Ford Ranger (Americas)


The Ford Ranger is a range of pickup trucks manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company in North and South America under the Ford Ranger nameplate. Introduced in early 1982 for the 1983 model year, the Ranger is currently in its fifth generation. Developed as a replacement for the Mazda-sourced Ford Courier, the model line has been sold across the Americas; Ford of Argentina began production of the Ranger for South America in 1998.
Through its production, the model line has served as a close rival to the Chevrolet S-10 and its Chevrolet Colorado successor, with the Ranger as the best-selling compact truck in the United States from 1987 to 2004. From 2012 to 2018, the Ranger model line was retired in North America as Ford concentrated on its full-size F-Series pickup trucks. For the 2019 model year, Ford introduced a fourth generation of the Ranger. The first mid-size Ranger in North America, the model line is derived from the globally marketed Ford Ranger.
The first three generations of the Ranger were produced by Ford at its Louisville Assembly, Edison Assembly, and Twin Cities Assembly facilities; the final 2012 Ranger was the final vehicle produced at the St. Paul facility. The current fourth-generation Ranger is manufactured by Ford at Wayne Stamping & Assembly. Ford of Argentina produced the Ranger in its General Pacheco plant from 1998 to 2011; it replaced the North American–designed version of the Ranger with the current Ranger T6 for 2012 production.

Development

Ford Courier (1972–1982)

For the 1972 model year, the Ford Courier was introduced as the first compact pickup truck sold by Ford. Following the rise of the compact truck segment during the 1960s, Ford entered into a partnership with Mazda to market the Mazda B1800 in North America; the Courier would become the first of several jointly manufactured vehicles between the two companies from the 1970s into the 2000s. Along with minimizing the risk for Ford of developing a vehicle in an unfamiliar market segment, the partnership provided Mazda with critically needed funds.
While sharing the cab and chassis with its Mazda counterpart, to increase its sales potential in North America, the Courier adapted design elements of the Ford F-Series, with twin round headlamps, silver grille, and "FORD" lettering on the hood above the grille. In 1977, the Courier and B1800 were redesigned with a larger cab, redesigned pickup bed, and tailgate. While closer in appearance to its Mazda counterpart, the Courier was given signal/parking lamps inset in the grille ; an optional 2.3L Ford engine was not available in the Mazda pickups.
From 1972 to 1982, the Ford Courier was manufactured alongside the Mazda B-Series in Hiroshima, Japan. To avoid the 25% Chicken Tax on imported trucks, both vehicles were imported as chassis-cab trucks. Following their importation to United States, pickup truck beds shipped separately from Japan were installed before shipment to dealers.

Project Yuma (1976–1982)

In 1976, Ford commenced development on "Project Yuma" as a replacement for the Courier. In addition to designing the first domestically produced compact truck, another key factor driving the $700 million project was compliance with the fuel economy standards of the mid-1980s. At the launch of the project in 1976, Ford predicted that for the company to properly comply with 1985 CAFE standards, nearly 50% of pickup trucks sold in the United States would require a four-cylinder engine. In 1976, compact trucks held a 5% share of pickup truck sales, with Ford predicting an expansion to 50% by 1985, equaling nearly a million sales per year.
Project Yuma was centered around quality and fuel efficiency. At the beginning of the project, Ford researched additional elements that were valued by potential compact truck buyers. Along with flexibility for both work and personal use, Ford found that buyers desired additional interior room, including three-across seating, comfortable seats, and headroom and legroom for a six-foot-tall driver; other minor details were discovered such as five-bolt wheels and a larger ashtray.
During design, the body underwent extensive wind tunnel testing, to meet a planned 20 MPG fuel efficiency target ; its 0.45 drag coefficient bested that of the two-door Ford Mustang. To further improve fuel economy, the Ranger increased the use of high-strength steel and other lightweight materials, including a magnesium clutch housing, aluminum transfer case, and a magnesium clutch/brake pedal bracket. To further save weight, the design of the front suspension was computer-optimized, rendering the front stabilizer bar optional. Though narrower than the F-Series and other full-size competitors, the cargo bed of the Ranger was given the capability to transport a four-foot-wide sheet of material through the use of recesses to insert supports across the bed, allowing such material to be placed above the wheel wells.
The 1979 fuel crisis nearly doomed the Yuma/Ranger project, as it occurred between launch of the 1979 Ford LTD and 1980 Ford F-Series. After selling nearly one million F-Series trucks in 1978, in 1980, Ford had yet to gain a profit from its redesign of the F-Series. Ford President Don Petersen kept the compact truck project alive for several reasons. By 1980, General Motors was developing its own domestically produced compact truck, with the Chevrolet S-10/GMC S-15 providing a potential competitor. Peterson also felt that, if equipped correctly, buyers would pay nearly the same for a compact truck as a full-size truck.
Around 1980, the Project Yuma truck took on the Ford Ranger name, adopting the name of the mid to upper-level trim used by the Ford F-Series since 1965. In anticipation of the compact truck line, 1981 marked the final use of the Ranger trim for the F-Series and Bronco.

Production

The Ranger was produced at the Louisville Assembly Plant in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1982 to 1999. From 1993 to 2004, production also was sourced from Edison Assembly in Edison, New Jersey. For its entire production run until 2011, the Ranger was produced at the Twin Cities Assembly Plant in St Paul, Minnesota. The final 2012 Ranger produced on December 16, 2011, ended 86 years of production at Twin Cities Assembly as well as the production of all compact pickups in the United States.
In 2008, Ford made its first plans to end production of the Ranger in North America, although its high productivity spared it from The Way Forward. Twin Cities Assembly was the oldest Ford factory in the world. Ford later extended the closure date of the factory to 2011, but in June 2011, a final closure date was announced. As Twin Cities was the sole production location of the Ranger in North America, its closure brought the production of the Ranger to an end after 29 model years. The 2011 model year was the final model year for retail sales, with a shortened 2012 model year for fleet sales; the final North American market Ranger was produced just before 10 a.m. local time on December 16, 2011.
Over its production life, the chassis and suspension of the Ranger would be used for several compact Ford trucks and sport-utility vehicles. During the 1990s and 2000s, Mazda adopted a badge-engineered version of the Ranger, for their B-Series nameplate.
In 2015, as part of contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers, leaked reports over the future of the Michigan Assembly Plant included the potential decision of replacing Ford Focus and Ford C-Max production with an American-market version of the global Ranger. Along with the revival of the Ranger nameplate, the UAW negotiations also included a potential revival of the Ford Bronco SUV. At the 2017 North American International Auto Show, Ford confirmed the return of the Ranger and Ford Bronco, with the Ford Ranger as a 2019 model-year vehicle.

First generation (1983)

The first Ranger rolled off the Louisville assembly line on January 18, 1982. While initially slated for a traditional autumn release, to more closely compete with the introduction of the Chevrolet S-10, Ford advanced the launch of the 1983 Ranger several months, with the first vehicles reaching showrooms in March 1982.
Initially sold alongside its Courier predecessor, the first 1983 Ranger was priced at US$6,203. While far smaller in exterior size than the F-Series, 4×4 Rangers offered a payload of 1,600 pounds, matching or exceeding the F-100 in payload capacity. For 1984, the Ford Bronco II two-door SUV was introduced. Similar in size to the 1966–1977 Bronco, the Bronco II used a shortened version of the Ranger chassis, along with much of its interior components.
For the 1989 model year, the Ranger underwent a major mid-cycle revision to improve its exterior aerodynamics and interior ergonomics. For 1991, the Ford Explorer SUV was derived from the facelifted Ranger, sharing its front fascia, chassis, and interior components.

Chassis specification

The first-generation Ranger uses a body-on-frame chassis design; while using a chassis developed specifically for the model line, the Ranger adopts many chassis design elements from the F-Series. Along with traditional leaf-spring rear suspension, the Ranger is fitted with Twin I-Beam independent front suspension. To minimize unsprung weight, the Twin I-Beams were constructed of stamped high-strength steel.
Rear-wheel drive was standard, with part-time four-wheel drive as an option. Dependent on configuration, the Ranger was produced in three wheelbases: 107.9 inches, 113.9 inches, and 125 inches.
For 1989, rear-wheel anti-lock brakes became standard.

Powertrain

From 1983 to 1992, the first-generation Ranger was powered by 2.0L and 2.3L versions of the Ford "Lima" inline-4; the 2.8L, 2.9L, and 4.0L Ford Cologne V6; the 3.0L Ford Vulcan V6; and four-cylinder diesel engines sourced from Mazda and Mitsubishi. Two long-running engines associated with the Ford light trucks made their debut in the first-generation Ranger; the twin spark-plug version of the Pinto engine was introduced in 1989, remaining in use through 2001. In 1990, the 4.0L Cologne V6 was introduced; in modified form, the engine was used through the 2012 model-year discontinuation of the Ranger in North America.
A four-speed manual transmission was standard on all engines for 1983 and 1984, with a five-speed manual as an option; a three-speed automatic was offered on 2.3L and 2.8L engines. For 1985, the five-speed manual became the standard transmission, with a four-speed automatic offered on non-diesel Rangers. For 1989, the Mazda M5OD-R1 transmission became the standard transmission.