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I had the velcro on mine for a few months, but ended up taking it off, and either just let the flap hang, or a lot of the time I just end up shutting the tailgate over the flap and let it tuck in. I'm sure this isn't ideal in heavy rain, but for normal stuff it works just fine.
I don't disagree with most of what you said, but yes a 2 piece shaft is great for 4wd. easier to keep more of it up high and away from rocks, and less to replace if you do manage to damage it.
I have jacked mine up on the shrockworks sliders. They work fine. There was a tiny bit of flex, so I don't know that I would do something long term like leave it on jack stands under the sliders, but I would have no problem using them as a jack point to change tires.
can't speak for this truck, but most people add an auxiliary battery system and run any aftermarket stuff (other than driving lights) on the aux system.
the issue is that the ranger has a variable output alternator. it only puts out enough voltage to supply what is needed, where as a traditional alternator vehicle will put out 13.5+ volts any time the engine is running. a traditional smart solenoid turns on any time it gets over 13.2-ish...