overland as suggested earlier. It is a good rig to build from but also ready to go. If you put two regular joe drives in the Tremor or the Overland, the Overland could keep up with the Tremor all day long. Professional drivers would make the Tremor stand out.

Based on your described use, the engines will be biggest difference between the Ranger and the JT; Ford 2.3, Jeep 3.6 Gas and Jeep 3.0 Diesel. They are all monsters, just different monsters. the 3.6 is probably the least powerful, but solid and also the most dependable. The 3.0 Diesel is the most expensive and slowest, but the most MPG efficiency, and a stump puller. The 2.3 is strong and quick, but the MPG will not be near the posted number as an offroad vehicle (see Bronco estimates).

It really comes down to which one makes you smile, fits your life, and you can afford. You have to drive and live with it.

I looked at everything before I bought my Gladiator. The Jeep products feel the most well put together and ready to go, all the time. Either way, unless you are a professional driver, they will both take care of you well.

I say again, what one makes you smile.

 

[spectre6000]

I've mentioned elsewhere recently that I've owned a metric shitton of cars, and I've avocationally wrenched on everything from Ford to Ferrari. Note where Ford sits in that spectrum. I got into cars because of a shitty Ford. I had a '01 Focus that I bought for some amount, then spent roughly 3X that trying to keep it running while in college taking classes full time and working three part time jobs. That's my personal origin story.

I just deleted a long screed about how crappy Ford is. I consider myself pretty seriously brand neutral, and I've owned at least one vehicle from most of the makes that have been available in the US since the 50s. Two Fords (they got a second chance). That number will not increase in the future. Ford is the only brand I'm sworn off.

The Ranger specifically is nearing the end of the product lifecycle. Some consider that mature, given the specific history of the Ranger in the US, I have a hard time thinking of it as anything but lazy. The 10-speed should be plenty good (which dodges a major bullet since Ford has demonstrated pretty conclusively over the last decade that they can't make a decent transmission). The engine seems pretty dramatically over stressed for a truck application. If you intend to drive the truck like a car and not use it as a truck, it'll probably be fine (but then why are you buying a truck?). You only get the one drivetrain choice, again, lazy. The functionality of the interior leaves quite a bit to be desired as well; take a look at the rear seat as a usable anything. If I recall correctly, the seat bottom (in its entirety) folds up to gain access to some storage. No load floor, no partial access, all or nothing and not very usable at that. If you like the looks of that flavor of truck, the Colorado looks better. It just does.

The Ranger is here solely because Ford fell behind the curve on the mid-size truck market. They took a (not really) ready to go existing model from another market, federalized it as quick and inexpensively as they could, and dumped it on us. It shows all over.

By comparison, the Jeep was even later to the market, but very critically, they tried. It shows. It's a relatively new model, but given the engineering of it with the front half lifted straight from a nearly 4 year old platform and the back half from an even older platform, I think it's plenty mature to have any meaningful kinks worked out. The Gladiator has its own shortcomings, but it excels in a number of areas where the Ford is mid-pack at best across the board. Nothing is perfect, there is no such thing as a car for everyone. There will always be compromises. The Jeep certainly has some, some are more egregious than some of the Ford's, but the Jeep excels in a number of ways where the Ford is just universally an also ran.

 

[Gren71]

I think part of being a jeep owner is knowing that every time you look at your truck you know the things that you’ve done to it yourself. That Ford tremor would be a cool truck to have but in reality it would be someone else’s truck, since they designed it and they built it… All you did was get in and drive it… So it’s kind of a cuck truck

 

[hobbsserv]

It really comes down to which one makes you smile, fits your life, and you can afford. You have to drive and live with it.



I say again, what one makes you smile.

I have owned Jeeps my entire driving career. Every time I get out of my Gladiator (like every Jeep I've owned) I cant help but turn around and look at it. I'm sure some of it is brand loyalty, like people that own Harleys, Corvettes, Porche's, Etc. Some things you can't put into a plus or minus column.

If I had to drive a Ridgline, I would park so no one could see me get out of it......

 

[Garemlin]

If you are even contemplating a Ranger wait it out until the next gen is released. Current platform is dated and pretty boring. One thing that I kept me from even considering a Ranger is how ridiculous the folding back seat is.

 

[syreeves]

I can't write a long post right now but I agonized for about 2 years in replacing my 2003 LR Discovery. I looked at F350, Ram 3500 Diesel with a Manual, Ridgeline, Taco (wanted a 6ft bed and manual but you can't get both), waited for the new LR Defender, the Broco (thought about waiting more for the Bronco pickup) and drove a Ranger XLT FX4 and a Colorado ZR2. I kept coming back to the JT. Most people can get away with the Sport S, Max Tow and LSD rear. Or an Overland with an LSD rear. I wanted the manual first, 3.6 for long term durability (no turbos and FCA puts them in everything so they know it well) and I wanted the Rubicon. I have already used the front locker in a situation where my Land Rover would have left me stranded (deep snow on an old forest "road" in northern MN that I should not not have been on - couldn't turn around and slid off the crown backing up almost a mile - front locker saved the day). I can haul a reasonable amount of stuff, tow a reasonable amount of stuff (my boat is less than 4,000lbs and the biggest trailer I pull is about 5,000lbs of mulch for our BSA Troop fundraiser). I've had my JTR since January and I LOVE IT. Now that I have it I think back to the Ranger, Colorado, and the Taco and I would NEVER consider trading over to one of those. Brother-in-law has a Ridgeline and its a fine vehicle - he drives from Washing to Colorado 2-3 times a year. Great for that trip. But he loves it they way I love my wife's Volvo XC90. Perfect cruiser with lots of space. Very happy to own it and let the wife or kids drive. But not for me.

JTR is perfect for me in the real world - not just on paper. Thats all I can say.

 

[RacerX00]

This right here tells me you don't need a Rubicon. If you did, the Ridgeline wouldn't even be on the radar. If you want it to show off then it's your money but the Max Tow package is 90% of a Rubicon at a price point that leaves a nice stack of cash in your pocket for wheels, tires, lift, and whatever else you need. JTR take-offs are abundant.

Look man, no one "needs" a Rubicon. I cruise 20,000 acres of compacted back dirt roads on a regular basis. I don't need to prove shit to anyone and I can tell you for certain that the Ridgeline can handle every single one of those roads, with ease except for a select few, which I also wouldn't even hesitate to bring it on, just wouldn't be as "comfortable" in a more capable off-roader.

I'm one of the last people, including among a message board of Jeep owners, that needs to be lectured about my off-road vs. on-road use. In fact, over 20 years on these conditions is the thing that tells me the Ridgeline would be fine.

People who go on these roads once every 3 years justify owning a Rubicons and Raptors, let's not get into "what people really need"

 

[Usethis83]

You should buy the ranger.

 

[titty_sprinkles]

As many others have stated, the top/doors off is a huge plus (in my book). With that said, I owned a 2018 GMC Canyon that I built up and loved...... until I went and test drove a wrangler rubicon. I fell in love with the way the wrangler drove / rode and what it offered as far as offroad capability and top/door off options. I purchased the wrangler and drove it for a year (until last saturday). After a few months of owning it, I started missing having a truck bed. There were too many times that I need it, but didn't have it. So i started looking at trucks again and drove a Silverado Trail Boss, another GMC Canyon and the Gladiator. The gladiator offered the same ride / drive quality i came to love in my wrangler, with the truck bed, offroad capability and top / door options. I picked up a '21 Mojave Gladiator and couldn't be happier. While I can't speak to the quality on the Ranger, the jeep interior seems better thought out than the Chevy / GMC. For me it just worked. I say test drive both and see what you like. For me, the Jeep can't be beat.

 

[RacerX00]

I’m not here to convince you do do anything, but your kids will probably LOVE 4wheeling. My 13 year old goes with me all the time, and my 17 year old is getting better at driving off road.

Lulz, for sure. This is not the stuff I'm scared to let my kids do. I'm scared for when my son wants to put petal to the metal on the compacted dirt roads I frequent. There's a reason I didn't say Mojave! If I was 21 the answer would be Mojave and there'd be no thread, just a Mojave in my driveway :D

I have to go out of my way to get on roads that even come close to this, the answer would be to start going to parks I guess. That could be a really cool thing to do with the kids for sure.

 

[kooltoys]

I used to know exactly which truck I wanted, then a year passed and Ford's decent offering took a front seat with the Tremor. I know it's not a Raptor but I'm also not too keen on spending $70,000 for the smallest class of truck you can buy in the US. (also it doesn't exactly exist yet)

I love everything about the Tremor, it's a lot of what I would do aftermarket + it has those damn cool aux switches and angry but properly subdued accents (without gfx package obviously).

I'm feeling like right now I spend $45,000 on a decked out Ranger Tremor and make myself as happy as if I had a Gladiator, but $20,000 richer (over similarly equipped JTR) without feeling like I'm rolling around in an unfinished symphony constantly wanting to upgrade.

For some reason I look at the Tremor as a complete, small, perfect little truck and a Gladiator as a blank canvas. I know some people here gotta feel the same way even if it's illogical.

So, what are my reasons for wanting a JTR over a Ranger Tremor? I'm having a hard time making $20,000 price difference make sense.

Edit: Let's get the obvious out of the way, I don't need a front locker. I off-road probably more than 95% of the people here who don't go to off-road parks and I've needed a front locker a total of 0 times. If a road is even slightly engineered for actual vehicular use, our trucks are stupid capable and the front locker is a pretty damn expensive thing to not really ever need. Even if you're in those off-road parks, if we're honest.

God damn, this forum is more and more of a bunch of whinny ass posts.. 2 pages of cuddlings an idiot that needs someone else to make a decision that their wife should be making!!!
I really enjoyed this forum for 2-3 months, now its just a bunch if I could, what if I do, tell me what to do because I have no idea how to be an adult on my own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! guess that why I hate FB at this point... BYE

 

[RacerX00]

God damn, this forum is more and more of a bunch of whinny ass posts.. 2 pages of cuddlings an idiot that needs someone else to make a decision that their wife should be making!!!
I really enjoyed this forum for 2-3 months, now its just a bunch if I could, what if I do, tell me what to do because I have no idea how to be an adult on my own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! guess that why I hate FB at this point... BYE

Um, the Tremor is a marked improvement on stock offerings on the Ford Ranger that has been getting respect from pretty much everyone. The name of this board is titled "Gladiator vs."

If it's not vs. one of the most capable off-roaders in its class that's new for model year '21, then wtf is it for?

Perhaps you're the one who needs more coddling from the wife, you got some rage issues bro.

 

[RacerX00]

you Can get the aux switches you’re so fond of.

Ok, I know this is dumb but the aux switches are way cooler on the Ranger. You can toggle them up and down! UP AND DOWN MAN!

Edit: Objectively cooler Tremor aux switches below. They're like the main feature of the damn dashboard! "Well, we were going to add two more airbags and make it safer, but, aux switches" = Engineers

 

[GoVR46]

Don't buy it, or every time I see you I will be yelling at you and singing this!

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