Ranger Life Span
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Freshman User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
Ranger Life Span
Hi, I have a 94 ranger xlt 4x4, v-6 with a 4.0 engine. I have been thinkin bout keepin it awhile adn liftin it up and just fixin the truck up if anything goes wrong. She still looks great and drives great but I'm afraid as soon as I lift it the damn thing is gonna die on me. Right now I got 94,000 miles on it. I was just curious how long some of your rangers have been holding up. Is this smart or should I just save my money and buy a newer truck.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 9,748
Likes: 16
From: Connecticut
Ranger Life Span
Some vehicles "hit the wall" after 100K miles or so. You can count on them to start falling apart.
From everything I know, the Ranger is NOT such a vehicle. I see guys on this board who swear by their '80s and early '90s Rangers. I myself have almost 118K on my '98 and wouldn't even considering getting a new truck. The 4.0 is a durable motor, and there are a lot of them out there on the road.
If there is nothing wrong with it, my vote is you keep the '94 Ranger.
From everything I know, the Ranger is NOT such a vehicle. I see guys on this board who swear by their '80s and early '90s Rangers. I myself have almost 118K on my '98 and wouldn't even considering getting a new truck. The 4.0 is a durable motor, and there are a lot of them out there on the road.
If there is nothing wrong with it, my vote is you keep the '94 Ranger.
Lead Driver
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 7,746
Likes: 7
From: Tampa Bay, FL USA
Ranger Life Span
I'm not sure how to say this WITHOUT it sounding like I'm bragging, but I can pretty much buy what I want. A brand new loaded Ranger would not be a problem for me right now. With that being said, I just bought a '94 Ranger STX 4x4 Supercab with 109,000 miles. It needs a little bit of work, but I'd rather buy something like this and put a little money in it, because I know the truck will last. Parts are readily available and relatively inexpensive, and I feel that in the long run I'll spend a lot less than shelling out the big bucks for a brand new one. I wouldn't have bought it if I thought the truck was not going to hold up.
Postmaster
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,417
Likes: 3
From: Durham, NC
Ranger Life Span
Originally posted by ilranger
Hi, I have a 94 ranger xlt 4x4, v-6 with a 4.0 engine. I have been thinkin bout keepin it awhile adn liftin it up and just fixin the truck up if anything goes wrong. She still looks great and drives great but I'm afraid as soon as I lift it the damn thing is gonna die on me. Right now I got 94,000 miles on it. I was just curious how long some of your rangers have been holding up. Is this smart or should I just save my money and buy a newer truck.
Hi, I have a 94 ranger xlt 4x4, v-6 with a 4.0 engine. I have been thinkin bout keepin it awhile adn liftin it up and just fixin the truck up if anything goes wrong. She still looks great and drives great but I'm afraid as soon as I lift it the damn thing is gonna die on me. Right now I got 94,000 miles on it. I was just curious how long some of your rangers have been holding up. Is this smart or should I just save my money and buy a newer truck.
If you start doing mods, like "liften", etc. , then you will start
having driveline, front end, and suspension problems...
Just my $0.02......
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 420
Likes: 0
From: Harrisburg USA
Ranger Life Span
There's a post in this forum called "Miles on your Ranger...list". It is huge (like maybe 4 pages long). This will give you a good idea of how folks feel about their Rangers. I myself have an '85 with 200K on it. Bought it December of '99 for $500, and haven't done anything major to it yet. Just keeps going. If you hang on to your '94, I think you'll eventually be glad you did. (be very careful with the mods)
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 265
Likes: 0
From: Connecticut
Ranger Life Span
I just retired my 1992 Ranger XLT for a 2001 Ranger Edge 4x4. The 1992 had 165,000 miles on it. I had to do a few little things: Leafsprings, oil pump, and a little tranny work, but other than that she did me good.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,940
Likes: 2
From: Eastern WA
Ranger Life Span
Original owner, 94 Rnager XLT 4x4 4.0, 152,000 miles. For the most part, it runs as good today as it did the day I got it; the motor so far is not getting tired.
Buddy of mine had a 91 Explorer with 187,000 when he traded it and it ran great. Only reason it was sold was his wifey wanted a newer one.
Buddy of mine had a 91 Explorer with 187,000 when he traded it and it ran great. Only reason it was sold was his wifey wanted a newer one.
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Freshman User
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
From: California
Ranger Life Span
I agree with most of the replys taht said keep it. Plus once something does go wrong all the parts are cheaper and eaier to find. And I also agree with doing some mods to your truck, becuase that is what you do with a truck. Anyway that is my opinion.
-Matt
Anyway that is my opinion.-Matt
Senior User
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 238
Likes: 0
From: Central Kansas
Ranger Life Span
I have a 94 STX 4.0L 4X4 X-CAB with 142,000 miles on it. I bought it new in November 93. All in all, it has been a good truck. I resently took it in for an anliginment, they jacked it up, found a wiggle in the front tires, told me the ball joints were out and the spindles were shot. They said it was a common problem and they could fix it for $1250. I have not taken it to another shop to find out if this is true. But I don't know if this is a wide spread problem.
Freshman User
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
From: Lower New York
Ranger Life Span
My buddy bought a 91 Ranger when he turned 16. It was a 4.0, 5 speed, short box. He drove it for 6 years, sold it to my other buddy, he drove it for 2 years, He then sold to my OTHER buddy. He still has it, I think going on 3 years. It has 240,000 miles on it. The current owner and I installed a body lift and suspension lift and 33 inch tires about 10,000 miles ago. And that little truck just wont die. He beats the cr@p out of it all the time. Just thought I would share that with you.
New User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Ranger Life Span
have a 91 with 216 k and rapidly gaining...would'nt consider touching it...thing just keeps going...would head for west coast today with no worries...I don't modify anything...I think the factory knows more about how to make it last than I do....fuel mileage is great....
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 160
Likes: 2
From: USA
Ranger Life Span
You guys have young trucks! :') My 94 2.3 liter 2 wheel 5 speed manual drive now has 216,000 miles on it and only looses about 1/2 a quart of oil between 5000 mile changes (which it did when it was new). The only "major" repairs beyond normal wear and tear stuff (like brakes, plugs, PCV, etc) I've done are new leaf springs, timing belt, fuel pump, water pump, alternator, and starter. Most of these repairs came well after 100,000 miles and I consider them all normal wear and tear as well. If she starts loosing more oil between changes I'm going to start changing it every 3000 miles so I won't notice the loss. Might also try Restore when that happens to see what happens. Anyway, the body is rust free and I plan to have the motor rebuilt if and when she ever does go. Keep your fluids changed and keep up on the normal maintenance stuff and you'll have little trouble. I'm shooting for 500,000 miles.
Freshman User
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
From: los angeles
Ranger Life Span
talk about young trucks... hehe...
1995 XLT 5-Speed 3.0l V6
i got my truck as a graduation present from high school. when i received it, it had 356 miles on it. i now have over 210,000 on it and keep adding more each day. keep in mind, i started driving this truck when i was 17. i wasn't kind to it, either.
within the second week of owning it, i drove my truck as fast as it could go from LA to San Francisco. rev limiter kept me below 120mph. last year, i abused it with hard work towing u-haul's 6x12 trailer loaded with restaurant equipment. i have never been easy on it. after all, it's a ford. it can take it!
normal wear and tear stuff was replaced as needed (brakes, fluids, cracked windshields from flying rocks). living near an open desert, the shocks were probably first before brakes. my FIRST clutch replacement wasn't until around 180,000.
nothing else has been needed to maintain my truck. the only other major work to it was when an idiot broke into it for my sound system. replaced the rear window, dome light, the entire dash (luckily a local junk yard had one!) and my sound system.
1995 XLT 5-Speed 3.0l V6
i got my truck as a graduation present from high school. when i received it, it had 356 miles on it. i now have over 210,000 on it and keep adding more each day. keep in mind, i started driving this truck when i was 17. i wasn't kind to it, either.
within the second week of owning it, i drove my truck as fast as it could go from LA to San Francisco. rev limiter kept me below 120mph. last year, i abused it with hard work towing u-haul's 6x12 trailer loaded with restaurant equipment. i have never been easy on it. after all, it's a ford. it can take it!
normal wear and tear stuff was replaced as needed (brakes, fluids, cracked windshields from flying rocks). living near an open desert, the shocks were probably first before brakes. my FIRST clutch replacement wasn't until around 180,000.
nothing else has been needed to maintain my truck. the only other major work to it was when an idiot broke into it for my sound system. replaced the rear window, dome light, the entire dash (luckily a local junk yard had one!) and my sound system.
Last edited by Ken00; Aug 26, 2003 at 05:07 PM.
