Thinking of getting a Ford Ranger. Advice, Experiences, and Opinions welcome.

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

He can only not do 80 because oh that rear end. I run mine up to 85-90 regurally on i-75. It also handles high speed well for 30" A/T tires.
As far as that truck, the 5.0 rear end is not daily driving friendly. If you got that I would put at 4.10 in it and still have limited slip. I would also get it regoverned to get up going faster. The price is right though for 4wd. Is it shift on the fly auto locking or vacume locking hubs?

As far as peppyness. There isnt much for these trucks performance wise. Gibson makes exause for it (and that is about it). K&N makes a $240 intake for it that gains like 5hp. There is a chip for it but it has to be soldered into the ECU (which is why I am hesitant to do it) and only gives you 30hp but sapposeable offers better fule controll so you get better mileage unless you keep it to the floor during acceleration. Then there are a few Throttle Body spaces. Past that there is nothing for the 3.0l that isnt going to cost a shit ton and be completely custom.

There isnt much suspnesion wise either. Because it is torsion front end (on the 2wd anyway) lifting it isnt the easiest thing to do (correctly).

OT where you from? i live near a shitty lake off of I-75

my first car was an 89 ranger. 2.3L 4 cylinder automatic. had some good times in that truck

 

[AT@T tech 10+ year member]

what kind of tacoma do you want? a 4 cylinder or 6? a friend of mine recently got a 2003 extended cab for 10900 from a dealership. i would advise to save up and get anything other than a ford. I had two fords and had nothing but problems out of them.

 

[PollyCranopolis 10+ year member]

what kind of tacoma do you want? a 4 cylinder or 6? a friend of mine recently got a 2003 extended cab for 10900 from a dealership. i would advise to save up and get anything other than a ford. I had two fords and had nothing but problems out of them.

As far as a Tacoma goes, I really don't mind wetther it be a 2.7 4, or 6cylinder. Must be 5spd, ext cab, under 75k, clean and $10,500 or under.

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

if you have cash in hand, im sure the dealership will be willing to work with you on the price of the vehicle

 

[CBFryman2 5,000+ posts]

OT where you from? i live near a shitty lake off of I-75
my first car was an 89 ranger. 2.3L 4 cylinder automatic. had some good times in that truck

I live in Florida...in a shitty town called Lake City. Right where I-75 and I-10 meet. Im a good drive from you though. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[CBFryman2 5,000+ posts]

Spoke to my buddy who said the gear ratio is the same as stock, only thing gained was posi. It's shift on fly. What do you mean by re-governed? I think it's got 27's on it now. Meaty and stubby as hell. New Jasper ****** in it BTW with 5k or so on it. Was running from his GF one night and pulled from his yard to the pavement while spinning. As soon as the tires hit the blacktop lip, he tore that sucker out. Back tires seized up. ****** was installed by Ford, so it was profesionally done, and was covered under warranty.

3.73 or 4.10? Either way he should not be goverend to 80....unless that is something gay with the 4wd's. 2wd's are governed to 96...Ive hit that on more than one occasion.

Oh yeah. Here is my truck.

Last one is me trying to chase down a BMW and a Mercedes Kompressor playing. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

One last pic for fun.

 

[PollyCranopolis 10+ year member]

3.73 or 4.10? Either way he should not be goverend to 80....unless that is something gay with the 4wd's. 2wd's are governed to 96...Ive hit that on more than one occasion.
Oh yeah. Here is my truck.

One last pic for fun.

What size engine you got in that thing? I'll post pics of the truck im looking at in about an hour..

 

[saywhat? 5,000+ posts]

actually...rangers have never had torsion bars. They have I-beam suspensions. From 67-98 they all had I-beam suspensions. 98+ ford finally went to coils.

 

[CBFryman2 5,000+ posts]

Would you like me to go out and take a picture of the bottom of my truck?

And it is a mazda B3000, so it has the 3.0l Flexi Fule v6. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[CBFryman2 5,000+ posts]

http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-Ford_2000_Ford_Ranger~r-1~CLT-INTR~RFR-www.google.com

I dont even have to.

 

[zthumper 10+ year member]

3.73 or 4.10? Either way he should not be goverend to 80....unless that is something gay with the 4wd's. 2wd's are governed to 96...Ive hit that on more than one occasion.

I have had my '99 3.0 liter 4x4 going 101mph......it stopped at like 98 but i went down a hill so i hit 101. I thought it was pretty sweet, but then i rode in my friends car that went 160:crap:

 

[saywhat? 5,000+ posts]

Would you like me to go out and take a picture of the bottom of my truck?
And it is a mazda B3000, so it has the 3.0l Flexi Fule v6. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

i stand corrected. but i do not believe its like the mid 80's mazda suspension....could be wrong again......but ohwell.

there still a ***** to do anything with suspension wise.

 

[PollyCranopolis 10+ year member]

Heres pics of the truck I was considering that I mentioned earlier.

2000, xlt, 67k, 3.0, 5spd, $8k

 

[MTXman 10+ year member]

Nice tires, and license plate number //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[CBFryman2 5,000+ posts]

That is a nice looking truck

i stand corrected. but i do not believe its like the mid 80's mazda suspension....could be wrong again......but ohwell.

there still a ***** to do anything with suspension wise.

The B-series didnt become a rebadged ranger untill the mid 90's I do beleive. Im not 100% sure on that though. Anyway, suspension work isnt easy either way (as you said).

Torsions can be cranked up for an extra 5" easy...but then you really **** up the camber of your tires. This makes for bad wear patterns and terrible handleing. Lifting the rear is easy though as it uses leaf suspension like every other truck on the market and the drive shaft angle isnt uber sensetive. However, lifted trucks look better bull dogging IMO.