3.0 enough power?

5tonford · Jan 29, 2019

Hello, I'm going to start building a bog truck for my 13 year old son. He found a 98 ranger that he really likes and it has a 3.0 in it with auto trans. My question is will that thing have enough to push the truck around or should I wait and look for 1 with a 4.0? Truck will be running the factory engine, trans and transfer case and a 2nd case is getting added, 2.5 ton axles with 6.17 gears and he is gonna be running 44" tires

RonD · Jan 29, 2019

Welcome to TRS

No, the 3.0l Vulcan engine was designed for FWD cars in mid-1980's and first used in 1986.
Rangers got them in 1991
They are a high RPM engine, best torque at 3,500RPMs, 175ft/lbs, most engines do best torque at 2,500RPMs.
Rated horsepower is about 145 above 5,000RPM

With an automatic they can be very underpowered because they never get into the higher RPMs unless you manually shift, i.e. hold it in 1st and 2nd to get into the 3,500RPM range

The 1990-2000 Rangers used the 4.0l OHV engine, torque at 2,400, 220ft/lbs, and 160HP
I would hold out for that
The 2001 and up Rangers got the 4.0l SOHC engines, 207HP

The 2001 to 2004 4.0l SOHC engines had timing chain issues, which can be updated to the newer design but engine must be pulled out to do that.
And you can often get them at a good price if they have "timing chain rattle" and owner doesn't want to pay to have engine pulled out to repair it

donaldcon · Jan 29, 2019

By the truck put a 5-speed in it and hook it to a 3.1 out of a second generation Taurus s h o and let her rip through the mud bogs at 7000 RPM

Sent from my LM-X410(FG) using Tapatalk

rusty ol ranger · Jan 29, 2019

I think 44s even with the 6.17s is going to be asking alot of the 4.0, let alone the 3.0.

Id buy the 3.0 and then promptly swap in a 302 at minimum. A 351 would be closer to ideal

fastpakr · Jan 29, 2019

Have fun with a 351 swap on the 3.0. While not impossible, it's light years more involved than the 5.0 swap.

cbxer55 · Jan 30, 2019

Despite all the negative talk, I love my 98 3.0 Ranger. Yeah, it likes to rev. I've got a chip on the computer which raises the shift points nicely, and I manually shift it a lot in any event.

But, I've got a 2004 Ford Lightning (way not stock). And two bad ass motorcycles.

The Ranger is my "beater".

3.0 enough power?

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