Ford may keep building Ranger
Elder User
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: north shore, minnesota
My dad used to have a 95 2wd 2.3L Ranger and that thing was a turd, although it did get excellent milage. He now has an 04 2wd Ranger (2.5L is it now?), it's a bit better on power than the 95 was.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jan 2005
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That article I read on the new world ranger being developed in Austraila said that the new ranger would be the same size if not a tad smaller than the current ranger, so it could possibly loose a little weight. The new F-100 will be unibody, if they do that to the ranger as well, that would reduce some weight. I had a couple of jeep comanche p/u trucks, they were unibody. To look under it, they looked like they had a full frame, but they weren't, however they were plenty strong. I abused the hell out of them without isue, the 89 had 200,000 miles on it when I sold it and it was still solid as a rock. I don't know if the new ranger will be unibody, but it would be one way to take off some weight.
Ford Parts Specialist
Joined: Nov 2006
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From: Simi Valley, CA
The new F-100 will be unibody, if they do that to the ranger as well, that would reduce some weight. I had a couple of jeep comanche p/u trucks, they were unibody. To look under it, they looked like they had a full frame, but they weren't, however they were plenty strong. I abused the hell out of them without isue, the 89 had 200,000 miles on it when I sold it and it was still solid as a rock. I don't know if the new ranger will be unibody, but it would be one way to take off some weight.
Ford made F100 unibody pickups in 1961/63. They sold OK at first, but Ford cancelled them midyear 1963.
Why? Because when loaded, and the fact that the cab was integral with the bed, the doors popped open!
I wonder how many ppl fell out a the cab?
The only seat belts available back then were lap belts.
They were an extra cost option, not standard equipment, so few ppl ordered them.
Ford Parts Specialist
Joined: Nov 2006
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From: Simi Valley, CA
True, but from what I've read about the Ridgeline, the belly pan develops cracks under a full load...and it's a 2008, not a 1963...the old F100's never did that!
FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: May 2004
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From: Melbourne, Aus
The new F-100 will be unibody, if they do that to the ranger as well, that would reduce some weight.
I don't know if the new ranger will be unibody, but it would be one way to take off some weight.
Given the number of variations required.
Single-Cab, Super-Cab, Dual-Cab, 4x4, 4x2 (there is also a "high-rider" 4x2 sold in some markets), LHD, RHD... Unibody wouldn't make financial sense.
Not to mention the DEMAND for a cab chassis variant of the Ranger in many markets. (I think c/c variants make up around a 1/3rd of Ranger sales)
Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 5,228
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From: Running Springs CA
The 1961 F-100 was still body-on-frame, just the bed and cab were welded together, a terrible combination because the frame flexed, as it should, and the body broke apart from it. A much better example is the first and second generation Econoline. A ladder frame was welded directly to the floor. Yes, the Ridgeline is car-based, and that is the fundamental problem, but so was the Ranchero.
Jim
Jim
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Ford Parts Specialist
Joined: Nov 2006
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From: Simi Valley, CA
The 1961 F-100 was still body-on-frame, just the bed and cab were welded together, a terrible combination because the frame flexed, as it should, and the body broke apart from it. A much better example is the first and second generation Econoline. A ladder frame was welded directly to the floor. Yes, the Ridgeline is car-based, and that is the fundamental problem, but so was the Ranchero. Jim
What Ford did is basically cut the roof off behind the front seat of station wagons, and slap a bed over the wagons second row seat floor pan and spare tire well. Caulk was used between the bed floor and the front/side sheet metal. The caulk wore away, water seeped in, the rust began.
Ranchero's rust from the inside out, the rust is hidden, not seen by the naked eye till either the gas tank fell off (it's below the tire well), or the rear bumper and brackets fell off.
Yes, it happened, exactly that way, and this is in California, so I can just imagine what these Ranchero's look like in the Rust Belt.