I've got a '98 4.0 5speed Ranger that my Son beat on for five years! It is now my yard truck/beater and I love it! It's torquey and can surprise the unsuspecting Beemer. 
The Danger Ranger - 2003 Ford Ranger 2WD 3L 5spd
- Thread starter OVERKILL
- Start date
Well you beat the fuel economy my 80 year old grandma got in her taurus with the vulcan then.
Her delta 88 3.8L would return near 30mpg.. I dont think she broke 22-24 with the vulcan taurus.
(I would clean her car windows and such when I was visiting)
My 2002 was strictly 16-20mpg but it was the 4x4 with the 4L and I had some aftermarket stuff on like rock sliders, winch, and oversize tires.
No, THIS is Danger Ranger! Only at a Cleetus McFarland race lol
Good looking truck though, I wouldn’t mind owning one.
Good looking truck though, I wouldn’t mind owning one.
Mine was a fairly low optioned XLT Extra Cab 2WD. It was easy to save gas with the 5 speed manual.
Just sold my 1991 Ranger Extended Cab today, had it since New 32 years. I had full maintenance history in a excel file loved the truck. I now have a 2022 Maverick Hybrid love the new truck!
My first truck was a Ranger. I had a 1990 with the longer box and 2wd with the OHV 4.0. Also had a 99 regular cab 2wd with the 3.0 and a manual transmission and a 00 Extended Cab with the step side box and 4WD which was automatic with the 3.0. Good trucks.
Not only the springs but EVERYTHING is cheap on RA.
I bought an early 00's bright yellow Ranger a few summers ago for an "errand runner".
It had the 3.0/4.0 V6 with stick and RWD.
Despite having over 150k miles, it ran like a hot rod! The engine was all about torque and smoothly pulled along at low RPM's.
I sold it a week later for $1200 more than I bought it for, as I couldn't justify keeping it.
No leaks/problems.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
He paid $2,500 for it. I'll have to get the odometer reading, but I think it has 147,000km on it?
The one truck I always regret trading away was a 2004 XLT with the 2.3 liter,5 speed manual.Added rails and bed liner and it was on!Yep it was a single cab but you could fit a gallon of milk and a loaf behind the back seat.Then a 2008 Ranger Sport with the 3.0 auto caught my eye and like something stupid I traded away my first love.That 2004 still holds a place in my heart!
Well that certainly couldn't have helped.
Torquey engine, I imagine "deep" first gear gearing, bad tires and little weight in the rear. No traction control nannies in the way. In short, every teen's dream. 
Mines fine in the rain and what little snow we get.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Daytime pics my son just sent me:
One of my son's first car was a brand new 2003 Ranger, bought at the Olympia, WA dealership. It was an incredible deal on a basic pizza delivery truck. 2.3 engine, 5 speed, 2/55 AC. He bought it between his junior and senior year of high school and paid for it himself. He kept it until 2019. By then he lived in Indiana and it had stage 2 cancer. He traded it in on a brand new Ranger with the ecoboost, 10 speed auto, AC, club cab, etc.
Truly a great first vehicle.
Truly a great first vehicle.
Great starter truck. My cousin had a 3.0 5 speed RWD extended cab 96 Ranger that went to 425k miles on original engine and transmission before he sold it.
He used it as a pizza delivery truck for his convenience store. His son drove it through high school and college. Then it became the loaner/pick up and delivery/parts run vehicle for his service station. So it was not the easiest of lives!
He used it as a pizza delivery truck for his convenience store. His son drove it through high school and college. Then it became the loaner/pick up and delivery/parts run vehicle for his service station. So it was not the easiest of lives!
Come on now, friend of mine had a 2WD Ranger with the 2.3L 5 speed and the last thing you wanted to do was climb any hills with a load in the back. I think the 3.0L Vulcan engine is very sufficient for a truck or Taurus. Pulls mine nice and smoothly and gets surprisingly decent MPG for how heavy the wagon is.
Last edited:
Sounds like a really low price for such a great looking truck. That blue color is really nice.
the vulcan was 3L 154hp the 4.0sohc was 207hp and the 2.3L was 145hp.
the mpg difference between the vulcan and the 4.0 was about 1 mpg.
I do think the 3.0 had abit more torque than the 2.3 of course.
but still 9 more hp than the 4banger and 1 more mpg than the 4.0 fits my narrative.
Rand said:
Yep its the vulcan all the power of the 4 cylinder and the fuel economy of the 4L.
besides that they were generally good engine for their time.
One of my closest friends had the 4 cylinder with a 5 speed. He made many trips to the rock quarry where they would dump 1000 pounds of river rock into the little bed. Once he could release the clutch going into first, it was go-kart sailing on the bump stops anywhere we wanted to go… slowly!
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
According to Edmunds:
Powertrains and Performance: Three engines are available. Standard on XL and XLT 2WD regular cabs is a 2.3-liter inline four-cylinder engine making 135 horsepower and 153 pound-feet of torque. Four-wheel-drive regular cabs, as well as Edge and Tremor, regular cab 4WD, and SuperCab 2WD models are powered by a 3.0-liter V6 that makes 154 horsepower and 180 pound-feet of torque. At the top of the engine chart is a 4.0-liter overhead cam V6 making 207 horsepower and 238 pound-feet of torque.
So they are saying the 2.3L was 135HP, so the Vulcan was a wild 19HP more
