All of a sudden I’m looking at trucks...

"Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle" (1500sand535) 09/08/2019 at 10:24 • Filed to: None

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I’m just not sure what I’d actually want... but I lik e the look of this(fun color, stepside). But deciding between manual and auto; regular cab or extended; and rwd or 4x4; is tricky. We wouldn’t do a ton of truck stuff, some homeowner cleaning and carrying, and maybe tow my in-laws camper on trips where we want to Glamp.

And at the end of the day, just knowing who I am; I’d probably enjoy an X3 more and it’d do 90% of the homeowner stuff . Oh well. These doubts and spirals in thinking keep me from buying anything, so that’s good.

Mercedes Streeter > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 09/08/2019 at 11:17

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According to my Ranger friends (haven’t researched them enough myself to call myself an authority), the best combination you can get is 4 cylinder and manual or 4.0 V6 and manual. From there you have the same engines again but automatic. Bed size, cab size, and 4x4 or not is up to you. The 4.0s in 2001s and younger have at least 50 more ponies than the older 4.0s.

If you’re going to tow, definitely go for the 4.0. The little 4 pots are strong workhorses, but it looks like you won't be able to tow much more than a pop-up camper.

I’ve been told to avoid the Vulcan 3.0 V6 ones at all costs because if they weren’t well taken care of by previous owners you can be inheriting a very bad headache. Weirdly, in my area the Vulcans are cheaper than the 4 cyls so maybe we there’s some truth to that?

My Ranger XLT is a 4x4 with the 4.0 and automatic. 220k on the clock and doesn’t even have a check engine light. Not bad for a rusty beater for under a stack.

19JRC99 > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 09/08/2019 at 12:26

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I love my ‘05 FX4. It’s the 4.0 Auto. I’ve only had it about 8 months and only put 2000 miles on it but it’s been great thus far.

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > Mercedes Streeter 09/08/2019 at 12:40

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Good info; thanks!

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 09/08/2019 at 14:11

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I keep thinking about getting a truck. Then an El Camino, then realize I still owe money on the 328. Having my own truck wouldn’t be great but borrowing my father in laws old truck when we need it  is cheap.

Rainbow > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 09/08/2019 at 14:18

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C oming from someone with a regular cab truck, go for extended if it's not too much more expensive. You never realize how much stuff you need to carry in the cab until you buy groceries with a passenger.

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 09/08/2019 at 15:14

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Yeah; ditching my beetle has me pondering options. If I still had a payment on another car I wouldn’t consider it. But I have a couple thousand left from the beetle that I’m sure my wife has forgotten came from that transaction but that seems like it would cover 1/2 or so of a decent ranger.

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > Rainbow 09/08/2019 at 15:26

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Good feedback; might not have considered the extended cab for day to day storage. 

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > 19JRC99 09/08/2019 at 15:27

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Very nice. 

19JRC99 > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 09/08/2019 at 16:33

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Thank you. I probably overpaid for it but I honestly don’t care.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Mercedes Streeter 09/08/2019 at 23:24

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Mine was a 3.0 and went over 269,000 miles with minimal maintenance and was still running when I put it out to pasture . Don’t believe the haters. The 3.0 provides more horsepower and torque than the four -banger with better mileage than the 4.0.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 09/08/2019 at 23:27

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My first truck was a standard cab and I swore I’d never own another one . I bought a ‘94 B-3000 in ‘96 and drove it for 18 years. The rangers/b-series were really hard to kill. Mine had topped 269k miles when I put it to bed for good.

Mercedes Streeter > TheRealBicycleBuck 09/09/2019 at 09:22

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I remember you saying that in a previous thread! :)

Yeah, back when I first launched my Ranger quest I saw a ton of Vulcans on the market, most of them cheaper than a 4 cylinder of similar mileage. I asked about it and received a few horror stories and a universal thumbs down from everyone on the team.

How did it gain such a reputation? The ones on the market were well into the 200ks so my assumption is that they proved themselves already.

If I could do it all again, I'd love to get my hands on a manual. These trucks seem like they'd be a ball with one.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Mercedes Streeter 09/09/2019 at 09:42

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They are a lot of fun, but they are sloooow. I always wished mine had more power, 4WD, and didn’t have the twin I-beam suspension . I seriously considered a 4.0 swap, but that was a ton of work for 20 hp. On the flip side, there was more aftermarket support for the 4.0.

I finally realized that if I wanted to go fast, it made a lot more sense to buy a car built to go fast. Anything I did to the truck wouldn’t make it much faster and there wasn’t much I could do about the handling without spending lots and lots of money.

As for reputation, I think people just needed something to hate. The 3.0 had about the same towing capacity and payload as the 4.0 even though the hp and torque numbers were quite a bit lower. It’s funny that there wasn’t nearly as much hate aimed at the four-banger. From what I’ve read, the early models of the Vulcan had some issues with head gaskets and water pumps, but those were corrected. Perhaps it’s because the Vulcan was used in the Taurus and Tempo?

The Ranger Station has a good article about the 3.0. Even they say it was known for reliability. https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/3_0performance.html