Our Ranger 6Gs are pretty simple for modern vehicles

[alrashid2]

Was listening to this segment from Tucker Carlson's podcast today with Mike Glover:



They are talking about how they got rid of their modern trucks for older, "analog" ones because modern trucks do too much to drive themselves.

It got me realizing that I think the main reason I love my Ranger6G so much is because it doesn't feel like a modern truck, in all the right ways:

• I've got a physical key! My friend just came by with his 2016 Toyota Tacoma and even that has a push to start! I love having a real key without any of the annoyances of smart keys when they don't work
• On my XLT, all of the modern, annoying automated features can be turned off. I don't use the auto high beam setting, and I turned off all of the auto start/stop, brake assist, lane assist, lane keeping, and every other silly feature. In essence she drives like an older, "normal" truck
• Yes, the 10r60 might be a modern 10 speed transmission, but at least it's a real geared transmission and not a CVT or some other new-fangled tranny
• Being a truck in general, the suspension and drivetrain is still very much "old school" with differentials, transfer case, coils, leaf springs - much easier to work on than modern car's suspension systems
• Yes, we have the cellular modems like most other cars that sends GPS coordinates and driving data to Ford, but unlike in most vehicles, it can easily be disabled via a fuse removal

That's all I got off the top of my head but wanted to put out an appreciation post for our Rangers. Gotta love em!

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[emjay24l]

I have a love hate relationship with the modern features in new vehicles. Adaptive cruise control (ACC) is a feature I find makes driving on interstates much less fatiguing. Lane assist is less useful and isn't something I like nearly as much as ACC. Blind spot monitoring is useful. Android Auto is very useful as is having it integrated to show upcoming turning movements in the center of the instrument cluster. I would like more physical buttons but as time passes I am learning where functions are located. I am sure there are many more features that I will eventually come to know and like, or dislike.

With the above said, the one area that I hate with a passion is the data logging being collected by automakers and then being sold to anyone who will pay for it. Especially insurance companies. This should be completely illegal to put into a vehicle, IMO. I am going through the measures to stop Ford from downloading this data without my express consent but it is impossible to verify they are honoring this request. In any case, there is no way to prevent the vehicle electronics from recording this data and storing it. I am learning as much as I can on how to defeat Ford from collecting my data and there are some ways available to keep them from downloading it.

I can live with, and even enjoy using, most of the hi-tech features. It is the invasion of privacy and data selling that really irritates me the most.

 

[alrashid2]

I have a love hate relationship with the modern features in new vehicles. Adaptive cruise control (ACC) is a feature I find makes driving on interstates much less fatiguing. Lane assist is less useful and isn't something I like nearly as much as ACC. Blind spot monitoring is useful. Android Auto is very useful as is having it integrated to show upcoming turning movements in the center of the dash. I would like more physical buttons but as time passes I am learning where functions are located. I am sure there are many more features that I will eventually come to know and like, or dislike.

With the above said, the one area that I hate with a passion is the data logging being collected by automakers and then being sold to anyone who will pay for it. Especially insurance companies. This should be completely illegal to put into a vehicle, IMO. I am going through the measures to stop Ford from downloading this data without my express consent but it is impossible to verify they are honoring this request. In any case, there is no way to prevent the vehicle electronics from recording this data and storing it. I am learning as much as I can on how to defeat Ford from collecting my data and there are some ways available to keep them from downloading it.

I can live with, and even enjoy using, most of the hi-tech features. It is the invasion of privacy and data selling that really irritates me the most.

Couldn't agree more.

I'm letting my modem stay online for now while I'm in the main warranty period and getting over the air updates.

But eventually I'll disconnect it. This stops the modem from storing and sending any data to Ford and it's quite easy. Just pulling a fuse (#8 I believe but I'd have to check)

 

[emjay24l]

Couldn't agree more.

I'm letting my modem stay online for now while I'm in the main warranty period and getting over the air updates.

But eventually I'll disconnect it. This stops the modem from storing and sending any data to Ford and it's quite easy. Just pulling a fuse (#8 I believe but I'd have to check)

I might be wrong but I read where the software will always record data and there is no way to stop this from occurring. I'm like you. For now I will let things be until the warranty period expires. I will send in the request to have Ford not download my data. It looks like this is the best I can do for now.

 

[alrashid2]

I might be wrong but I read where the software will always record data and there is no way to stop this from occurring. I'm like you. For now I will let things be until the warranty period expires. I will send in the request to have Ford not download my data. It looks like this is the best I can do for now.

I have read conflicting things. But something tells me there isnt a 1GB hard drive attached to the modem and therefore hopefully no way for the truck to store any data ...

 

[Wallowa Ranger]

The problem with using older vehicles as a daily driver is that as time goes on it becomes more and more difficult (and therefore more expensive) to maintain. I'd put dollars to donuts that Mike Glover and Tucker Carlson have individual net worths exponentially higher than any user on this forum; probably even higher than several of us combined. The cost of replacement parts is of no concern to them. My grandfather still has his 1983 Datsun pickup that he drove off the lot with. It only has around 120,000 miles (with probably only 20k of those added in the last 20 years) but it mostly sits in his driveway now because the local Nissan dealership has a difficult time sourcing parts for it.

They are correct that modern vehicles are a privacy nightmare. Mozilla had that report a few years back about the extent of vehicle telematics in modern vehicles. Consumer Reports just released this report yesterday detailing the extent of data extraction from modern vehicles. Thankfully Ford allows you to yank the fuse to the cellular modem and, as far as we know, disable their ability to extract telematic data from the vehicle. Many brands do not allow you to do that though!

 

[Lion77]

If I had a dollar for every time someone said "they don't build them like they used to" and then forgets how hard it used to be to get a carbureted car started in cold - humid weather, cleaning contacts, adjusting timing etc. Yes, you can do all those things yourself, but the fact that you have to constantly do them is the problem.

Allegedly, modern vehicles suck, but what about the time you need to jump in your car and go, but it you can't get the darn thing to start....just like in the movies, lol. Engines used to wear out much faster but were rebuildable in a garage etc. There's pro's and cons to both, but the older engines made pitiful power compared to today's engines.

The V8's of the 90's were in the low to mid 200 hp range...my little Mazda 3 with a 2.5L 4 cylinder, NA, makes 191 hp....I do agree that over complication of modern vehicles is an issue, but it tends to be more on the software issues rather than electrical hardware.

That's interesting about the modem fuse, I may just do that to mine once the warranty is up, or maybe I'll find the 3.3V bus power pin on the modem PCA and lift the pin so never again will it have power, fuse or not , or I could "accidentally" solder in an SMD ferrite in series with the antenna to block the RF output so it "thinks its sending data" but really isn't, muahahah!!!

 

[Intercontinental_Ranger]

or I could "accidentally" solder in an SMD ferrite in series with the antenna to block the RF output so it "thinks its sending data" but really isn't, muahahah!!!

 

[daytoncarter]

Are we seriously dragging Tucket Quaralson into Ranger6G now? Nobody comes to a truck forum to listen to political grifters cosplay as blue-collar mechanics while complaining about the modern world. Take that culture war nonsense somewhere else.

Furthermore, the absolute delusion of calling a 2026 Ranger with a 2.7L twin-turbo EcoBoost "analog" is hilarious. You are driving a rolling computer. Just because you have a physical key and figured out how to hit the button to turn off lane assist doesn't make your truck a 1985 farm rig. Your 10r60 transmission needs a heavily programmed control module just to figure out what gear it wants to be in, your throttle is entirely fly-by-wire, and your engine management is running millions of calculations a second.

Pulling the modem fuse doesn't make you some off-the-grid survivalist, it just means your FordPass app is broken. Stop trying to shoehorn Tucket's paranoid political podcasts into a forum meant for truck specs and trail mods, and accept that you bought a highly computerized, modern vehicle just like the rest of us.

 

[emjay24l]

Unfortunately, the data can also be downloaded via the OBD2 port if the vehicle is at the dealership.

 

[Jason B]

If I had a dollar for every time someone said "they don't build them like they used to" and then forgets how hard it used to be to get a carbureted car started in cold - humid weather, cleaning contacts, adjusting timing etc. Yes, you can do all those things yourself, but the fact that you have to constantly do them is the problem.

Allegedly, modern vehicles suck, but what about the time you need to jump in your car and go, but it you can't get the darn thing to start....just like in the movies, lol. Engines used to wear out much faster but were rebuildable in a garage etc. There's pro's and cons to both, but the older engines made pitiful power compared to today's engines.

The V8's of the 90's were in the low to mid 200 hp range...my little Mazda 3 with a 2.5L 4 cylinder, NA, makes 191 hp....I do agree that over complication of modern vehicles is an issue, but it tends to be more on the software issues rather than electrical hardware.

That's interesting about the modem fuse, I may just do that to mine once the warranty is up, or maybe I'll find the 3.3V bus power pin on the modem PCA and lift the pin so never again will it have power, fuse or not , or I could "accidentally" solder in an SMD ferrite in series with the antenna to block the RF output so it "thinks its sending data" but really isn't, muahahah!!!

That's not going to work. If it doesn't get an acknowledgement that it has connected to a server, it will it won't send and will just keep trying.
If you are worried, just pull the fuse and be done with it. I, for one, enjoying the features of a connected vehicle, and do not fear 'MaH DaTa StolEn!'. Your phone will do it anyway. That, and Flock Cameras going up everywhere.

As for 'build like they used to". Thank God for that. I remember the days of manual roll down windows, 5.0 liter V8s putting out a whopping 180HP, 3 spd transmission, and the 10MPG family sedan, and 8MPG trucks.

 

[daytoncarter]

That's interesting about the modem fuse, I may just do that to mine once the warranty is up, or maybe I'll find the 3.3V bus power pin on the modem PCA and lift the pin so never again will it have power, fuse or not , or I could "accidentally" solder in an SMD ferrite in series with the antenna to block the RF output so it "thinks its sending data" but really isn't, muahahah!!!

Trouble is with modern vehicles if one system reports error or noise it can break the whole canbus. I'd be interested to see how the experiment goes.

 

[emjay24l]

That's not going to work. If it doesn't get an acknowledgement that it has connected to a server, it will it won't send and will just keep trying.
If you are worried, just pull the fuse and be done with it. I, for one, enjoying the features of a connected vehicle, and do not fear 'MaH DaTa StolEn!'. Your phone will do it anyway. That, and Flock Cameras going up everywhere.

My main issue with data collection is the data is eventually lands into the hands of the insurance companies who then can use it to justify rate increases. Although, Google Maps have probably been doing this for a long time.

 

[Jason B]

My main issue with data collection is the data is eventually lands into the hands of the insurance companies who then can use it to justify rate increases. Although, Google Maps have probably been doing this for a long time.

See, I'm not worried about that either. I installed a dongle from my insurance company. Rates dropped by $50 per month. Not driving like a NASCAR race helps, too.

 

[emjay24l]

See, I'm not worried about that either. I installed a dongle from my insurance company. Rates dropped by $50 per month. Not driving like a NASCAR race helps, too.

You are agreeing to the monitoring so I see no issue with what you are doing. Spying on people without letting them know it is being done is an invasion of privacy. Would you want devices in your home collecting data without your knowledge and approval? I wouldn't and also don't want it being done with my vehicles.

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