3 Months with the 3.0

[8thTon]

I've had this truck for 3 months now, and done a bunch of stuff to it - none of it major. Brakes all around, front wheel bearings, radiator, fixed the rear window leak, plus a bunch of electrical and lighting stuff. Dealt with loose sway bar links up front and leveled the driver's side torsion bar. I still have to pull the cam synchro and eventually deal with a small amount of floor rust on the driver's side.

I genuinely like this truck. It is simple and it works. The 3.0 V6 is a great little engine, regardless of the simple architecture, and once I cleaned the MAFS the auto works very well too. I'd rather have a manual, but I can live with this auto. Combined with the 4.10 rear it has plenty of power for a 3100lb vehicle, and the auto will happily run it up in rpm. Now that the winter blend fuel is gone I got 19.5mpg last tank, mixed highway/backroads.

At one time I thought I'd lower it since it's a bit silly jacked up for no reason, but it handles quite well anyway so I will not bother. Maybe someday I will change wheels and tires (wider, not taller), plus perhaps a muffler with a little sound, but I have no intention of any further mods. Looking at it in a lot near newer trucks I like the simple, mechanical look. You can see the suspension bits, it's a machine meant to work not to make up for the anatomical inadequacies of the owner. The interior is pleasant and functional, the seats are comfortable.

This level of simplicity is what I wanted and I haven't even a little bit of interest in the new ones. I hope that I can hold off the rust and keep it going mechanically, and if so I'll run it for a long time yet.

 

[91stranger]

Good to hear. we have identical drive trains other than the rear gears. I have the 3.0, auto with 375 gears and it runs great. Its a 20 year old truck with rust so that's been my biggest issue. Battling rust and lack of maintenance from the previous owner. Luckily the previous owner bought it new so he was the only one messing with it which is good and bad since he never washed the frame ever it seemed lol. These little engines are workers though. I use my truck for daily driving for work on a 40 mile round trip 6 days a week but also use this truck for hauling. I have a 6x8 heavy duty trailer that I religiously load with firewood, scrap, branches, auction stuff... anything I load in the truck and trailer the truck will pull. I know the trailer weighs around 700 pounds (according to the junk yard scale) and I know when I load firewood it has to be over 1500-2000 pounds. Given I have 2' sidewalls, I will load it well past the 2' mark and the truck pulls it great. no real struggles or issues. It's not the greatest on gas considering what it is (2wd v6 small truck) but I will sacrifice gas mileage for dependability.

 

[Ranger850]

I have a 3.0 with a manual and 3.73 gears. When it ran, I had no issues with the motor and pulling trailers was a breeze. Once I learned that it was a high revving motor and the power was around 3k rpm I started liking it more. Gas mileage aside, I love my truck.