Ranger Mods

Hi all,

I've just taken delivery (two days ago) of a new 2018 Wildtrak and I'm looking for advice on mods and appropriate upgrade paths. My previous cars have been Japanese imports (Soarers) and modding is a central part of owning those sort of cars. There are also a series of essential mods that virtually every soarer owner completes to get their cars up to scratch. So, I'm well used to doing just about anything on my cars, from small things through to completely taking it apart and putting it back together. However, I'm new to Ford's/Rangers and don't know what is commonly done to them, which is why I'm here.

Some background - I got the Wildtrak to use as a touring vehicle as my young kids are enjoying camping/caravan trips these days. Nothing too adventurous for the next few years until they grow up a bit, so at this stage I won't be installing a bulbar, sidesteps etc. but that will come later. Right now it just has the factory nudge bar. The car will also be my daily driver. So, in the coming weeks I intend to do the following:
- Remove the roller shutter and install a canopy (aeroklas)
- Install a drawer system in the tub (probably RV storage solutions)
- Dual battery setup (specifics yet to be determined) and fridge.

I also want to upgrade the wheels, suspension, intake/exhaust and do a tune with a piggy-back ECU of some sort. For these things, I am looking for any and all advice.

Questions:
1) Wheels and Suspension - I'm thinking of going to 20" rims with flares to accommodate wider Tyres, plus 2" lift kit. Anything I need to be aware of here? Is there a way to reprogram the speedo to ensure accuracy with larger diameter wheels, without using a dodgy jay car module?
2) Intake and exhaust - from what I have read, a snorkel will provide some good power gains due to the rammed-air effect, so even if you never plan to do water crossings, it is a useful addition. I am told the factory exhaust is fine and upgrading to 2.5" or more is purely for those that want a better sound. Is that correct?
3) I have been looking into tuning options and so far Unichip, Steinbaur and Red Dirt are the ones that seem to get the most recommendations. I am leaning towards Unichip because they can come with 5 maps that you select via an RFID dongle or a bluetooth app. Any thoughts?

Other mods:
1) The stand-out most useless thing I've noticed in the two days I've owned the car is the tuning knob. Why on earth did they include a dedicated tuning knob that most people would only use once when setting up the radio, or not at all since the touch screen is perfectly adequate for that task. Has anyone put this knob to other uses? (In soarers, we upgrade the old in-built head units and are left with an in-dash volume knob, which is either blanked out or converted to control something else).
2) The obvious omission I have noticed is a light around the ignition barrel. There are lights literally everywhere else in the cabin, including ambient lighting behind the door handles, yet they didn't include lights on the ignition barrel! I have seen upgrade barrel-surrounds with led lights on eBay - anyone try these out?

Cheers and thanks in advance for any responses.

Hi mate,

1. You will never get the speedo 100% with 20inch rims. An adjust can be made which will still help a little though, you will need Forscan for this or hit me up when you are ready and I can complete for you. Jaycar module will not cut it in this case as everything is Canbus based.

2. I noticed no noticable gains from the snorkel. Factory exhaust is more than capable of flowing some huge numbers and your money could be best spent elsewhere.

3. See my post yesterday about the Unichip viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1138 . Unichip all the way, I doubt you will ever use 5 maps, most do not and just leave it at the highest setting even if they have it. I opted for the one as saved some coin in the process.

Unichip can be removed without a trace but does allow full 3d mapping and real time dyno tuning. 3d mapping taking into account coolant temp, optional EGT input for further tuning. Control, boost, throttle curve, fuel timing, duration etc etc. Tickford opted for the Unichip with it's Ranger and it is backed by a full warranty.

Flash Tune. Cracking the PCM will void any warranty, cannot be dyno tuned real time and cannot be removed without reflashing the PCM back with Ford IDS or going back to the installer. Even though I could flash it back to stock myself and there are some other pros they are not enough for me to go that way.

Most other plug in modules usually only modify fuel rail pressure or injector duration not both. They have 2d mapping and the extra money is better spent on the Unichip as a long term solution. One manufacturer believes increasing fuel rail pressure is the way and another says the opposite so what can really be believed, there is no agreement because they just want to sell. Bonus is you can plug it in yourself.

Hopefully that answers some of your questions. Enjoy.

If only you were in QLD I would buy that roller shutter off you in a heart beat.

20 inch tyres are hard to find in the out back, do you want to sell the roller shutter mate?

Thanks for the informative reply saeb. I'll definitely be in touch when I need to adjust the speedo.

Re the roller shutter - I am having it removed this coming Thursday, so it will be up for grabs. Had planned to put it on gumtree but if anyone here (eg. hoges) wants it I am happy to give forum members first crack. vnhon2 - sorry mate, I don't think it is easily shipped, otherwise I'd be happy to send it your way.

Speedo wise you may get away with it depending on what size tyres you put on. I done some comparisons with a 285 on 18 inch rims and the 20 inch ended up coming in smaller so you may come out ok.

Saeb - do you know anything about the Tickford tune vs Unichip?

No idea, they would be tuning it themselves and I have seen no dyno sheets.

Specs are meant to be approx 170kw and 560 Nm of torque, so probably half way between stock and my tune.