2019 New Ford Ranger - Will It Have a Dusty Conditions Snorkel Option?

All the cool trucks now have big honkin' snorkel options. Will Ford's Ranger follow the leaders?

With the all-new 2019 Ford Ranger now available for pre-order and arriving in just a couple of months, one pressing detail remains unanswered about this important new truck - Will it have an optional snorkel?

Snorkels are all the rage this fall and every leading midsize truck offers one. The Toyota TRD Pro is the current sales leader in the segment. The Tacoma TRD Pro offers a factory-installed (or dealer-installed) snorkel for the bargain price of $725. Called the Desert Air Intake Package, Toyota offers it on trucks sold in dusty zip codes. It looks great with its sleek fender exit.

The second-leading seller in this huge vehicle segment is the Chevy Colorado. Chevy recently introduced an even more extreme off-roading version of the Colorado ZR2 called the Bison. The Bison has skid plates, recovery hooks (the Chevy guys say those are for pulling old Rangers out of ditches) and a winch-ready front bumper. None of those really change the look of the truck much. It's the aftermarket American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) snorkel that differentiated the look of Bison. GM has cold feet about drilling a half dozen holes in your A-pillar and a microwave oven-sized hole in your front fender, so they will direct you to the kit at AEV's site. It costs $459, but you are on your own with regard to the install (video below).

Before the high-volume Ranger even arrives all anyone can talk about is the possibility of a Raptor trim. Based on our detailed analysis of the current midsized truck market, a new Ranger without a big huge snorkel is going to be very embarrassing for Ford. So keep your eyes out for the option once the Raptor trim is announced around mid-year 2019.