Aggravation..

[ironglow]

  I like small pickup trucks...  but do not care for the large ones.  Last year I sold my Ranger (4 cyl- 5 speed manual)
  I drove Datsuns from 1969  to 1973, then had a couple Chevy Luvs..until I got my first Ranger (1982)  and drove Rangers until last year.. because they were good and the last of the small pickups (IMO).  I would like to get another small pickup, but Ford has dropped the Ranger...and the rest have grown too big.  It is not so much a  cost/price issue as it is that I just don't like big vehicles..unless I want to haul heavy tonnage.  I hope somebody gets the idea and produces such a vehicle!
     There are some very interesting 4WD trucks coming in from Japan, which I would buy in a minute, if I could tag it for road use.  However, the EPA says "NO"..  Apparently they meet emissions standards.. EPA says only that these vehicles "don't have EPA certification papers".  I wonder if they are being turned down because they are not made by "Government Motors"??     These are called Kei trucks or K-trucks..I am sure many of you are already familiar with them.
 
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zsp7ndxcxg
 
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbXiIHkAlhE
 
  I can't understand why Ford has dropped their Ranger..if I had wanted F-150s all these years, I would have had them.
  I guess I'll have to hope China or India is willing to fill the market which the rest have been willing to surrender..
 

[superd]

My understanding as to why Ford dropped the Ranger in the US is the f150 and the Ranger ended up at the same price point and gas mileage so "most"people chose the f150. The public wanted more and more power in the Ranger and the advantage of the small truck was gone. Also here in the US the EPA has prevented usage of the small diesels which would provide a huge advantage. I personally wish Ford would bring back the original Bronco (solid axles with limited slip front and rear, and a 4 speed transmission) and maybe a purpose redesigned Ranger. The 4X4 Ranger had become a car with a short grocery bed.

[ironglow]

  I have noticed a "feminization" which seems to be invading vehicle choices.  More carpets, electric windows, no free wheeling, which can be switched off at the wheel with locking hubs.  Even Jeep and land Rovers are "sissified" when compared to the models of 30 years ago.
  I liked the old double shift levers and the Jeep body which was drained of water by turning a butterfly stopper.  To be fair though, the EPA & government interference has done their share of ruining vehicles..

[Ranger99]

i haven't seen any of those j. industrial
trucks around here for a while.
i was wanting one a while back for use
at the farm instead of many thousands
more for one of those side by side or
utv's or whatever you choose to call 'em.
the utv's you see are way too costly to me
and most have a molded plastic small bed
instead of a larger metal bed like i want.
since the nuke disaster, i've not seen any
for sale, or that may just be a coincidence.

[Larry L]

The trucks for sale for offroad use only from Texomamini have zero safety standards employed in the units. Because of that, they also don't have any EPA certs on the engines although some of the ones listed are electric. The deal with Mahindra for its diesel small trucks fell apart when they couldn't get the engines to pass emissions testing. So it looks like you have 2 options. Rebuild an old Ranger to your liking or. Wait for the larger but still smallish GM diesel Colorado that's due out in August.  It will look like a mini Avalanche if you haven't seen one. Size wise it is smaller than a Tacoma but larger than an old Ranger.

[ironglow]

  I know what you mean, but I was sad to see the Nissans, Toyotas and Chevy S10 grow larger..  Dodge never did make a truly compact pickup.
  My first Datsun looked about like this..a 1969 , 1300 cc truck  (only white) and I thought it just about ideal..
 

[Lloyd Smale]

Id like to see a truck about the size of a ranger or s10 with a 4cyl turbo deisel. Make mine a club cab 4x4 that got 30mpg and id be at the dealership tommarow no matter what brand it was.

[ironglow]

Id like to see a truck about the size of a ranger or s10 with a 4cyl turbo deisel. Make mine a club cab 4x4 that got 30mpg and id be at the dealership tommarow no matter what brand it was.

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  I could see that Lloyd..especially the mid 1990s Ranger   Actually, my 4 cyl, 5 sp manual Rangers were getting 27-28 mpg on the open highway.

[Lloyd Smale]

there is rumor of a new small ford truck with a diesel. If it happens this long time chev man may have to look at fords.

[Larry L]

Ford has nothing in preproduction in the way of a diesel anything in the light or small truck segment. There is a diesel Ranger on the global platform but you can't have it. Ford has put all of their hopes on the EcoBoost technology. In the F150, it's been a dismal failure with lots of trucks sitting at dealerships that Ford can't or won't fix. The issue has mostly been water condensed out of the intake cooler. They apparently have no clue how to drain it so the engine loses power and goes into limp mode. I can only assume it costs too much to run a line from the bottom of the cooler to the exhaust manifold where the water turns to steam and is vented into the intake.
If 30mpg is the target for a truck, look at the new Dodge diesel 1500. That engine is yielding 30+ mpgs in the mules on the road. The engine design isn't exactly new but is a highly modded version of the Euro engine that appears in the minivans, etc. It is a CGI constructed engine and has an architecture similar to the Powerstroke. It sports oil cooled pistons to keep temps down from the lean burn technology. The engine uses a bedplate like the big diesels instead of main bearing caps. There are aluminum heads with dual cams in each for more and easier RPM build. The injection system is by Bosch and is a common rail with multiangle piezo injectors. The block design is strong enough for up to 600HP in race form. It's suppose to be bolted to a new 8 speed auto only. It's interesting enough that I'll probably be taking a real close look at this truck. My Supercrew is getting tired and will need replacing in the next few years. If the first years production goes well, I'll probably be driving one. FWIW, Dodge is already taking orders for these units and they are selling fast. They expect these units on the lots to command full list price....if you can find one.

[ironglow]

  Not for me..although I am sure many would like it.  As I said earlier, it's not about price or even mileage, even though I would take mileage as a bonus.  I simply like the compact design, having driven compact vehicles exclusively since 1962.
   It's rather akin to the fellow who wants a Porsche boxter.. you can't sell him a Humvee..even if it gets the same mileage and is the same price.
   Guess I'll have to see what the imports develop.

[SHOOTALL]

There are several vans now on the market that are very small. It would seem they would make a PU along the same lines.

[Huffmanite]

I too drove a compact truck for a long time, owning a Mazda and then a Ford Ranger, both being basically the same truck.  Went to replace the Ranger a couple of years ago and ended up buying a F150 Ford.  F150 is a decent truck, gets around same gas milage as my Ranger.  However, I don't think I'll ever get the hang of driving the darn thing.  Pulling into a parking space with the F150 is generally a hassle for me.  Backing it up is a challenge for me too due to its size.  LOL, ask the the Mini-cooper owner who had pulled up behind me and was positioned not to be seen in ANY of my rearview mirrors.  Kinda funny what a F150 rear bumper can do to the front end of a mini cooper at about 3-4 mph.

[Lloyd Smale]

might be a bit off topic but i just saw where jeep is suppose to put that 6 cyl diesel there using in the dodge rams in the wrangler. they predict 30mpg. Only downside is its going to be a 4500 dollar option. It will take many many miles to recoup 4500 bucks!!

[SHOOTALL]

might be a bit off topic but i just saw where jeep is suppose to put that 6 cyl diesel there using in the dodge rams in the wrangler. they predict 30mpg. Only downside is its going to be a 4500 dollar option. It will take many many miles to recoup 4500 bucks!!

diesel fuel cost will hurt that. I have a 6.3 gas engine in a 250 Ford that has a load on it that gets 18 mpg The Dodge Diesel it replaced got 16 

[Lloyd Smale]

no doubt your right there. Its what kept me from buying a deisel chev last time i bought a new truck. The extra cost of diesel most days about offsets the fuel economy savings. Unless a guy really needs the torque of a big diesel truck a gas truck is about allways cheaper to buy, maintain and even put fuel in.

[SHOOTALL]

I have found the new gas does all I did with the diesel but note I seldom tow over 8000 lbs. Up to that point the gas engine has been more responsive . Some hills here are quite steep it will both pull them but more important brake well also.

[Hairy Chest]

Diesel engines ruin air quality.  I like seeing the new buses with clean air technology.  If you need a few extra miles per tank, get a Prius. Otherwise, let's get these lung choking monsters off the road!   

[wtxbadger]

Considering all of the new emissions standards imposed on diesel powered pickups I don't think air quality/lung choking really fits anymore but those same standards are the reason mpg's have dropped dramatically on diesel powered vehicles. My 93 Dodge D250 Cummins pickup gets way better miles per gallon than the new ones.

I guess my 66 F100 352V8 will be next on the hit list for some folks before to long cause it pollutes and supposedly contributes to man made global warming.

Geez

wtxbadger