I hope the 5L is a great engine since people are expecting the same product from the carb era, but it still remains to be scene. I heard a lot of people talking highly about dodge replacing the 3.9 for the 3.7 and now after a few years, the 3.7 is now not so higly regarded from the people i have spoken too, but then again that's dodge for you.

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I love my manual, GM and Ford no longer Manuals even with their diesels anymore (as far as I have heard) and I believe the dodge 3500 manual is in its last year and it can only be had with the single cab 8 ft box, so either way you end up with a 2-3 passenger I will stick with my manual ranger for a longtime and buy wathever that's manual after that (whether its the Taco, Frontier or perhaps the new ranger if it comes back)

well i know for a fact that up to 2010 f-250s had a manual option ive seen it

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1990 Ranger Extended Cab
2.9L V6 5 Speed Transmission
Planning to put a 347 and a T-5 in it eventually

interesting, I will see if that is the case here in Canada, they don't even offer the Ranger xlt for 2010 or 2011 in my region anymore.... let me get back to you...

Tried many configurations for the 2010 and 2011 f250 tried the single cab, king cab, crew cab with 4x2 and 4x4 and they all come 6.2 triton v8 with 6speed auto....at least here it does.

i dont see why anyone would ever get an automatic in a diesel... a diesel is designed for towing so why would someone want an automatic that makes them loose like 10-15% of towing power due to parasitic lost when they could get a manual and get all of their power and then have a transmission that will outlast the automatic one.. i think new car makers are stupid when it comes to that

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1990 Ranger Extended Cab
2.9L V6 5 Speed Transmission
Planning to put a 347 and a T-5 in it eventually

people are lazy i guess, plus its kinda of like why a ford ranger auto has a towing capacity of like 5000lbs vs the same truck but manual has a towing capacity of 3300lbs? I asked my salesman and he said driver error was a factor for the clutch, go figure huh

because autos are better for towing. you act like theres no loss through a manual but there is, the percentage isnt as much as an auto but there is a measurable loss. look at the tow rating of any manual pickup and youll see that its always lower than that of its automatic counterpart.

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^^^but does the ratings for the manuals factor in the human error for engageing/disengaging the clutch system...?

Or, are those ratings based on some mechanicall testing that eliminated human error?

I guess youd have to look at some independent study of towing auto vs manual.

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most people are sheep and just push the button....

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Ball Joints/Upper A-Arms How To
Replace Door pin/bushing
Repair broken dome light tabs
VIDEO OHC Install

it's hard to say, it could be mechanical endurance, but my dad's 1990 nissan 2.4 4cyl could tow a 1966 VW microbus no problem and the truck was a stick, hmmm. I have no idea what could be the factor, but I do believe that ford doesn't want to be held accountable for driver error.

I'm new to the ranger scene, i had the choice between the F150 and the ranger, but i had simply no use for it: It's just too big.

And you can't tell me with a straight face that most F150 are actually used to half their potential, seeing all those posers driving around with huge 4x4 FX4 offroad stickers, usually leather interior and a mint condition paint, rocking those pimp 20" chromed wheels and shitty street tires, a bed that'll never see hard work..

It's the corvette syndrome!


lol

lol i have seen people have Buick Century Syndrome with their trucks (lol 20 under limit, swerving in the lane, hugging the steering wheel and the smell of moth balls and lavender coming out of the exhaust lol )

most likely, I mean the only thing I could think of would be the clutch just plain out slipping on the flywheel cause of the wieght being towed combined with the torque of the motor. Other than that, 2 trucks with the same motors, axle's, etc should have the same tow ratings. With that understanding it must be human error so ford says not to tow over "x" amount for the fact that the un-experienced driver would "ride" the clutch and burn it up. With the auto all you have to do is push the fuel pedal and go.

__________________
Ball Joints/Upper A-Arms How To
Replace Door pin/bushing
Repair broken dome light tabs
VIDEO OHC Install

Many municipalities <sp?> use Rangers. We got a 1998 in today, 3.0, auto, short cab, short bed, they resell in the $3K range and sell well!.

the bigger problem is not that they are so close in cost; its very usual for the fully loaded basic car in a lineup to cost almost the same as the base level of the next step up, but that they haven't updated the interior of the rangers for so long. The base f150 interior is nicer and better equipped the the fully loaded highest end ranger.

I think ford is just trying to squeeze as much money out of a product they are killing anyways.

However that being said, the dealers and ford are offering about $3k worth of incentives on ranger right now.

So the price of that ranger is closer to $24k after those incentives. If you bring you negotiating helmet you can probaly get them down to $20k.

IF you wait till september or so you might be able to talk them down to 19 or 18K.

Since you aren't buying 4X4 i would highly suggest you get a low milage used fully loaded xlt. You will prbably be able to get it for $15-16 K depending on the year.

I got mine for under 21000 when the truck was priced at just under 28000