Ford Rolls Out Off-Road Packages at SEMA

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

Catering to the overlanding crowd (or at least people who wish to look like they’re into the scene – we’ll call them broverlanders), Ford introduced a brace of ORV packages at the SEMA Show. Featuring bumpers, lights, and lifts, one is for the Ranger while another is for the Bronco.


Starting with the latter simply because I like it better and I’m the one hammering away at this keyboard, this Bronco ORV package is intended for trims that aren’t burly from the factory – think Big Bend, Black Diamon, and Outer Banks. Bilstein-branded suspension components provide a 2.0-inch lift that sits atop 35-inch tires on retro-themed white wheels. Also on tap are an underhood air compressor (that mattresses in yer rooftop tent isn’t going to inflate itself, right?) and an available ARB jack which will never be used. Ford didn’t mention specific numbers for power upgrades but does promise a unique software calibration for the 2.3-liter engine and high-clearance Borla cat-back exhaust. That, along with a few stickers, gotta be worth a handful of horsepower.


If you’d rather off-road in a pickup truck with an honest-to-Henry open cargo bed, Ford has you covered with a similar kit for the Ranger. Promised for 2024 Ranger XLT and Lariat models optioned with four-wheel drive, this package adds an ARB suspension kit plus new front and rear bumpers with additional recovery points from the same brand. That onboard air compressor crops up here as well, along with a raft of auxiliary lighting and an optional, 47-quart fridge/freezer. Hey, gotta keep the beverages cold somehow, right?

"Ford customers love to personalize the performance and appearance of their vehicles," said Mark Wilson, Ford North America Vehicle Personalization manager. "The Ford Performance parts packages we're debuting combine the latest design trends with aftermarket accessories engineered to work with these vehicles out of the box." These kits were apparently developed in response to customer feedback and will be available via the Ford Performance Parts website or at a dealer accessory counter. We’re sure the F&I office would prefer the latter, added into the purchase price and spread out over a terrifying 96 months. Sign here, please.


Pricing for each package will be available nearer each package’s on-sale date early in 2024. Ford promises installation of this gear can be handled by either a Blue Oval dealer or an ASE-certified shop.


[Images: Ford]


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Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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  • MaintenanceCosts MaintenanceCosts on Nov 02, 2023

    This is now several instances of white rally-style wheels we've seen from OEMs within a few months. Maybe they will displace the black-wheels trend. That would be a good thing.

  • Cprescott Cprescott on Nov 02, 2023

    More proof that SEMA hasn't been meaningful in over two decades.

    • Dukeisduke Dukeisduke on Nov 02, 2023

      Like everything else (Woodward Dream Cruise, Monterey Weekend) it's been co-opted by the OEMs. The marketing departments at the OEMs think they won't be thought of as "cool" if they don't have a presence at these events.


  • Jalop1991 In a manner similar to PHEV being the correct answer, I declare RPVs to be the correct answer here.We're doing it with certain aircraft; why not with cars on the ground, using hardware and tools like Telsa's "FSD" or GM's "SuperCruise" as the base?Take the local Uber driver out of the car, and put him in a professional centralized environment from where he drives me around. The system and the individual car can have awareness as well as gates, but he's responsible for the driving.Put the tech into my car, and let me buy it as needed. I need someone else to drive me home; hit the button and voila, I've hired a driver for the moment. I don't want to drive 11 hours to my vacation spot; hire the remote pilot for that. When I get there, I have my car and he's still at his normal location, piloting cars for other people.The system would allow for driver rest period, like what's required for truckers, so I might end up with multiple people driving me to the coast. I don't care. And they don't have to be physically with me, therefore they can be way cheaper.Charge taxi-type per-mile rates. For long drives, offer per-trip rates. Offer subscriptions, including miles/hours. Whatever.(And for grins, dress the remote pilots all as Johnnie.)Start this out with big rigs. Take the trucker away from the long haul driving, and let him be there for emergencies and the short haul parts of the trip.And in a manner similar to PHEVs being discredited, I fully expect to be razzed for this brilliant idea (not unlike how Alan Kay wasn't recognized until many many years later for his Dynabook vision).
  • B-BodyBuick84 Not afraid of AV's as I highly doubt they will ever be %100 viable for our roads. Stop-and-go downtown city or rush hour highway traffic? I can see that, but otherwise there's simply too many variables. Bad weather conditions, faded road lines or markings, reflective surfaces with glare, etc. There's also the issue of cultural norms. About a decade ago there was actually an online test called 'The Morality Machine' one could do online where you were in control of an AV and choose what action to take when a crash was inevitable. I think something like 2.5 million people across the world participated? For example, do you hit and most likely kill the elderly couple strolling across the crosswalk or crash the vehicle into a cement barrier and almost certainly cause the death of the vehicle occupants? What if it's a parent and child? In N. America 98% of people choose to hit the elderly couple and save themselves while in Asia, the exact opposite happened where 98% choose to hit the parent and child. Why? Cultural differences. Asia puts a lot of emphasis on respecting their elderly while N. America has a culture of 'save/ protect the children'. Are these AV's going to respect that culture? Is a VW Jetta or Buick Envision AV going to have different programming depending on whether it's sold in Canada or Taiwan? how's that going to effect legislation and legal battles when a crash inevitibly does happen? These are the true barriers to mass AV adoption, and in the 10 years since that test came out, there has been zero answers or progress on this matter. So no, I'm not afraid of AV's simply because with the exception of a few specific situations, most avenues are going to prove to be a dead-end for automakers.
  • Mike Bradley Autonomous cars were developed in Silicon Valley. For new products there, the standard business plan is to put a barely-functioning product on the market right away and wait for the early-adopter customers to find the flaws. That's exactly what's happened. Detroit's plan is pretty much the opposite, but Detroit isn't developing this product. That's why dealers, for instance, haven't been trained in the cars.
  • Dartman https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-fighter-jets-air-force-6a1100c96a73ca9b7f41cbd6a2753fdaAutonomous/Ai is here now. The question is implementation and acceptance.
  • FreedMike If Dodge were smart - and I don't think they are - they'd spend their money refreshing and reworking the Durango (which I think is entering model year 3,221), versus going down the same "stuff 'em full of motor and give 'em cool new paint options" path. That's the approach they used with the Charger and Challenger, and both those models are dead. The Durango is still a strong product in a strong market; why not keep it fresher?
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