I'm thinking of picking up a late 90's Ford Ranger

[thenag]

The TTB while odd flexes much better than the IFS with control arms, FYI...

If it were me I would get a 95-97 extended cab 4.0 5 speed manual. A properly aligned TTB rides great and does great off road.

maybe on a Ranger (which is what we are talking about so sorry for the thread jack) everyone I know, including myself, when we ditched the ttb for a SAS on a full size bronco the thing got way more stable on and off the road, more predictable etc. (of course we never compared it IFS)

in 2007 my civic got stolen leaving me with just my bronco, I wanted to replace it with another car, my dad was selling his 2000 f250, it was worth more than I really had but he sold it to me for cheap. (he gave me a deal partly because he wants to see how long it will run since it is the single most reliable vehicle ever built, 220,000k still original well, everything but the fuel pump that died in my garage with 208,000 miles on it.)

When we got married we had a stock 99 xj, the one ton bronco with 37's and a stock 2000 f250 4x4 with 5.4L (and not a slush box in the bunch) We ended up driving the xj everywhere since it got the best gas mileage, we would wheel the bronco and use the truck for truck stuff.

To this day getting that f250 was best thing we did for fleet of vehicles, we got another civic and paid that off before putting bronco parts on the jeep.

We put a ton of miles on our civic and plan to have it for a few years more. It is the best snow vehicle we have since we have a set of Blizzak's on it. (the f250 has duratrac's and is not as good in the snow as the civic) The f250 we put less than 10,000 miles a year on. I drive it to work which is less than 10 miles round trip.

I am a big proponent of a family having a diverse fleet of vehicles. We drive our Civic all over the place, when we need a truck we have a truck. (we drove the f250 to Denver in april, we are spoiled by the 40mpg highway of the Civic that is for sure) I also say that any reasonable family should not have more than one "toy" vehicle. (unless you are super rich or something) My brother-in-law has a fj40 and a Dodge Cornet, neither one of them gets driven and he has a long list of things to do to both of them and doesn't have the time or the money.

I know that my 5.4L f250 would not be an ideal tow rig for the jeep, but I know that I could tow the jeep if I had to. (there is a long range plan of a rebuilt motor and a gear bender or a super charger to give it a little more omph to tow, but that may or may not happen. I don't think it is practical for me to pay the extra money for a diesel for the maybe 4 times a year I go to moab, which is really the only time a diesel would be nice)

I work with a guy that got a big camper, about the biggest hitch camper you can get, it killed the transmission in his 1/2 ton dodge and got a diesel f350 (same year as mine) and he goes "camping" about 6 times a year, that is more than the 0 he went before that but still something to think about.

I guess what I am trying to get to is that unless you are really concerned about mpg, you might consider a gas full size truck, way more space in the cab for your dogs, way more towing capability, and you won't have think "really how big of a load of dirt can this truck take"

nathan
98 civic 40mpg highway
00 f250 superduty "for truck stuff"
99 xj "for jeep stuff"

 

[Rot Box]

My experience with Rangers has been pretty good. A friend of mine has a mid-late 90's B4000 with a 4" lift and 33x10.50's and from his experience I wouldn't lift one more than an 1" or so--EVER unless it was getting a solid front axle. I would also not run larger than 31's on the stock drivetrain.

-Get the 4.0 or the 4banger the smaller V6 is just as gutless as the 4banger and gets worse mileage

-Ditch the auto hubs.

-Whether or not the push button will engage the t-case every time is questionable at best.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

My experience with Rangers has been pretty good. A friend of mine has a mid-late 90's B4000 with a 4" lift and 33x10.50's and from his experience I wouldn't lift one more than an 1" or so--EVER unless it was getting a solid front axle. I would also not run larger than 31's on the stock drivetrain.

-Get the 4.0 or the 4banger the smaller V6 is just as gutless as the 4banger and gets worse mileage

-Ditch the auto hubs.

-Whether or not the push button will engage the t-case every time is questionable at best.

I will have to see which years had manual t-case engagement or if there is a way to swap the electronic crap out, I hate electronics.

 

[thenag]

I will have to see which years had manual t-case engagement or if there is a way to swap the electronic crap out, I hate electronics.

For the full size fords anyway...

the t-case was different, it wasn't just find a stick and install it. The t-cases could be swapped but the electric and manual cases were different. (I think big for hole solenoid to go in or something)

probably most years had a stick standard and a button as an option.

nathan

 

[phatfoto]

Even my 90 Ranger with the 2.3 and 5 speed has a pushbutton t-case. Wouldn't call it questionable, but lots of use and age will cause problems. Over range on the wipers in the shift motor is common. Often the little rubber bumper that stops the wiper arm is the issue. SHift motors aren't expensive, but not cheap either. A small piece of vacuum tube over the bumper is an easy fix, if you don't mind tearing the assembly down. Not much different than doing the XJ AW4 NSS fix.

TTB in stock form is pretty nice. When you add a lift, the springs are usually pretty stiff compared to the Jeeps. They take into account the extra leverage of the TTB arms. Steering angles get wonky at extreme travel limits. Unless you go all out desert style with multiple swingarm steering setups. Well tuned lifts can make the Ranger into a formidable rig. Poorly tuned setups give the TTB a bad rap. There are plenty of TTB and TIB (Twin "I" Beam) conversions on Toyotas and other rigs for desert use. So it can be a decent setup.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Stop putting ideas in my head, if I get one it will remain stock other than some 31's.