The next time your truck buddy tells you that you need a full-size pickup to tow a modest camper, you’ll have a fresh arrow in your quiver: Ford is bolting together a Ranger Super Duty for overseas markets where a full-size pickup simply doesn’t make sense, and this appears to be our first look at a rolling prototype.
Just how does one super-dutify a midsize pickup? This prototype sheds some light. Let’s begin with the fundamentals: A hard-working truck starts with a robust chassis, and this example appears to have borrowed quite a bit from the Ranger Raptor, which was beefed up to handle the shenanigans in which its owners are more inclined to engage. Carryovers visible here include the independent front suspension and some additional underbody (and perhaps bumper?) protection. We also can’t help but notice the frame-mounted rear tow hooks.
It’s not obvious from these photos whether this prototype has the Ranger Raptor’s aluminum control arms, the heavier-duty steel parts from the Bronco Raptor, or a new set of parts altogether; we’ll have to wait for a better angle to say for certain. Ford’s engineers cited the Ranger’s (relatively) low curb weight as justification for using aluminum rather than steel for the lower control arms in the Raptor variant of the pickup. But this truck needs to handle a much higher payload ceiling, not to mention the tongue weight of a 9,900-pound trailer—a figure even the F-150 didn’t hit until nearly two decades ago.
Of course, there’s more going on here than just the exposed suspension bits, but some of it could be chalked up to visual misdirection. The snorkel intake won’t do much for your towing capacity, but if you’re going to show off the capabilities of a pickup truck, throwing everything including the kitchen sink at it is often an effective approach. Then again, dust can be a real problem Down Under, in the deserts this workhorse is likely to roam.
Ford says that the Ranger Super Duty was designed by a team in Australia, will be built in Thailand, and there are currently no plans to sell it stateside. While this news represents a milestone for the Super Duty badge, the Ranger has long been a fixture overseas. That probably won’t stop American enthusiasts from begging Ford to lavish the same treatment on our midsize pickup, though.
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