ive driven a 4.7 dakota crew cab and the power it has is awesome, a V8 with 288 cid that has plenty of go and can still get 20 mpg. cryslers track record of failing automatic transmissions are what scare me away from them. they had a front ball-joint problem not to long ago also. im thinking of getting a van the next time i need to replace a vehicle, ive got a box trailer now and as much as truck plates have gone up, im not so sure its worth it to own a pickup anymore. but i do plan to run my 15 y/o ranger into the ground first.

 

ok guys your not being fair i look at it this way i will drive it if i have to but as long as its not a honda i dont give a fart i love my ranger i wont trade it for almost anything i have had S-10s too its easyer to do a body lift on a 10 you dont need the steering parts i bolts right up rangers cost a litter more to body lift but after the ranger went to non ttb it cost alot to lift ether but like i said dont hate the chevys hate the hondas

 

My '94 S-10 that I sold to get my Ranger now has 180,000 miles on it and would smoke my Ranger all day long. I am very disappointed in Ford. I bought a Ranger cause I wanted a V-6 and Chevy dropped them in the small trucks. Did I make a mistake.
I have had Colorado/Canyon owners tell me they love their I-5 engines and love their trucks.
Once it all pans out I will be going back to Chevy.
Ford might as well drop the Ranger since they haven't updated it in at least 12 years.
Lucky for me I got a really good price on the Ranger when I bought it.

 

I miss my ranger
:(

 

i will say that the 4.3 g.m. beats the pants off the ford 4.0 hands down. the 700R4 trans is also miles ahead of any ford O/D auto trans available with the small V6's. if i had to re-power, id be real tempted to go with a 4.3/700R4 combo (since the cummins 4BT would be tons more work than money, even if it would be the ultimate power plant) ive always been of the opinion that chevy motors were easier to work on, but the fords didnt need as much work nearly as often. reliability wise, ive not had alot of major trouble with either, just small irritating stuff. only motor i ever blew was a 2.3 tempo that rattled like a diesel the whole 3 months i had it, even when it tossed a rod (and took out the one next to it) it kept running on 2 cylinders and got me to the next parking lot.

 

I've really hated the S-10 since I saw the lack of quality out of them. I have a buddy who had a 96 SDime and while it was a nice looking truck and one I'd have bought at the time, it blew up on him at 96,000 miles. He had it up hunting and it spun a crank bearing on him while in the backwoods of Colorado. Long story short, he's driving a 2001 Ranger currently.