It’s cold and drizzly outside, so I assume the kids are down in the basement, taking turns diving into the oversized beanbag chair my sister-in-law put tantalizingly close to the couch. I don’t hear anything, which is always the scariest sign when you’re a parent. Nope. They’re not there. Nor are they in the living room, spoiling the dog, or upstairs, making too much noise for grandma. They must be out there.
My interest in getting cold or wet is low, so I peer out the window at the back of the house to see if they’ve climbed the aging tree house in the backyard. Hmm. Not there either. I don’t see anything in the front at first either. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see a flash of color hovering over the ground.
The kids have turned the bed of the new Ford Ranger I’ve borrowed into a makeshift shelter with tarps, jackets, and sleds. The neighbor girl is jumping up and down off the tailgate. Everyone is laughing and enjoying the day, barely noticing the cold or the dampness.
One truck and a little imagination were all they needed. I get it. This was only a short trip, but I was reminded how much I missed having a pickup in my life.
A Weekend Fling With A Ford Ranger
I try not to borrow a vehicle if I’m not going to be able to use it as it’s meant to be used, so when I knew I had a trip to Michigan coming up with a rather long drive, I figured something like the new Explorer would probably be best. A little road trip and a lot of hauling family seemed a great fit.
At the last minute, Ford asked me if I’d be open to swapping it for a Ranger due to the Explorer being needed for an event. Truck yeah! Did I have any specific use for a truck? Nope. Do I love trucks and miss driving them regularly? Absolutely.
This particular truck was also a nice spec. It’s the Rangler XLT in 4×4 with the FX4 Off-Road package, integrated side-step, and tow package. It’s way more truck than I’d need to transport a couple of kids around for my nephew’s confirmation, but it’s always better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
Arriving to pick up the truck at Detroit’s big airport, my wife looked over at me suspiciously. “It’s a truck?”
Oh, did I forget to mention that?
Being a fellow Texan, she has no specific issue with trucks in general and, in fact, when we first started dating, she was driving a 1st gen Dodge Ram 1500 short cab/short bed. Perhaps memories of that truck’s bouncy ride and meager acceleration were stronger than the happier memories of trips to the hill country, or spreading a picnic blanket out in the back and watching the 4th of July fireworks. Perhaps she remembered having to turn the A/C off on the Ram when accelerating up on-ramps.
Any concerns were quickly allayed after a few miles on the interstate. Right off the bat, even with the all-terrain tires, the road manners of the new Ranger are Monroe-to-Mackinaw Island miles apart from the old truck. While not quite as car-like as the last Maverick I drove, it still feels like a big improvement over the last fourth-generation truck I drove.
The tan cloth seats are basically ideal for long-distance driving. I don’t love leather buckets in a truck. A nice, tightly-woven cloth with a moderate amount of bolstering and enough cushion to absorb a few bumps is what I’m looking for, and these are among the better truck seats I’ve experienced. And they’re not even optional! They’re the base option (although I’d probably get them in black).
I didn’t have much time to ponder the seats, though, because about eight minutes after getting onto the road, we ran into a Jeep being tested. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity, I decided to see how much power I could squeeze out of the 2.7-liter EcoBoost four. It got up to speed on the highway reasonably quickly, thanks in part to the 10-speed auto. From a drivetrain perspective, the EcoBoost four doesn’t feel any different from the other Rangers I’ve driven, but the programming on the 10-speed feels a little better, as it downshifted with a lot less pondering.
Old trucks are great and, truth be told, I think I’m more likely to end up with something like a 10th-generation F-150 than a new truck, but it is remarkable how much more comfortable trucks have gotten while also gaining capability. It’s what America is best at doing, and the drawbacks to owning a truck have continued to dwindle.
Giving The Truck Over The Kids
All of us go out of our way to protect the press cars we’re borrowing. This isn’t just a sign of respect to the automaker, it’s also important to keep a vehicle in good condition for the next reviewer. Therefore, I have fairly strict rules when it comes to what kids are allowed to do inside or outside borrowed vehicles.
With the Ranger, I was a little less worried, although no one actually asked me for permission. I just walked outside and found out almost instantly after arriving that my daughter, her cousin, and her cousin’s friend were now in control of the truck… in a non-running state.
This thing is built for kids. Not only does it have the option side step built into the box, it also has a sprayed-in bedliner. The cloth seats inside seem tough. The plastics are robust. As it says on the window sticker, it’s “BUILT FORD TOUGH.”
I am not naive, though, I have seen what a bunch of tween girls can do, and definitely had to remind them not to leave candy-covered pretzels everywhere.
Getting The Truck Back For The Big Kids
Eventually, it got a little colder, and the kids finally disappeared loudly into the basement. I say finally because I didn’t want to interrupt their good times, but my brother-in-law and I definitely wanted to have good times of our own.
Much of Michigan is rural, but my in-laws live in a very suburban part of Western Michigan, and so any off-roading was a good distance away from family obligations. Still, there was a long-enough dirt road not too far from the house that led to the Grand River (how is it that every town in Michigan seems to have a GD River Avenue, btw?).
We quickly set out, away from the kids, and started contemplating truck ownership. There’s something about being in a pickup that makes me, at least, instantly decide that I need one. Even though I’d pass on the chrome accents, this particular truck is quite close to what I’d want in terms of options.
In particular, the FX4 package brings an electronic-locking rear diff and selectable drive modes.
Certain that the local constabulary wasn’t within earshot, we first quietly crossed the railroad tracks into this particular dirt road. It was wet and trending towards muddy, but pleasingly empty, and there were no big ruts that would have me accidentally test the steel bash plate.
I climbed a small grade and parked the truck to take in the view of the river. I could picture myself, on a nicer day, with a couple of fishing poles, a cooler of beer, and a little Garth Brooks. Or maybe a kayak? This thing would look great with a kayak.
After getting a few photos, we carefully checked the road again for hikers, bikers, deer, or cops. Knowing we were in the clear, I stuck it in sand mode, thus locking the rear. The otherwise safe and comfortable truck was suddenly capable of yawing back and forth, with a dirty donut or two tossed in for a bit of fun.
This brought me a lot of joy, so the next stop was a nearby construction site. How high could we climb? Probably pretty high. There were none of the usual “no trespassing” signs, so we drove in to check out the house from the outside (definitely going to be tacky AF). I think we were both tempted to make some bad decisions, but the nearby camera watching the construction site was a reminder that, actually, it’s probably time to go home and have some leftover confirmation cake.
I Could Do A Truck
We’ve got friends who have a seemingly perfect two-car suburban solution for a family with two school-aged kids. For most of the school bus duty, there’s a new-ish Ford Explorer. For everything else, including camping, there’s an FX4 fourth-generation Ranger.
Our family has the crossover covered with the CR-V Hybrid. I’ve got my old BMW, which is just as often used for the school bus and isn’t an ideal camping vehicle. I don’t want to drop the BMW, because I love it, but a sedan doesn’t really augment our abilities.
I was reminded of one of the most Texan Texans I ever met, the father of a good friend growing up, who once remarked that it would be crazy to not own at least one truck
“I mean, ‘t’aint practical” he once insisted in his tight East Texas twang.
Maybe he’s right. T’aint practical. Maybe I should get a truck … It’s (mostly) working out for David.
I’ve had my share of trucks over the years and they’re great until your friends and family find out you have one. After that you can kiss your weekends goodbye.
You understand.
Get yerself a truck.
I do miss having a truck. The mid sizers are just about all you need.
Matt you are a hypocrite who writes really well. Considering what the tiny little 90 lb tweens were doing to the truck vs what you and your compatriot were doing what would cause the most damage. How snacks react to the interior and entirely reversible vs wild ride. I think you missed an opportunity. Next time take the truck, take the tarp and let the kids have fun with it. I have had my head come into contact with a truck. The truck came out fine. Explore how the parked pickup truck might provide a children’s fort where trees aren’t available for a fort.
About a year ago, the 20 year old minivan I’d been using as a yardwork pickup for the previous 10 years was finally giving up the ghost. I was pondering what I would replace it with, and bemoaning the current state of pickup trucks. Over the last 15 years they’ve gotten much better at towing shit and seating 5 people, but much worse at hauling loads of crap. I needed another crap hauler.
I thought I’d just get a slightly newer shitbox minivan (they’re practically free after all) but I kept reading Mercedes’ posts about kei trucks, and was swayed to get one. A single cab pickup with a 6′ bed? 4WD and drop sides? About $5K if you do all the legwork yourself? Yes please and thank you!
“Lilbit” has been one of the best auto purchases I’ve ever made. So fun, so functional, so many smiles per gallon. It’s a tool, and a toy, and a hobby. But I never would have thought of it if it wasn’t for The Autopian.
Was given the option of ‘anything’ for a company car; selected the Frontier Pro-4X and secretly enjoy the shit out of it. I have the family car, and a Mustang, and wanted to get something I didn’t have… never the truck guy, I’m pleased. But I think a lot of it is b/c I’m not paying for it.
You tried a pickup line on your wife when you two first met didn’t you?
I think you mean 2.3. A 2.7 would make for a pretty big 4 post 1920s.
GM has a 2.7 I4TT in their trucks, but yes, Ford’s is a 2.3, although they also have a 2.7 V6TT
That V6 is an interesting offering in this class and it somehow gets better fuel economy than the Turbomax…which despite the crazy amount of testing and R&D GM did on it somehow still seems a little half baked to me. In practice it doesn’t really get better fuel economy than the GM V8s, so I’m kind of unsure what purpose it serves other than compliance.
I guess it probably doesn’t eat bearings while cruising on the highway at least
It’s the little things
Oh, I forgot about GM’s 2.7! Porsche also had a 3.0. It was just an unsuccessful joke about how it’s unusual to see an I4 above 2.5l by comparing to the ancient days when there were 4 cylinders in what we’d consider large V8 displacements (or even larger).
Toyota used a 2.7 in the 2010s called 1AR-FE. It can be found in Siennas, Venzas, and Highlanders of the time, as well as the non-US market RX270
as well as the GM 2.7 turbo already mentioned.
The 2.7 also came in 4cyl Tacomas.
I believe the old gen 1 Colorado/Canyon had a 2.8L 4cyl as the base engine.
I’m with you on the jelly bean F150, their unpopularity makes them relatively cheap. My low mileage two wheel drive long bed was only $3000 in 2020 and has been a reliable hauler and tow rig once we sorted out the spark plug threads on the 5.4 Triton. Gas mileage is lousy but insurance and plates are cheaper than renting and it’s always available for moving something
Been saying it for years
For most use cases, an SUV and a small-ish utility trailer is probably a better solution than a truck, but that assumes one has room to park the trailer.
That said, there’s no hitch on the RAV4 so I ain’t exactly practicing what I preach here.
(In fairness, I use an F-150 to pull a 22 or 30 foot camper around, and my wife nixed the Expedition/Excursion idea.)
Renting that trailer (or even th truck) once every 2-3 years makes even more sense for most people.
With as many home improvement projects and dump runs I do, I’d be renting it more like 15-20 times a year.
You don’t sound like most use cases, but I can see why you suggest what you’re suggesting for people in situations like yours.
We’re pondering the next “big” vehicle for our family. My wife has dreams of travel trailers, we’ve got 3 kids and a dog to think about… something Ranger-sized seems like it might work (Colorado/Canyon too) and maybe not break the bank as a daily driver, either.
I had hopes for the Maverick (it’d tow “enough” and the size/MPG is GREAT), but the backseat there is “occasional use only” for sure. Sitting in a Ranger felt a lot better, but not NEAR what the Honda Ridgeline got you.
Our minivan (as Ash78 mentions) does everything on the list there except “tow without major concerns” and the dog would probably prefer to be inside with the A/C instead of stuck in a kennel in the back.
I hate to break it to you, but with 3 kids and a dog, you need a minivan, not a Ranger. 3 across car seats are possible, but miserable to deal with. Even if you technically fit all the people in the Ranger, maybe with the dog in the back, you’ve still got to deal with 3 kids’ worth of associated accessories that seemingly follow children around.
Psst. Full sized crew cab with an eight foot bed would work.
I think the Taint Practical is a residency requirement for most OB-GYN and proctology courses. It’s a perianal favorite among med students.
Solid article. Unfortunately, without the need to tow, our “pickup truck” is a minivan for the time being. The only major difference between this and a Ranger is whether you want your cargo inside or outside. The rest is just details. For now, the coin toss goes towards the protected gear and the extra passengers.
Perineum?! I just MET him!
I’m a long term member of the “every house needs a truck” party. I may have subscribed to your friend’s father’s newsletter. Doesn’t matter if its a luxury new daily driver, hammered to hell and 50 years old chore runner, or anything in between. Its just so NICE to have that capability around the house. Match your budget to your use case and off you go.
I’m currently building a quad cab 1985 Nissan 720 with a stock king cab (6.5 ft – ish) bed. I love small trucks, but I want passenger capacity too.
I contend a Jeep / small SUV with utility trailer is also an acceptable answer. I have a Jeep YJ that will fit my family of four, and I resto-modded a 1949 Willys trailer with a beefier frame and modern trailer axle. It has half-height walls with a pickup-style tailgate, and matches the overall Jeep shape very well.
It’s light enough for anyone to pick up the tongue and walk it around, and is narrow enough to fit in our side yard. At various times I’ve hauled a yard of topsoil, four bicycles, various appliances, toolchests, as well as kayaks and all gear (using a swappable extended trailer tongue I designed, and my friend fabricated).
I have nearly all the benefits of a pickup when I need one with basically none of the cons when I don’t.
There is tons of truth to your argument. So much that because I prefer small trucks, I also have a 4×8 HF trailer that I sometimes have to use in addition to my mid size bed.
I have a 5×8 2′-sided utility/kayak hauler for my GR86. I can haul full sheets of plywood and landscaping brush a lot easier than with a pickup and it holds more.
I lived in West Michigan for 20 years. In retrospect, that was about 18 years too long. By and large, there aren’t a lot of creative thinkers there. Every city has a Grand River Avenue because there’s a river called the Grand River that runs through central and western Michigan. Why is it called the Grand River? Because somebody thought the river was pretty grand. When they built a city where the Grand River had some rapids? Yeah, they named the city Grand Rapids.
This is a low key great article Matt and I find myself going to similar places mentally…so I’m happy you decided to sum it up better than I ever could. I never thought I’d get here, and I’ve spent many years making jokes at the expense of the pilots of Bro Dozers….but you know what?
…the truck form factor does seem to be hard to beat. As you all know (and some of you are actively groaning about as you read this, to which I say….fair!) I’ve been wrestling with what my next car should be since the Kona N already isn’t big enough to take me, the wife, our ten month old, and the dog for a weekend getaway. About a year from now we plan on trying for a second wee one, and if all goes according to plan (big if, I know) the Kona will be on borrowed time eventually.
I don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for a car that’ll be destroyed by kids, and I even have some romantic visions of trying to pass my next car down to my son eventually. Anyway, mid sized trucks are something I keep coming back to…because the issue with the Kona isn’t rear seat space, it’s that it doesn’t have enough room for everyone’s stuff.
You know what has plenty of room and will swallow everyone’s stuff for a week at the beach? A truck bed. You know what kids can throw their muddy soccer gear into that I won’t think twice about? A truck bed. You know what captures the imagination of my 3 year old nephew and probably my son as well? A truck!
This time next year we’ll be buying my wife some hybrid hauler, so my car wouldn’t be the main vehicle…but it sure would be nice to know that whatever I have could also take everyone and all their stuff to her family that lives 300 miles away in the event of an emergency. I don’t want a half ton because they’re just comically huge at this point and we live in DC….but a Colorado/Canyon?
There are much worse tools for the job…although this could also be the red blooded Murican male in me trying to do convince myself I need something big and manly that I don’t. Who knows. The sensible choice that I’ll likely make is a Crown Signia or Forester Hybrid…and my wife has already agreed that we can consider a weekend car eventually if my daily is super practical.
But the siren song of a truck is still calling. Hell yeah brother! Anyway does anyone have experience with car seats and the Ranger? I’d be tempted to go with the V6 or maybe even a Raptor but that truck does horribly in car seat tests…and the Taco does as well. For whatever reason the Colorado/Canyon seem to be uniquely good at fitting child seats.
As a person from other side of a pond I can’t get the appeal of trucks since vans (i.e. Sprinters and such) do the same job better, or rather more efficient.
Then again, I’ve already grown a mullet and grass is always greener on the other side, so…maybe it’s time to go into the unknown.
Depends on the use case. In your situation it probably wouldn’t make sense, but where I live (semi-rural mountains in Virginia) you can’t go more than a few minutes without seeing a truck. Work trucks, play trucks, old trucks, etc. As I now have a LOT more yard and such there’s been a lot of times I’ve needed a truck. Van would work, but then I’d be spraying out the back. Don’t have to worry about that with a truck.
As for the grass is greener, etc, there are a ton of cars that I’ve wanted that aren’t available in the US.
Makes more sense when you think about it, I guess. Now that I think about that, lately a friend of mine organised a barbecue rave and his hauler of choice was an Amarok. (Coincidentally , it was a company car and he needed it only to bring benches and tables but still – it’s done the job better than a van would at this specific scenario since the field wasn’t too car-friendly and 4×4 came in handy)
“Barbecue rave” sounds less like an event and more like somebody grabbed two words out of a fishbowl. I’m picturing trying to judge grill meat under flashing lights, and turkey legs instead of glow sticks, and sauce…everywhere, oh so much sauce.
There’s definitely a cultural aspect to it. While there are valid arguments for the pros and cons of Sprinter style van vs pickup, vans just don’t carry much desirability for many in the US. So the purchase becomes irrational in the choosing a truck over a van, even if arguably the van would be superior. Cuz culturally, we just love trucks.
Visually, I will take a truck over a van almost in any scenario. The only vans I would choose to own are vintage and would be owned as toys and callbacks to the 70s era of “vanning”, but I have pretty much always owned a truck of some size.
Yeah, I suppose so. Chicken tax aside, trucks simply looked cooler than your average van over the years (still do, I guess).
Combined with what Ash78 wrote a while ago, it all makes sense now.
Makes sense, but when you consider how much land even an average American has to care for, there’s definitely a case for keeping all that dirty crap outside of the passenger compartment, in a space that can get scratched and scuffed and wet as much as needed. There’s no real penalty in driving dynamics compared to most of our cars, anyway (and very little need for tight urban maneuvering).
The value proposition here is usually whether to buy something like this, or spend 10%-20% more for nearly twice the capacity in a full-size pickup. The latter usually wins.
Maybe a cultural thing but it is seen as normal and acceptable to have a truck as your primary vehicle while you’d likely get weird reactions if you drove something like a sprinter van as your primary vehicle. There is also a lot to be said for having the cargo area be on the exterior where it can be hosed out and not really worried about dirt or debris inside the vehicle. Most will add some sort of tonneau cover to functionality make the bed a trunk for everyday use but have it easily rolled up or removed for larger loads. Ultimately the perceived flexibility wins out for many. It can be the 1 vehicle to rule them all.
The pickup is for filthy stuff. Some places don’t have trash removal, so it’s nice to have a bed to throw that in instead of having it inside. I prefer driving a van much more than a pickup, though I’ll take a pickup over an SUV most of the time. Of course, I have utility trailer and a sports car, so I’m not a big, tall vehicle person even though I have use for something with some utility.
As an extension to this comment, truck beds are for filthy stuff, but can also be converted to covered storage fairly easily with bed covers, camper shells, and the like. There’s no similar, relatively easy way to switch vans from covered storage to open storage.
As a full blooded American who has owned more than one full sized truck, you are absolutely right. Vans are superior, and it’s getting harder to find a truck in the USA that isn’t already most of the way there between 4 doors and a tiny bed. I love a single cab long bed, but if I need to seat five while still carrying or towing I’m getting a van.
I just wish we could get 6 foot beds in a mid sizer. i know the taco and the frontier have it as an option but they produce so few in that configuration they are unobtainium. I drove an extended cab s10 for 5 years as my first vehicle and it had a six foot bed and the number of times the bed size was JUST right was crazy. I feel like a smaller bed would be borderline “what’s the point?” Are more people just using trailers now??