ford ranger cruise control buttons

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97 cruise control buttons

• Thread starter James Morse
• Start date Oct 30, 2022

James Morse

1997 xlt 4.0l 4x4 1999 mazda b3000 2wd.

Lost the thread on this. Someone was saying the 97 is different than the 99. My buttons, per usual, are shot. Cruise does actually work, but the buttons are all taped up and one group is broken off its mounting. There are a ton of buttons for $20 like I got for the 99 but I'm told they are not the same even though 'they' say they will fit across the years. Are they full of crap? I see OEM stuff for $250 all the way up to over $600 which is nuts. So can someone point me to buttons that will work? Should I try to look at the part# on them and look for that? I was told maybe $100. Yes I will ask junkyards but usually these buttons are trash from every Ranger I ever looked at. Associated question: do the OEM buttons light up at night? This would be a plus, also, I want it to work like original. I could live without them lighting if it was a huge difference in price but I'd like to put it OEM-functioning if I can. You know that new buttons really make it look better, especially on this one where the interior is totally clean. The busted buttons stand out like a sore thumb and you see them right in front of you all the time. I know when I changed them in the 99 it really made a difference cosmetically, plus I like to use them sometimes. If there isn't crossover to 99, is there crossover to 96, 95, etc?  

97RangerXLT

Forum staff member.

If your oem buttons still work, get the cheapos and swap out the new circuit boards into the new shells. I found a good looking set off a newer ranger in the junkyard and put my electronics in them. No isdues over a year now AJ  

I think 97RangerXLT is correct - you should just be able to remove the buttons underneath your broken button shells and insert them into the new shells. Unless you have a reason to suspect the buttons themselves.  

ok. I see what you all mean. actually if I could to that isn't it true I wouldn't have to pry the wiring apart? I'd just leave all that. yeah if the internals are working then it gets me out of the whole "what fits" question as I'd say the covers are going to be the same.  

Well-Known Member

my dad's sport track buttons were like that. looked terrible every time i drove his truck.  

All you need to do is remove the old electronic board from the old shells and transfer it into the new / good shells. The just snap together. Wires plug into the electronic board, nothing fancy. I think i took some pictures, i will see if i can find them. My old buttons looked almost as bad as yours with large chunks missing AJ  

1990RangerinSK

James Morse said: thanks, but, when I said they work what I meant was you can make the truck go into cruise mode. So at least the "on" and "set" buttons work. The thing is, there's no covering to the buttons per usual it is all worn/gone/torn. on the left side they put a bunch of black tape on it. on the right side, one or both of the bracket part of the buttons (where it attaches to steering wheel) are broken and it's just flopping around there. the circuits might/might not be totally good, but for sure I need the whole units. perhaps I could somehow glue things together and put new coverings but really I think I just need the correct part and I've been told the 97 is different than 99. but tons are being sold as good for both. it makes the interior look a lot better when the buttons are good I did them in the '99 I will check junkyards but every Ranger I've ever looked at for sale (and both mine) the buttons were worn out questions: what buttons will work w/ 97? I do not want to pay $245 or $625 for Ford OEM buttons. I was told for '97 maybe 100 so that's a lot different than 20 (for the '99) are the buttons supposed to light up when the headlights/dash lights are on? or is that something I made up in my head as a nice-to-have View attachment 84597 Click to expand...

1990RangerinSK said: Ford used the same steering wheel from 1995-1999 on the Taurus/Sable, with the same Cruise buttons. If I were you, I'd check with the wrecker, and ask them to cross reference the part number (of the entire unit) with other Ford models. Maybe buttons from a '97 Taurus are the same. Click to expand...

97RangerXLT said: lol I already done that. trust me, the 97 is different. one less pin different on the electronics board. I compared the two myself. but yeah, the steering wheel and buttons didn;'t change at all looks wise from 95 - 2003 or 4 I believe. AJ Click to expand...

Steering Wheel Cruise Control Switch Fits Fitsd F150 Explorer Sport Trac Ranger | eBay If you go to this and put in 1997 Ford Ranger XLT 4.0L it says they have them And it shows cross-ref it looks maybe ok BUT when I asked if they had backlighting they said no which they definitely should have unless there is an error in my manual it shows pins both sides for backlighting. so I can take a chance they work, which isn't a huge chance at $20, and live without backlighting (not my preference) or keep looking. I think I will talk to junkyard today see if they can come up with anything decent. Meanwhile if anyone locates the actual real part let me know.  

i don't think any ford i ever had had backlighting on the steering wheel buttons. even the 2014, 2015, and 2018 ford escapes. even my 2017 titan and the wife's 2018 mazda3 don't have it so i am pretty sure the older trucks don't have it  

superj said: i don't think any ford i ever had had backlighting on the steering wheel buttons. even the 2014, 2015, and 2018 ford escapes. even my 2017 titan and the wife's 2018 mazda3 don't have it so i am pretty sure the older trucks don't have it Click to expand...

Well, I'm going by the manual. As we know there are some errors in the manual, this could be one of them, but I kind of don't think so. It would make sense to have them backlit. On my 99 I just put in the $20 buttons and they work fine... no backlighting... of course at that time I only conjectured it would be nice to have it, versus now the manual telling me so for the 97. I know you'd think maybe you wouldn't see it on an old truck, but, why not, it's just an LED I imagine. Really leaving age aside the 97 has power everything and very nice, so no reason they wouldn't have done it. Anyone with a manual, look up the buttons, it should give pin-out. I'm thinking they just don't do it in the replacements because they want to make them cheap. When I ever get a replacement and have the buttons out I'll open them up and look... assuming they are original which they probably are. Can't really take the buttons out without having replacements on hand, the horn wiring goes though there too, horn might not work with them out, might throw errors too who knows.  

Update, just to put this to bed YES they have backlighting my right button it is clearly visiblly lit, left has black tape over it so naturally you can't see it. 97 had some things you didn't get on later XLT for instance skid plates you had to get a diff model or get B4 4x4 to get those. Afaik. Off topic - skids might have been an option on later xLT, pretty sure they were standard in 97 for this model.  

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Tight Trails, Garages, and Budgets: The 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor Can Tackle Them All

T he Mojave Desert is crisscrossed with lonely two-track trails that lead to old mines, primitive camping sites, and little-known points of interest. We wandered down one such track in a 2024 Ranger Raptor in search of a memorial to the crew of a crashed YB-49—an early flying-wing precursor to the B-2 bomber—that went down in 1948. The co-pilot on that fateful day was Captain Glen Edwards, and today the nearby Edwards Air Force Base bears his name. The narrow trail we were following hugged the rough contours of the land and wound between scraggly creosote bushes as we made our way uncertainly toward ground zero. We were certain of one thing, however: This path was no place for an F-150 Raptor .

As much as we love the Ford F-150 Raptor and its undeniable off-road prowess, we've always thought that it's too damn big and wide for such trails. It is legally required to have commercial truck clearance lights, for crying out loud. Most two-track trails, on the other hand, were blazed by narrower machines—like Jeep CJs. They're not wide, in other words, and the only pruning the vegetation gets comes from the occasional passage of more Jeeps, Toyota 4Runners and, increasingly, compact off-road pickups. "Trail striping" is a common F-150 Raptor hazard, but the Ranger Raptor is rightsized to combat this existential peril to resale value.

Don't get us wrong. The Ranger Raptor is still a wide-stance off-road pickup in the Raptor mold—0.1 inch narrower than a regular F-150, at least out at the fenders. But it's built up from the new 2024 Ford Ranger , a compact truck that's just 75.5 inches wide. Sure, the Ranger Raptor is 4.3 inches broader largely because its long-travel suspension sets its tires 3.5 inches farther apart, but the junior Raptor is still 6.8 inches narrower than its big brother. That buys you a lot of maneuvering space between woody shrubs and allows a driver more freedom to choose a line on tricky trails that lack vegetation. Even if you never go off-road, the above still pays dividends in parking lots and—at nearly two feet shorter and some four inches lower—in your garage.

The Ranger Raptor gets its motivation from the same 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 that powers the Bronco Raptor. Because of its longer exhaust piping, the Ranger Raptor makes 405 horsepower and 430 pound-feet instead of 418 horsepower and 440 pound-feet. That's nothing to fret over, because the Ranger Raptor's 5372-pound curb weight is 392 pounds lighter than a Bronco Raptor we tested . All of this shows up clearly at the track, where the Ranger Raptor gets to 60 mph in 5.3 seconds, finishes the quarter-mile in 14.1 seconds at 97 mph, and romps from 50 to 70 mph in 3.9 seconds. The Bronco lags in all three measures. The Ranger Raptor is only a tenth slower to 60 mph than the F-150 version , but it executes the 50-to-70-mph pass a tenth quicker. In the contest that really matters, the Ranger Raptor's 5.3-second romp to 60 mph destroys the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2's 6.8-second effort , which it rightly should with 95 extra ponies.

Underneath, the Raptor's 3.5-inch front track increase comes primarily from longer forged aluminum upper and lower control arms. Its fortified steering rack is a bespoke piece instead of a carryover from the regular Ranger, with longer tie rods. Damping comes from 2.5-inch Fox Live-valve shocks with variable compression damping, and there's a front anti-roll bar. In back, the axle tube is 3.5 inches broader, fortified by trusswork, and located by four trailing links. Lateral control comes from a Watt's link instead of the usual Panhard bar, a more expensive approach that provides greater cornering stiffness and symmetrical roll behavior. The springs are coil-overs surrounding Fox shocks, but there's no rear anti-roll bar.

On the road, the Raptor delivers a settled ride that sometimes borders on supple. Cracked surfaces can get the big 33-inch BFGoodrich KO3s a-thumpin', but it's never the dominant theme. The Ranger Raptor even steers more assuredly than the regular model, on account of a sportier effort tune. It bends nicely into turns, too, but only up to a point. If you push hard, the square-shouldered off-road tires will balk. They only manage 0.69 g on the skidpad, with abundant understeer at the limit. Same is true of the brakes, which feel capable in daily use but only manage 70-mph panic stops in a woeful 218 feet when passed through the KO3 filter. It's all typical Raptor stuff that's common to its Bronco and F-150 relations, though. Drive accordingly.

The assembled parts work supremely well at speed in the desert. Once we got to the monument and paid our respects, our route back was the same way we came in. We knew what to expect and where to turn, so we hammered it. The Raptor's suspension and tires dug in, and its tidy dimensions allowed us to flick it between outstretched creosote limbs with nary a scratch. Dips, crests, and drainages we'd barely noticed on the tentative drive in felt like an off-road course at triple the speed, and the Raptor's 10 inches of front and rear suspension travel soaked it all up greedily. It's clear that the Ranger Raptor is most definitely a rightsized machine that's scaled perfectly for this environment, and it has the suspension to match.

Earlier, we'd driven it slowly on rockier trails that were more technical. This gave us a chance to sort through the various driving modes, which are accessed through a rotary knob shared with the regular Ranger, but with three extra modes: Off-Road, Baja, and Rock Crawl. Inside its perimeter there are five buttons instead of the Ranger's four. 2H, 4H, 4L (high and low range), and a central trailer tow button are here, but the Raptor alone has a 4A mode that automatically shifts into four-wheel drive in response to traction conditions.

Selecting Off-Road brings up 4H as the initial default, and Rock Crawl automatically goes for 4L. Baja starts in 4H (and switches off the stability and traction control), but you can run it in 2H or 4L. The electronically locking rear differential comes on automatically when you select Off-Road or Rock Crawl (unlocking it is a driver action), but you select it manually in Baja. Frankly, we think it should behave this way in all three modes, because locking any differential should be a conscious decision you make at need. Meanwhile, the front locker is only selectable in low range in Rock Crawl with the rear diff locked, which is fair enough.

All of these mode changes take little time, with the usual shift to neutral being the only delay going into and out of 4L. We're not crazy about the location of the diff-lock buttons, which only appear on the lower half of the touchscreen after you press the off-road status button next to the rotary knob. Between the virtual front and rear diff lock buttons you'll find the Trail Control button, which, when engaged, is an off-road cruise control that works uphill or down. You use the regular cruise control buttons to set and adjust speed in increments of 1 mph in 4H and 0.5 mph in 4L. It's not a bad system, but manual control is easy enough with the 10-speed automatic, which delivers a 61.59:1 crawl ratio in low range and first gear.

In normal truck terms, the Raptor is packed with all the interior design goodness of the new Ranger, including its dual gloveboxes, Bang & Olufsen sound system, and 12.4-inch vertical touchscreen. The Raptor seats are comfy and hold tight, and it's generally a pleasant place to while away the miles—if a bit monochromatic in the Raptor's all-black-with-red-accents theme. The five-foot bed behind the crew cab is similarly able to carry four-foot plywood and drywall panels flat on the deck, and the bed comes replete with 110- and 12-volt outlets, under-rail lighting, and numerous attachment points for various factory and aftermarket add-ons. The only thing missing is the optional bed step from the regular Ranger, which had to be omitted because the Raptor's dual exhausts run through the mounting space.

What does it cost for all of this? The starting price is $57,065. Yes, a ZR2 costs less to start, but there are several options you'd need to add to match equipment, and you'd never get as nice an interior or the extra 95 horsepower. Meanwhile, the essentially loaded Raptor offers few options. Beadlock-capable wheels ($1495) are one that our test truck didn't have, but ours did have the always dubious Raptor graphics ($750), a spray-in bedliner ($495), and the Securicode keyless entry keypad ($95) for a total of $58,405. Apart from a couple of extra-cost colors, which does not apply to our truck's Shelter Green Metallic hue, that's about it apart from the regionally appealing block heater and front license plate bracket.

In short, the Ranger Raptor is the most trail-worthy member of the Raptor family because of its rightsized dimensions. It's much more likely to be bought by off-road types who never gave the big Raptor a serious look. It's also the most affordable by a wide margin, so there's strong appeal on the budget front. And it's as quick as any other Raptor, except for the F-150's V-8-powered R model. Anyone want to buy a slightly used 4Runner?

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