I am trying to figure out what to look for and many people say this and that but I want to know from peoples experience. Rangers? I had a 1999 Explorer XLT and the tranny shit on me at 107k, unacceptable it was stock

What I want:

Offroad capable DD
Not rust prone
No tranny or engine issues... (kinda like an XJ Cherokee)

I just want something good looking, capable and tough. Any ideas?

I'm gonna say full size Bronco(of course I'm bias). Depending on where you live they be rust prone though.

Man I love fords to death but here in the Midwest there ALL rust prone lol. If you dont want engine and tranny issues find a SBF or BBF (or if you dont mind going slow 300 straight 6) and manual trans(or c6) in whatever vehicle you desire.

Guess Im kinda biased also but I vote for mid to late 70's F150. The 351M's are so simple to keep running its crazy. I prefer the 4speed (NP435 or T18 I believe may have been an option). 9inch rear end and D44 front. Both simple to take care of. Both capable.

Guessing your Ex was an automatic? (yeah the autos aren't the most reliable)

I say stick with the RBVs (Ranger-Based vehicles), but look for a stickshift in a '90-'97 truck. Those with the 4.0L V6 will have the best drivetrains, although tons of stuff can be swapped between these rigs.
Earlier Rangers (< '90) and most Bronco IIs tend to have small axles, but you can pretty much bolt in the better '90-'97 axles that will handle 35" meats no problem (IMO, I think the BII has the most potential of any of these rigs).

I would suggest hopping over to www.therangerstation.com, they got pretty much all the info there you could imagine about what's good, what isn't, and how to identify the good stuff from the crappy.
www.explorerforum.com should have some info as well.

If fullsize is what you want, then I'd 2nd the Bronco. www.fullsizebronco.com seems to be the site most people recommend for those.

What about Ranger Edge's?

Way too much of opinion question!!! But...

Any 7.3L Powerstroke truck.

Any Early Bronco from the southwest that's had the Duraspark ignition swapped out. Or with the 170/200 six cylinder( if you have patience).

Or, any Ford that YOU have owned for ten years!

Any 79 ford they just about perfect in my opinion.(even the 4x4 vans worked good in 79)

Depends what you want to do with it i think 79 bronco or f150 with 400m 4sp is the best. Unless you can find a 79 f350 but you wont.
You can fit 37s with a sawzall and have a killer rig.

I would go with f150 or bronco even if you want 1 tons under it they have better steering and suspention to start with.

Offroad capable DD
Not rust prone
No tranny or engine issues... (kinda like an XJ Cherokee)

I just want something good looking, capable and tough. Any ideas?

Offroad capable - then you don't want anything w TTB

Not rust prone - no idea, it's not humid here and they don't salt the roads

No tranny issues - a ZF (kinda questionable but not terrible), NP435 or C6

No engine issues - the EEC-IV might be old technology but it runs like a clock, is stupid easy to troubleshoot, runs at any angle, any elevation, any ambient temp (again capable). Of course the suggestion of anything w a 7.3 is also a good one.


Sooo...............I think you need an '87/8-97 F350. The front D60 fits your request for tough and any solid front axle looks oh-so-sexy, thus good looking. You won't see EEC-IV on the 351 or 460 until '88.

if you have the money i would go with a f350 4x4 2000ish.

you may find it hard on fuel and short on space but the 5.4 regular cab short box is probably the most reliable and capable offroad.

the smaller fords are rough on front end parts if you fart too loud, it just dsnt make for reliable dd and offroading. a solid front d44 would fix that but will take alot more effort than just buying a d60 equipped f350

Straight 6 with a manual transmission any day. I've tried to kill these things before and wasn't able to. They have loads of torque and therefor rev real low under normal driving circumstances which makes them last forever!

If you want another auto find a 94-97 F250 with the straight 6, that should have a C6 behind it and that combo will be bullet proof.

Then again, anything will die if you don't take care of it. My dad's '92 gets pampered and it's got 250,000 miles on it and the only thing he's done is normal maintenance, updated the air conditioning, and update the belt system

courier all the way

Straight 6 with a manual transmission any day. I've tried to kill these things before and wasn't able to. They have loads of torque and therefor rev real low under normal driving circumstances which makes them last forever!



Really? Hell My 74 only had 50,000 original miles when I got it and one missed shift of the 4 speed going uhill with a trailer and I had all kinda sweet engine noises (pretty sure I screwed up a lifter or pushrod) it was clearly my fault but they can be killed. Stupid me sold the truck though before I stopped to think what could have actually have been damaged.

Sorry for the hijack but I was in a moment of shock.

Late 70's F-series

My vote goes to Anything 78 or later with a high pinion solid front axle, manual transmission, and either 300, 351W or m/400, or 460 gaser, or any 7.3L diesel. But specifically 78/79F-350, 88-91 F350, and then 95 and newer F350. Although the 79 and prior F150 was a tough little guy, they just dont hold a candle to their big brother. Stay away from anything whith twin traction beam front suspension.

courier all the way

;) I fixed it up with a few Toyota parts though. :evil:



http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g26/earlkann/Courier/IMG_1231.jpg

96-01 Explorer with the 5.0L as these came with a much better transmission than the v6 trucks. It is the same trannie used in the f150's but in a quarter ton platform.

I am trying to figure out what to look for and many people say this and that but I want to know from peoples experience. Rangers? I had a 1999 Explorer XLT and the tranny shit on me at 107k, unacceptable it was stock

What I want:

Offroad capable DD
Not rust prone
No tranny or engine issues... (kinda like an XJ Cherokee)

I just want something good looking, capable and tough. Any ideas?

That's there flaw, but the rest is bullit proof! The fawkn engine (4.0 ohv) will run forever!:flipoff2:

Why ask the exact same question about Nissans, Toyotas, Rovers and Fords?

You should just post in Gen. and ask about everything.

is this spam

;) I fixed it up with a few Toyota parts though. :evil:



http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g26/earlkann/Courier/IMG_1231.jpg

Is there a build thread? That thing is soo fawkin cool!!

Is there a build thread? That thing is soo fawkin cool!!

Thanks. I have a build thread on our site in the Rock Brawler Rigs section. http://rockbrawlers.com/ I think it requires that you register.

;) I fixed it up with a few Toyota parts though. :evil:

Use what you have to. The Courier was built by Mazda originally anyway, so the Toy parts aren't that far away from home. Way cool :smokin:





the smaller fords are rough on front end parts if you fart too loud, it just dsnt make for reliable dd and offroading.

That's funny, I've farted loud enough to echo off rocks and my D35 is somehow still together. :laughing: Perhaps you should ditch that POS Dana28 maybe :flipoff2:

Straight 6 with a manual transmission any day. I've tried to kill these things before and wasn't able to. They have loads of torque and therefor rev real low under normal driving circumstances which makes them last forever!

If you want another auto find a 94-97 F250 with the straight 6, that should have a C6 behind it and that combo will be bullet proof.

Then again, anything will die if you don't take care of it. My dad's '92 gets pampered and it's got 250,000 miles on it and the only thing he's done is normal maintenance, updated the air conditioning, and update the belt system

x2 the straight sixes are hard to kill if you don't mind going slow there a tourqy motor lots of low end great for idling around i've been wanting to build a crawler with one but they so dam long.

I had on that ran like shit i could unplug 5 and 6 spark plugs and nothing would happen. Drove it for ever in my wheeler like that for ever, i had a cam it it and revved the piss out of it when wheeling hopping it would blow and it never did, i overheated it so bad my lower radiator hose melted off never seen anything do that before. I finally killed it driving through a pond with motor under water.

It still didn't really die either just didn't have enough compression to start had to tow start it.:smokin: