I have a feeling ford would never make a crew cab simply because they would be afraid it would take sales from the explorer sport-trac

 

94tbirdman, most of those suggestions sound good to me too. I would like to see a lot of changes also, and I'm sure some of those are coming, but who knows when. Wouldn't it be nice to have a coilspung IFS (not ttb), rear discs, small V8, crewcab Ranger? I do have to admit that Nissan is getting a little better with their product, but they are sure UGLY. Their vans, suvs, trucks and cars all just turn me off.

 

As for the Crew Cab here is a example of an english ranger crew cab 2003 see link http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=125346

 

It looks like a mini superduty!

 

Can't really compare an Xterra to a Ranger. Different class of vehicle. If you put a new Xterra side by side with a new Ford Escape and/or Explorer, you won't see much of a difference regarding interior quality and finish.

And if you think Ford interiors are cheap, poke your head inside the cab of a Chevy truck some time.

 

See? That doesn't look so bad. Change that front end to match the U.S. styling scheme of our current Ranger and you have yourself a new cab configuration for the Ranger. And with that little diesel (turbocharged?) it is like a mini-Super Duty beyond just looks. And as to a Ranger crew cab infringing on the Sport Trac, I can see how that's possible but if Ford wants to keep it, I don't see why they won't shift it to the new Explorer platform if it still sells so well. Hell, what they should do is kill the Sport Trac name, restyle it like a Ranger, and call it a Ranger crew cab.

 

Now THATS a good looking truck. Lots of room and good fuel economy.I bet you can get it turbo charged.

 

I'm pretty sure that is turbo charged. Man...if I had more money I'd buy that thing and ship it over here. Or just move to Ireland and go back to my roots while keeping my blue blood.

 

Well, the irony is that it could be a reality that this diesel will make it over to the U.S. once the switch to low-sulfur diesel fuel is made. Speaking of which, I looked up the specifications of the engine the foreign Rangers use on Ford of Britain's website. The engine is a 2.5L I-4 intercooled turbo-diesel and puts out (converted from metric) 83HP@4000RPM and 144lb-ft of torque@2000RPM in two-wheel drive models and 104HP@3500RPM and 196lb-ft of torque@2000RPM in four-wheel drive models. They claim that up to 2800kg (6160lbs) can be towed by a 4x4 model (any cab configuration) using a braked trailer while 2x4 models are limited to an even 2000kg (4400lbs). I'm not sure, but I think these numbers comply to the British version of our own GCWR ratings so the towing capacity of a British Ranger with the more powerful of the two diesels is a little better than an American Ranger with the 3.0L Vulcan, but would come up short against one with a 4.0L Cologne, SOHC or OHV. However, I think the curb weight of the British Ranger is greater than its American counterpart, where applicable, especially with the British SuperCab and DoubleCab (their term for crew cab). So, much of their towing capacity could be lost on the weight of trucks themselves. Interesting.