Has anyone ever said to you...

[rusty ol ranger]

The light trucks to watch if overloaded are the older Japanese pickups. As rugged as even old-time Toyotas were, overloading was just asking for trouble.

Back in the 1990s I was on the Washington (DC) beltway and passed an early–1980s Mazda with an aftermarket work box replacing the pickup bed. The truck had been overloaded in the past so that the frame had begun to buckle between the cab and the work box. You could see the frame damage as you passed the truck. The front of the cab pointed toward the sky a bit, and the rear of the box was tilted up a bit too. I wonder whether it had passed Virginia safety inspection in that condition.

That was the same vintage Mazda as the last Ford Couriers sold here, so it had been Japanese–made. I hope that one was retired soon after I saw it.

My suspicion is that the US pickups, including our Rangers, have a certain allowance for overloading and the older foreign stuff had little or no allowance. I haven't heard of Chevy S-10s or Dodge Dakotas failing from overloading either. However, if the pickups have rusty frames and rear spring shackles, all bets are off.

American stuff has always been "overbuilt" compared to japanese stuff.

 

[Eddo Rogue]

American stuff has always been "overbuilt" compared to japanese stuff.

True.
And Russian stuff is overbuilt compared American stuff lol...way overbuilt...especially aircraft.
German stuff is a little hefty too....Even the kitchen knives...I prefer Japanese knives to German, much easier to sharpen and stay so longer IMO. Plus I like single edge.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

True.
And Russian stuff is overbuilt compared American stuff lol...way overbuilt...especially aircraft.
German stuff is a little hefty too....Even the kitchen knives...I prefer Japanese knives to German, much easier to sharpen and stay so longer IMO. Plus I like single edge.

Ive always seen american stuff as superior to anything built elsewhere

 

[Northidahotrailblazer]

We have always used our rangers for more running than anything, dump runs, run to town for farm supply's. and what not. We have my 3/4 ton and my parents dually for everything else. our pickups are diesel and usually have 26 ft car trailer with hay on it or something bigger than the ranger or horse trailers to big to be pulled with a ranger. We live in mountain country so I do get the under powered thing but we don't pull anything with them because we cant that is why we have big pickups. My ranger is completely useless lol but my dads 89 and 05 are used almost everyday for farm stuff. the 89 doesn't leave the farm, set up as a farm repair rig, power tools, generator and latter on it for farm stuff.

 

[gw33gp]

When I bought my 02 Ranger, a neighbor told me I should have gotten something more durable. He is on his third vehicle since then, and my Ranger is still running strong with almost 280K miles on it.

My Ranger has been beaten a lot off-road, towed my race car all over the country and is my daily driver. I don't baby it and it has taken all I have asked of it and is ready for more.

 

[Ranger850]

I never really hung with the "off-roading" crowd, but back in high school (mid 90's) I had a 83 Ranger, 2.0 carb, 4 speed manual. Most of my buddies had newer 4.3 S-10s or 4.0 Rangers, Nissans, Yota's. One guy had A Mitsubishi Truck ( D-Max ? ), anther had an Isuzu P'up. ONE other guy had a 1st gen like mine, but his was a diesel. They would always tell me that my truck was "not enough" and the diesel truck was even better because it was diesel. I knew it wasn't fast, but there I was, In my doo-doo brown 83, right there where everybody else was, out in the woods, doing doughnuts in fields, fish tailing on dirt roads, 2wd hill climbs. I did everything in that little truck that they were doing in their trucks. I got used to and tired of hearing " Dang man, How'd You here in THAT ". That truck is the reason I respect for the Ranger as the Iconic "little" truck it is.