Ranger vs Tacoma

[modelageek]

I might annoy some people with this comment. If I was buying a brand new truck I would buy the tacoma. If I had a $3,000 budget I would buy a 2WD Ranger I also will suggest the best way to purchase a used car/truck. This method is not for everyone but if you are on this site chances are you do some of the work on your vehicle. Find a dealer to work with. If you don't know a dealer you can usually find one CL. Offer the dealer a fee plus or minus $300 depending on your area and go to the auction with them and purchase a truck. Bring it home, tune it up and fix what is wrong. You have a win win the dealer gets some cash for doing nothing and you get a good deal on the truck. This is not for everybody but for us here we can throw some brake pads on tune it up etc

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

The 3.0 will most likely not be able to tow a car if that is what you plan on towing, you will be much happier with the 4.0 and have a stronger rear axle to go along with it.

Not true. In stock auto trans form you may be right, but not what the OP is looking for.

I have a 2000 Ranger extended cab 3.0l 5-speed 2wd with the heavier GVWR package. It's done it's share of towing and hauling. Actually, I kinda worked the hell out of it. I've had over a ton in the bed on several occations (which required me to upgrade my leafs at one point, lol). I also towed my 88 BII on a tow dolly about 700 miles, my choptop on a tow dolly for about 300 miles, and flat towed both my choptop and a YJ Jeep on 34's a couple times. Trailer brakes would have been nice, but I didn't have use of them.

I also got 12-15 mpg towing. 19-22 mpg around town nearly empty and 25-31 mpg highway nearly empty.

Until I got my F-150, my Ranger was my DD/workhorse.... and as soon as I get around to patching 'er back up, I'll prolly still use it now an then.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Oh, yea, BTW, my one uncle had a S-10 and sold it partly because he hated it and partly to get a car for work. Then I bought a Ranger. And not long after he was looking at pickups again, and he settled on a Tacoma, and was claiming that it would outwork my Ranger blah, blah, blah.

Then he got a small pontoon boat that everyone (except for me and my dad) told him his Taco would be fine with it. Yea... that lightweight Taco didn't like that... And I was told it nearly became a submarine when launching time came... if it wouldn't have been for the oversized tires that work like floats...

 

[modelageek]

I like my ranger but anyone that doesn't acknowledge that the taco is a tough reliable and dependable truck is living in fantasy land

 

[Ozwynn]

If i was getting a truck to tow things with (even occasionally) and i had to work with in a $3000 budget well .......... I traded full size Bronco parts that cost me about $1200 for my 94 Chevy 2500 diesel. I paid $1000 for my 94 GMC Dually and it needs about $600 in parts. Down the road from my is a 93 Chevy 1500 4x4 ex-cab for $2500 and a guy I used to work with let his 88 chevy 1500 4x4 go for $1000

30 miles from here is a 97 expedition for $3500, sitting next to it is a 93 Suburban for $2995. out on the hwy is a 92 F250 4x4 for $2995....... what I am getting at is right now you can get a Full size in your budget with room left for what ever annoying little thing that needs to be fixed. I got nothing against a small pick up but if you are going to tow 10 cars a years thats almost 1 a month then get a full size. You can do it with the small pick up but when we talk about the loads we pulled with our small pick ups we did it because we didn't have a choice and given the choice every one here that does tow would take a full size (even a FS chevy) over a Ranger, Tacoma, S-10, Frontier any day.

if you are dead set on a small pick up then atleast look at a Dakota or a T-100

 

[loneranger48]

if you can find a tacoma or that new of a ranger for 3k let me know ill drive long distances lol

 

[modelageek]

The tacos are to pricey btTell me what you would expect for a ranger for 3k. I will tell you I think I can get it done

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

If i was getting a truck to tow things with (even occasionally) and i had to work with in a $3000 budget well .......... I traded full size Bronco parts that cost me about $1200 for my 94 Chevy 2500 diesel. I paid $1000 for my 94 GMC Dually and it needs about $600 in parts. Down the road from my is a 93 Chevy 1500 4x4 ex-cab for $2500 and a guy I used to work with let his 88 chevy 1500 4x4 go for $1000

30 miles from here is a 97 expedition for $3500, sitting next to it is a 93 Suburban for $2995. out on the hwy is a 92 F250 4x4 for $2995....... what I am getting at is right now you can get a Full size in your budget with room left for what ever annoying little thing that needs to be fixed. I got nothing against a small pick up but if you are going to tow 10 cars a years thats almost 1 a month then get a full size. You can do it with the small pick up but when we talk about the loads we pulled with our small pick ups we did it because we didn't have a choice and given the choice every one here that does tow would take a full size (even a FS chevy) over a Ranger, Tacoma, S-10, Frontier any day.

if you are dead set on a small pick up then atleast look at a Dakota or a T-100

I don't know.. I have an F-150 now and I've always had access to a pair of F-350 duallys with an EFI 460 lurking under the hood. I towed with my Ranger anyway.

Why? It wasn't to prove that my lil Ranger could get the job done, it was just more comfortable and more fuel efficient for long hauls. But if I needed to haul something big, I used a big truck. There's been a couple times now that my Ranger is laid up for repairs that I miss having it on the road for hauling something or other. It fit in places better than a big truck does too.

That said, my F-150 is my workhorse now and when I get my Ranger back up and running, it's not going to be my regular hauler, it was a good workhorse, but as soon as I get the springs and gears in my F-150, it'll be set up better for hauling/towing than my Ranger. But I wouldn't hesitate to make the Ranger my backup tow/haul rig.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I like my ranger but anyone that doesn't acknowledge that the taco is a tough reliable and dependable truck is living in fantasy land

Tough, reliable, and expensive. And the older ones are prone to the body rotting out long before the drivetrain dies....

I know a guy who bought a Taco about the same time I got my Ranger. We both bought new and got identical options pretty much except he got 4x4 and I got a 2wd. I paid $12,500 for mine. He paid $32,000 for his.... I'd rather have the Ranger.

 

[rticul8ion]

yea my next door neighbor has a 95 tacoma and hates it because when hes towing his 21 ft boat comming up from the ramp is a problem for the toyota just not enough power and hes starting to get frame rot to... import trucks i guess but the older trucks arent had with the 22r motor is a great motor i had a 3ich body lifted 85 toyota extra cab with 31's on it and it had enough power to get around the sand banks

Coming from someone whos built toyota offroad trucks for years ranging to 83 to 98 I can tell you your neighbor just has a lousy geared truck. The 2.7 is viturally the same motor as the 22r/re series but it has more power and doesn't have the timing chain issues. All the trucks up till 95 got 4.10 gears in the 4wd where some models like the 4runner could be had with 4.88 stock. Tacomas came out in 95.5 and could be had with anything from a 3.58 to a 4.56 factory. It all depended on what tire size tranny bodystyle and towing setup you got. My 98 reg cab came factory with a 2.7 5 spd hitch 31s and 4.10s where as a buddy of mine got the exact same truck with a V6 and got the same gearing but yet a another friend bought the same setup except auto and a 4 banger and got 4.56.

As far as the frame rot goes it was due to poor prep. Toyota is only buying certain trucks back. I believe it is a J digit in the vin code they look for and the only buy it back if it can't be repaired. Something else they don't tell you is they are giving credit for aftermarket items such as rims ect. Everyone bags toyotas b/c of the rot. If you look at an older truck rotted or not and notice the bed fades worse then the cab it's b/c there 2 different types of metal. The beds were american and the cabs japanese. The newer trucks are not so much of an issue. I had 2 98s, I live at the beach and never had issues with the current frame rot toyota is recalling.

Back to the topic at hand I've owned several rangers as well and while there good trucks I like my toys better. There both tic for tac but to me the toyotas are easier to work on and are more comfortable. I've towed various weights with different setups in each truck and really to me there wasn't much difference. It came down to personal preferance.

 

[Ozwynn]

except for the seats ....... I had a 2000 Taco and it had the worst seats my ass has ever sat in ........ and I have driven a 1968 deuce and a 1/2

 

[Will]

except for the seats ....... I had a 2000 Taco and it had the worst seats my ass has ever sat in ........ and I have driven a 1968 deuce and a 1/2

But it's not as bad in the driver's seat as it is for the poor assholes that are bouncing on the wooden troop seats.

 

[nooberiffic]

I like toyotas and have worked on some. They are damn good trucks (I like the Hilux over the taco). But I sure as hell dont think they are easier to work on. And parts for Rangers are easier to get.