Im a full time college student at the moment thinking about sellinb this truck but im not sure if its a bad idea or not. It has low miles and will last forever but I dont use the bed and its not the most practical at the moment. Should I keep it?

My third gen parked next to a fourth.

96 Ranger Splash with the 3.0 and 5spd! Any preventative maintenance, problems, cool upgrades I should look into? Frame and bottom have minimal rust for how old she is. 2 owners, first in California, second in WA.

She was rough, she had 230,000 miles on her, 60,000 of which were me taking her to the snow, helping friends move, hauling welders and tools around, going camping, going on Gambler 500 events and recovering stuck buddies, drifting in the rain, going mountain biking - hell, this truck was even the second date with my girlfriend where I taught her to drive a manual transmission, and it saw us get engaged and married.

My last Ranger got sent to the big trail in the sky, but this one is gonna go live on a farm upstate (literally)

She had more issues than I could justify fixing, and a friend gave me a great deal on a Miata.

I have loved this truck, and this community. I hope it won't be my last Ranger, and I'll miss it dearly

Love the desert sand color! I went from a mustang, Maverick (RIP) and now the Ranger lariat! 2026!

My last car was a '96 Miata, and Miatas generally have very crisp, tactile shifting, meaning you can feel when the transmission is in gear as you shift. I test-drove a '96 Ford Ranger today (which probably hadn't been well-maintained), and the shifter felt very wobbly, to say the least. For example, I thought the transmission was in neutral because the shifter felt so wobbly while the truck was in first gear.

Since I've only driven one Ford Ranger, I can't determine whether my experience accurately represents how the manual transmission in a Ford Ranger typically feels. Could you guys share your experiences? Comparisons to other cars or trucks would be especially helpful. Thanks!

https://imgur.com/a/AahXR6n
^ Some before and after 1995 3.0 4WD 150k
Owner pretty much shitted this thing

Had a rough idle 1.5-2k, Just did valve cover, plenum and gasket, plugs, coil, wires, IAC, EGR valve, couple other things. The idle seems a lot better if not fine. It started at 1.2k then went down to ~800 eventually. To me it still sounds like shit but is a lot quieter. I got motor and tranny mounts on the way, but seeing if there’s anything else noticeable to do.

Fuel injector problem? Something worse? Heads, exhaust valves?

Also is that a cam sync whistle?

Didn’t do MAF, MAP, or O2 sens yet

Check gage light blinking. New fuel pump but that’s the one thing I didn’t do.

2001 3.0 egde 2wd.

Ive had this truck for almost 10 months now. When i first got it i replaced the fuel pump and filter and the entire spark system. When i first started driving it wasnt all that bad it could accelerate easly and could get up to decent speeds.

At the time it had a missfire on cylinder 6 but over the coarse of a few months it had cylinder 5 pop up and then 4 while it just kept getting slugish. To the point where it can barely go 60mph and cant go past 40ish in 3rd gear. The weird part is that after awhile the code for cylinder 6 and 5 went away but it didnt gain any power back.

I dont believe the head gasket is busted as im not getting chocolate milk in either the colant or the oil. The only part of the fuel system that i think it could be is the fuel rail but if it was that i think that cylinder 4 would be the first to show than cylinder 5 and 6. Cant be any of spark componets cause the plugs, wires and, coil pack, were all replaced.

Honestly im just looking to see if any of yall have experinced this before or have any idea of what i should look at, as im so lost and its getting past where my diag skills are useful. Thank you all and if im being an idiot and missing something that should be obvoius sorry.

Edit: always use the front tank first?

So the slide pin seized, causing my brakes to prematurely eat themselves, so I’m replacing the callipers on the truck and the part that the Parts store ordered came in and the bracket is an inch too $hort, but the calliper and calliper bolts are the exact same on the old versus new but the points that the bracket connects to the Ibeam are completely different (1997 XL 2.3L 2wd)

I just need to know other people‘s experiences so I can figure out what to order so I know it’s right

Thinking of selling my Ranger and trading my car for a newer truck. What could I realistically get out of it?

2001 4.0 4x4 SOHC Auto (I know)

162k

Not sure if it's ever had timing or transmission work but it sounds good and shifts smooth. Has a little miss at cold idle but no CELs.

Purchased it in 2020, sold it in 2024, and bought it back this year. Have replaced a lot of small stuff in that time but nothing major.

Very little rust for it's age, most of what it does have is under the bed. Frame is solid. Overal it's in pretty damn good shape.

What do y'all think?

Hey y'all, had my Ranger put away for the past year due to puking water. Finally got off my ass and did the water pump and thermostat housing. Everything is running good, but she's really sucking down fuel.

Filled the tank up, right to the 16 gallon mark, but I've already smoked about half a tank, but only have around 60 miles on the odo, all town driving besides about 10 miles. They say I should be getting 15-16mpg, but it's looking like half that.

I was having a lean code pop for both banks over the last 1-2 years. Would typically just clear and ignore, but decided to toss new upstream o2 sensors on since they were cheap (Walker 350-34539), and the old ones looked pretty sour. Not sure if the computer has caught up yet to the new data, but the gas needle still seems to be dropping fast.

I did the spark plugs at some point in the last 2000 miles, and plan to check if they've fouled up at all since seeing the lean code, but I'm wondering what else I should be checking, or if anyone's got a similar tale with an easy fix.

My plan is to pull, clean, and regasket the intake next, after seeing some gunk in a vacuum elbow I replaced coming off the passenger side, and maybe run through some other vacuum lines to make sure everything is solid, although I don't really have any performance indicators of a leak (that I can tell). Other thoughts are maybe a stuck fan clutch, but I'm not sure how much that would affect fuel mileage.

Worth mentioning it's got all new brakes, but the tires are completely fucked. Might have a bad passenger hub, and the front wheels seem to be off camber. The alignment isn't too off, but it's certainly not perfect.

Thanks for reading. I'm just a simple DIYer, but any insight would be very appreciated. Fkin Ford Ranger!

1989 ranger and the door harness is broke off right at the connection. I’m looking for some advice if I should try to fix it or if anybody knows where to get a new harness. Maybe if somebody has a parts car I could buy the harness off of would be nice. I’d like to have a working door speaker. And also if anybody knows where it leads to so I can look for it myself

I drove around for 20 minutes and only parked for like 10 on idle. It’s usually a bit higher but I’m just wondering. And don’t be hating for me just asking,

Hi all,

I have a stock Mazda b2500 currently and wanting to upgrade the tires to something a bit more beefy for dirt roads and getting up into the mountains. This is a manual trans 2WD with the 2.5l engine. Gear ratio is stock at 3.73. I was able to grab some 15” rims from another ranger off market place and Walmart has some Dextero DAT1 235/75R15 tires on sale right now. Wondering if this would be a good pairing? Truck would only really be used for some camping and small trips around town. Not really for highway driving or road trips. 213k miles on her but she is reliable and I just replaced the entire front suspension and rear shocks. Currently on 14” stock tires, 215/70/14.

Do you think it would be too sluggish or taxing to move to the bigger tires? Anything to worry about besides speedometer? Let me know, thanks all!

Looking for some advice with this truck. It’s a 1987 Ranger XLT 4x4 with the 2.9L V6. Still having some idle and drivability issues with this thing. The following items have been replaced:

Throttle Position Sensor
Idle Air Control Valve
Distributor Cap and Rotor
New Spark Plugs and Wires
Engine Coolant Temp Sensor
Air Temperature Sensor
Fuel Injectors
Upper/lower intake manifold gaskets
Thermostat

This problem seems to have manifested itself after the upper/lower intake manifold gaskets were replaced. These were replaced because of an oil/coolant leak.

I’ve smoke tested the vacuum system and no leaks have been noted. The vehicle has a hard time starting and, when it starts to run, it will eventually stall within a minute or two. The timing has been adjusted, but nothing seems right.

Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks!