White material between cab & bed

[scurvy]

I was drilling holes for my bed cover drain tubes earlier and noticed some white material in the gap between the cab and the bed. I can’t tell if it’s material leftover from manufacturing/ transport or if it’s something that’s supposed to actually be there. It doesn’t span the full cab (primarily behind the driver’s side), so I’m leaning towards the former.
If someone has a few free minutes, can you look inside that gap and let me know if you have the same thing in there?

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[SubaruRaptor]

If you searched on the forum, there are other threads about this. To rehash, some folks remove it, some left it, no one knows wtf it is for. No ill effects from doing either have been reported.

 

[scurvy]

If you searched on the forum, there are other threads about this. To rehash, some folks remove it, some left it, no one knows wtf it is for. No ill effects from doing either have been reported.

Thanks.
BTW, I did do a quick search for “white material” and it didn’t yield any results, but maybe it’s because I’m on the mobile app which has a billion options.?‍

It’s in the way of the drain tube, so out it goes.

 

[SubaruRaptor]

Thanks.
BTW, I did do a quick search for “white material” and it didn’t yield any results, but maybe it’s because I’m on the mobile app which has a billion options.?‍

It’s in the way of the drain tube, so out it goes.

https://www.ranger6g.com/forum/threads/did-ford-mean-to-leave-this-here.12189/
Let us know how you extracted it, I've been wanting to remove mine.

 

[BriSco]

It has been discussed several times here. There seems to be no definite answer on whether it belongs there or is left over from assembly.

 

[gForceDude]

https://www.ranger6g.com/forum/threads/did-ford-mean-to-leave-this-here.12189/
Let us know how you extracted it, I've been wanting to remove mine.

The Parts Guy at my local Dealership looked at my truck, and then looked in his computer at the schematic of every part on this truck, and he concluded that this is not a 'part' of this truck, but is something left over from the manufacturing process.

I used a wooden yard stick to remove it from my truck.
There are four of those plastic push-type connectors holding it in place. They go through the the insulation (horizontally) along the bottom, and into the front of the bed wall (down low).
Slide your wooden yardstick between the front of the bed wall and the insulation, along the bottom until you feel one of the connectors. Then push down on the connector to push it down and out of the hole.
I was able to easily get three of the connectors to come out, but the fourth one was stubborn and didn't want to come out. So I just pulled the loose end up where I could get a hold of it, and then the whole thing pulled out quite easily.

I have noticed zero implications/consequences with that insulation taken out, and it has been a few months now.

Hope this helps.

Edited to add:
I looked at several new Rangers on Dealer's Lots, all manufactured after mine, and this insulation was not on any of them.

 

[HyperM3]

Its protecting the rear cab vent from extra dust and noise intrusion. Theres only one rear cab vent and its on the drivers side. Hence only that material on the one side.

 

[HotPepperLariat]

My Lariat with a build date of September 17 does have the "white material" between the bed and cab.

 

[Critical Habitat]

Its protecting the rear cab vent from extra dust and noise intrusion. Theres only one rear cab vent and its on the drivers side. Hence only that material on the one side.

There was mention of similar on the 5G forum, but some had foam "inside" the cab at vent(s). Some blocked theirs. Others thought the vents would help with buffeting by relieving pressure (pos or neg). Still another was worried about mice, so they blocked it.
My only concern is that if part of the vent cover outside, it could be bad for air quality if left wet and dirty for a long time in some environments. Weird stuff grows on porous material. When your fan is on, positive pressure flows out, but I think it comes in when no fan and your window is cracked open.
www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/outside-vents-behind-rear-seat-anybody-else-have-one-blocked-from-the-factory.30703/

 

[HyperM3]

There was mention of similar on the 5G forum, but some had foam "inside" the cab at vent(s). Some blocked theirs. Others thought the vents would help with buffeting by relieving pressure (pos or neg). Still another was worried about mice, so they blocked it.
My only concern is that if part of the vent cover outside, it could be bad for air quality if left wet and dirty for a long time in some environments. Weird stuff grows on porous material. When your fan is on, positive pressure flows out, but I think it comes in when no fan and your window is cracked open.
www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/outside-vents-behind-rear-seat-anybody-else-have-one-blocked-from-the-factory.30703/

There are rubber flaps that close on the vent when there's negative pressure(or basically none)preventing anything from coming in the vent.

 

[Critical Habitat]

Makes sense to me. Thanks

 

[scurvy]

My Lariat with a build date of September 17 does have the "white material" between the bed and cab.

Yeah, the build date on my Lariat 2.7 is something like 9/18/24 IIRC.

I find it interesting that some say that it’s for sound and dust prevention, and others say that many of the new Rangers on the lots don’t even have it.
If it truly is meant to be there for sound and dust prevention, one would think that almost every Ranger would have it, and Ford would easily be able to confirm it as a valid part. I called 3 local Ford service departments today, and not one of them had any idea what it’s for.
The piece on mine is definitely stuck or fastened at the top and bottom, so I just pushed the bed cover drain tube down and off to the side while leaving the white material alone for now.

 

[The Lone Ranger]

Dealer now states Ford re-contacted them and said this piece was a shipping pad and should have been removed at the factory during assembly. The goat rodeo continues.

 

[Kodiak_LT]

FYI I was able to remove this white piece with a few tools shown in the picture. There's a part number on the white piece (see pic), but I tried a regular Google search and a Google Lens search and couldn't find anything useful. Maybe someone with a service manual can see if the part number is a standard or shipping piece ;-)

 

[Daweism]

Shave that weight where you can baby

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