I was thinking about putting a turbo on my 98 Ranger 2.5L and was wondering what boost pressure I could get to before I have to start replacing parts

 

I just bought the 2.3L a 2002, been trying to do all the research I can to see if I can either turbo or supercharge mine as well, and what route I would want to go. Although I am pretty useless at the moment on what is capable of what. I'll be following your post to see what people have to say. Sorry that I myself am not any help on the matter :P

 

The '98 2.5L only put on 119 hp and 146 lb/tq. If memory serves me, the 2.5L is the same as the 2.3L but it has been stroked. Any boost by forced induction or nitrous is going to crack the cast pistons that come in the 2.5 engine fairly quickly. You would need to put in some forged pistons with a compression ration of no more than 8:1 to be able to put any boost past 4psi for any significant HP gains.

You might want to look at finding a 2.3 SVO engine that came with the turbo setup. Then the next weak link is the transmission, and then the open differential that came on most Rangers. Other have gone the 5.0 V8 route as it is more cost effective.