The 4 door, 3.0 powerstroke rangers in south america get 30-35mpg(my best friend works in Argentina 6 months out of the year and that is his work truck). You cant tell me that would not be a seller here in the states. Just think, a TRUCK that will break 30mpg!!!!
I think that would be the ONLY new truck I would ever buy

 

I doubt a crew cab diesel ranger would catapult sales but I do know a lot of people, myself included, have wondered why no one has tried a small turbo diesel in a small truck again. Yeah they flopped, but that was a long time ago when diesel engines had a reputation for being gutless and unreliable.

Lending credit to Diesel_Brad's claim is the fact that rather than selling 4-door rangers they came out with the explorer sport trac. For many people it's basically the same thing but it's not a "ranger" it's an "explorer".

 

And the chassis on the ranger received a MAJOR overhaul in 99. No more TTB. A arms and torsion bars. but that was 13 years ago

 

That's nice. Those diesel Rangers? They won't sell well.

1. Because they can't pass the EPA particulates tests and therefore can't be sold here, plus,
2. Most people DO NOT WANT A DIESEL. GM poisoned the well for that a long time ago and it will be a long time before it will be a mainstream acceptable engine for small trucks again.

1. The EPA.
2. GM.

You do remember why the Sport-Trac got discontinued early, right?

NOBODY BOUGHT IT.

No, really, nobody bought it. The last Sport-Trac was taken out back and shot as a complete and utter failure a year early in October 2010. Even so, there was so much back inventory of the thing left that they were still found on dealer lots as late as December 2011.

The front. The rest of it was still the same - you can still drop an 82 Ranger body on top of a 2010 frame and everything lines up except one bolt.

 

Ha!! 15 horsepower!! Was I the only one to see that? Sounds about right.

 

A sport trac, really, you call something with a 4' bed a truck? and it is NOT a diesel.

How did GM poison the diesel market? Their chevy Luv for the Early 80s? Just like the diesel ranger from the early 80s. IF you can find one, they are worth what they costed NEW.

As for the ranger bed being the same, you should look at the F series a bed from 1980-2012 will BOLT RIGHT ON with no modifications. Same bolt pattens and even the bolts will work, but they keep selling those trucks.

My bad. 150hp, but some times it sure feels like 15

 

I have worked on new and old stuff, from Dad's 1948 John Deere and Allis Chalmers tractors to my 90's trucks and cars that I've owned/own now, and newer 2000+ trucks/cars too.

While updated technology is good in a way and simplifies the hardware involved (less emission devices such as EGR due to having better control of air/fuel mix and cam timing/injector timing/spark timing) it also can be frustrating. Not so much when it comes time to fix something, but when it comes time to modify it. Pull a fuse and disable the electronic traction control because you don't want to be babysat while you mess around offroad, and you'll likely take out the ABS too. Which means no speed signal to the EEC since that is usually read directly off the wheel speed sensors by the antiskid controller, and sent via network traffic to the EEC, no separate VSS needed. Now with no speed signal to the EEC it'll probably put the tranny in limp mode. See what I mean?

I personally don't care for it really. Don't get me wrong, I like automation and it has it's place in the world. Even right now as I type I have GE Proficy open working on a PLC/HMI project (customer wants GE, I'd rather go Allen-Bradley!!) but there are some places it does NOT belong, in my opinion. For example, electric-shift transfer cases: If I wanna shift gears, I wanna do it myself and FEEL the gears engage! Then there's the question of reliability. Sure mechanical linkage can bind up and jam, but is that so bad compared to water getting into the position encoder on the electric-shift model and then having the 4x4 controller refuse to shift into 4L and stay there? Maybe not so bad if we could edit the program logic, but that don't appear too easy when it comes to things like 4x4 control modules.

I'll stick with my "old" 96 for when I want dead-simple, fix-it-in-the-woods reliability. I know if it won't start or run that it's probably something simple, whereas a new one could be anything from something simple to a bad security system module telling the EEC to cut power to the fuel pump driver module. At first look, you'd see no power to the fuel pump and after checking relays, fuses, grounds, etc maybe think the EEC had failed. But nope, it's being TOLD to kill the fuel pump. Sure, the security module will be more than happy to tell you it commanded the fuel pump off if you scan it, but the only way to read security system codes is with a newer Ford tool, the OBDII scanner from the parts store can't read codes from anything but the EEC.
A newer truck would be alright if it was for work or whatever, but I wouldn't want one that wasn't under warranty.

Just my opinion...

 

You then put a full sized bed on it, and once again - you have a huge long truck, with the cargo and interior capacity of a compact truck with the economy of a full sized.
The awful 4.3/5.7 V8 diesels they tossed in everything, the weak N/A 6.2 used in trucks, and the 6.5 Turbo used later that liked to eat injection pumps and break crankshafts. The diesel Rangers do not sell for and are not worth what they cost new. Their value comes from the fact that most of them rotted away, and they're more of a novelty then anything.
You know, except the fact that a modern F-150 or Super Duty cab and chassis is completely different in every single possible way from the older trucks. You look at the rear half of a first gen Ranger frame and compare it to the final generation, they look exactly the same. They never changed.

They only probably ditched the TTB because it was cheaper to share parts with the Explorer.

 

Yeah, that KILLED the market on diesel trucks, They have to give them away these days
Who would want a dumb diesel

And I see diesel rangers selling for up to 5k when you do see them. I would bet back in 84 that was all they costed

 

This is getting out of hand... I love it!

Whoever ranted about Dodges breaking down. I didnt even read all of it. That was a 2002 V10, Im talking about a 2013 5.7

Whoever said a diesel Ranger wouldnt sell... Do you live in a cave?! Diesels are the hottest thing on the market right now. Id almost be tempted to buy a Ranger at $30,000 if it was a crew cab diesel! I dont tow houses or need a work truck, so why buy a full size? Hear about the new Grand Cherokee 3.0 diesel? Its gonna sell itself, Id almost put money on it

 

I've seen them well below $3,000, and no one wants the gutless 59HP early 2.2L diesel. The desirable one is the 86 Turbo Diesel. Rangers of that generation started around $7k for a regular cab, short bed, crank windows + locks, 2WD, no headliner, manual transmission as well as no power steering or brakes.

El Camino Man, did you hear about the old Grand Cherokee diesel that no one bought? Or the Jeep Liberty CRD that no one also bought? Or how about the Ranger and Comanche diesels that didn't sell either? For a diesel "every day" car to sell in the US, the manufacturer is going to have to work real hard to convince customers that the higher initial cost, higher maintenance costs and more expensive fuel is really worth the modest MPG improvement that new, emissions choked Diesels offer.

 

How long ago were those on the market? O yea... BEFORE gas prices rocketed to $4.50 a gallon...

 

They were around when gas was $3-4 Gallon. Still did not sell.

 

Isnt it funny that theyre holding their value so well if they "didnt sell"?

Jeep : Grand Cherokee For Sale in Jeep | eBay Motors

2007 Grand Cherokke, diesel, 100,000 miles, $14,000 with 28 bids and still almost 2 days left on the auction. 3 more on there, 2 at $19,000 and another at $17,000. Definitly worthless

06 Liberty, diesel, 145,000 miles and still $11,000. How many Jeeps would you buy with 150,000 for over $5000?

 

Most of the diesels of the 80's were junk and gutless, that doesn't have to be the case anymore. And a lot of people don't even remember those things anyway.