Idea needed your input!!

[FordMan016]

ford Ranger
SAS front with manual hubs (1/2 ton axles)
3/4 leafs front rear
4-6 speed manual trans
shock location as newer f150 in rear

want to go 5.4L Triton but for price of gas im leaning away from that.

-----------------straight 6 (200 - 300ci) or a 4 banger --------------------

not sure about the 4 banger due to the amount of weight the truck could have and would want to carry with it.

basically i want a DD but decent on gas.

 

[midget]

a good gas mileage 3/4 ton axled truck? GOOOD LUCK lol 5.4 gets descent mileage for a truck motor but nothing built to wheel gets good milage the tires kinda limit that.

 

[PaleBlue90]

+1

for motors id go with the 300I6. my buddy has a 200 in his 66 stang. its a very good motor but for off road the 300 would be a monster low end wise

 

[FordMan016]

odds are im not going to do any major bogging
i was thinking of putting on as tires are Wrangler MT/R.

but in the begining i was thinking the 300I but the rareity of them i dont know if ill find one but then again a scrap yard here i can look when i have some time.

 

[Ozwynn]

you want a DD that gets decent mileage then get a Saturn. you want to build your truck go for it. but you will not get decent mileage from a truck built to wheel. for the work involved with a swap then why not go 5.4L over the 300. that 5.4L will kick the 300's ass in mileage

 

[alaskan155]

do the 5.4, with a 3 inch body lift, since your running a solid axle, swap the axle first, and run a steering box on the outside of the frame, such as a 73-87 chevy box or i think the yota box has been used, that would give you a little more clearance between the frame rails

always have a 4.6 you can do to

 

[FordMan016]

im going to use it as a dd whether i get decent mpg or not im just asking for opinions.
but i do realize i wont get the best of both worlds but who said u can't try.
and the 5.4L i know it does need alot of work but thats no big thing it just will give me practice for the trade lol

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

The I-6 is a relatively long motor, I'm not sure how well one of those could be shoehorned into a Ranger engine bay without modifying the firewall, doing an E-fan an such.

A V-8 may get the same or better mileage than the I-6 because it doesn't have to work as hard as a smaller motor. I think that's likely why my Ranger with the 3.0L got about the same fuel economy as a 4-cyl around here and I always had at least 200lbs or more in the bed. With the 5-speed and 3.73 gears, I was able to get 20-22mpg around town with a tonneau cover, 18-20 if I had the cap on. Highway I saw as high as 31mpg.

3/4 ton leafs front and rear are going to make for a seriously stiff ride. IMHO, I'd custom build leaf packs after doing some homework on it all. I plan on building a wheeling rig at some point in the relatively near future and I plan on running leafs front and rear. But I did my homework and I have a set of four leaf springs piled up waiting new bushings and me to get started on the project. They're three leaf packs (main and two others) and I'll prolly try taking the shortest leaf out of the pack and see how it sits an rides, then add another leaf if I think it needs it. But I'm planning on going Ranger regular cab on a BII frame with a 2.3L and some deep gears.