Was my dad's truck and it was sort of given to me when I went off to college (Thanks again Dad). Needless to say, I shortly there after fell in love with her, as she never broke down even after everything I did to her. It's just a great truck.

 

Got mine cuz it was a hundred bucks and saved me near $300 on insurance. :
Then I found out I can drop a 302 in it...

 

My mom made me. haha

And thanks to all the forum boards, I've been modding it since I was 15.

Brenton

 

jeez maybe thats the ticket, we can convince your mom to tell you to put some fenders and a bed on your truck to save you from ugly truck syndrome.......

 

She wants them on there as much as I do, but I don't feel like paying for stock parts right now. haha

Brenton

 

Turned Sixteen, Found an 88 XLT 2wd Ext cab V6 5spd and drove it cause it was the nicest vehicle I could afford. Sold it To buy my First Buick Roadmaster, and have missed it almost more than any car I've owned. In 2000 I inherited My Cadillac and being a lowly College student I sold My Buick in my Avatar because I couldn't afford two cars I wouldn't drive in the snow. I hated and still don't like 93-00 Rangers (mostly the Front end and the Toyota looking tailights) I bought a 2000 Ford escort ZX2 because I thought I needed a new car. I hated this car! It wasn't me. It was a nice car but it was a chick car. In late 2000 I saw the 01 Edge Ranger in a Dealer magazine at the dealer ship I worked at. The took the ugly out of the ranger and made it look great! I tried to buy one, but I couldn't get Jack on trade for my Escort, so it waited til April of 01 and I walked in and ordered my Brand new 01 Ranger 4X4 XLT ext. cab 4.0 Bright Island blue beauty. I Proceeded to put 70K miles on it in three years. I Liked Rangers ever since.

~HJ

 

My dad bought a 1988 reg. cab short bed 2wd S model the only option it had was a rear step bumper, it was going to be his work truck. the first thing he did to it was put a radio in it then it was all over from there. Next came a bodylift then a Trailmaster 4" lift, 31" BFG A/T's on American racing Outlaw II's. Then for graduation he handed me the keys. The first thing I did was regear the rear end to 4:56, the little 4 cylinder needed some help. then came a new car audio system. The little 4 cylinder did like pushing the 31's and died twice on me, so what was a kid to do 302 it. My dad and I put the 302 in it in a weekend. I blew up the 302 racing a mustang gt, so the ranger got put a side until I traded it for a 1979 Jeep CJ7.

Then in 1994 I bought another Ranger it was a Vibrant red 2wd supercab fully loaded. I painted the front like a splash and added a rollpan. It had a killer sound system in it,MQ Quart seperates, JL Audio Sub, Rockford amps. that system rocked. I sold it to a dealer in OHIO in 1998.

In 2003 I needed to get rid of my Lincoln LS so I went into the Ford dealer and Bought my current Ranger a 2004 level II.

 

Not going to lie. I NEVER wanted a truck. I was so set on a 91 Honda CRX. Couldnt wait to start modding it, but i was offered a job and I needed to buy a truck. Couldnt drive that foreign crap because alot of shos that I deliver to like to see American. So I found my 99 XLT. Fell in love with it the moment I saw it.

 

There was a guy I knew growing up from the time I was 11 to the time I was 14, he was my boss, friend, mentor and confidant, and his sole method of transport was a 1994 Mazda B3000. Great little truck, had so many good memories in it and never gave him any problems. I entertained myself those days by working as a theatrical tech, earning $4/hr under the table to build sets, work lights, ect, and he was the shop foreman. So, growing up building, working carpentry, masonry, electrial stuff (Sets can be friggin elaborate!!! We build one set that had running water and a flushing toilet, just because the director hated the stock flushing sound clips) I was definitly more of a truck guy... Well, driving as came right at the same time my grandmother died, and when it was a tradgety, it was a huge boon for me, as I enherited her 1989 Acclaim. The car was a 4 cylinder with 250,000 miles on it and was her 'winter' car that she drove untill 2001 when she moved here to Texas. She lived in New York with lots of snow and salt, and so it was rusty like hell and barley drove. I had that car for the first 5 months of my 16th year, and then I hit a speedbump and the ******* rear axel fell off. So I started sharing my dad's 2003 Neon with him. I hated both cars... Too small, cramped, underpowered... So finally when I turned 17 my dad and I went looking for a vehicle, and I KNEW I wanted a truck, but at work, a co-worker let me drive his Dodge 3500 to the corner store and parking was a MESS (cars on both sides of me scratched Lucky I worked at a paint shop and they where in for a job anyways ) So I go to a dealer and I see a bright, shiny, SMALL and managable Mazda B3000... It had 38,000 miles, not bad at all for a 1994, and was in perfect shape. I took it for a test drive, and let me tell you, after driving a Dodge 1.nothing liter for 2 years, that 3.0 was HOT I was hooked on the test drive. Plan to drive my Mazda till it dies, then put a 350 in it. When that 350 goes out, I'll be rich and in charge of Poland, and so I'll put a 461 in it.

 

man - do I remember that
you asked so many questions on Gen Edge before you even owned a truck
I remember some off roading pictures in your Nissan - crazy stuff
I think people all around the country finally breathed a sigh of relief when you finally got your own Ranger

 

I drive a Ranger these days mainly for the fuel economy. I have several larger trucks but the Ranger is my every day hauler.

I do remember though when they first came out in 1983, I really didn't think much of them, but as years went on I kept seeing more Rangers with really high milage and even those that were well abused were still on the road. Rangers are easy to work on, have a very strong frame and chassis, parts are affordable, and the body work can take quite a beating as well. The beds on these trucks can take as much abuse as any full sized truck can. You can't say that about the imports.

 

I got mine cause I wanted a 4x4 with a manual trans. So I got the first truck I looked at. Sometimes I wished I would have gotten one that was not so beat up. This person done a real number on it in the 3 years they had it. I really dont like the look of the s10 so I did not go that route. The 4x4 Ranger just looks good with the fender flares and ext cab. 3.0 though. But I am not dissapointed in it. After 112k miles still runs great and no problems.

 

Cause Chevy doesn't put the best V-6 ever built in their small pickups anymore, dumbasses.
Plus my Ranger came with ABS.
I like my Ranger but can not figure out why Ford designed it so I can't see my whole dash while driving? Yeah I have short legs and the seat forward but the dash should be designed so it can be seen from all seat positions. One other thing, why does it have hesitation at low speed on cold mornings? This is making me think of buying Bama....

 

I drove GM all my life and all my vehicles with the exception of one, were junk! They were always new, but had tons of problems. One day I had enough, I had always loved Ford trucks, but because my family worked for GM, that's what I bought. Well when I was 21 I decided f*ck it all I am going to buy what I want, and I want a Ford truck. So I went to the dealer and drove a few different Rangers, new and used. I also drove a used F150, but I decided that the deal and the fact that it was brand new, made the ranger the perfect truck for me. So I traded in my blazer and here we are. Its been over 2 years and 61,000 miles and she still runs as good as the day I bought her. If I had to complain about just one thing tho, it would be this ***** F*ckin slave cylinder, it ALMOST makes me want an automatic........almost........ (:

 

except i didn't want a splash.......i bought a '96 blazer because i couldn't find a Ranger......when i got rid of my blazer i refused to get anything but a Ranger......found the 1 i have now and couldn't resist it......wont look back now! for a compact truck a Ranger is it for me!

 

Needed a truck. (The wife has horses and we need to haul hay and feed)Wanted 4X4.
Extended cab, Manual tranny and transfer case were my only requirements.

Looked at Dodges because I like the styling. (Dakotas and Rams)
They suck too much gas and I couldn't afford a 5 year old diesel for 20K with 100K on it.

So, I started looking at Fords. (Don't like Chebby Trucks styling).
Found a FX4 F150 that I liked but it was a bit out of my price range.

Ran across the level II on the 4th of July. Love it!