My first ranger
 

Hello everyone. Long time reader, first time poster.

I'm looking to buy my first Ranger. Actually my first Ford ever. I just got married so I sold my 2012 Silverado z71 and bought her a 2010 Malibu. Now I need a truck, but I'm on a budget and its somewhat hard to find a decent 1/2 ton for under $10k. So that has lead me to the realm of smaller pickups. And let's face it, there are no decent looking small, domestic, pickups that look good to me besides the Ranger.

So I want a:

2003+ Ford Ranger 4.0 SOHC, 5 speed manual, w/ 4x4

I won't be doing any serious offroading, just driving back and forth to work, quite a bit of hunting in the fall, etc.

Would this be a solid reliable choice?

Can I trust the electronic transfer case?

Should I be scared to buy something with 150,000 miles?

What major maintenance should be done past 100,000 miles?

This pretty much sums up my concerns! Thanks in advance!

Just me… but I really like and have liked a number of, Ranger over the years and would buy a new one BUT as we all know there will be no new Rangers for some time to come. (Ford has too many F150s and Sport Tracs to sell before they bring in the World Class Ranger that looks like a Car… !

Anyway, I do believe you would have a great truck for hunting as long as you don’t get into any heavy duty off road trails, light stuff OK, mud OK but keep it simple.

Add ons might include either a switchable locker or a spider gear replacement locker. Switchable's are nice but expensive but there have better on-road manners than a fully locked rear end which can cause excessive sideway movement on wet pavement.

Good Luck on the search, any Ford will be better than the Chebby, lol - IMHO, but the Ranger will be a good truck and with proper maintenance will last a long time and give you great service.

I do not have any offroading hobbies. The most offroading I will do is drive down drifted in gravel roads with 2 foot high snow drifts, etc. I may also drive through some fields. That's about it. I'm more concerned with reliability. I'm not worried about abusing it. I'm not one to test the short term ability of my vehicles. :)

However, I will most likely level out the truck (raise front end) and put on some 31's.

OK on the use but remember the posi in the rear or a good switchable locker will come in handy in those fields, especially in the spring or winter thaw and things get muddy.
Standard open diff $ucks to say the least.