Ranger Thunderbolt?

[Nightbiker07]

Have a chance to pick one up with 150K miles, 4.0

Supposedly needs an oil pump. I'm guessing it will need a new engine.

Trying to decide if picking it up could be profitable or not. If it were a normal ranger, Its in nice enough shape to fetch 4K ish.
But I'm not sure if the thunderbolt status would command any extra money out of it.

Are these things desirable? Because they're not very available from what I can see.

 

[Roert42]

They do not seem to be more desirable then anything else in similar shape. They aren't a high performance option like a lightening or anything.

 

[Nightbiker07]

I know they aren't a performance package, just appearance.
Was just wondering, because you never see them.

 

[Ranger850]

They are desirable to people who want them. The sad part is that not many people even know that they exist. I think they only came in 2wd, so a lot of people on this site don't really care for them. It's a street truck, not an Off Roader and the Aftermarket for Rangers was never really that strong, much less a limited production Ranger. I personally, wouldn't mind having one, but they are so rare and the cheap ones are usually too far gone to repair back to "Thunderbolt" status because you cant get "thunderbolt" parts ( hood w/scoop and ground effect kits ) anywhere but from another "Thunderbolt". There were 3 levels to the Thunderbolt package, level II was the "performance pack" - a reworked intake and dual exhaust, available on 3.0 & 4.0 engines.

FYI: SLP did the mods. The truck went from the Factory to SLP to the customer, when bought new in 2002-2003.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

They are desirable to people who want them. The sad part is that not many people even know that they exist. I think they only came in 2wd, so a lot of people on this site don't really care for them. It's a street truck, not an Off Roader and the Aftermarket for Rangers was never really that strong, much less a limited production Ranger. I personally, wouldn't mind having one, but they are so rare and the cheap ones are usually too far gone to repair back to "Thunderbolt" status because you cant get "thunderbolt" parts ( hood w/scoop and ground effect kits ) anywhere but from another "Thunderbolt"

Agreed.

But even as a street truck they are kind of meh.

If you want a street truck how much extra would you pay extra for a different bumper and a Mazda bed?

The GT had more specialness.

 

[Ranger850]

Agreed.

But even as a street truck they are kind of meh.

If you want a street truck how much extra would you pay extra for a different bumper and a Mazda bed?

The GT had more specialness.

for me, it's the SLP factor.
What was so special about the GT? it had normal Ranger parts and a ground effect kit? not even a Mazda bed. Not even a special Intake. Just an appearance package with different tires really.
In all honesty, they are essentially the same thing, just a huge gap in between the two, and SLP did the TB while Ford did the GT.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Full ground effect kit (depending on year), special fog lights and easy to repower to make it into something special.

Also had special exhaust but I wouldnt have a need for that.

 

[Ranger850]

This ^^^^^ is the truck WE ALL wanted Ford to make. Ranger with a Lightning 5.4.

LOOK at those rear wheels

 

[Ranger850]

vs

 

[stmitch]

The Thunderbolt did come with thicker front/rear sway bars in addition to the cosmetic stuff and optional intake/exhaust. All of the Thunderbolt stuff was sold a la carte as Roush parts for a few years too.