Ford is going to sell suspension upgrades for the Ranger and F-150 pickup trucks that are slightly more robust than the existing FX4 off-road trim, but well shy of the extreme Raptor on cost and capability. It’s actually a pretty interesting development for the truck scene.
People have been putting lift kits and big tires on pickup trucks since, well, practically speaking, most might say World War II. But prevailing lore is that the monster truck Big Foot kind of kicked off the recreational practice of wheeling as we know it today.
Anyway, the popularity of modifying work vehicles for play gave rise to a big aftermarket. But in the last decade, we’ve seen a lot more car companies making trucks offer their own in-house customization and enthusiast-spec variants. Ford has had the Raptor desert truck, Chevy’s got the Colorado ZR2, Toyota has its TRD Pro models and Jeep has a big catalog of toys, including lifts, its dealers will install on your Wrangler for a fee.
These companies have offered mild off-road treatments for their daily driver-focused models for even longer. Ford’s FX4 and Chevy’s Z71 trims usually added all-terrain tires, skid plates, and slightly softer suspension for decent performance in slow off-pavement excursions.
All this to say: Ford’s now got a kit slotting between its baseline FX4 off-road offering and the expensive Raptor, with its unique power plant, traction control system, suspension, and design.
For a list price of $1,495, not including installation, here’s the rundown of what you get per Ford’s press release:
- New aluminum FOX shock bodies are designed to provide ample cooling capacity over rough terrain
- New front coilover springs deliver optimal spring rate
- Vehicle-specific upper front mounts with polyurethane bushings work to help isolate noise and vibration
- 2-inch front lift levels the truck from front to rear
Ford’s description conveniently included the benefits of the parts–those big shocks let you go a little faster over bumps, because they can hang with the heat that comes with a lot of pumping up and down. The other things are just ancillary to the coilovers to get them to work right.
Ford claims:
“Ranger sees an approximate 21 percent increase in approach angle and a 10 percent increase in breakover angle. F-150 with a 145-inch wheelbase sees an approximate 22 percent increase in approach angle and 7 percent increase in breakover angle.”
Based on what you’d pay for aftermarket coilover kit from a reputable company like Fox, King or Icon, $1,500 seems like a reasonable price for this.
It won’t transform your truck into an off-road monster, but it’d probably give you a nice ride over rough stuff and look cool. The benefit of buying this stuff straight from Ford is that it’s theoretically designed to work with the truck, and you could probably roll it into your monthly payment plan.
I was actually just on Ford’s build-and-price the other day, spec’ing out a sweet single-cab F-150 XLT with a V8, four-wheel drive and a locking rear differential. Add this little Fox coilover kit to that and you’d have yourself a heckin’ nice little rig.