If you could do it over again

[r1hatman]

This shows you how little I know about 4wheel drive, I thought the manual hub was turning the knob??? Like mine??

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

This shows you how little I know about 4wheel drive, I thought the manual hub was turning the knob??? Like mine??

Nearly all newer Rangers got a lil knob on the dash to engage the electronic transfer case. Older Rangers got pushbuttons for the electric transfer case or a manual transfer case with that lil lever on the trans hump.

Pretty much all newer Rangers have auto front hubs for 4x4, much to the disgust of many. But manual hubs are still manual hubs, twist the knob on 'em, throw it in 4x4 and go.

 

[corrond56]

i would have gotten the 4.0 instead of the 3.0 and 4x4 and power everything. Now I'm spending tons of money making it what I want cause I don't want to sell it since it was my first vehicle.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

i would have gotten the 4.0 instead of the 3.0 and 4x4 and power everything. Now I'm spending tons of money making it what I want cause I don't want to sell it since it was my first vehicle.

I just bought another truck and kept my Ranger for a DD instead of spending a fortune turning it into a 4x4.

 

[TimV]

4.0L. Everything else about the truck is great IMO. Just needs a bit more pep.

 

[dbp]

I've actually been down the "if I could do it all over again" road a bunch of times...and then actually ... done it all over again.

Here's what I've had:

** 89 toy 4x4 (I liked this but I wrecked it) (no ac)
so i figured since I got to do it all over again I'd do it exactly the same...but vowed to ALWAYS get ac in anything I ever owned again.

** 93 ranger reg cab 3.0 manual 4x4 (ac)
Now I figured I would just get something brand new so I wouldn't worry about breaking stuff

** 01 dakota reg cab auto 4x4 (ac)
hated that it was an auto -- and that it was a reg cab

** 02 Ranger ext. cab 4x4 3.0 manual (ac)
not sure why I got rid of this one, I think it was just cause I was driving by the Jeep lot and wanted a Jeep.

** 03 Wrangler 2.4L manual 4x4 (no ac)
kinda got this one in the winter so I didn't bother with ac...couldn't live without it and I missed my Ranger.

** 05 Ranger ext. cab 4x4 XLT 4.0 manual (ac)
This time I figured I did it right...even got the bigger engine. But those FX4's I kept seeing really made me want one.

** 07 F150 fx4 ext. cab 5.4 power everything (ac)
Now this puppy was a dream...everything I could ever want in a truck...even room in the back for my son and his car seat. But the price...$530 a month, it was killing me with a 6 mo. old

** 02 Ranger ext. cab 4x4 3.0 manual (ac)
And...here we go...gonna sit this one out for a good while. I feel like I got everything I needed...ac, ext. cab, decent sized truck bed, the manual that I had been missing for the past 3.5 years.

--

So...if I could do it all over again, I'd be driving that 02 ranger I got new back in 2002 ... and it would have been paid off for nearly 4 years ago. Instead, I'm driving someone else's 02 Ranger with 86k that probably has never been waxed, or oil changed, etc etc. I put on about 4k miles a year. My 02 would have been at 40k.

But no in all honesty, I'm pretty happy with my truck. The things I consider a must:

V6 (or V8), 4x4, manual tranny, manual windows, cd player, and air conditioning.

------

Oh and for the record, I don't think the 4.0 is that much more powerful than the 3.0. Sure, there might be a bit more torque and it might chirp them easier going into second...but you don't feel like you're in a fast vehicle with the 4.0 just the same as you don't feel fast in the 3.0.

 

[Original_Ranger84]

This shows you how little I know about 4wheel drive, I thought the manual hub was turning the knob??? Like mine??

Oh I meant the turn knob on my 99... There is a little turn knob in the cab that I turn that tells the electric tcase to go into 4x4 and the auto hubs to follow suit. I hate it! My old 84 had the manual get out and turn them yourself hubs and 2 sticks in the floor, best combo ever.

Oh and for the record, I don't think the 4.0 is that much more powerful than the 3.0. Sure, there might be a bit more torque and it might chirp them easier going into second...but you don't feel like you're in a fast vehicle with the 4.0 just the same as you don't feel fast in the 3.0.

I don't either for the sake of running down the road, Its gets up and goes to pass cars just fine at 65, but a 4.0L would be nice just for the torque band being lower, my truck does fine till it gets stuck then it doesn't have the torque to turn stuck tires...

 

[trail B2]

I wish I would have put bushings in with my BL.I wish I did'nt put a lock right in a dana 28 changed my mind about tire size and motor so now to light.

 

[Phil_T]

If I could do it over again, I should of bought what I wanted, a wrangler!!! but the insurance was too high...next vehicle will be a Jeep.

First off I should of got the 4.0L 4x4 and not the 2wd 2.3L

Second I should of got the extended cab, cruise control, A/C

And Third, I should of NOT of gotten the mazda, but the real one , the Ford.


But I still want a Jeep

 

[adsm08]

Yes to the 4.0 4x4
Yes to the options
Technically since about 98 Mazda has made the Ranger for Ford, anything with IFS/SLA is actually a Mazda truck with a Ford badge.

oh, and boo on the heap. No me gusta el jeep (pr. "heap").

 

[r1hatman]

Yeah, That's what I thought, that's what I've got on my 83. Four wheel doesn't work at all unless you lock the hubs right? Who are the factory hubs made by, mine are warn. Is that normal?

 

[adsm08]

Yeah, unless you have and LSD or locker in the front you have to lock both front hubs for it to work. In fact I just drive around with my pass side locked in the winter and only lock the driver's when I need the 4x4. The drive shaft will turn and the t-case will be engaged, you can even use 4-low as a 2-low setting if you don't lock in, but you don't get the front wheels driving without locking the hubs.

Warn did make the hubs for Ford. Yours may not be the originals (unless you know for a fact that they are), but even mine that say Ford are Warn hubs.

 

[Original_Ranger84]

Yeah Mine say ford but they still seem pretty strong so I am going to assume they are similar...

and yeah you have to lock both of them in unless you have L/S or a locker which I don't but i would lock em both in anyways... lol

 

[MountainMike]

I would of bought that Cherokee. Yeah I said it, but the Ranger has treated me pretty well, so maybe I would just leave things as they are.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yeah Mine say ford but they still seem pretty strong so I am going to assume they are similar...

and yeah you have to lock both of them in unless you have L/S or a locker which I don't but i would lock em both in anyways... lol

Locked front and rear can give some interesting handling characteristics in bad winter weather. I've drove my choptop around in 4x4 with just one front hub locked in before because I could drive straighter like that. (with all four locked in sometimes it just wanted to dogtrack really bad down the road... was worried that other drivers would panic and wreck when they saw that. )