New to Rangers - looking for upgrade path
Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2018 11:25 pm
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.
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.