Second gen has a much different roof than yours. The roofs are the same from your third gen up to the fifth gen (2011) if that helps any.
Generations are something that enthusiasts (not Ford) have placed on Ford Trucks based on body styling. Here's the Ford Ranger generations.
www.therangerstation.com
1997 is a second Gen. It's the last year of the second Gen rangers. First gen is from 83 to 92, with the facelift for first gen being done in 89. Second gen is from 93 to 97 with the facelift being given for 2nd gen in 95. 3rd gens are from 98 to 2011, with multiple facelifts being done for that generation In 01, 04, 06 & 08. Each generation of ranger model has had at least one facelift during the duration of that generations production. You seem to be confusing certain year facelifts with actual generations, the 89 model changes were a facelift, not a new generation. First gen had its facelift in 89, second gen got its facelift in 95, and third Gen had multiple facelifts. First gen is 83-92, second gen is 93-97, third Gen is 98-2011. You can Google all of this for further clarification, and you can also check What Ford Motor Co says about this as well. I get that your basing your assumption off of someone's post and what they think the generations are or should be, but Ford is very clear about what years constitute what generation, and wether they are Pre, or post facelift models. Going off of what the post you're sharing is saying, 83 to 88 is its own generation and the facelift in 89 means that 89 to 92 is a seperate generation. But then in that same post it says a "3rd gen" is from 93-97. However, that year range (generation) also had a facelift in 95 (which is what happened in 89 that you're saying is what makes 89-92 a different generation) yet you don't split 93-95 and 96-97 into two seperate generations? That makes no sense whatsoever. So some facelifts constitute a whole new generation and some don't? No. Not how it works. And going off of that posts assumption then that one facelift year creates a new generation, that would mean then that all facelift years create a new generation, meaning that 83-88 is gen one. 89-92 is gen 2. 93-94 is gen 3. 95-97 is gen 4. 98 to 01 is gen 5. 02 to 04 is gen 6. 05 to 06 is gen 7, and 07 to 11 is gen 8. Do you see how this doesn't make sense? You can't just say one facelift, that Ford motor co even says is just a facelift for that generation, is a new generation, and then say that another facelift in different years doesn't make a new generation. The facelift years do not constitute a new generation, a facelift has been given at least once to each generation. Ford is very clear about that. I get that the post someone put up says what it says, and everyone is allowed to define or identify anything however they want to in this day and age, but that's not how Ford Motor Co. defines them. Again, you can Google all of this yourself if you don't believe me. Hope this has helped you to understand this better.
Now, back to my question. Do you know what kind of roof rack setups I can use for the cab roof on my second gen? IDC if I have to drill holes in the roof, that doesn't bother me one bit, I just want to find an affordable solution that works for me. Any advice or experiences you've had with this is welcome.
