If Ford made every vehicle as good as the Rangers...

[CJREX]

The most reliable vehicle I've ever owned was a 1983 F150 4x4.

It looked like a piece of dung, but was rock solid.

It got to where I only used it when I needed a truck for something because it would empty both fuel tanks in a wink.

It would sit out back for 2 or 3 months at a time until I needed it. Then it would fire right up within 3 or 4 revolutions.

I had it 5 years and only replaced the $8 starter solenoid on the fender.

My father-in-law bought it from me and I think he had to spring for a $12 brake master cylinder once.

As far as small trucks, I've had 2 Rangers and 3 BIIs. Other brands I've had were an Isuzu (1986), a Nissan (1995), and a Toyota (1990).

I'll take a Ranger over any of those.

 

[Maverick]

Well, I really liked my '90 2500. I hated the TIB when towing--I loved the handling of the SLA. I like the cab a lot on those Chevys.

Don't have much experience with the 2wd stuff. I don't like the handling of the 90's Chevy 4wd SLA suspension though. In my experience when you really start throwing those trucks into corners they want to push the front end instead of turning. I'd rather break the ass end loose than not be able to steer. I'll take a TTB F250 over one of those anyday. Not to mention those 4wd SLA front ends can take about as much abuse as a D28 when fitted with oversized offroad tires.

 

[IcecreamLtDan]

I'm on my third ranger now. I still have the first one, has over 335,000 miles and counting on it, the second one was actually a '78 full size ranger I paid 500 bucks for. It looked like crap but ran great, I would probably have kept it but, I was in the military and got orders that were several hundred miles from where we were living. We had 3 vehicles at the time and I wasn't so sure it would make it. My neighbor at the time offered me a grand for it so I sold it to him. This was 13 years ago and last time I talked to him, about 2 years ago, he still had it and had fixed it up a good bit. I've had my newest ranger now about 4 months. Doing a few mods at a time. Other that those 3, I've owned a '90 Ford Escort station wagon, good car for what it was, '89 Honda Accord, shit, '85 Pontiac Grand Am, shit, '80 Chevy Malibu, shit, a '76 Pontiac Trans Am, great car, a '71 Ford Mustang, great car, and my wife drives a '03 Chevy Monte Carlo SS, which has it's fair share of issues.

If this ranger can give me anywhere near the kind of service the other one has, It'll probably be the last vehicle I ever own. The only work I've ever done to the other ranger is a new water pump, radiator, headlight switch, ignition switch, and the usual tune up stuff and brake drums and rotors. Oh, I did put new valve cover gaskets on it a while back, the oil pan gasket and rear main seal leak like a sieve but, I don't worry about them and just make sure I don't loose too much oil.

 

[rickcdewitt]

Not to mention those 4wd SLA front ends can take about as much abuse as a D28 when fitted with oversized offroad tires.

yep, garbage. you can watch everything bend and twist just turning the wheel on pavement- even the 3500's

 

[Will]

Don't have much experience with the 2wd stuff. I don't like the handling of the 90's Chevy 4wd SLA suspension though. In my experience when you really start throwing those trucks into corners they want to push the front end instead of turning. I'd rather break the ass end loose than not be able to steer. I'll take a TTB F250 over one of those anyday. Not to mention those 4wd SLA front ends can take about as much abuse as a D28 when fitted with oversized offroad tires.

Having towed with both trucks, I can't believe anyone would prefer the uncertain, self-steering TTB. But so be it.

The SLA isn't delicate. There are lots of them here in plow country. The guy that took over plowing the church parking lot from me has an 18 year-old 2500 and it's totally rusted out from the salt spreader, but the front end has never been touched with a wrench. Everyone says these are weak, but not that I have seen.

 

[idriveafordranger94]

My family has stuck with Fords since day one. We have owned 2 Escorts, both made it over 150,000 mi. We have a 91 Ford Ranger that has more rust than it does paint (clutch is shot but engine (2.3L) is still good) with 275,000 mi, A 94 Ford Ranger (mine) 150,000 mi, A 2005 Ford Freestyle 54,000 mi no problems, and a 2000 Dakota with 112,000 mi and has never broke down. We are sticking with American Cars forever!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Well, I really liked my '90 2500. I hated the TIB when towing--I loved the handling of the SLA. I like the cab a lot on those Chevys. The low cut windows make viewing easier. The interior is pretty junky compared to the Ford. I like the Ford 1/2-ton axle better than the Chevy 8.5 though mine had the 9.5. I think the motors are a wash--the 5.8 and the 5.7 are about the same in fuel and power. I liked the deep first gear on the TH700R4--and the high overdrive.

My dad has a '92 1500 GMC, it is a pretty nice truck. He has done some work on it (starter, compressor, PS pump) but he still swears by the thing. He is tempted to get something newer, but he can't really complain about what he has got either so he is still debating. Only things he doesn't like about it are the HVAC controls being buttons instead of knobs (you have to hold the button down for a couple seconds to scroll from warm to cold for example, as opposed to a slider or knob) The galvinized body repelling paint is also a major issue, but at some point both Ford and Dodge had some growing pains in that area too.

Really if he would clean all the tools and stuff out of it, I think it would give my F-150 a decent run for its money powerwise... I could probably take him but it sure wouldn't be a cakewalk. Mine is probably a lot heavier (both trucks empty) because of the ext cab and extra safety stuff though. If my F-150 still runs as good as his when it is 16 years old (my Ranger sure as heck didn't) I will be thrilled.

GM interior blows Ford away of that style, Fords is just so blah while GM's to me feels sportier.

It steers great to me, much better than our TTB F-350 with a new steering box, TRE's, and balljoints that never quite goes straight. The newer Super Duties have issues with ball joints that fequently fail too.

His truck before this was a '81 1500 Chevy, great truck but had a bad case of cancer. Rode like a Cadillac, great for long trips without beating you to death.

 

[Psychopete]

I really have never had good luck with anything I've owned. Usually I'll have it for a few months and something will inevitably blow up. I wouldn't trust anything I drive to make it across the country or even the state, except maybe my fiancee's car.

That's the thing about used cars. Everything I own now has needed extensive repair. I always ask myself why they might be selling it, but somehow I haven't been able to avoid it. Everything usually checks out ok.

The '85 Grand Prix I had, had a 262ci engine, I ran the crap out of it one night and it developed a slight ticking. I bought a 327 off a friend, swapped it in, and was pretty solid after that. Would have been better with a X pipe and had the wrong intake.

A '93 3.8L Taurus I had for a few months blew a transmission @ 202K. Got rid of that. This car was just simply notorious for "problems". Anything, you name it.

My '88 Ranger cracked a head @98K and I rebuilt the engine. It's the most reliable thing I've ever owned since then - ~4 years ago. Which is scary since it has an A4LD, but had a very large tranmission cooler.

'93 Tempo needed a harmonic balancer, that took 3 days of spare time. Fixed tons of other stuff, found/fixed a couple wiring problems, tuned it up, and it works well now. I think this might actually last a little while.

List goes on.

Pete

 

[Shran]

I usually only spend a few hundo on a car including repairs to get it running. I just keep an eye out for wrecks and broken cars that need just a little work. Most of the time the owner is someone who just doesn't know what they're doing.

 

[lifeissomething]

People forget to take into account how they drive their vehicles. I know damn well that a honda accord with an automatic will last for 300,000 miles easy with pretty small stuff, but I also know damn well that I am too damn hard on a honda transmission.

My 2003 ranger needs weather stripping! That's ridiculous. I'm pretty sure my 86 honda had the original weather stripping, but I trust that my truck will take a bit of abuse, so I own it.

I also know damn well that a toyota engine will last longer then a ford engine, but for you trails guys also have to consider high stress on other componants, so a ranger starts to make more sense. (Well, a ranger will always make more sense cost-wise.)

It's not a war, it's quality. It's a magical thing that comes in many different places and many different ways. Take advantage of the quality your truck has and respect the quality of another. I think it's our duty as reasonable human beings, but I might have high standards or something.

 

[Maverick]

The newer Super Duties have issues with ball joints that fequently fail too.

I have been around lots of Super Duties and have not seen this as a problem. Between my friends and I we own 9 Super Duties and none of us are complaining about balljoint failure. I know of 2 trucks right now that have over 200K on the stock ball joints and unit bearings.

I also know damn well that a toyota engine will last longer then a ford engine.

That's not entirely true. The early Toyota truck engines were not that great. Both the 22R and the 3.0 V6 consumed timing chains and headgaskets. The 22R was definately the more reliable motor. The 3.0 V6 was junk. If you're talking about the 4AGE, I would have to agree though. Those are damn good little motors.

 

[lifeissomething]

I have been around lots of Super Duties and have not seen this as a problem. Between my friends and I we own 9 Super Duties and none of us are complaining about balljoint failure. I know of 2 trucks right now that have over 200K on the stock ball joints and unit bearings.



That's not entirely true. The early Toyota truck engines were not that great. Both the 22R and the 3.0 V6 consumed timing chains and headgaskets. The 22R was definately the more reliable motor. The 3.0 V6 was junk. If you're talking about the 4AGE, I would have to agree though. Those are damn good little motors.

Oh yeah. I wasn't talking about those specifically, but I'm not sure what I'd even compare those engines to. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a little prism lsi or an AE86 or even an MR2 simply because of that engine.

I was actually speaking a bit more about any V6 put in a ranger verses a 5VZ-FE, which is the 3.4 found in the tacomas. I honestly don't know much about the 3.0s, or the newer 4-cyls.

I'll admit, the switch to a single timing change was a bad move for the 22r/re. But honestly, replace the timing chain every 100,000 and I've never heard of anybody have any other major problems with a 22r/re.

 

[Will]

You have 9 people that never jacked up the front and shook the tire.

 

[rickcdewitt]

You have 9 people that never jacked up the front and shook the tire.

i'm with maverick on this,i know quite a few guys with f250-350's who don't gripe about bearings or balljoints.for those 9 there are 18 chevies with wasted idler arms,a-arm bushings,tie rods and a fawked alignment.ask anyone who has had one with larger tires how tough they are.you can literally watch the parts deflect when turning the wheel.and with only 33 to 35 inch rubber.

its been a common complaint of chevy trucks since the 60's,they ride nice but hit a curb and its over.its rediculous the money spent to try and cure this but they all wind up pissed at their trucks in the end.

if you want a big car that can haul get a chevy, if you use it like a truck get ford

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have been around lots of Super Duties and have not seen this as a problem. Between my friends and I we own 9 Super Duties and none of us are complaining about balljoint failure. I know of 2 trucks right now that have over 200K on the stock ball joints and unit bearings.

My brother working at a Ford dealership has changed many SD balljoints, a 2002 F-250 my dad looked at with a 5.4 got a new set at 20k (per Oasis) under warrentee, it only had 55k on it when we checked it out.

No truck (as a model) is perfect though, they all have problems whether each truck is effected or not (don't get me wrong, I do think the Super Duty is king of the 3/4 and 1 ton's) It is kind of funny how people love to bash the independant suspensions of the others though, thinking that the solid axle (with the lovely vacuum hubs) in the SD is made of pure kryptonite or something.