Pat Callinan's Big Lap Tourer

With the F-150 the fun one, and the Everest the everyday adventurer, the Ranger was always going to be my big-lap tourer. Out on the road filming it’s always the pack horse, the one all the gear gets loaded into and the toolbox that always has the answer, no matter the question. If anyone needs a cold drink, a snatch strap, a spanner roll, or a first aid kit the answer is always “It’s in the Ranger”. After two seasons of filmingit’s got little more than a drowned alternator and a few scratches as battle scars so it looks like the plan has worked here too.

From the outset, it was built to be a comfortable, efficient, capable tourer that’d easily take on anything from the Old Tele’ Track to the Canning Stock Route without a second thought and that meant it was always going to need ‘more’ than the Everest. More water, more power, more storage, more camping kit, more range. You get the idea.

While the V6 packed plenty of punch right out of the gate, I wanted to know if I put my foot down, loaded to the hilt it’d get the job done. A Steinbauer Power Module helped with that, bumping power and torque up 20%. While the module doesn’t make a big difference with fuel consumption, the 160L Long Ranger tank does help extend range out past the magical 1000km mark.

I didn’t skimp on the bar work. There’s an ARB bull bar, scrub bars, side steps, rear bar, and full under-body protection. You’d be hard-pressed to find a single square inch on any of it that hasn’t got battle scars either. Down on the Mt Pinnibar Track, those side rails came into their own, with the entire weight of the car resting on them, protecting the panels.

Up the back, I’ve fitted up an ARB Ascent canopy that houses a huge ORS drawer system jam-packed with everything we’d ever need on the road. It’s got a built-in ORS water tank and pump that keeps the crew hydrated in the bush, but also houses all the REDARC kit. While the Everest gets away with a smaller kit, the Ranger does the bulk of the work in terms of charging camera gear and laptops, lighting up campsites, and cooking with twin induction cookers running at once. To make sure there’s plenty of power the Ranger runs a two 200Ah REDARC lithium batteries, a Rogue battery management system with a RedVision screen, a 2000W RS3 inverter and a 180W solar panel up top. The ORS storage system has a ‘fridge house’, that protects the Engel from shifting loads. That box was also the place to mount so much of the Redarc kit. Even with the windows closed on the canopy, I can see the state of charge on the batteries.

That “Big Lap Tourer” mentality has changed a few things between the Ranger and Everest as well. The Ranger has picked up a Cel-Fi Go Signal Booster to keep the mobile phones working a little longer when we’re filming, and the Uniden UHF has a higher gain antenna than the Everest version, it helps punch the signal out further on the flat plains west of the Great Dividing Range. The camping setup is the same. A quick and easy square awning and a swag work in the Everest, while the Ranger gets more shelter from a 270-degree wrap around Bushwakka Extreme Darkness awning and a Bushwakka “Shack” rooftop tent for a more comfortable night sleep. The ‘Shack’ is a half fold on the front and full fold on the rear, and it can house all your bedding and pillows too.

With a purchase price just under 80k and a mods list exceeding that when you factor in labour, a build like the Ranger is always going to benefit from specialty insurance. Built-in benefits like off-road recovery, coverage for accessories as well as modifications, and coverage for details like colour-coded bar work and performance upgrades are right in the wheelhouse of Club 4X4.