so i am looking into buying a ranger. my budget will be around $4500. i was wondering what the best years for the ranger were? i really want 4 wheel drive, extended cab, automatic, and the 4.0L. i was thinking around the range of 1998 - 2001ish. i just want to do maybe two or three inches of lift and maybe 31" tires and leave it at that. i will be using it as a daily driver and i also want it to be able to take me out into the woods to go hunting or camping without any trouble.

let me know what you guys think!

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1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport
Heavily modded

looking for a ranger also

98+ 4wd you can run 31s stock.

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Sold:2004 XLT 4x2 Ext. Cab. 3.0 Mods: 3" spindle, AAL, shackle, 32x11.5 on 15x8s, billet grille, clear corners, flow 40 dumped, line-x, CB/PA, traction bars, lil sound system, auto up down windows
Sold:2005 XLT 4x4 Ext. Cab. 4.0 Mods: ProComp lights w/ HID swap on tabs, 32x11.5 on 15x8s, CB/PA, black out heads/corners, lil sound system, cranked t-bars, flow 40 dumped, line-x, shell, bed rug, 06+ tails, metal tail gate handle since plastic one shattered, OHC, Mustang Dome.

Might be hard to pickup a 4wd with that budget..not impossible, just more difficult.

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2001 Ranger XLT SuperCab 4dr Flareside 3.0 V6

I'd make the suggestion of finding one with the Torsion Bar front. much easier to lift just crank the bars.

there is tons of 4th gens ie 98-00 in that price range around here 4x4. problem being you can buy it for that cost but like any used vehicle it will prob need about $1000 in repairs most likely

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well i have found quite a few around that price. give or take $500. but i am willing to wait to find the right deal. i dont want to crank the torsion bars or any of that. i would do a suspension lift

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1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport
Heavily modded

looking for a ranger also

Personally, I would get an 01-03 in that price range. It may take a while to find one that price though. I really don't care for the 98-00 front end and I love the 01-03. Also, for 4x4 reliability, late 2000 would be best because that is when they went to live axles and the previous model 4x4 hubs were problematic.

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1996 Ford Ranger STX 4x4 4.0L
1983 Honda Shadow VT750C

Well suspension lift on a 4x4 will be over $1000. I would say 90% of the the t-bar owners on here have cranked there bars some.

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Sold:2004 XLT 4x2 Ext. Cab. 3.0 Mods: 3" spindle, AAL, shackle, 32x11.5 on 15x8s, billet grille, clear corners, flow 40 dumped, line-x, CB/PA, traction bars, lil sound system, auto up down windows
Sold:2005 XLT 4x4 Ext. Cab. 4.0 Mods: ProComp lights w/ HID swap on tabs, 32x11.5 on 15x8s, CB/PA, black out heads/corners, lil sound system, cranked t-bars, flow 40 dumped, line-x, shell, bed rug, 06+ tails, metal tail gate handle since plastic one shattered, OHC, Mustang Dome.

its not bad to do them a little. I have swapped to class 1 bar which is stronger and only have 1-2 cranks. suspension lift is good money for 98+ also there is only one brand left the rest are gone. just superlift.

most people in this gen do body lift because of the cost. i know I am and wheel at the dunes often with no issues it normally serves DD so it doesnt need a $1500+ lift kit.



98-99 problem is solved with AVM hubs or converting to later live axle if wanted

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what are the problems between the two axles exactly?

i havent really looked into lift kits yet so maybe i should take a peak then lol

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1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport
Heavily modded

looking for a ranger also

98-99 has pulse vacuum hubs. which are prone to fail replaceing with a manual hub made by AVM/rugged ridge. fixes the problem. in mid 00 they switched to live axle set up IE no hub in a sense. and have been using it ever since

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i wil never buy anything from rugged ridge. had very bad experiences with them. so what your saying is i could still get like a 98 and just change out the hubs and it would be just like the newer ones?

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1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport
Heavily modded

looking for a ranger also

what you can actually do is if it needed wheel bearings. you can swap to live axle wheel bearings and CV's and have a live axle truck instead.

or you can run AVM's. if you dont want to do that. I said Rugged ridge. because AVM is a company from out of country controlled by Warn, but is being sold as rugged ridge now in USA.

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Could get a 97, they still have the TTB suspension which is a lot cheaper to lift the suspension. Or you could get 01+ and put 200 bucks in a body lift and put 33's on it.

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Lifted and junk

Double Lifted Rangers

my advise is, if you want a 4wd, find something with a transfer stick insted of that stupid transfer switch that kinda works.