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Ford Ranger III
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Comments
7800 miles
City driving 15 mpg.
Best highway 21 mpg.
This truck is fun to drive, and when the engine is broken in, it really pulls hard right to 5500rpm. It does suck the gas at higher speed - it's best to keep your cruising speed below 70mph. And the 91mph speed govenor really sucks.
2) Did you test drive it before you signed for it in the first place?
Experimenting with cement in the back might help, as the ride of some trucks does tend to improve with a load. Expect fuel economy to go down though.
I think swapping the leaf springs of the rear vehicle would be impractical from a cost standpoint, and would also deprive the truck of much of its haulng capacity. However, experimenting with different shocks might help a little.
Lowering the tire pressure below manufacturer's recommendations could lead to overheating and/or a blow-out.
I'd say try running with a couple hundred pounds always in the back... and if it doesn't improve the ride enough that you can live with it, trade it in, and take it as a lesson to be sure you can live with a vehicle before you sign for it.
Ed
1995 Ranger, 4 cyl, regular cab, 5 speed manual long bed with 60/40 bench and center console. 75000 trouble-free miles.
Daily commuting to work, hundreds of long trips includng 2 hour drives to and from college, and occasional light to heavy hauling thrown in. It bounces and jounces when the road gets rough, but I really don't even notice anymore. Some people are just not the truck type.
Try a lumbar support cushion, or one of those beaded seat covers... You may experiment with different shocks, but I don't think it will fix the problem, only possibly reduce it to a degree.
Ranger seats aren't the very best, but they certainly are far from the worst.
Also if you're driving all day(taking your post literally) , and you are sore, well, whadyaexpect?
Still getting 20-21 mpg, and great power since I rarely ever heat up the engine to where the cooling fan turns on. Not bad for a 8+ year old 2.3l with that milage.
I was told and dont know if it to be true or not, but ford has stopped putting that aluminum transmission in the newer rangers.
Thanks.
Looks like base XLT with 2.3l is 14805 MSRP, styleside(flat). Flareside(step) is 15,280 MSRP. 15525 for the styleside 3.0l. 4.0L makes you goto supercab, 4 door, 5 speed auto, 21255.
I have been quoted an XLT extended cab, 4 door Styleside (flat) with 3.0l V6, air and power for $17,600. That is before the $2,500 rebate. Not a bad truck for $15,000.
Also how's the new (for 2001) 2.3l 4 cylinder performing for any new owners? Looks like a good improvement from the 2.5 or older 2.3l on paper...
does anyone know of a website where i can punch in my truck's VIN number and find out what gearing it has in the rear end? i am very curious.
thanks.
no strange noises since and no problems. i am sure someone, somewhere else, has done this before...any advice? i am under warranty...should i take it into the service department on monday and admit what a retard i am?
danny--->The 4.0l predominately comes with the 5 speed auto, yet the FX4 and this 4WD Supercab still carry the manual transmission.
mjbtrtr--->Probably didn't do much, but I wouldn't do that again... Besides you're gonna slow down pretty fast in neutral.
never overheats. The gauge stays on cold side. Have replaced thermo, the 2 sending units on
frt of intake manifold. Also when cold a/c air is on the air is blowing on my throttle foot. When
I,m saying flagging you watch the temp gauge go up and down while driving. Ray C.
it seems to shift fine and no noises or anything. another question for you: my brother drives a 1989 F-150 and was stuck in some mud today. i hooked my ranger up to it with a rope, thinking that even though it wouldnt jerk it right out, it would certainly pull harder than i could by standing behind the truck and pushing with my body. so i put it in first gear and accelerated slowly, but the rope simply broke since the f-150 was buried. my question is, if the rope had held, and since my towing limit is 2,000 pounds, could i have hurt my tranny/engine? i would think so but i am curious. i want this truck to last a long while and if i keep this rate up who knows...lol
Maybe one of the off-road guys will come to this forum and can explain better.
Just don't forget that Ford can share parts with Mazda, Lincoln and Mercury, and even Land Rover, Aston Martin, and Jaguar. While those last three aren't as likely, the first ones are. This helps keep the cost down because that 3.0l transmission goes on many other vehicles across the whole Ford corporation. Vice versa, and same for most other engines/trans.
It would be nice if everyone was interchangable, but for the most part they just won't fit. I could probably rattle off a little something about late 60's bolt patterns, but haven't really had any experience with anything newer. Besides most automatics are computer controlled, it would be just too hard to make your own breed.
Why not just make them all heavy duty? Probably to keep prices down. By that mark I wish the 2.3l would be the 2.3l SV0 turbo motor from the earlier mustangs, but again, cost and power curve characteristics would probably not benefit the compact truck.
Also the 5 speed auto wasn't introduced because it was required, but more to help out gas milage with that extra final gear. Pretty cool that it is available, but I still prefer a stick in a truck.
Where's Modvptnl? He probably know more about this than me...
Good thing about removing the snorkle and replacing the air filter is that it can be undone in under 10-15 minutes. No warranty to worry about there. Also invest in premium spark plugs and spark wires. I'm sure you could do a little internet searching for many other ideas...
Better wires and plugs just ensure the best spark is produced from the coil pack. I'm not so crazy about going hotter, as much as going to Iridium or platinum. It's an expensive initial investment, but will last a looooong time.
It's all about the little details. If you bang the garbage out your air filter every oil change, occasionally use injector cleaner or oil additives (I recommend zmax), then your engine will run strong for many years. That's why my 1993 2.3l has reached 138k miles and the valve cover has yet to come off once.
jewels
so my questions are:
why in the hell do we need twice as many plugs as usual?
why did they see the need to move that idea to the 2.5?
and finally, does having 8 plugs help me? does it get better mileage, more power?
http://media.ford.com/products/presskit_display.cfm? vehicle_id=524&press_subsection_id=421&make_id=92
Combine this whole line together and copy into your Address bar for the correct article. Remove any spaces in the middle.
matt--->The 2.5 is bascially a stroked 2.3l. I heard that the dual spark head was for increased power, due to the low cubic inch (140) of the engine. I'd like to see a 4.2l v6 borrowed from the f-150, or even a 3.8l v6 from the Mustangs in the Ranger. The 4.2l generates 252 lbs of torque at 3400 RPM...
when i own it, i intend to play with it a little to get more punch from my 2.5 liter.
I added a K&N filter and i am going to also play with my air intake. after it is out of warranty i am thinking of milling down the head to increase compression or maybe getting new heads for it. any suggestions? i would like around 145 or so horsepower to go along with my 23 mpg.
Sounds a little pricey for a 4 banger... But if you want the kick, sounds good. An exhaust system might be close to that amount too. Do web searches for 2.3l mustangs and performance parts for them. The 4 banger mustang is kind of the red-headed step child as far as parts availability, but they can be found. (Under drive pulleys, chips, and a few other ideas here and there...)
if so i am going to do it asap. any preference as to brands/shops?
also, would such a system damage my factory warranty?
Why would my PCM be replaced? does this hurt anything or help anything in the long run?
The way the warranty thing goes is that if it's not Ford OEM, they won't warranty it, but any other part on the vehicle not affected by such replacement should still be covered. Exhaust shouldn't affect much but itself. I would just try to get to know your service technicians and manager at your dealership. I'd rather have them as friends than just strangers or enemies. Can't hurt asking their opinion and policy on stuff like that.
Sounds like a sticker marking your car to receive a replacement. That's where they stick the R-134 freon replacements, and other stuff like that. Maybe your sticker was a recall or TSB of some sort, or maybe a special repair(if it's a used truck). All-in-all, you should feel better off because it's been replaced with the aparantly correct one.
Here's a cheap and easy way for a little more HP. If your engine seems to have more power when cold, then replace your thermostat with one rated in the 160-180 degree range. This will force your computer into a "cold" loop, and milage may suffer, but your engine will always act like it does after you pull onto your first street in the morning...
also, does it take the computer time to adjust to my mods?
Trick is to try getting all the modifications done, so you know what to tell the company burning the chip for you. But a new exhaust or removing your air silencer and changing filters won't require or really benefit from a chip. Milling heads, adjusting timing, cams, new injectors, new gears, that sort of thing would probably take advantage of reprograming the computer.
Ever think about just swapping out the rear end gear? Installing a numerically higher gear (like .25 higher) would give you better zip, but you would sacrifice cruising RPM a little. It would feel like an extra 20 horses or so.