During development, Ranger Super Duty was subjected to a series of brutal durability tests.
The toughest test? The dreaded Silver Creek durability track at Ford Australia’s You Yangs Proving Ground in Victoria. Imagine a dry creek bed, but instead of smooth pebbles, it’s packed with 300 randomly placed, bone-rattling bumps of different shapes and sizes.
“Silver Creek is our toughest man-made durability track,” explained Justin Capicchiano, program manager, Ranger Super Duty. “It stressed the Ranger Super Duty from the wheels to the roof; simulating the wear and tear you’d typically experience across a decade of driving on the world’s harshest road conditions.”
Although a single run on Silver Creek generates over 2000 suspension movements, the test primarily assesses the durability of engine and body mounts, joints, and connectors.
To ensure consistent and relentless testing, an autonomous robotic test driver took the wheel, running the Ranger Super Duty 24/7, rain, hail and shine.
And because the Ranger Super Duty is built to carry more, the team didn’t hold back. They tested it on Silver Creek at its maximum gross vehicle mass (GVM) of 4,500 kilograms.
“The forces punching through the truck when its unladen are immense, but when it’s loaded to maximum GVM and tested on Silver Creek they become even more brutal. This is an incredibly important test for a truck that must do the toughest jobs or most extreme adventures in the harshest conditions,” Capicchiano concluded.
