Main Difference

[Fish'n_Fatboy]

have been looking around and decided i need to get a ranger. my only problem is what gen to get 2 or 3... i really like the body of the gen 2 but as usual I'm having a hard time finding one thats 4.0, 4x4, manual tranny, and decently low miles. I've been able to find a decent amount of gen 3 with what I'm looking for.

Heres my future plans that i want to do with the truck. For right now its going to be a DD, 50 plus miles a day and need something that gets better then 7 mpg. i have a 1979 f150 that i want to use for a FW SAS on the ranger. In about a year from i plan on doing the sas with max 35s and maybe a 5.0 swap in the future.

So with what i gave you which would be a better Gen to get.

Thanks

 

[adsm08]

I have no real advice for you, it's mostly a question of personal taste at that point.

The only thing I have to say is that these days "gen two Ranger" and "low miles" don't really belong in the same sentence anymore.

 

[Fish'n_Fatboy]

i hear that yeah I've had a few that popped up around 40,000-60,000 on craigslist but they have all been automatics. id be happy with something around 100,000-120,000.

Are these two gens pretty much the same as far as when it comes to SAS. and i do believe i have read on here that the gen 3s are the easiest for the 5.0 conversions as well????

 

[adsm08]

I'd say Gen 1 is easiest for a 5.0 swap, but none of them are that hard. If you really want to do a 5.0 swap at any point in the near future I wouldn't place too much importance on the transmission that is in it right now. You are gonna need a new one anyway.

As for SAS, the suspension setup from 83 to 97 was pretty much the same. The only thing that changed was the Dana 28 being replaced by the 35.