Faults:

I have 80% rebuilt this truck and see a lot of things that I do not like about these trucks.

1. The 4.0 V6 is not a well made engine, the block has a thin casting, and is bored to the max, the heads have many weak points, top-end engine noise, and a very poor engine balance.

2. The AL4D transmission is total junk, the 4.0 V6 engine will destroy this transmission.

3. The brakes could be a little bigger, the 9" drums in the rear and small rotors in the front are cutting it close.

Things that I do like:

1. The 8.8 rear-end

2. Leaf springs over the rear-end housing

3. The twin I-beam suspension

4. The body is fairly stout

5. Never had any electrical problems

6. Simple very effective A/C, works great

General Comments:

I think Ford could have used a better designed V6 engine, and the AL4D transmission should have "NEVER" been used in a truck.

I do like the front suspension, and 8.8 rear-end, very strong.

Faults:

Problems were: I needed a new radiator, clutch, alternator, 4x4 switch, 4x4 motor, 4x4 control module, windshield wiper motor, and a few small things I forget. That was in 2006, now I need all around brakes, new u-joints, upper-lower ball joints in fronts, bearings. Also my windshield wipers stopped working very fast, and I've had trouble with the fuse box, but tried to fix it myself and made it worse, now the lights are hard to turn on. check engine light stays one, and one other light stays one, but I can't remember because I put black tape over it.

General Comments:

I'm not happy with the repairs of this vehicle, beside that I love it. it was very good and I had a lot of fun in it. the biggest work was the clutch and that is because I got stuck bad in my buddies front yard in winter, because I wanted him to walk outside see huge ruts in like the 3 foot deep snow. That was fun. If you want to start off-roading, I suggest you drive very slow through the stuff, and if you get stuck don't blow your engine or clutch waiting for help, call for a pull. I've spent about 2,500 cdn in repairs, now it needs 1,500. That's 4,000. I bought it for 3,200. This truck will have cost me 7,200 straight up, and it costs me 40 bucks in gas to get to my cabin and back a weekend. Forget work and back + the gym across town. One sweet thing is in my province insurance is public, meaning I pay $45 a month in insurance.

I want to buy a jeep now and try somthing new I guess, I'm looking at a jacked up one, and the ride of this jeep would never touch my ranger.

Faults:

It had a bad mass air flow sensor when I bought it, but that was a 20-minute, $65 fix.

One of the hinges on the tailgate broke off. I jury-rigged a replacement.

The driver's seat has holes worn in it, but I don't count that against a truck with over 180,000 miles on it.

The factory AM/FM/cassette had a display that didn't light up or show what station you were on, but I would have replaced it regardless since I wanted a CD player.

One of the fold-out jump seats in the back of the cab is stuck out. Neither WD-40 nor wrenches has been able to get the thing to fold up again.

The chime to tell you that you left your lights on or the keys in the ignition is very soft. I didn't think it worked at all (or didn't have one) until I heard it when parking late one night when it was quiet outside.

General Comments:

My previous car was totaled in a wreck, so I needed new transportation soon. I was sort of looking for a truck, and this Ranger was cheap and available, so I grabbed it.

Gas mileage isn't the greatest. I get about 16 city/20 highway. It's an old truck with a largeish engine, so what do you expect?

It does burn some oil, as well as leak some from the valve covers. I could get this fixed, but I just dump in oil as needed.

One annoyance is the 60/40 split bench seat. It is nearly impossible to find seat covers for that seat configuration. All I've been able to find is a way to order custom covers, but I refuse to pay $300+ on seat covers for a truck that only cost me $1700.

Nothing has broken yet. The truck starts every day and hasn't let me down yet. I drive gently and check the fluids religiously. It's old, not glamorous, but rock-solid as far as reliability is concerned. All the things posted in the above section are minor annoyances at the worst. Really, anything I can complain about is part of having an old, high-mileage vehicle as a daily driver.