What Works for One, May for the Other

We’ve heard the news and we’re anticipating the new model years when the Ford Bronco and Ranger make their way back to the lineup to be part of the off road adventures we want to enjoy. These two models have been sorely missed for several years and will finally give Ford a stake in the game when it comes to the midsized truck segment and the off road SUV market that it once played in so well. This is an exciting time of competition and with competition usually we see the best that a company has to offer, and both of these models promise not to disappoint.

The Ford Ranger will arrive in 2019 and be the next midsized truck to hit the market, unless you consider the Jeep Wrangler Pickup to be a midsized truck, but we won’t know about that one until we see it. The Ranger was once one of the most famous and sought after small pickup trucks on the market and it brings with it a name that we’ve enjoyed for many years and have missed since it left the market a few years ago. This truck will offer us something new when it arrives as well and will be an excellent addition to the lineup next to the Ford Super Duty and F-150.

The Ford Bronco was once the only true competitor to the Jeep Wrangler. The expectation is this SUV will once again be a true competitor and bring us the look and feel we want in two or four-door models that will give us the ability to enjoy the SUV heading out on the road and being a great performer. It will also tear up the trails, which is what we really want to be able to do in the Bronco. This SUV will arrive in 2020 and will also offer us something new to give us the performance needed.

What’s one of the most impressive features of the Jeep Wrangler? The main aspect of this SUV that makes it so dynamic on the trails and during rock crawling is the solid axles that are positioned in the front and rear of the vehicle. This has been the case for many years and now it seems Ford is taking a page out of the Jeep book and using the same supplier for the solid axles that will be under the Ranger and Bronco as these two models make their way back to the limelight.

Having a solid set of axles under the vehicle isn’t anything new for the Bronco. The first generation of the Bronco from 1966 to 1977 had them and so did the second generation that was built from 1978 to 1979. The switch to the Twin Traction Beam independent front axle didn’t take place unto 1980 and it was offered on the Bronco until it finally was put to rest in 1996 and hasn’t been seen on the market over the past two decades. This return to form will be a fantastic way for the Bronco to be able to provide more of what we want on the trails.

Unfortunately, no one is saying for certain these axles will appear in the front of the Ranger and Bronco, but we do know they will be available, which is impressive to start with. Having these two vehicles designed and built on a 4×4 platform that has these solid axles will give us something special to take out on the trails, but we won’t know for sure until its closer to the time these two are back on our market. Hopefully, these solid axles will be present to give us the off road capability we really want to enjoy.