A Tremor in the Ford: Blue Oval Gives 2021 Ranger the Off-Road Goods

by Tim Healey

Published: September 14th, 2020

a tremor in the ford blue oval gives 2021 ranger the off road goods

Ford’s Ranger is getting some serious off-road goods for 2021.

No, we don’t mean the Ford Ranger Raptor is finally coming Stateside, although most of us here in TTAC-land would love that. Nah, today we’re talking about a Tremor off-road package for the 2021 Ford Ranger.

What does that all entail? Well, a lifted suspension with Fox 2-inch monotube dampers and rear piggyback reservoirs, coilover front springs with different tuning and rear leaf springs, 32-inch all-terrain tires (Continental General Grabber brand), new wheel lips, hoop steps, a 1-inch wider stance, a painted grille, optional graphics for the hood and body, rear recovery hooks, painted wheels, seats with suede inserts, black interior accents, and a six-switch bank of auxiliary switches.

The lifted suspension and 17-inch wheels bring the ground clearance up 0.8 inches over a base SuperCrew 4×4 to 9.7. Anti-rollbar stiffness has been reduced to improve on-road comfort while also allowing for less “disruption” over the rough stuff.

Other key off-road specs include a 31-degree approach angle, a 26.6-degree departure angle, and a 24.2-degree breakover angle. Those numbers are up 2.7, 1.2, and 1.5 degrees, respectively, over the base SuperCrew 4×4. Front suspension travel is up about one-third of an inch to 6.5 inches and rear suspension about a full inch to 8.1.

There’s a rear locking differential, skid plates, Ford’s Terrain Management System and Trail Control, and a traction-control system that is set to allow for better traction in gravel.

The powertrain remains the same – a 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder engine that makes 270 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque and pairs with a 10-speed automatic.

The Tremor Package will set you back $4,290 and all trucks so equipped will be built in Wayne, Michigan. You’ll need a mid-XLT or high-Lariat Ranger in SuperCrew 4×4 layout to select this package.

[Images: Ford]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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Gearhead77 on Sep 15, 2020

This. Build me a Ranger that, as a 2wd, doesn’t sit 4” higher than it needs to. This goes for all these “mid-size” trucks now.

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Gearhead77 on Sep 15, 2020

I recently decided to replace my VW Golf with a truck. Don’t like GM, so I won’t shop Colorado/Canyon. Drove an F150 and a Ram, but I just don’t need that much truck to live with. Frontier is ancient, a used one would have been a better deal if rust wasn’t a thing where I live. So it came down to a Ranger or Honda Ridgeline because there’s a great lease deal on the top line RTLE model. Dad bought an 88 Ranger supercab 2wd V6 5 speed new and to me, it was the perfect size and height truck. And price. I think it was around $12k sticker, about 28k in today’s money and that was for an XLT without air, power equipment or cruise. Now, that 28k buys an XL which unless you add option packages, looks really cheap inside and out. But those are none existent where I live, everyone NEEDS 4wd or AWD. So an XL 4x4 crew cab with the STX appearance pack is 34k. An XLT is 38k. You can get to nearly 48k on a Ranger. I will grant that a new vehicle has a great deal more safety and equipment standard than 32 years ago. Even most of the XLs I shopped had cruise, all had power windows and locks. The turbo 4/ 10 speed auto runs well and doesn’t lack power, maybe a bit in refinement, but I am coming from a VW. Personally, my needs are more car then truck and the Ranger was too expensive, felt too cheap and the ride was bouncy empty, even compared to an F150. The kicker is that I could buy OR lease an F150 Supercab 4x4 for nearly the same money due to incentives. So, I’m trying to find the Ridgeline in the color I want.

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