The Simple And Undeniable Joy Of Having A Pickup Truck

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 V6. 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.