Toying with the idea of getting a Ford ranger

I had a 98 Ranger and it was dollar for dollar the biggest POS I've ever owned. It was at a mechanic more than in my driveway. The vacuum-actuated 4WD was absolute SHIT and never worked right. Had a laundry list of other problems that I don't even feel like listing right now.

 

Just saw this and it made me think of this thread.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRtD_rDimHk&feature=related

 

Hahaha...Rick that licked a dick.

 

I had a 93 ranger I finley just gave it away. 270,000 mi and all I ever did to it is a new thermostat. I ran the dog crap out of it! I ever sunk it in a mud hole one time. Had water in the motor and tranny. I just could not kill it.

 

A ranger? Really?

 

Ranger hasnt changed in ten years. Its out dated ugly and gets gas mileage like a hummer. You couldnt give me one of these trucks and I was a ford man for over 20 years. I hope your just toying with the Idea. I got a new f150 for work it has a powerful v6 but one week later the u joints are making loud banging noises and the drivers window is already not coming down at times. Good luck. Ford has let the ranger go, last thing you want is a truck that you cant get parts for.

 

Surprisingly we have ford rangers for the city I work for and Its the same BS with them trucks. If its not the transmission it's the clutch or the damn a/c not working. Hate driving them $hits,especially after it rains. Fuken belt and tensioner pulley squeak like a mother.

 

In my 2002 Ranger I was getting 10 mpg at best. The brakes on it sucked, I had them done about three times in under a year (once the whole caliper even came OFF the disc). It was a piece of ass. Not the good kind, on a Friday night, with her hot friend involved... like the kind that you hear shitting behind you in the handicapped stall in the bathroom.

 

I've had a few for company trucks. Most recent was an 04 3.0V6 automatic. It was a comfortable, good driving truck. A little short on power, but it was the small V6.

Stuff that went wrong: Camshaft syncronizer and rear main seal leak at around 80K. Also had the valve body in the trans recalled when brand new. One of the other guys had the exact same truck (boss bought two at the same time). His dropped a valve seat at around 30K.

Keep in mind that in 04 they had recently updated the 3.0 to aluminum heads.

Edit: I believe the auto trans was changed around that time too, so makes sense it was recalled. Also note that both of us drove these trucks extremely hard. The company I was worked for treated us like ugly redheaded stepchildren. We treated the trucks the same!

It's been so long since Ford did anything to the Ranger, it ought to pretty much have the bugs worked out of it.

I actually looked at buying one when I bought the Taco. Bottom line is the Taco just looks sexy in comparison. Ranger looks old and stale.

 

The old ones were awesome, along with old fords in general.

FWIW I have never owned a ranger but I have driven 3 or 4 back when I was truck shopping. One of which was a 1999 single cab V6 4x4, which you would think would be pretty good on power right? Honestly my old 1991 2wd 2.5L GMC sonoma could have smoked that thing and was nicer to drive. After test driving quite a few I finally decided to spend the money and buy a nice truck, soooo glad I did.

 

I just went with a taco because they don't make the ranger in a 4 door and I am so glad I did. I love my taco way better.

 

I drive a company owned ford ranger every day. Just glad I didn't buy it. No power at all. I look forward to weekends. When I get to drive my Taco. Oh and the gas mileage is worst.

 

Rangers are capable trucks, although for some reason they seem to have issues with brakes from time to time, among other things.

They felt a little cheap to me. The engines are dated (the vulcan 3.0 first revision was 1994, the 4.0 OHC came out in 1997 or so). Thirsty as a Tacoma either way, way more so if that rear end is a 4.10. The 5 speed autos are nice, close ratios 1-3. Not as fast as a taco by a longshot. In the CR test report the 4.0 auto 4x4 was slower in the 1/4 mile than the 109 hp Honda Fit. No joke.

However their radios don't turn themselves off...

 

Wow. That means my 4cyl is faster than a v6 ranger. Lolololololololololololololololololololololol holy crap that's slow

 

Thank you everyone for the objective comments I have asked for some quotes from nearby ford dealers, let's see what they can come up with. I plan to drive a Frontier and a Reg cab this weekend too,

 

I had a 97 and 02 Ranger. Both with the 4L V6. No real problems but they were getting up in the mileage. Many trips cross country and up into Canada with a slightly overweight slide in camper. I bought a 2011 AC 4WD V6 automatic Tacoma this time because the ranger is basically the same truck for the past 15 years. The Toyota gets much better mileage. It's a bit larger than the ranger - more like an older F150. I'm 6'6" but if I was a bit shorter the Ranger would have done me fine. The Ranger seems to be listed as carrying more weight. Too bad it's legacy technology. I'm happy with the Toyota.

 

i always thought you were kind of a dick, you confirm it more everyday

 

FX4? I see the Alcoa rims. Pretty good looking truck IMHO.

 

First off i wanna just let you know i've had two Ranger's and i loved them... but the Tacoma is so much better i'd never go back to a Ranger. Idk much about the new Rangers, i had a '99 and a '00, both 4x4 V6. They're great capable trucks but like others have said they just seem cheap inside. And the front end is a torsion bar setup, and the coil over setup on the Tacoma is way better and smoother IMO. If you want a smaller truck get a 1st gen taco!