Ford Ranger P/U

[jyl]

Random Q

How long lived are older Ford Ranger pickups? Best years, engines, models?

[stevej37]

Avoid the 2004-2006 with the V6 engine.
That engine had the exhaust valve seat recession. A costly fix. I had one and sold it for a very low price instead of fixing it. (Mine didn't start showing the problem until the 110K mark)
Otherwise, it was a great truck. It was a 5 speed with the off-road package.

[john70t]

Rust is always #1

https://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Ranger/

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by john70t

Rust is always #1

https://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Ranger/

There’s a common theme on that site, >2012 means low quality.

[id10t]

My 93 was having fuse block electrical issues before it died

[rfuerst911sc]

Drop a 5.0 in and good to go 😀

[Steve Carlton]

Why a Ranger? I'm sure a lot of them are fine, but Toyotas are the gold standard (for the most part). Toyotas too expensive, relatively?

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Why a Ranger? When I needed a mouth full of crowns I was to re-frame my dentist’s 01 Ranger but quickly found the entire truck was one speed bump away from collapsing into a pile of rust. One front a-arm was held to the frame by the miracle of friction.

So we junked that and I bought him an 01 Tacoma which also rust but I found him one with a new frame and then “restored” it cosmetically and mechanically. It’s worth at least $10k today. Fun little truck with a manual. Something to consider.

[jyl]

I noticed you can buy 150K mile 2WD Rangers for $2000. That’s not much to have a beater pickup for home reno and gardening projects.

[Pazuzu]

When I went shopping 4 years ago, Rangers were on my radar because I couldn't afford a used Taco.

Then I came across my Nissan Frontier. 2011 generation.

HEAD AND SHOULDERS over the equivalent Ranger. Just a spectacular truck, and one that I never gave any thought to, and never gave any credit to. I have a manual 4-banger and it's been indestructible, and one of the easiest vehicles I've ever driven. 45K miles in 4 years, 205k miles total now.

[recycled sixtie]

My 2008 Ford Ranger regular cab has been great. Bought just before the covid era. 71 k miles on it. Base model, 4cylinder, manual trans., and no a/c. 30 mpg per imperial gallon.

Only rust is on the bottom of the tailgate. The regular cab is not for a tall driver. It was a lot cheaper to buy than a similar age Toyota and had lower miles.

The length of the truck bed accomodates my bike, or snowblower or mower or a load of yard waste. It even has a sticker on it "Built in the Twin Cities".

Cheers, Guy.

[Bob Kontak]

2001 or so forward had the single overhead cam 4.0L six cylinder. One cam per bank. The engine (timing) is hard to repair.

The plastic timing chain assembly parts are old for the early 2000's Rangers. They get brittle and disintegrate. Just change it out you say? It has four timing chains and the engine is poorly marked for timing the components. Taking the harmonic balancer off is like no other engine I'm aware of. You need the special container full of tool jigs to get all into alignment. You have to pull the engine to do it unless you pull the transmission. You need to pull the jack shaft which sits where the old OHV cam sat to replace the rear timing chain and sprocket.

Horrid job for an every day run-a-bout pickup. Runs like a top now but damn.