Originally Posted by mike360000

F 150 is just to dang big...PERIOD!
Regardless to mpg it's still big!
And no way around it, regardless to mpg, the F 150 will
cost more to operate than a Ranger.

I don't want a BIG truck, I want a small to medium size truck!
I don't need a BIG truck, but I do need a small or medium
sized truck.

Also I find it odd, all the talk about conserving and being green.
Well the F 150 takes more of everything to build; doesn't it?

Another point that follows my thinking is service trucks, or
fleet trucks for all kinds of service work. Look at how much
better the Ranger handles this job or at least certain large
aspects of it, better than a F 150. My service work requires
a small vehicle to haul certain things, so I put a camper
on my Ranger. But look at parts delivery in general.
They don't need a large truck to roam around town, in
crowded streets. Nor do they need on for the open road.
Delivering parts or small items on quick notice does not
require a big truck. It's just a complete waste using one
under such conditions, yet we are being spoon fed the idea
we need a larger truck, along with more money and more
expense to keep that BIG truck rolling!

Everyone seems to complain about the Ranger not being
updated for so many years, and that is true. Although that
can be a BIG plus in itself. There are not any of the problems
to address with such a model when compared to a newly
introduced model, with all the minor bugs they have. The
Ranger has matured into a well honed vehicle that has few
problems and fewer complaints because people KNOW
what to expect out of it!

One thing I did find odd about the BT 50 was it has drum
rear brakes while the Ranger has rear discs. Why is Ford
taking a step backwards? Why is Ford so bent on keeping
rear drum brakes alive? The rear discs on the Rangers was
a BIG improvement; so why wasn't Ford advertising such
things? Wouldn't such advertising help sell more Rangers?

Personally I think Ford wanted to kill the Ranger LONG
before we knew anything about it. Even while it's sales was
still pretty good! That's the strategy they initially tried
to kill the Mustang with.... But why? They don't even
realize or accept that model name is a selling quality all
in its' own right, and the Mustang IS the absolute perfect
example of this! Yet here Ford goes again, trying to do
the same idiotic thing with the Ranger.

Finally playing off this strategy brings about the biggest
reason Ranger sales has fallen. Ford quit advertising the
Rangers. They haven't pushed selling these trucks in years,
yet they continue to sell, albeit slow, with NO advertising!
That in itself is an amazing feat.....

So some of your questions, in general, have been answered
by the facts that Ford quit upgrading the Rangers years ago
and then they quit advertising them, all in efforts to drive
the brand into the ground to make way for something else,
for better or for worse....

Oh yeah, one more thing. Ford IS making BIG BIG money
off Ranger sales because there has absolutely NO investment
back into the model. Everything remains the same, tooling,
does, no more or very little engineering, no advertising,
no down time for change-overs....etc... Think about it?

IMHO the Ranger is as close to perfection as one is gonna get
with modern vehicles so far as durability and economy is
involved. Everything has been completed for the Ranger
and it has only been refined for the last several years, and
that's why I think you see so many Rangers get to 200, 300k
and even more miles. Actually I think Ranger is a victim
of it's own success..

Mike