What is the Park Ranger? Why am I posting about a truck? Why does it have our logo on it? How are we involved with this?
There’s a bit of explaining to do with this one. Actually, scratch that; could someone explain the entirety of 2019 to me? This has been a weird year – in a good way though. It has been a non-stop roller coaster of some amazing things happening and it seems like just as I get used to everything, something else comes along to shake things up further.
Case in point: Advantage Ford is a name you’ll all be familiar with. Rewinding the clock to 2016, they were the ones that came to our rescue to get Mustard programmed and running in the final days leading up to its debut at iMSS 2016 and since then we’ve been loyal customers of theirs. Because it’s a small world, as it happened Marshall worked there and so through him I also got to know some of the other folks that made up the staff of the dealership (not to mention get lots of very random and specific parts orders filled…thanks for always putting up with those Marshall!).
This brings us up to earlier this year when I received an offer to join the team myself with a new position that had come up; it was the chance to get more involved with the automotive industry once again and already having friends there too, it was an easy choice to make. Another opportunity then came along right around my birthday as it happened, when I was fortunate enough to move into a different role, and one that I think will prove to be quite fun: Accessories Specialist.
Obviously there’s a lot more to the job than just playing with trucks, but one aspect of it will be to help out with modified vehicles – little “builds” – like what you see here, which we have dubbed Park Ranger.
Along with helping clients personalize their own vehicles, occasionally something will be put together for display in the showroom or on the lot – and this was the first example that I got to be involved with since I came into the role.
The feedback on this thing has been phenomenal and I’m really proud of how it came together, but massive thank-yous go to the technicians who actually built it, as well as those above me who signed off on everything. Regardless, I got to play a part and I’m pleased with what we came up with! (Side note, thanks to Eric and Cassie for their help applying the banner too!)
In reality the parts list on this is relatively small, but it’s effective. A 2.25″ level kit brought the nose up a bit to make room for the larger and more aggressive rolling stock, running boards and mud flaps assist with access/egress and controlling the mess respectively, and a Raptor-style grille brings some aggression to the front end. As for the graphics the basic inspiration for the theme was Parks Canada, hence the dark green/white colour combo as well as the font and design for the small Advantage logo in the upper corner (plus, you know, the name). The dark green was even carried to the tailgate by wrapping one of Ford’s tailgate lettering kits with the same vinyl.
As for that rolling stock, you won’t be surprised by my choice. When I moved into the role I got in touch with fifteen52 and the guys were happy to assist with getting Advantage set up to be able to offer their wheels to clients. In the interest of fairness I will point out that we carry other brands and I’m going to be selling their offerings as well of course, but for the first vehicle I was involved with I wanted to do something different as compared to the trucks built before. Consider this my spin on it.
As for the specific wheel model, I cast my vote for the Turbomac HDs; I specifically wanted the beadlock look as a subtle visual nod to the Ranger’s big bad brother – the Raptor – with its own optional beadlocks. The bolts also stood out as a nice accent against the black wheels and tires (Goodyear Duratracs, incidentally) and as a way to help define the break between the two.
With the parts installed and the truck detailed it was rolled into the showroom a few days ago for display and is now set to be purchased and driven home. However, this is (hopefully) not a one-off. The Park Ranger package is now something that can be added to any Ranger to have one just like this, or it could also be tweaked and built upon with different or additional parts.
However, before this starts to sound too much like an advertisement for Advantage (but hey, you know where to find me if you want to customize a new Ford, haha) I’m going to wrap this one up. This was all to explain why we were posting about a Ranger on our Instagram, and as a heads-up that there may be additional truck content in the future depending on what else we get up to at the dealership and what other projects come through our doors.
We play with cars on the weekends, and now I get to play with trucks during the week. Things could be worse…but 2019 still makes no sense to me.
-Bill