Does anyone know if Ford is going to make a mid-size truck with 4 full size doors that would compare to the Toyota Tacoma or the GMC Colorado?

I bought an STX Ranger Extended cab in '97 and it really appears they didn't change much since. I am looking for a new truck that is a little bigger than my current Ranger and maybe a little better gas mileage, that has a 5' bed and two full rows of seats.

The only thing that kind-of compares is the Explorer Sport, but the bed is very small.

Any thoughts?

Jeff

 

What you are looking at is the Sport Trac and whatever spins from that. Lob in the bed extender as well.

There is only so much you can do to a compact or mid-size truck frame before it becomes a full sizer.

So, for anyone who wants a 4 full door Ranger with an eight foot bed....it ain't gonna happen. Unless we find an F250/350 with a Ranger trim package to go with it.

I wouldn't see this in a Ranger mainly because the 4.0L is the only acceptable engine for such a truck and the S/T does fine as a people hauler.

Want the biggest and best of everything, go full size.

 

I'd be interested in a mid sized Ranger with good power..

 

I didn't care about an 8' bed, just a 5'. The bed on the Sport Track is fairly small. For the other manufacturers, the overall length is about 1.5' longer than my Ranger and a little wider. I agree you need the 4.0 with the bigger frame. I was just wondering if anything was in the pipeline.

 

You're going to have to look at a Dodge Dakota or Nissan Frontier unfortunately. The Ranger is way tooooooo old in the tooth. You are correct, nearly nothing has changed in the past 11 years.

Ford needs to address this problem and the Sport Trac is NOT the answer.

 

I agree that the Ranger badly needs an update. However, I think it needs to stay a small truck. It is the only one left and has the market to itself. I will probably just keep my old 86 BMW motorcycle forever because BMW has elected to make all their new true BMWs large (the F650 doesn't count because it is a single cylinder chain driven bike with a chain). I think there is a market for a new small pickup available as a regular cab. The only midsize trucks available as a regular cab are the GM products.

 

hey how bout a v8 in the ranger, i used to have a 96 supercap 2wd 4.0 and i mean, it had plenty of power, but if they would have had a V-8 in there I would still be driving it i bet, my buddy had a dakota with a 5.2 v-8 2wd back in the day and it would darn near beat a mustang ....if the ranger came with a V-8 id buy one hands down

 

there is always the colorado, that just happens to look a little better than the dakota at the current time. who draws up these trucks anyway. nissan at least looks decent.

 

a couple things people do not realize. the new mid size trucks are not small. also if you build a bigger truck the only way to get better gas milage is to put a diesel in it. more weight, more wind resistence does not equall better gas milage.
even with thier four doors trucks like the colorado/dakota have small beds under 5ft in length just like the sport track. the tacoma does have a normal bed option on thier four door truck but then its just as long as the f150 with the 5.5 ft bed.

if you want a small pickup buy a ranger. even with its age its a great truck. if you want four doors buy a full size truck.

 

Another problem is.. the current Ranger is smaller in size than all it's competition, but it's equal or bigger in price. So who in their right mind would pay more for less truck? If Ford would drop the outrageous pricing on the Ranger they would sell them like hotcakes again. But come on, $20K+ for a regular cab 4x4?? No thanks. $30K for a Supercab FX4 II?? I think most people would rather spend that kind of money on a bigger truck.

 

That's kid of what I was looking at. The current extended cab with the third door is only a little better than my '97. It just doesn't work unless you have small kids. But for the price, there are other options that more fit my needs. I personally don't need another big truck becuase we have a F350 dually, crew cab, long bed that we use to pull a horse trailer. So I was looking for a smaller medium size truck, that I could take four adults, and still have a medium size bed. I like our Fords and would hate to buy elsewhere, but they just don't have what some other have.

 

i guess you like to pay msrp or higher on new trucks. the truck i am looking at will be under 23k or about 24k otd. fx4 level II five speed with 6 disk and trailor tow package. if i just wanted a plain jane xlt ext cab 4x4 it would be close to 20k.
but back to the point my brother did payed more when he purchesed his colorado z71 on the employee discount last year.

 

ford make's a crewcab ranger but it's not sold in the usa,. Only thing i want is a stick for my trnsfer case with neutral instead of the push or **** crap

 

Ford should look at a ranger being a real durable little work truck, something out of luxury from the f-150 with less bells and whistles, but providing the same reliability and some of the strength of the superdutys. I would say build a differnt style of truck with a slightly longer front and rear, so you can put a 4.0 strait six in it or mabey even a 5 cylinder. Heres one for you. 1994 F-150 with a 4.9L 4 speed automatic long box single cab 2 wheel drive Price back then $14,500 canadian dollars. Good work truck, and you cant buy any truck of the lot today for that price, let alone a little car.

 

What, you mean a Crew Cab Ranger like this:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...=76494&width=2
And a sticked Transfer Case, like this: (hard to see, but its there...)
https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...=76504&width=2

Whilw you are at it, would you like a diesel engine too?
https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...=76499&width=2

Ok, Ok, I will stop rubbing it in