Stock 2019 Ford Ranger is an Outdoor Fun Machine

The Ranger is available with accessories that make mountain biking and kayaking easier, which, of course, makes us like it even more. 

Ford wants to make it clear that you can use the 2019 Ranger to do all sorts of fun things outdoors. Are you an avid mountain biker? The Ranger’s got you covered. Maybe you’re more of a surfer. No problem. You can carry your board in the back of the Ranger using a special rack that Ford will be more than happy to sell you.

The $44,960 Ranger Lariat that the Blue Oval sent me to test had adaptive cruise control, navigation, and the FX4 Off-Road Package, but it didn’t have any special racks or cargo systems on it. That didn’t stop me from using the Ranger to have fun outdoors, though. As you’ll see in this video I shot for my YouTube channel, There Will Be Cars, I just kept things simple and used its four-door cab and five-foot bed to carry some outdoor toys.

My pal Dan enjoys getting on the water in his nine-foot kayak, but his Honda Accord sedan makes doing that a little tricky. It wasn’t a problem with the Ranger. I kept the Ranger’s tailgate up and he just loaded it into the lined bed an angle. Even though Dan’s kayak was too heavy to fly out of the bed, we made sure to bungee-cord it into place using the Ranger’s helpful tie-down anchors. On the way out to Austin’s Lady Bird Lake, Dan had enough legroom thanks to the carve-outs in the front seatbacks. His biggest problem was putting his ice-cold drink in one of the rear cupholders. He kept pulling and tugging on the center armrest’s loop, but had no luck. I found out afterward that you have to pull on that loop just the right way to get it to comply.

The next day, my girlfriend wanted to go out on the water, too. Hitting Barton Springs is a great way to cool off during Central Texas’s miserably humid and hot summer days and she was burning up. We bought a couple of inflatable pool floats – a giant frond for her and a full-length lounge for me – then aired them up at a gas station before we drove out to the popular spot. We managed to cram my float between the Ranger’s two back doors, but there was no way we were going to be able to fit her rubbery leaf there, too.

Luckily, I had some straps and bungee cords in the convenient under-seat storage area. I used those and the bed’s cargo anchors to hold the frond in place for our trip out to the beat-the-heat retreat.

The 2019 Ranger is more technologically advanced than the last Ranger Ford sold in North America. If you want to use it to live an active outdoorsy lifestyle, its most low-tech feature is its most valuable one: its bed – even if there isn’t a ski rack above it.

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Derek Shiekhi

Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.

After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.

While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.

Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.

In addition to writing for a variety of Internet Brands sites, including JK Forum and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Derek also contributes to other outlets. He started There Will Be Cars on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube to get even more automotive content out to fellow enthusiasts.

He can be reached at autoeditors@internetbrands.com.

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