Thinking about picking up this Ranger

[Fellro]

Found this 95 Ranger in the ads on Craigslist. It has over 223,000 miles, 5 speed 4wd. Has some rust but not much considering its area of operation. It will need the driver cab corner, back half bedside for the driver side, and lower rear bed corner.The ad states the motor need replaced and clutch, easy enough, do them at the same time... The rear spring hangers are both shot, and one shackle is non-existant as well, still not a terrible big issue. Already has a Class III hitch, another plus for me. It is a 4.0 Asking price is 600, thinking of trying to get it down at least to 500, been listed for a while. The miles are definitely against it for typical sales.Opinions?

 

[john112deere]

First thought- it needs an engine/clutch AND it needs body work to be drivable? Ugh. (On the body work, I'd assume radiator support too, based on every rusty Ranger I've ever looked at.)


Might be worth $500 if you can get a new 4.0 for reasonable money and don't mind doing the work yourself...but you're still gonna end up with a well-worn old Ranger.

In it's day, that was a truck I'd have really liked to own- it's equipped very much like my '09, and I've said since the day I drove that one off the lot, I wish it could've been a brand-new '97 with that option list.



Shaun probably knows better than me, but I'm wondering if '95 was the year that was a weird hybrid of OBDI and OBDII. Never dealt with it, but it could present some issues when you go to swap engines.

 

[Fellro]

Surprisingly, rad supports were clean, zero rust. Same for the cab mounts and such, really was pretty clean. Only the couple trouble spots. Not looking to drive it all over the country, might get daily duty if things go well. I need something I can afford to run that can handle light trailer detail and haul things on occasion. The 4x4 would be handy for getting out of the lane int he winter. I got lucky this year, but might not here on out...

I had thought about rebuilding the motor that is in it, or pick up a decent salvage motor. Looks like I can get used motors for $400

 

[smokey]

I'd snatch that up for that price. I'd swap the motor with a good pulled one. Body looks like a ready fix.

 

[nobodyspecial]

if you are pulling the engine, might as well replace it with a 302...

 

[john112deere]

^^Not if he wants to keep the transmission.

That Mazda box has an integral bellhousing, and it won't bolt up to the 302.

Not that it's a huge obstacle, but it's one more step and expense away from a budget DD/beater.

 

[Fellro]

The idea is to not use a lot of fuel... Although a light truck like that probably wouldn't, I don't feel like dealing with having to swap trannies, then I would imagine the t-case would have to be swapped as well, at that point, it is getting out of control for what I want it to do. If it was 2wd, might be more open to such, but still want to do better for fuel usage.

 

[racsan]

well it has potential if you dont mind all the work it will need. on the fuel useage, mine's a '93 4.0 4x4 supercab with a manual trans & 3.73 gearing. gets about 19 at very best, 17 combined, 15 in town. not bad for a 4,300 pound 4x4, but certianally not great. my '88 2wd 2.3 would get 23 most of the time 7 i once got 28 highway. on the downside it didnt like long uphill grades, sometimes i had to go down to 3rd to maintain speed, didnt like trailers over 1,500 pounds, its all in what you want to do with it i guess.

 

[Fellro]

Thanks for the info. It is better than the full size trucks which the 88 gets 8-10, and the diesel gets typically about 12 with 4.10 gears and 4 speed. Would be nice to be able to daily it, but I also understand that isn't overly likely, but I do need something on standby that can do decent for mileage and be able to haul things of a little larger size, if I need to go heavy, I have the full size trucks for that.

Might be a moot point in the end, the guy that owns it hasn't called me back, but it may be that he has as crazy a schedule as I do..

 

[Fellro]

Well, he did call back... when I was in my weekly meeting with a Deere engineer.. Then when I did finally get him called back, he wasn't available... He did say on the message that he had been busy, which I completely understand. I have been on the hunt for a truck much like this for a long time. I need the extended cab as I can't stand to sit upright too much, gets my back to bothering. 4wd is nice, but wasn't a primary concern, the extended cab is. Too bad it wasn't a 3.0, I have one in an Aerostar waiting for a home. I have suspicions it isn't all that bad, he just doesn't know what to do with it. He doesn't know what is wrong with the motor, but knows the clutch is out. Might end up being a bit more simple to fix, but maybe it will require a motor replacement, won't know until I get to actually mess around with it.

 

[Fellro]

I returned his call the next day, he never got back to me until yesterday, now that I can't even load the darn thing. He then proceeded to tell me today that he was contacting me to say that someone else was interested... I figure I can't do anything for at least another month, so I let it go.