Help me not buy a Ranger Tremor

[Terry]

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.

Ford vs Jeep... Actually they are kissing cousins of a sort. Consider this....

1941 – Ford Builds Jeeps

The original Jeep, named after “GP” or “general purpose,” was initially designed by the Bantam company for the U.S. Army. At the start of WWII, it was believed that Bantam was too small to be able to build enough Jeeps for the military, who had requested 350 per day, and the design was supplied to Willys and Ford. Bantam designed the original, Willys-Overland modified and improved the design and Ford was chosen as an additional supplier/producer. Ford is actually credited with designing the familiar “Jeep Face.” By the end of WWII, Ford had produced just over 282,000 Jeeps for military use.

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[syreeves]

Ya but the Pentastar is a proven engine. Down on power a bit for extra longevity.

Turbos. I know they are efficient and all but at the end of the day I'd prefer lower tech for longevity. Yes I know caterpillar turbodiesels last a million miles but thats like saying the Ford-GM 10sp auto is an "Allison" - its not the same thing. I know the Ford 2.3 ecoboost is a good engine but at the end of the day it is pressurized to within an inch of its life and I'm not sure what its longevity will be like running 70mph with 2500lbs in tow into a headwind. Thats a lot of steady turbo heat. I prefer the normally aspirated route for long term durability. Just my $0.02.

 

[berb]

Ram 1500 is bigger. I don't need bigger and live in a place where bigger when you don't need it is less. I can get the right sized bed with the right hauling and towing capacity in a Ranger/Colorado/Gladiator so why add the extra inches making it that much harder to park my truck in Brooklyn, a place where I unfortunately find myself needing to be frequently.

All of this is very personal. Part of me loves the fact that the Ranger looks like a pickup should look like as a big "this is who I am, damn it" to the yuppies who have moved in and taken over my region. "Yeah it's the shape from the 90s and it gets half the gas mileage of your car and I like it and want to show it off to the world."

But really the Gladiator will also do that to the degree I want once I get done modifying it heh.

It's not that much Bigger.
Gladiator Ram Crew Cab Quad Cab
Length 218 in 232.9 in 228.9 in
Width 73.8 in 82.1 in

If you went with a Quad cab you're only 10 inches wider and longer than the gladiator. If UPS can drive their trucks all around the city you can drive this Ram.

 

[berb]

It's not that much Bigger.
Gladiator Ram Crew Cab Quad Cab
Length 218 in 232.9 in 228.9 in
Width 73.8 in 82.1 in

If you went with a Quad cab you're only 10 inches wider and longer than the gladiator. If UPS can drive their trucks all around the city you can drive this Ram.

Sorry about the response being a mess, when i typed it it was all spread out

 

[InvertedLogic]

My $0.02. The Ranger Tremor is a compelling truck/$ value for most offroading that 90% of people will do. My hesitation would be just how old that platform is, its limited suspension geometry, and odd interior choices. Big fan of the ecoboost engines though. With enough cooling those things are way torquier and reliable than they have any right to.

 

[QuickOne]

It's not that much Bigger.
Gladiator Ram Crew Cab Quad Cab
Length 218 in 232.9 in 228.9 in
Width 73.8 in 82.1 in

If you went with a Quad cab you're only 10 inches wider and longer than the gladiator. If UPS can drive their trucks all around the city you can drive this Ram.

Living in the same area as OP, I can assure you that the width is significant. And while UPS drivers don't have a choice on the size of their vehicle, OP does.

I traded my Raptor in on the Ranger initially due to the size diff. The smaller footprint is absolutely a benefit in this area.

 

[saintpauljeff]

first I'd take the Ford power plant over the non-diesel Gladiator any day of the week because it's actually a modern engine platform with tons of HP and torque for its displacement and gas mileage. The "2012" rip only half holds up as when it came to the states it got overhauled pretty heavily.

The direct injection engine is noisy. Those injectors will make you think you're driving a diesel.
...
The 10 speed transmission. It's ok, but never seems to make it's mind up what gear it wants to be in. Especially around town at lower speeds. The only way to get it to shift normally was to put it in trailer tow or sport mode. Delayed acceleration. When you want to step on the gas and get going the Ranger always had a delay while it figured out what you wanted it to do, shifted gears and did it.

I test drove the Ranger and Gladiator back to back before making a decision. I actually wanted to like the Ranger since those of us here in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area kind of have a soft spot for all the years they were produced here. But the test drive with the EcoBoost & its 10sp felt disjointed. It was loud and felt like the shifting took a lot of effort from the drivetrain. Now, I only test drove an XLT and not the Lariat, but that shouldn't have made any difference as far as the engine was concerned. For the JT, all I could say was wow. That thing shifted smooth as butter, I was impressed. I've had some other Jeeps as rental cars before and they were all terrible. I think I went into the test drive expecting to be blown away by the Ranger and hating the Gladiator, but it ended up being the opposite.

(disclaimer, I had never owned a Ford or Jeep before my latest vehicle purchase)

 

[spectre6000]

The headlines are bigger tires, better shocks, better springs with remote reservoirs, nicer interior and a few flares here and there on the body + red nostrils. Again though, it's a few thousand dollar package not a new trim level or model. It's just humorous to me that changes that have big impacts off-road are being belittled by a Jeep owner.

You're missing the point of what I'm saying. It's not that they're not meaningful upgrades, it's that they're nothing to bolt onto any truck on the market. Literally every truck on the market has this option from the factory or easily available inexpensively on the aftermarket and installed in an afternoon. If it was something more, like upgraded diff or axles or knuckles or something, then it would be something more. Since it's such inexpensive and low hanging fruit, you have to ask yourself about the underlying truck and why that's worth more consideration than any other mid-size truck on the market. My contention is that pretty much every other mid-size truck on the market is better. If you want shocks, springs, and tires, literally all of them have that option from the factory or easy aftermarket AND they all come with a better truck on top (the Toyota is debatable)

The Ranger platform is a damn solid one that people here are giving too much shit because we all know there's a new platform and Ranger Raptor around the corner. Meanwhile those same people give mad props to the Tacoma TRD Pro which was first launched 74 years ago.

I don't think anyone has any idea what the next Ranger will look like. It's supposed to be based on the Bronco, and no one really knows what that's like yet. What we do know is what else is currently on the market, and the Ranger just isn't a strong contender on paper or in person. It was rushed to market to avoid losing out on the mid-size truck surge in popularity. It's just a niche filler; a placeholder while they get something (the Bronco based truck) cobbled together after an extremely late start. Again, why the Ranger and not literally any other truck? What is it about the Ranger that, of all the other options, that's the one you landed on as an alternative to the Gladiator? The Ridgeline gets a lot of crap for being a chopped up minivan, but you have to respect it for what it is (personally, I think minivans are respectable as well for filling a need incredibly well). The Colorado looks better than the Ranger, has a diesel option, can be more meaningfully equipped from the factory, and I think it's even cheaper. The Tacoma can be as well equipped, looks better, can be had with a manual, and has phenomenal resale. The Nissan will be more reliable than the Ford, looks better, can be optioned to be just as capable, and will undoubtedly be cheaper. I think that's all of them... They're literally all better options.

And for the record, in a key regard, I'm in the exact same position as you. I have owned a Dodge (meh, made a surprising amount of money on it though), but never a Jeep. An FJ40 (fantastic, in the top ten for sure), but never a Jeep. I have not yet purchased a Gladiator, and as recently as Monday night had a long conversation with my wife about alternatives, exploring every single other angle. Unlike you, I live at 7k' in the mountains above Denver (and moving deeper and higher a year from now if things go well) rather than an ultra urbanized area without any appreciable need for a vehicle as capable as a Gladiator. I have occasions a few times a year where I need at least one, and often two lockers just to get in/out of the driveway. My daughter was born 12/19 in the middle of a snow storm. A plow truck did a 180 right in front of us on our way to the hospital, and we had to dodge him via the shoulder. Four wheel drive (and proper studded snows) isn't a nice to have, it is literally life and death. Hardcore trails and glorious camping are closer to my house than my wife's office. I might be able to get by with the Ford (relying on my wife's JKUR when things get rough), but I am not in a position to consider anything that either isn't fully locked from the factory, or can't become fully locked easily and inexpensively courtesy of the aftermarket.

 

[lrtexasman]

The 2021 Ridgeline front end refresh really helps.

 

[NachoRuby]

It's not that much Bigger.
Gladiator Ram Crew Cab Quad Cab
Length 218 in 232.9 in 228.9 in
Width 73.8 in 82.1 in

If you went with a Quad cab you're only 10 inches wider and longer than the gladiator. If UPS can drive their trucks all around the city you can drive this Ram.

That size difference is major. The Gladiator will fit in my garage. Just barely. It's almost too long, and near the limit on width. I have an old house, and the garage was originally a carriage house. The Ram won't fit in my garage. I test drove one. It was just too wide and too long for my garage. And also requires like a 4 point turn to get out of my tight driveway. The length and width difference is significant. No full size truck will fit in my garage, or driveway, and the Gladiator is the only midsize truck that isn't too wide to fit.

 

[RacerX00]

And for the record, in a key regard, I'm in the exact same position as you. I have owned a Dodge (meh, made a surprising amount of money on it though), but never a Jeep. An FJ40 (fantastic, in the top ten for sure), but never a Jeep. I have not yet purchased a Gladiator, and as recently as Monday night had a long conversation with my wife about alternatives, exploring every single other angle. Unlike you, I live at 7k' in the mountains above Denver (and moving deeper and higher a year from now if things go well) rather than an ultra urbanized area without any appreciable need for a vehicle as capable as a Gladiator. I have occasions a few times a year where I need at least one, and often two lockers just to get in/out of the driveway. My daughter was born 12/19 in the middle of a snow storm. A plow truck did a 180 right in front of us on our way to the hospital, and we had to dodge him via the shoulder. Four wheel drive (and proper studded snows) isn't a nice to have, it is literally life and death. Hardcore trails and glorious camping are closer to my house than my wife's office. I might be able to get by with the Ford (relying on my wife's JKUR when things get rough), but I am not in a position to consider anything that either isn't fully locked from the factory, or can't become fully locked easily and inexpensively courtesy of the aftermarket.

We may be more related vehicularly than you think. I may live here but my heart (and body when I'm not working) live elsewhere. I wish I could say/show more but I have a strict rule about showing off the place where I frequent online. Its remoteness is always under threat and any picture that goes viral means a conga line of hundreds of people when normal is like any American back-country place.

20,000 acres of this being a major highway:

And this being "normal":

With this stuff waiting at the top (and easy-ish technical stuff to get there)

She's not the Rubicon but she's also wild, amazing, huge and a place where I spend months at a time.

I will live there in the future.

Again though, a Ridgeline could do all that, I know, I did it in an '87 Accord when I was 16!

 

[RacerX00]

That size difference is major. The Gladiator will fit in my garage. Just barely. It's almost too long, and near the limit on width. I have an old house, and the garage was originally a carriage house. The Ram won't fit in my garage. I test drove one. It was just too wide and too long for my garage. And also requires like a 4 point turn to get out of my tight driveway. The length and width difference is significant. No full size truck will fit in my garage, or driveway, and the Gladiator is the only midsize truck that isn't too wide to fit.

I didn't want to get into it because I'm following and responding to like 15 different conversations but the "only 10"' makes me absolutely lol. The 4" width between the Ranger and the F150 is significant enough to matter to me, 10" is like, woah.

There are a lot of people in this world who have never had to contend with the potential ill effects of owning a large truck, but there are problems out there in the world with daily driving a dually F350!

 

[BamaJeepTruck]

Yeah yeah yeah, 'Merica, then we all get in our "Overlanders" which the rest of the world has been doing for 100 years and wonder where it's been all this time

In all seriousness, to me, what a European take on cars that are priced for you and me equate to is better engineering for the amount of given space with better fuel efficiency. The sheer practicality of a Fiat Panda for its purpose or how the global platform Ford Fiesta can actually function as the perfect family car if you're space limited.

All of this stuff matters to all of us to varying degrees. For me it makes me look at a Ford Ranger and go "hmmm that slightly different approach may work out better for my personal circumstances than the F150. Like you say with the appliance crap, all of that stuff sells well in all American cities because, even though we have a ton of space once you get outside city limits there are still people who are space-sapped.

Here's a 'Merica way to tie back in, if more young people voluntarily served in our military and went to places like Germany and South Korea and actually experienced the world, we'd overall be less ignorant as a people and maybe have discovered Overlanding in the same century as the rest of the world

You Yankees can drive whatever panda or koala party you want, but here in the South we aren’t space deprived, and wouldn’t be caught dead in a 1L fiesta.

 

[RacerX00]

You Yankees can drive whatever panda or koala party you want, but here in the South we aren’t space deprived, and wouldn’t be caught dead in a 1L fiesta.

Yeah I had a 2015 Fiesta ST and that little thing kicked ass and was definitely very "quick" (I reserve the word fast, but it definitely approached that) and got 40 mpg while fitting my entire family of 4 and luggage and the interior was pretty sweet to boot.

#1 selling car in the UK!

...that amazing little car can't even be sold in America profitably because of this attitude.

It also gave us some of the best auto review TV scenes ever

 

[TARE4813]

To the OP. Retired shrink here. Trained to interpret what people really mean when they speak. Of coarse have not ''heard'' you but have read what you have written. I did not read all 8 pages of this posting but enough.

You frequently indicated you want a 2 door Jeep Wrangler. But also that you have kids and thus need more room. You want a pickup truck but not a full sized one. So my opinion is get the Gladiator as it's a compromise position for you-a Jeep AND a truck. Plus it is highly capable, a heck of a lot of fun and you can easlly customize it.

I like the new to market Ford Ranger Tremor version. Ford has taken a decent mid-sized truck and made it better, much better. I'd even consider owning one. But keep in mind they are not inexpensive and in actuality similar price wise to a Jeep Gladiator.

Where I live the local Ford dealer is out of F-150's. They have none on their lot likely because of the chip shortage. And they have just a few Rangers. A few months ago one could buy a new Ranger for at or near dealer invoice and then take the rebates Ford offered as well. Those days are gone for now because of the new vehicle shortages; the dealer is selling his Rangers for MSRP less rebates. So a Lariet Ranger with the Tremor package is around $45,000 after the $2000 rebate.

I have not looked recently but for sure you can get a nicely equipped Gladiator for $45,000 and a base SPORT model for under $40,000 A modestly equipped Gladiator Rubicon is likely somewhat over $50,000 but not $20,000 more than a Ranger with the Tremor package.

Bottom line-I think you really want a Jeep AND a truck. Well, it's available and it's named Gladiator.

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