Hello Ranger Owners,
I am a brand new Ranger owner. I got my 1997 Ford Ranger XL from a lady I work with who's husband passed away. (I know, sad for her, but yay for me.) I am not a mechanic nor do I know a lot about trucks, but I scored on this little Ranger & I am going to use it for gathering cool stuff I find on the side of the road. Yahooo! The truck has been well maintained with 167,000 miles. So basically I am going to drive it til it dies. From what I hear, that could be a while. I'm happy to be here. I look forward to tapping into all your smarts and advice. By the looks of I need some help with photo sizing.

My 97 Ranger. A great little truck!
,
I am a brand new Ranger owner. I got my 1997 Ford Ranger XL from a lady I work with who's husband passed away. (I know, sad for her, but yay for me.) I am not a mechanic nor do I know a lot about trucks, but I scored on this little Ranger & I am going to use it for gathering cool stuff I find on the side of the road. Yahooo! The truck has been well maintained with 167,000 miles. So basically I am going to drive it til it dies. From what I hear, that could be a while. I'm happy to be here. I look forward to tapping into all your smarts and advice.

 

you responded to my post about seat covers but not to my follow-ups to your response. I'm not sure that the forum's messaging system is working so please post something that lets me know if you got my messages

 

Welcome to the forum

Looks to be a Long Bed Ranger, 7ft length bed instead of the regular 6ft bed, and a very nice looking one at that, Congratulations


1997 Ranger had 3 engines available, 2.3l 4cyl, 3.0l V6, and 4.0l V6, which would be a rare option in a Long Bed Ranger

Manual transmission would be the M5OD-R1(M5R1)
Automatic would be the 4R44E, 2.3l or 3.0l, 4R55E in a 4.0l

1997 was last year of 2nd generation Rangers, 1993 to 1997, but most 3rd generation parts fit(1998-2011)
1st gen was 1983-1992, it was smaller than 2nd/3rd gen
4th gen is 2019-2020 so far, its larger