2019 Ford Ranger Build (Trigger)

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slightNine

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Hutton
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Howdy!

I'm going to start this build thread with some back story about both the truck and how my family discovered overlanding. This will help explain some of the choices we are making for the new rig.

I'll start with our Jeep, Stomper.
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In 2013 we bought a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 2dr with the dream of family adventure. We took it from Ohio to Washington and back wandering all over the North west seeing sights. We loved not having a real schedule and being out in our beautiful country. Shortly after this
my wife was deployed to Afghanistan for a year. While she was gone My son and I went to visit family here in Oklahoma. While visiting Moore, Ok The May 20 F5 Tornado hit.

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The Jeep, along with a good portion of Moore, Ok. was trashed. Shortly after some really awesome folks from the Jeep community contacted me and offered to rebuild the Jeep.
The rebuild generated a lot of buzz in the aftermarket community, and Stomper was turned into a rock crawling beast.

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He was returned to us in Vegas at the SEMA Show 6 mos. later. So now we owned one heck of a rock crawling monster. We took it all over and wheeled in places like Moab, Ut. pretty often.
But, I wanted to overland. The wanderlust was always there.

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Then one day I was asked by a good friend to come back out to Moab and test out some new overlanding trailers. I was all in!

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This was it! This is what we were originally after when we bought the Jeep! We dispersed camped for a few days and even tested the trailers on trails.

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We stuffed that poor Jeep with the three of us, our 2 small dogs and our camping gear and started getting out and camping on the regular.
We were always compromised on space and were wanting to buy/build a trailer of our own. Before long we realized we weren't "wheeling" any more and more space for our camping gear was priority.

This is where Trigger comes in to the story. We bought a 2019 Ford Ranger FX4 Lariat with the sole intent of getting back to long distance overlanding and exploration.
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slightNine

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At this point we had our eye on a Boreas XT Off-Road trailer and quickly made the decision to buy.

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It was awesome! We spent nearly 60 nights out in the first year some dispersed, some in National and State parks.
We had the bug officially!

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Along the way we started adding to the trailer. RTT and a larger tongue box were up first.
 

slightNine

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Enthusiast III

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Yukon, OK, USA
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Bryan
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Hutton
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28923

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It was here, taking a picture of our camp that it struck me. The truck was always there. Every trip.

Why not combine the trailer and truck to have a smaller, more fuel efficient, and more maneuverable rig?
So we sold the trailer and have begun the build of Trigger!
 
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slightNine

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So the basic plan has some wants and some must-haves we learned through all of this.
We want to keep the rig fuel efficient to keep a solid range.
It has to have a fridge. (maybe the one thing I'll never do without again!)
I'm not lifting it much, so skid plates and sliders are a must.
RTT's are cool, but too much hassle and wind drag.

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Installed a set of Shrockworks skids underneath.

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-And their frame mounted sliders. You can also see the Ford mud flaps I added a while ago here. Ignore the wheels and tires for now as they're coming off soon.
 

Ursa Major

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Love where you're headed with Trigger! Keep us updated on more parts and pieces! I'm also working on the new gen Ranger platform and always looking new ideas and parts, and you just showed me skid plates I've never seen so thank you.
 
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Trigger T4R

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Advocate III

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:
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Cool build! Looks like fun!

Great name too! Although I am a bit partial to it lol.

What was the inspiration coming up with the name?

Mine was Roy Rogers horse, & gun related ha!
 
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slightNine

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Things to come in the next week or so, assuming other parts show up.

Pictured: Fords Ranger Raptor wheels; Med Kit/ sat communicator; Warn Zeon 10s Platinum winch; and a couple of the arb fridge parts.

I've ordered the shrockworks winch mount, but their lead times can be lengthy. Looks like the blue Ranger, puts the winch in the huge space behind the bumper.

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slightNine

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Bought the Ford Performance Parts tune kit a while ago. Kit comes with a tuner and a K&N air filter. 370 ft lbs of torque FTW!
 

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GLOCKer

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Pathfinder II

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I love it! And I'm jealous of certain aspects of your build; namely the skid plates and rock rails. I'm loving my Ranger and it's proven to be a decently capable vehicle, although I haven't had much opportunity to get it out for some exploration. Hell, I haven't even slept in my RTT yet. :(

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slightNine

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Here goes the start of the next stage! RSI Smart Cap!

Those with a sharp eye will pick up on something else that changed.
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slightNine

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Assembled and installed the RSI Smartcap. Have strong help to lift it in place, it's heavy!

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Had to trim the Decked system to fit the brackets for the RSI. Speaking of which, the RSI for the Ranger mounts in an unusual manner.

I am waiting for the kitchen, platform roof rack, and stow away table to come in from RSI.

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Had BFG KO2's in 265 70 r17 mounted to Ranger Raptor wheels and the spare underneath.

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DasDisco

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Will
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I like the deck system. I just bought an F150 and am thinking of how to configure it. Thinking a rail system in the bed with the deck system for supplies, kayak etc. Are you going to do any bumpers?
 

slightNine

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Sort-of. I'm going to add a winch tray with a bull bar similar to what you see on 4Runners. I'm trying to keep the weight reasonable on this one. Emphasis on trying. Lol
 

DasDisco

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Arizona, USA
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Will
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Sort-of. I'm going to add a winch tray with a bull bar similar to what you see on 4Runners. I'm trying to keep the weight reasonable on this one. Emphasis on trying. Lol
It is looking stellar so far! With the trailer, you seem to have more options with keeping the truck more minimal and cleaner. I hear you on the weight, that is something I am going to be looking at too. Whatever helps the MPG on those long hauls!