NO. NO! On the contrary mate, I love what you're doing. I was a complete noob to all of this, probably still am but I know already a lot more then I did before. You know, after a while, knowing how to change your bumpers, tires and what not kinda does make you feel really good past the age of 12-14.. I've never went so indepth in a cars mechanics and I'm loving it. I've honestly always thought of taking this up in the future as a hobby.
Like I've mentioned, I'm not gonna go intensively offroad either, because its going to be used for work and travelling. I don't want to ride down to Florida and something blows half way there. Would suck..
As for why a new generation Ranger, I'm not looking to buy the truck over 8k if it doesn't have aftermarket tires, lifting, shafts and axles. I'm buying it from a used dealer as well. My uncles owns a shop and he can work out 1 to 2.5k off of the original dealer price and I just end up giving my uncle a merely 500$. So while having a not expensive new-gen Ranger used, I can get it for even cheaper which leaves a lot of money for tweaking it and adding addons to it. But I've been shopping Rangers for nearly two months and I've come dead set with a three-four interesting ones. Some that I would need to add tires and a lift and modify things on, and two others are FX4 Level II with all the tires and the lifts already in place. There would only be the differential issue to look at. But I am looking for just whatever is the cheapest and offers the best price/mileage offer.
I know how construction is, I've been working two years now and yes, thats exactly how it is. You almost never do 40 hours a week and its even worse because I don't have my cards yet. As for sounding like my 'rents, haha. I'm actually glad theres still people out there telling you to be careful. I do live alone after they both passed away so its welcomed. And when people give you advise, the most respectful thing to do is to listen and then decide for yourself. You sound genuine, honest and you're only looking to help a fellow enthusiast. I'd be darn well stupid to ignore that help!
We started, well I started with nothing and in a week, I've went further into knowing parts, quirks and other things that I would have never been able to understand or comprehend in such a short time span. But the automatic transmission does sound sketch. Something to definitely look in. I read that most can torsion the bars plus add something of a 5-6 inch suspension plus a 2-3 inch body lift without even having to change the drivetrain or change the front axles and all the buckets, all the coils and springs..? Would it still be to much for the front of truck and be riding on the limit of what the parts can take?
If I do take a Level II, I guess any Limited Slip differential will not do and will be to much or are there any LSD that could prove worthwhile to buy. The way I'm seeing with the snow and ice and the extreme conditions we have in our 8 months in winter, I should just go with a Powertrax-no slip front and rear?
The way I see it, if I can get a Fx4 Level II and still have 5k or so left, if I shop well enough and find good prices, I could at least change the front axle and add new differentials while buying 33's. Even better if the lift kit and wheels are already installed. I'm trying to find rangers that are already mounted with lift kits and tires, worst happens, I'd just need to change the axles and differentials if they are not, which god I hope isn't the case.