Hello all, as you can see by the thread title, I am rather new to ford rangers and trucks. My first and only car for the last 7 years has been a Dodge Neon and I'm ready for something more manly now.

I drove a nice Ford Ranger for work all last summer and fell in love with them. My concern is, is there anything in particular I should look for or be aware of when looking at used rangers? I've done all the maintenance on my neon, tore the engine up and all, but do not know much about trucks. Any year or type of rangers I should stay away from?

I've seen the sticky thread about the beginners guide, but I am hoping I could get some suggestions on to what I should look for when searching for rangers.

Thank you!!

 

welcome! and id avoid the 01-02 rangers with the big v6 the 4.0 they have timing chain tensioner problems...other than that rangers dont have a lot of other problems

 

Lets get some background.

What years are you looking at, mileage, price range, 4x2 or 4x4, manual or auto, v6 or 4 cylinder.

Since you drove a Neon you are used to front wheel drive. Good luck with your first winter in the world od rear wheel.

 

yea anyway...i went from a 95 ford escort to my ranger with 4wd and i will never go back to a car for my DD lol

 

My 01 4.0 has almost 110K and no timing chain rattle.

Not every one of them is a time bomb

 

knew i missed something lol...the t-chain problem is hit and miss...sound better justin lol

 

Thought its 01-03

Tell us more on what your looking at such as years, 4wd or 2wd, motors, auto or std, ETC...

 

I think it was 02 that they "fixed" it

 

Oh I'm not sure but its easier to do a 5.0 sawp in 01-03 from the write ups

 

thanks for all your replies.

I'm only 23 and don't need all that much power or size, looking for something more low key.

I do prefer the 4x4 drive train option, did ford make them in 4 cylinders and auto trans?

Haven't decided yet if I want to a buy a cheaper one with 70k miles on it or fork over a bit more money and get a newerish one...

 

no you couldnt get a 4cyl 4x4 ranger after i want to say 95...not 100% sure though...the smallest engine for a 4x4 ranger is the 3.slow v6

 

hmmm looks like i may have to go with v6 4x4 then

 

yea and IMO the gas mileage of the 3.0 and 4.0 are real close...id try and find a 4.0 you wont be dissapointed

 

i have a 99 3.0L 4x4 ranger is Ex cab and stepside got it for a very decent price has 180k atm no problems other then a leaf spring which im fixing now. gas wise i think its a little better then the 4.0L but power wise get the 4.0 if possible still i might be getting better gas now because i added a 22inch cherry bomb muffler.

 

Wrong... my cousin has a 96, 4cyl, 5spd, 4wd

 

i know they took that option away at some point...maybe it was 98