We probably shouldn’t be quite this excited about this development, but we are.
The 2022 Ford Ranger ute looks set to adopt four-wheel disc brakes – at least on high grade models – finally putting archaic rear drum brakes in the rear view mirror.
Most double-cab utes on sale in Australia have rear drum brakes because they are cheap and relatively effective.
However, they are not as good as four-wheel disc brakes given the increasing demands on such vehicles.
The latest spy photos of the 2022 Ford Ranger testing in Europe clearly show floating calipers clamping disc brakes front and rear.
While this should not be a revelation in 2021, the changes will bring at least certain variants of the 2022 Ford Ranger up to speed with other double-cab utes with four-wheel discs such as the European-developed Volkswagen Amarok (the next generation of which will be based on the Ford Ranger), the Chinese-made GWM Ute and LDV T60, and the South Korean Ssangyong Musso.
However the other main players in the ute segment, such as the market-leading Toyota HiLux, and other popular rivals such as the Isuzu D-Max, Mazda BT-50, Nissan Navara and Mitsubishi Triton all persevere with rear drum brakes.
For the record, we reckon Ford Ranger brakes have been a bit underdone since this generation went on sale in 2011. So this is a long overdue upgrade in our book.
The Ford Ranger Raptor debuted with four-wheel disc brakes as a performance model. CarAdvice/Drive understands a similar brake package will carry over on at least the XLT and Wildtrak model grades, both of which have been caught on camera sporting rear disc brakes (see above and below).
We should have spotted the rear discs when we first saw these photos yesterday but, but they slipped under the radar.
One of our team obsessed with utes spotted the rear discs, so we double-checked the original images.
Here they are zoomed in so you can see the hints of a rear disc set-up.
Now that we’ve shared this earth-shattering news, you can resume your daily life. Thank you.
Our most recent coverage about the 2022 Ford Ranger is here and here.
MORE: Ranger news and reviews MORE: Everything Ford
Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in late 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for 10 years.
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Copyright Drive.com.au 2022ABN: 84 116 608 158
Copyright Drive.com.au 2022ABN: 84 116 608 158
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