I am, like most people, controlled by the mighty Algorithm. No matter how strong I think my willpower is, the algorithm always seems to know just the right thing to show me in order to keep me scrolling a little bit longer. Often, what the algorithm is showing me is a 2nd or 3rd generation Ford Ranger paired with the sound of a man excitedly screaming about the truck over a Eurotrash beat.
That man is Logan Belak and he, inadvertently, created a meme that is somehow both loudly profane and quietly wholesome. This is a man who simply loves the Ford Ranger so much that the mere sight of one elicits a kind of unadulterated joy inside his being — a joy that many of us lose touch with when we become actual adults.
It’s such a pure appreciation that it’s become the digital version of infectious, launching thousands of viral memes seen by tens of millions of people across various platforms.
The Ford Fuckin’ Ranger Is Eternal
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Maybe the greatest thing about English, the writer Bill Bryson once noted, is its flexibility. You can make English your own and even our swear words can have a million meanings. The F-word, in particular, is a verb, noun, adjective, adverb, gerund, or whatever you want it to be. It can be extremely offensive or, in this case, almost reverential.
The 10 million+ viewed Instagram reel above, from 2023, was the first time I’d heard Belak’s voice. I didn’t know who he was or what I was looking at, other than the video of a third-generation Ranger towing an absolutely obscene amount of cardboard and captioned “Egend says no one knows the actual towing capacity of a ford ranger, because no one has ever found a load too heavy for one to pull!”
The truck was great, but it was the voice that captured me. Screamed over a simple beat, the lyrics were simple enough to be unforgettable:
“I know this truck,
I ain’t no stranger.
I know that truck,
that’s a Ford Fuckin’ Ranger!”
I quickly shared it with friends and moved on with my day. Sensing that perhaps the appreciation of Rangers was something I felt deep in my soul, the next time I logged into Instagram the algorythm started showing more videos. Some had the song. Others merely had the same voice exhorting other people to notice there’s a Ford Ranger doing something incredible.
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It doesn’t matter if it’s a lifted off-roader or a freakin’ Ranger dragster, they’re all Ford Fuckin’ Rangers.
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There are thousands of videos like this on Instagram, and even more probably on TikTok:
@morgan_b8 That’s A Ford Fucking Ranger! #TAFFR #Ford #Dangerranger #Gangster
The voice is usually swearing while also trying to make any Ranger owner feel great about not having the biggest truck. Here’s a compilation if you want to spend ten minutes watching Rangers being awesome:
After consuming, I don’t know, 19 million of these reels and TikToks, I decided I had to find the original voice. Who was that siren calling me to buy a Ford Fuckin’ Ranger or, at least, to take a moment to appreciate it?
Meet Logan, The Internet’s Bard Of Cheap Trucks
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“Ford Rangers are just great beater trucks, but [they] also can be great pre-runner trucks, work trucks, low rider trucks, or even just a stance truck,” Belak explained to me.
The genesis of Belak’s admiration came from a friend who would drive him home from his graveyard shift at McDonald’s. It was impossible for Belak to ignore the incredible and simple beast that was the Ranger.
Soon after, he started posting his little Ranger missives to Snapchat and then, later, to TikTok and Instagram, where they went viral.
“It feels weird but mainly because I’m not used to this much attention, especially when people see me in public and recognize me and quote me or take pictures with me. It’s like being a celebrity without the money sadly,” observes Belak. “But it also makes me feel good inside knowing I’m doing what I love and that is making people laugh.”
Some of his personal videos are a riot, including his take on the ASMR luxury car videos that gained notoriety a couple of years ago:
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Part of the fun of all of this is that Belak’s acknowledgment that these are mostly beater trucks now. They’re not brand-new six-figure Raptors. They’re just honest, as Belak knows from experience.
“I’ve owned two Rangers and the first one caught fire and [I] watched it burn in front of me, sadly. I just recently sold my 1988 Ranger XLT to pay some debt due to me being told my company is selling so [I] no longer needed my truck.”
His current stable includes a 2006 Mustang GT, a heavily modified 2014 Hyundai Equus, and another great beater truck: a 1994 Mitsubishi Mighty Max he uses for work.
One of my biggest curiosities was the song. How did such an inspired tune appear?
“The song came together from me just vibin’ at work and [I] heard a beat and threw a little Ranger jingle in the beat and it just caught on,” says Belak.
With his permission, his buddy DJ McNaughty also made his own version:
I asked if there would be a single coming to Spotify anytime soon, and Belak explained that his original version hasn’t been finalized yet. Maybe one of these days the world will get the song and music video we all deserve, although it seems like someone makes a new video with the tune every day.
My most important question, and the one on the minds of many Ranger fans on the Internet, was whether or not only the first three generations of Ranger count as Ford Fuckin’ Rangers. The new ones are now nicer, bigger, and more expensive. In some ways, the Maverick has replaced the Ranger as a low-end beater truck.
“[To] me personally, any Ranger is worth rangerin’ long as you’re enjoying your ride. That’s all that matters.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
My old department had just one remaining ’07 ranger 4.0 4×4 as an external security truck. The rest of them were all 2012 and newer tacos. The Power Ranger as we called it was the only one that was guaranteed to always work even though it was well over 100k past the state’s surplus mileage limit so it should have been sold long ago. The thing was just unstoppable for what we needed it for, and was way quicker than the tacos for our fence alarm response times. Also the tacos’ transmissions and electronics failed so often that we would frequently have the Power Ranger and the watch commander’s crappy impala doing the job because so many were down at once that the backup two still weren’t enough. Out of 10 tacos we’d often have 4 or more that had crapped out. Don’t get me wrong, for an average joe/jane a taco is a fantastic truck, they’re just not so great being run at idle or wot for 24/7 with no breaks for several years, the ranger could do it, but it was of a different era.
I bought a 1992 Toyota XtraCab V6, but my brother had a 10-year-older 4 banger Toyota, and it was more fun to drive than mine. And despite his trying to kill it with basic maintenance neglect out of boredom, it refused to die. Not unlike the Top Gear saga.
My Toyota replaced an ’83 Nissan/Datsun that was also more fun to drive than the ’92 Toyota. All manuals. But the sticks in the two older ones felt so much better.
A few years ago, I got to drive a friend’s old Ranger (vintage I don’t recall), as it was about to enter hospice. The speedo and odo didn’t work anymore, so I have no idea how many miles it had on it (nor did my friend) but it was such an honest piece of machinery. If it was a Shitbox Showdown, I’d take my brother’s Toyota over the Ranger, but I’d be okay either way. And the Nissan/Datsun was perfectly acceptable as well. I never had an S-10 experience. But GM interiors on stuff like that was so horrible, I didn’t even want to try.
I miss that aspect of things these days, but I also like how my chances of surviving someone hitting me are far higher now than they were then.
With age, wisdom and caution have taken over more brain space than they used to.
I think this guy might have redefined “F-Series”.
FOMOCO should gift this guy a Ford Fuckin’ Ranger. Maybe an old one.
My wife calls our 2002 step side the “ rumpranger”.
I asked her where she got the name ,she said” It just flowed like diarrhea “
We bought it used around 6 years ago as a beater and it’s still alive.
18 mpg with the 4.0 auto.its great as we don’t worry about dents or scratches and you can reach in the bed without a stepladder.
Plus it’s got manual windows,is there any car or truck now that can be bought with rollup windows?