Ranger

The folding down is useless to me, they sit up high and take up too much room. Also shit slides around on top of them. I put a dog hammock back there, toss the dog in and put stuff that I don’t want people to see underneath it. Works way better. Same for tools, the hammock keeps them from messing up the seats.

 

Well, it didn't bother me too much as it was a work truck and I didn't pay for it... Although it did leave me stranded.
It was an 05', but since new models always come out early, it's a good possibility it was an 04' with still 04' stuff in it.
Hell, who knows. All I know was it just went 'KA-BLOOIE' on day.
I do remember though, at the time, I was the 'Maint. Sup' for a very small town and we needed a new(er) truck. The mayor asked me what we 'needed' .. I told him ... And then he & town council decided to buy exactly what we didn't need. Because nobody ever listens to the guy that actually has to use the equipment. But I did get to rub the mayors nose in it every chance I got .. 'You didn't listen to me..'

 

No kidding ... When I see the TV commercials with Ford bragging about '10 Speed Tranny' ... All that says to me is:
A: WHO needs a 10 speed tranny?? ..
B: That just sounds like the perfect recipe for shit to go horribly wrong ...

 

Who needs a 6 speed? 4 speed was doing fine. Hell even 3 speed was cutting it.

 

Imagine all the complaining on TW if the 3rd gen had 10 speed tranny haha!

 

I had a 84 datsun stanza with 3 spd, did just fine. It had power windows and AC to boot!

 

LOL! ... Had a 66' Dodge

$60 A-100 HitchHammer Bumper Guard (HitchHammer 11.5" Wide)

A-100 van with 'three on the tree' and yeah, I used to think 'Who needs more than three gears? Simplicity at it finest!' LOL! (It never broke either, so there's that too..)
Also had a 72' Datsun PU truck with a 1600 in it ... Pretty gutless, but overall a good solid mini truck. Had a 5-speed MT.. Anyway, the time came it needed a new clutch ... And I found out that a 6 speed from a 240Z would bolt right up.. So being as I was tearing everything apart anyway, I thought 'Why not?' This is one of the few cases where swapping trannies was beneficial. Gears 1 and 2 were geared a bit lower and 6th gear was geared higher over the already over 1:1 ratio of the stock tranny that came with it.
So it was a win-win all around.

 

No kidding, right? I already see the complaining about the six-speed 'Can't figure out what gear to be in' stuff ...
A 10 speed? Talk about throwing gas on the fire, right?

 

No dog. Crates of forestry equipment, chain oil, chain saw in a leakproof carry bag, clippers, tagging tape, hand saws, measuring calipers, DBH tapes, vertical height sight glass, etc. plus access to the storage spaces behind the seats for ropes, bungees, air compressor, jumper cables, medical kit and more utility tools all with easy access and easily locked up. Can't leave that stuff in the bed because people come along and steal stuff outta the bed if left unattended.
Seat stays clean for people. Everybody's different, everybody has different requirements. YMMV.

 

Yep haha!

I would think 10 spd would be less reliable as well, so much more moving parts.

 

8 days? What did you hate most about it?

 

Awesome man! I wish i was old enough to drive all these great simple machines, never drove 3 on a tree. Im 32 so my oldest vehicle was that 84 datsun.
I love those hardbody datsun/nissan trucks. I see restored ones driving around here and man they are beautiful.

My first vehicle was 1999 mazda b2200 5spd and i loved that thing. Even bought it with my own money while i was in highschool haha. Then a bought a POS 87 5spd camaro and i thought i was so cool... Biggest piece of garbage lemon ive owned, wasted all my money on it.

 

Yeah, back in the day ... Things were pretty simple as compared to now. There wasn't anything you couldn't fix yourself without a couple of years in high school Auto Shop, or 'Helping the ol' man' when he worked on his rig.
I really miss my ol' 66' van (Really wished I still had it..) .. It was simplicity. Basically a big shoe-box on a go-kart frame .. LOL!
I do like all the fancy new stuff on new(er) rigs, but I also don't like that, for the most part, unless it basic stuff .. Like oil/filter changes or new brake pads or such ... You have to take it somewhere and have it plugged into a computer, where hopefully you find out what the problem is and pray it's not gonna cost you $400.00 to have some sensor replaced.
Such is the cost for living in The Space Age .. LOL!

 

yeah but they use it in a ton of stuff, so does GM, its not like older transmissions with 3-4 gears weren’t shitty either.

my biggest beef with the ranger is the front looks like a 1990s taurus and the ass end is way too high in the air.

 

What if Toyota puts a turbo in the 2.7??

 

That thing looks very cool!

The new fancy stuff is nice, but it comes at a price. Give me 3 pedals, some power windows and im good to go

 

For starters I hated how the front sat so much lower. Granted I knew that before I bought it but it just didn’t have the aggressive stance/look the Tacoma does. Then the give on the steering was horrible. And the brakes were just terrible. Almost like you had to put your foot through the floorboard to get it to stop. I don’t know. Just hated it.

 

They should’ve done that already.

 

The ridgeline has an excellent back seat area. Seat backs fold up leaving the same space as the Tacoma except that it's clear all the way to the FLAT floor. The RL has a ton of storage possibilities.

There is a ton of space behind the front seats with the back seats raised.

 

Toyota, ford, etc are the ones that need those transmissions to meet fuel efficiency requirements and be more competitive in that area. Auto companies aren't adding gears because they want to keep the trucks engine in the power band for better acceleration, they want to keep it in the rpm range that is most efficient. If they figure out how to make a cvt that is strong enough, reliable and able to tow, they will put those in the trucks, too.