Due to the weight of the large grille guard for the Ranger front end, will it affect acceleration or mpg?


Anyone who does have one have an opinion on this?

 

it shouldnt effect either of those...just make the front end a little heavier

a lot of people have that guard....christian has one for sure...

 

Will it effect it? Yes. Will it be noticeable, perhaps, but nothing too severe.
What do they weight? ~50lbs. So there is more weight to move (effect acceleration) and more weight to carry (effects mpg) and more weight to stop (effects braking - more weight in front too so that will cause more of a nose dive in severe braking).

To say it will have no effect is not true. It will effect it. But the effect may be so small you dont really notice it, unless you really know the in's and out's of your truck, then you may pickup that slight decrease in acceleration. But the effects should be small. The truck weights close to 4000lbs. If the grill guard is 50lbs then it is only a 1.25% gain in weight

 

Mine is a full guard, and weights about 30 lbs. The brackets that hold to the frame are quite heavy, about 5 lbs a piece. Figure about 45-45 lbs total. I've never noticed any issues with the added weight, as trucks are designed to move weight. We're not taking about a Miata where every pound is a factor.

 

I found absolutely no noticable difference in acceleration, MPG, handling, or even braking after I installed my Manik guard. If there is a difference, it's below the threshold of which I can perceive..

 

no noticeable difference when i put it on...

when i take it off, though, i notice the lighter front end...

didn't hurt my mpg or anything...

now, when i put my old pipe bumper on, i felt a difference...

 

Christian, is yours a Westin brand?

Just wondering...

 

manik

 

I know i felt a difference when i put my skid plate on. But thats some thick steel. But to say there is NO difference, just isn't true, even if it isn't perceived by the driver. I'm not saying it will slow you to a crawl, but just giving you an honest answer to your question.

 

I have a Westin Guard and put it on two weeks ago. The only thing I noticed was that the front dropped an 8th of an inch. Gas mileage hasn't been affected but I've always gotten 13.5 mpg for city with my nice 4.10's and lead foot. Highway mileage did dip slightly from 19.5 to 19.4 @55 (differs from time to time). Hope this helps.


BTW: It's nice to have in school because our parking lot is a big bumper cars arena. One exit and 450 cars all rushing at the same time... Gotta love administration.

 

I don't understand how you can claim a difference as small as 1/8th of an inch! That's probably well within normal variance. I'm sure if I went out and measured the front ride height one day, and did the same the next day I'd get different measurements within 1/8"..

 

and from 19.5 to 19.4?

maybe you drove a little more uphill.. maybe there was more wind...

claiming a tenth of a mpg difference... psshhh...

 

I said those things showing how minimal the difference from adding a guard to not having it on. And the 1/8th of an inch, I went out and measured the space between the tires and the top of the wheel well and then did it after I put it on. I was on my flat garage floor. I did this because I was curious on how much it may drop the front from the weight. Hence, an 1/8th of an inch on each side. I did not go out the next day and measure when I measured a month before or something. It was right before I put it on, and right after I put it on. So yeah there may be variations from day to day, but how does that apply to my post? I'm just saying from just adding it, it dropped a 1/8th. The 19.5 to 19.4, I said it's not noticable as I quote from my previous post "differs from time to time". Both of these are meant to show that adding the guard does nearly nothing to the mileage and/or front stance. Sorry if you felt I was saying it actually affected something.

To dumb it up. Adding the guard did nothing to my mpg.