06 Ford Ranger

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Austin1

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I was going to steal the 4cyl truck post for this question.lol.
Been thinking of getting a little truck have three big ones now 2 Chevs and a Dodge. I am not interested in a four cyl have to pull the boat and keep up with traffic, been looking at the Mazda aka Ford Ranger, the Mazda seems to have a bit more resale value, but cost less new because of the rep associated with American built stuff the Ranger is Cheaper to buy used.
I don't belong to any car forums and anyways it would be used to haul firewood so it belongs here. Anyone have one of these trucks with the 4L motor. I have herd that the Standard trans gives more problems than the Auto,ie I Talked to a ford dealer and they said the Slave cyl on the hyd clutch tends to go after 60,000mi or 100 000km.But of course 75% of the used trucks they have do have the auto trans in them.
I like the rear end I mean axle of the truck, it's got some meat on it,okay get your minds out of the gutter.
My 80 Chev wood hauler is rusting away and a nice little truck that could pull a trailer with 2500lbs of wood would be great.
 
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Officially out of lurk mode now!

G'day, perhaps i can help, i have the previous model 02' 4x4 with the 2.5l turbo diesel and 5 speed. I'm looking to upgrade aswell. I've had her 5 years now and she's been the best truck/vehicle I've owned period.Nothing ever goes wrong.She's done just over 200,000k's now, origional everything except tyres.Must admit the shocks could do with replacing, ;)
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My mate has the 06 4l auto, its a bloody ripper, goes like a sedan, just as reliable too, well so far anyway, mine has 100,000ks more than his.
Sounds like your dealer wants to sell you something dearer perhaps.
Mazda trucks have a very solid reputation in Australia as a reliable work horse.

Good luck with your decisions and don't forget the 3.0l turbo diesel its pretty impressive and has more torque than the 4.0l petrol engine.

Rob.
 
G'day, perhaps i can help, i have the previous model 02' 4x4 with the 2.5l turbo diesel and 5 speed. I'm looking to upgrade aswell. I've had her 5 years now and she's been the best truck/vehicle I've owned period.Nothing ever goes wrong.She's done just over 200,000k's now, origional everything except tyres.Must admit the shocks could do with replacing, ;)
PC080614.jpg


My mate has the 06 4l auto, its a bloody ripper, goes like a sedan, just as reliable too, well so far anyway, mine has 100,000ks more than his.
Sounds like your dealer wants to sell you something dearer perhaps.
Mazda trucks have a very solid reputation in Australia as a reliable work horse.

Good luck with your decisions and don't forget the 3.0l turbo diesel its pretty impressive and has more torque than the 4.0l petrol engine.

Rob.
They don't offer the diesel here and I would not want one anyway, cant stand the smell as I work on it all day long plus starting a diesel in -30c is harder than +30c lol
Gota love them ARB accessories, Have their air lockers on two of my trucks I have read that they made the frame stiffer on the 06 and up models for better on road and off road handling.
And welcome aboard just stay away from the Chainsaw section :cheers:
 
Talked to a ford dealer and they said the Slave cyl on the hyd clutch tends to go after 60,000mi

Mine did. '03.

Can't speak to the 4 cyl, I have a 4.0 L engine. Disappointing on the fuel economy side, gets about the same as my '98 F-150 did, maybe 1mpg more.

Major repairs over 168,000 miles:
-- Slave Cylinder.
-- Front wheel bearing/hub assemblies.
-- Fuel Line. Stupid snap fittings...probably aggravated that I waited 150,000 miles to change the filter for the first time so they never had been exercised before. Fell off about a week after I changed it, only time I've been towed. New fuel line price was bend over and grab ankles.
-- Rear brakes. Sheathing for the hand brake cable rubbed through, let water drain into the driver's side assembly trashing it.

Other then that, normal stuff. Replace brakes, tires, etc. Never have done the belt, really should. Never have done the spark plugs either! Some of my vacuum hoses are giving out at bends they make so I get a check engine, see it's running lean, have to go find and tape up what's leaking.

Most annoying is my tailgate cables snapped. While I was sitting on tailgate, immediately prior to finding myself sitting on the driveway. Terrible design -- plastic coated cables, ends are open. So water accumulates where they bend when the tailgate is closed.
 
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I bought a new Mazda in '98. It had a 4 cylinder but I'm pretty sure that the ones made today are different. My Mazda had an auto trans. The truck was reliable and good transportation but when going up a hill with a load it would pull down bad. It got between 20 and 22 mpg. driving back and forth to work and got about 27 mpg on the road. I would think that the new engines would do better than the old ones in power and mileage.

My friend bought a new Mazda in about '03. It had the V6 in it. He never did say what the mileage was but I don't think that he was very happy with it. His slave cylinder went out too but I think it was still under warranty. I test drove a new V6 several years ago and wasn't impressed with the power. I'm sure that it had more torque for pulling than the 4 cyl. though.
 
'97 Ranger with 4.0 L V6

Austin, I am running my '97 Ford Ranger 4 x 4 with the 4.0 L V6 and a 5-speed tranny. Greatest combination in the world. Plenty of power. I commonly carry a ton of firewood in it with the racks in place, and I rarely drop into Granny Low 4 x 4 except when off road.

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I cannot imagine why it would have any trouble pulling a 2500-lb trailer. If I had a place to store a trailer, that's what I would be doing instead.
 
I'm with wood doctor...well almost. I have a 2000 ranger 4x4 automatic 4.0 l. It went from a daily driver to a need to haul something truck the last few years, about 85k on the odometer. I got an owb this winter and it's now a logging truck. I don't have sides like wood doctor but you could no problem, well except the squat.
Wood doctor, do you have helper springs or something? Mine squats like crazy and I'm adding helper spring soon. Maybe I wore my springs out years ago hauling machinery around, this poor truck has hauled alot of stuff.
I also pull a tandem axle trailer 6x12 with it when hauling wood. I have 1' sides on it and don't get to crazy with piling it high on the trailer, mainly because of braking power and weight behind the truck for driving, not power...I've hauled loaded truck and trailer in 4wd up an icey and muddy fairly steep hill alot this past winter. I'm amazed at the power for a 6cyl. I do wish I had more overall capacity sometimes and a full size truck but other times I'm pretty tired after cutting up and loading a full bed and trailer load :)
 
My dad just put a new trani in his 2000 Ford Ranger, and the truck only has a little over 100,000 miles. The truck is porly made, it ratles realy bad, the cab lite doesn't shut off, and the dore ajar lite nevver shuts off, it's just junk.
 
The truck is porly made, it ratles realy bad
Mine just started rattling after about 160k. No bother to me. I don't use the truck to sneak up on people.

the cab lite doesn't shut off
I remove the cover and manually unscrew.

and the dore ajar lite nevver shuts off
Mine too. I just take care that the door's really closed and disregard the lighted red letters.
 
No Helper Springs

Slisk asked, "Wood doctor, do you have helper springs or something?"
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No, just the heavy duty, off-road suspension. In '97 and '98, they also offered the oversized P265 tires, and I bought those. Regardless, the springs never go dead flat until I load her with concrete blocks, green mulberry, green oak, or green locust. Of these, I think green locust is the heaviest, closely followed by green mulberry--perhaps the drunkard of all wood species.

Anyway, I found that the door ajar light is related to the seat belt light. If I forget to fasten the seat belt, the door ajar light stays on. I live with that because it always corrects itself on the next startup.

I never have had trouble with the dome light staying on. That happens on my wife's Toyota Celica, so we just uncrewed the bulb permanently.
 
I have a 2000 ranger 4x4 automatic 4.0 l... I don't have sides like wood doctor but you could no problem, well except the squat. do you have helper springs or something? Mine squats like crazy and I'm adding helper spring soon.


My dad has a 2000 Ranger 4x4 automatic 3.0, and he had two broken leaf springs so he fixed them and added 1 to each side. Now it doesn't move at all with a load on.
 
Thanks for the welcome fellers:)

Its interesting to hear about the problems some of you guys have experienced, just wondering where yours are built?

The Oz trucks come from Thailand, as do Toyoya, Nissan and Isuzu and possibly more and they don't seem to have any probs either as far as reliability goes.

Rob
 
my f150 did the same thing with the cab light

just spray the heck out of the door latches inside the door with wd40 - at least on the f150 the pin is on the latch - lights work like they should
 
my 96 is still goin strong and just turned 200k

its has its fixes and issues but over all good truck. i am the third owner and i think ive been the hardest on it. i definately need to get some ruggeder springs. i actually hung myself up on the receiver hitch today. (oops) but i got the oak home!
 
my 96 is still goin strong and just turned 200k

its has its fixes and issues but over all good truck. i am the third owner and i think ive been the hardest on it. i definately need to get some ruggeder springs. i actually hung myself up on the receiver hitch today. (oops) but i got the oak home!
Consider air bags or air shocks rather than springs. Just a thought.
http://www.truckpartsproshop.com/gabriel_hi_jackers_air_shocks.html

I've threatened to buy a pair of these on numerous occasions and might do it next year. My '97 only has 37,000 miles on it.
 
Good thread for me.
I picked up this 96 a few weeks ago. Has the 4.0 with the auto trans. 154,000 miles.

Looks good and runs good. I found out I can't fill the tank or it will leak out somewhere on the spout. A/C needs a charge too.

For $2900, I like it.

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Kevin
 
A/C Charge

I charge my A/C every 1-2 years. Get a valve kit and a can of refrigerant and do it yourself. Piece of cake. The cans with sealant last an extra six months or so, but they cost more. If it's dead out, you may need two cans.

For $2,900, you "stole" that truck.
 
Good thread for me.
I picked up this 96 a few weeks ago. Has the 4.0 with the auto trans. 154,000 miles.

Looks good and runs good. I found out I can't fill the tank or it will leak out somewhere on the spout. A/C needs a charge too.

For $2900, I like it.

P1050552.jpg


P1050554.jpg






Kevin
That one is in great shape for a older truck, here it would be a rust bucket already.
 
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