Most reliable Ranger configuration?

[Dirtman]

That guy wasn't reliable! He couldn't even stop picnic basket theft in a national park!

 

[snoranger]

These two are more reliable Rangers:

 

[JoshT]

Oh come on now. If we're going there you know this is the most reliable Ranger:

Seriously though, I was going to recommend a 2wd 4 cylinder 5 speed. Based on the Chevy mentioned above, I'd probably go with the I6 F-150 as well.

 

[Dirtman]

No no no... these guys are the best rangers...

 

[Grumpaw]

The most reliable....no brainer..
Read the engraving below barrel...
Or...
Both are ultra reliable.
Grumpaw

 

[Dirtman]

These rangers are pretty good too...

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Must've had a 2.9.

It certainly wasnt a 4 banger.

If it was it wouldnt of had enough power to be fun.

 

[Ultraspontane]

I found an 03' rwd 4.0 auto with 70k miles, owned by an old couple who are the original owners, and used it to haul the old man's electric wheel chair around. They're asking 5k for it. The motor sounded new. Totally quiet at idle. They were mild mannered old folks, I doubt they drove it very hard.


Also found an 11' rwd 2.3 auto with 95k miles, with two owners for the same price.

 

[Dirtman]

The 03 has an engine with known timing chain issues. Motor has to be pulled to fix it. With 70k its low miles BUT would be coming up on that time when the timing chain issue would start popping up. Definitely something to keep in mind.

The 2011 has a less powerful engine but no known issues and it has the benefit of having rear disc brakes.

 

[Ultraspontane]

The 03 has an engine with known timing chain issues. Motor has to be pulled to fix it. With 70k its low miles BUT would be coming up on that time when the timing chain issue would start popping up. Definitely something to keep in mind.

The 2011 has a less powerful engine but no known issues and it has the benefit of having rear disc brakes.

Yeah, I've heard about the timing chain issue. Is that something that can be prevented by maintenance? Is it an inevitable problem, or does it affect 4.0's randomly? The owners claim to have used Mobil 1 in the truck throughout its life. I was very impressed by how smoothly the engine ran. I also read that Ford may have improved the timing chain tensioner design sometime around 2003, is there any truth to that?

I haven't seen the '11 in person yet. I know that it had two owners and was used as a work vehicle rather than a personal vehicle like the '03.

 

[Dirtman]

It's not really a maintenance issue, it's a defect in the guides. Ford fixed alot of them so id ask the owners if they know if it was serviced for that. Other than that from what I know it's kinda just a matter of time until they fail.

 

[Ultraspontane]

Damn, that's a shame. It fills my needs perfectly otherwise. I doubt they ever had it fixed, they didn't drive it enough for it to break in the first place.

Also found an '01 3.0 5spd 4x4 with 159k with new heads and a recent clutch job for 3,700. It's in rougher shape, but has had more maintenance performed including a complete timing chain service. Seems like it comes with a few gremlins though. 4x4 with the 5sp would be nice, but like I said in the first post it must be reliable above all else.

 

[sgtsandman]

And because of the special tools needed to fix the issue, cost prohibitive for the average DIY person to do their own work. Fordtechmakuloco did a video on the job and everything it entails.

Not trying to scare you away. Just making sure you aren’t going in blind.

Now for the 2011, I find the rear disc brakes to be a poor design. I’ll be doing yet another rotor and pad change in the spring because the back side of the rotors are rusting. Personal opinion, but I would look for an older model with drum brakes over the 2010 and 2011 with disc brakes.

 

[19Walt93]

The timing chain cassette problems with the 4.0 SOHC were starting to taper off by 03 but they're no picnic to fix if they fail. I'd rather possibly deal with the cassettes once than deal with the extra maintenance every year to keep the rear disc brakes functional. An 03 also does not have traction control, another plus. The Germans caused the timing cassette problem when they decided to convert the 4.0 ohv to sohc, they didn't want to have 2 mirror image cylinder head castings that would have allowed both chains to be in the front- or even both cams driven by a single chain. They stuck a balance shaft where the cam used to live and drove it by a chain from the crank, drove the left cam off the front of the balance shaft, drove the right cam off the rear shaft, and then added a 4th chain to drive the oil pump off the crank. Typical Rube Goldberg/German engineering-overcomplicated and unnecessary. They had finally fixed all the oil leak problems they had built into the 4.0 ohv by using cheap gaskets, I can't believe they couldn't have increased the power while staying ohv cheaper and simpler with a little more compression and a little better breathing. Cheap and simple are foreign concepts to the Germans. A perfect example of cheap and simple would be the 300 six.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have had rear disk brakes on my dd since 2003 and my Ranger since 2011. Not sure what extra maintenance is required compared to a 4 liter time bomb.

Heck, mom's '02 Explorer had both and the 4.0 blew up before they had any rear brake issues.