2023 Ford Ranger build: Job done!

Our Ford Ranger Sport V6 has been our biggest build to date, and as always we leant on some of the best brands and aftermarket outfitters in the country to source all the gear to turn it into a capable touring rig.

We bought the Ranger straight off the Ford press-vehicle fleet following the model launch and this allowed us to get our mitts on it sooner rather than buying it new, as there was a wait list of six to 12 months for the new V6 Ranger at the time. It already had 6000km on it when we got it, so it was just run-in for us.

We liked the look of the new Ford Ranger as it promised to be the most significant new 4x4 model from 2022 and into 2023, and our thoughts were verified with it becoming the best-selling new vehicle overall in Australia in 2023. Not only was Ford’s V6 turbo-diesel engine a monumental addition to the midsize 4x4 ute market, but the new model brought many updates and inclusions to the segment making it the best driving ute in the class.

We chose the Sport model Ranger as it had a few nice features that we appreciate including leather seats, LED lights and, most of all, the chrome delete; to my mind, chrome has no place on any vehicle built after 1970. The blacked-out look is so much better and works well against the Meteor Grey metallic paint.

Build a box

From the outset it was always our plan to remove the factory cargo tub and fit a chassis-mounted canopy to the back of the Ranger.

Not only does this major inclusion reflect what owners are doing to their utes, including many of the vehicles we feature in 4X4 Australia magazine, but it gives us the perfect platform to create the best touring set-up for the back of the vehicle. Coincidentally, I had been speaking with Murray Brook from Trig Point Canopies just weeks before we took delivery of the Ranger and he suggested that if ever there was a way that Trig Point could be involved with one of our builds, that he’d love to have the opportunity.

Trig Point had recently displayed one the first Rangers we’d seen with a replacement service body at the Melbourne 4x4 Show, and we were impressed with the style and quality of the product, so were only too happy to take Murray up on his offer.

It was a good call in more ways than one. Not only is the Trig Point canopy an exceptional and well thought out product, but the help given to us by the team at Trig Point in general has gone over and above what we expected, as they are able to handle all aspects of a build including 12-volt systems, plumbing, electrical and accessories to fit to the canopy. They even communicated with some of our other suppliers to ensure that their equipment would fit and work with the canopy as well as the then-new Ranger.

We specced our Trig Point with what they call the two-tone look, where the canopy doors are painted in body colour while the frame and rest of the body are all matt black. The canopy includes a few features that were new to Trig Point at the time including a rear trundle drawer as well as underslung rear tool boxes, a water tank with electric pump and hose kit, and an internal cage for the fridge compartment.

82

Trig Point used CAD to map out the internal inclusions so that the products from our other suppliers would all fit inside the canopy. These included an MSA 4X4 drawer and Power Slide for the Dometic CF45 fridge, space up on the headboard for the extensive Intelli-Grid power system from Projecta, and some open space to carry larger items. Murray also left space for something that he still had in the design stages which turned out to be the Trig Point kitchen/pantry that was fitted later in the build, and was a great addition that adds to the functionality of the whole set-up.

Some of the niceties we’ve come to appreciate in the Trig Point canopy include the press-shut locks for the side doors, making them super easy to close against the automotive-style seals, the fact that the doors and trundle drawer are hooked up to the Ranger’s central locking, the Narva LED touch-lights under the doors to illuminate the inside and work areas at night, and the overall fit and functionality of the whole set-up. It truly is first class.

Powering up

The canopy houses a Projecta Intelli-Grid power system which includes one of the brand’s LB200-HD 200Ah lithium batteries.

The battery is charged and maintained via multiple sources including Projecta’s INVCHR3 inverter/charger that allows fast charging up to 180A from a 240V source, as well as being a 3000W inverter for running AC accessories.

The PMDCS60 DC-DC charger manages the charge from the Ranger’s alternator between the auxiliary Li-Po battery and the main battery; an SC540 MPPT solar charge controller can be hooked up to fixed or mobile solar panels; and you can keep tabs on the whole system via the INVCHRD-BT lithium battery monitor that is mounted just inside the canopy door.

The team also included multiple 240V GPO, 12V and USB power outlets on the powerboard to keep any accessories and gadgets charged up. It’s a comprehensive system that is really a set and forget set-up for life on the road and off-grid touring.

Protection racket

We were very happy to welcome TJM to our Ranger build as we hadn’t worked closely with the Aussie company on a build before. The legendary 4x4 brand was marking its 50th anniversary in 2023 and we were privileged to have some of their legendary gear fitted to our Ranger.

The TJM Venturer bar is a loopless steel replacement bumper adding a stronger bumper with improved approach angles, built-in rated recovery points and provisions to mount lights, antennas and a winch. Importantly, the bar retains the operation of all the Ranger’s safety cameras and radar, and even includes relocation of the little water squirter to clean the mud off the forward-facing camera.

For recoveries we chose a TJM Torq 9.5 winch fitted with synthetic rope. The Venturer bar has large openings in the front allowing easy access to the winch’s clutch release lever, and operation is simple with both a cordless remote and conventional corded controller.

The Venturer bar has provisions to include the OEM fog lights within it but TJM replaced them with a set of its own LED Pod lights which offer more (and better quality) light output.

TJM’s 3mm high-strength steel underbody protection extends from the bar and back under the engine sump to guard against hits from rocks and scrapes, while a pair of TJM 63mm tubular steel side steps offer a whole lot more sill protection down the side of the Ranger than the factory plastic steps ever could.

82

Our TJM gear was installed by the helpful team at the TJM Epping (Victoria) store who again went over and above with not only the fit-out but also other work on the Ranger since then.

At the rear of the Ranger we have once again gone with an X-Bar from Hayman Reece, which was chosen for its functionality, incorporating three red recovery points as well as the standard 50mm square hitch receiver. The recovery points are all rated and using the ones on the outer extremities with a bridle strap puts all the load directly to the ends of the chassis rails, which are the strongest points.

The Ranger’s standard 3500kg towing capacity is retained and, while we don’t tow anything with the Ranger, the boofheads at Street Machine reckon it goes all right when they borrow it to tow their project and race cars.

Light up

Atop our TJM Venturer bar sits a quartet of Narva LED driving lights. Narva released its EX2 range of LED lights around the time we started the build so this was a great way to showcase these new products.

We went with a pair of each of the seven- and nine-inch EX2 round lamps for the bumper and ran them through separate switches so that each pair could be run independently of the other.

Depending on your state regulations, you don’t need to run the EX2 lights through a separate switch or use an auxiliary wiring harness, as they have internal relays and only three wires coming out the back for power and a high beam pick up. Switching is then done solely through your vehicle’s high beam switch – clever stuff that makes installation easy.

Narva’s EX2 LED light bars came out a few months after the round lights and we fitted a pair to the Rola Titan Tray up above the cabin. These are 20-inch single row light bars and like the other EX2 products they don’t need any additional wiring harness or relays in the system, just power and a pick up from the high beam circuit, although we again wired them through a switch so that we can run them independently of the other driving lights.

Up top

Looking back it seems we timed the build of our Ranger with a few new product launches, and one of these was the third generation of the Rola Titan Tray.

The Titan MkIII trays are bigger and beefier for increased stiffness and a better look but still retain all the great features of the previous models including light weight, T-slot mounts and a huge range of accessories to suit whatever gear you might want to carry on top of your 4x4.

We fitted a pair of the Titan MkIII trays to the Ranger – one on the vehicle cabin and another atop the Trig point canopy. The one tray on the canopy has the Maxtrax mounts on the driver’s side where we secure a stack of Maxtrax Extremes when heading out, while on the passenger’s side we have the excellent Australian-made 270° awning from Boss Aluminium.

Down under

Rolling stock for the Ranger is a set of Fuel Ripper alloy wheels from Wheel Pros Australia clad in Maxxis RAZR mud terrain tyres in a 285/70R17 size.

We’ve had a good run with the Fuel Wheels/Maxxis RAZR combo on our PX Ranger and couldn’t go past them again for this build. The wheels look great and are a simple design which are easy to clean, while the MT772 RAZRs are a great all-round on- and off-road tyre that works well over all conditions.

The bigger than stock tyres are covered by EGR flares at the front and Trig Point’s standard canopy flares at the back. EGR makes the flares for Ford when you get them with your new Ranger so they were a great choice for our vehicle as they provide a factory look and neat fit.

Connecting the rolling stock with the chassis is a suspension kit from Tough Dog. The plan was always to fit as many of the accessories as possible before the suspension was installed so we could get the weights right but that didn’t go to plan.

The standard Ford rear leaf springs are made for comfort and really don’t like a load on them, and once we started putting a bit of stuff in the canopy they quickly sagged down to the bump stops. A set of replacement leafs was freighted down from Tough Dog to remedy the situation and ensure we could keep driving the Ranger before the rest of the kit was finalised.

Then it was up to Tough Dog’s HQ in Sydney where new Foam Cell rear shocks were added to the rear, while complete Tough Dog struts were fitted to the front-end, giving us a 55mm increase in ride height, a firmer and more controlled ride and a level vehicle again.

When we put the Ranger across the weighbridge we found it to be getting close to its axle limits, particularly on the front-end, so as we go to print it’s being equipped with a Tough Dog GVM-upgrade kit so its next owner will be able to load up the family for worry-free adventures in the future. We’ll have more on that and the limitations of the Ranger’s front axle in an upcoming issue.

Also under the vehicle is the only mechanical change we made to the V6 Ranger and that is in the form of a replacement exhaust system from the legends at Pacemaker Exhausts. On this Ranger the three-inch cat-back King Brown exhaust system from Pacemaker barely changes the sound of the exhaust but if you want it noisier you can delete the muffler. We didn’t want any droning on the highway so we left the muffler in place and we’re happy with the result; we must be getting old!

The guys at Pacemaker tell us that the true advantage of the King Brown exhaust system is that the extra flow and less restrictive design means the DPF runs cooler which extends the life of this expensive consumable part. The King Brown exhaust is made from coated stainless steel so it will last a lot longer than the OE mild steel system.

Interior

With the Ranger Sport being really well-equipped inside we didn’t touch much.

As with all our builds we fitted a set of Tru-Fit moulded 3D floor mats to protect the carpets front and rear, and these are shaped to the floor of the vehicle so they don’t move under your boots, while the dished design contains any mud, sand or even liquid spills. And the mats are easy to remove and blast with the pressure washer when you’re cleaning the crud off after your off road adventures.

The only other interior addition to the Ranger was a switch panel from Pirate Camp Co to accommodate our light switches. Like most new vehicles the Ranger doesn’t give you anywhere to easily install auxiliary switches and the Pirate Camp Co one fits neatly above the standard console and has four rocker switches. It also moves the USB port forward to an easier to access spot than where Ford originally positioned it.

One thing we would normally fit to any touring 4x4 would be a quality UHF radio unit but we didn’t get around to it with this build. After spending some time in a top-spec Ranger Platinum with its B@O sound system we reckon the standard Ranger Sport audio kit would benefit from an upgrade as well.

Our previous build, the Isuzu MUX, had its signwriting done by the guys at Moorabbin Signs and we went back to them for the wrap on this Ranger.

Final word

Since we took ownership of the vehicle we've run around between workshops, taken a few trips up to Sydney, and been on photo shoots out in the Victorian High Country.

It’s been mainly trouble-free with the only problem so far being an oil leak from the turbo return line, which was quickly fixed under warranty by Chadstone Ford. It’s proven to be a competent and comfortable tourer with all the gear fitted making it a functional home on the road, be it for long or short getaways. With the addition of some solar panels up on the roof you would be able to spend weeks off the grid.

82

Once we get the final sign-offs done for the GVM upgrade it will be off to Grays Online Auctions to find a new owner, so keep an eye out for details of that auction.

We’re also putting the final touches on our Mitsubishi Triton build at the moment, and making a start on our 2024 build, which is a new Ford Everest that was just delivered to our office from the dealer. It should be another fun touring build with some great suppliers already on board.