ive bantered about it before here, well now with the small business getting closer i will need to get a small truck, Ive been shopping and im down to the mazda bseries/ford rangers twins. Is it me or does it seem that these things never have both cruise and AC, anyways!

i test drove a nice mazda today and was surprised to see that this almost entirely ford truck is built in japan, i thought mazda would have built em alongside fords in the states. anyways, anyone here have anything good or bad to say about these twins?

there is something that goes with the 4x4 behind the dash and it's a fucker to repair/replace.
the Ranger/Bseries seem to be really rot-prone in the frame (at least here). Seen a couple with busted frames from rot. Other than that, a pretty durable truck.

Posted by Samurai there is something that goes with the 4x4 behind the dash and it's a fucker to repair/replace. the Ranger/Bseries seem to be really rot-prone in the frame (at least here). Seen a couple with busted frames from rot. Other than that, a pretty durable truck.

i have been avoiding the 4x4 and ive been looking post 2007. i saw a 2005 b series at a mazda dealer yesterday, they had it on the display rack, looked worse underneath than my 02 grand prix!

My dad has been a ranger guy for the last 20 years. Current one is a 03 4x4 Edge Ranger. Decent truck. Get a Nissan.

The Light Truck market is kind of estranged now I think. Sure you have the Ranger, which is going to end production in December. Even the Dakota is on its last year too, but there will be a light truck coming from Jeep next year apparently.

Posted by Agent Skelly The Light Truck market is kind of estranged now I think. Sure you have the Ranger, which is going to end production in December. Even the Dakota is on its last year too, but there will be a light truck coming from Jeep next year apparently.

Commanche?

Posted by Samurai Commanche?

Word has it will be sort of a JK-platform version of the Scrambler.

Posted by jeepdave Get a Nissan.

BOOM! A hardbody will serve you well. Its the best small truck ever made, in my opinion.

Posted by big dave BOOM! A hardbody will serve you well. Its the best small truck ever made, in my opinion.

Well...I know a ranger that has upwards of 250K on it...my stepdad put the second 100K on it, the guy he gave it to put the other 50K on it...and it's still running to Albany, NY from here twice a month. Only lousy thing is the box is falling off.

Posted by big dave BOOM! A hardbody will serve you well. Its the best small truck ever made, in my opinion.

Nissan was an underrated tough as nails truck, the only beef that I know of them is corrosion (a bad problem here in the northeast with ANYTHING) and there was something with the Z-engine(?) where the timing chain would rub a hole through the innards of the block and punch a hole in the water jacket for #1 cylinder (from what I have heard, the 22R Toyota would do the same thing in some cases). From what I remember, though, that was on the older trucks. My cousin John and his wife had an 89 or 90 Nissan extended cab 4x4 and when he finally killed it, the truck had OVER 200,000 miles. (He was an EMT for a volunteer ambulance squad here, jumped in the truck at -20F, fired it up and went... it killed the engine and the body was sufficiently aged where it wasn't worth finding or putting an engine in it.)

Come to think of it, my friend Ray has a 92 Nissan xtended cab 4x4... 185,000 miles and all he has put in it is a clutch.

VW Rabbit Caddy Diesel.

Go big tiny or go home.

I had a 92 Hardbody 4x2 with a manual. I loved that truck. I rearended a car with it and that killed it. It wasn't really that it killed it, it made it more expensive to fix than buying another Nissan truck at the time. I sold the truck for the driveline. It still ran perfectly. I'd buy another if I needed a small truck. I wouldn't bother shopping for anything else, either.

well went and test drove the B4000 today, any input on the cologne v6 would be apreciated.the only ford engine i ever dealt with was the 3.0 vulcan in my dads aerostar. that thing ran and ran and ran and ran. The b series that i tried is an 05, clean, 55 000kms with good summer tires and 4 mounted 1 year old snow tires. loaded except cruise.

asked my dealer to put it on a lift, clean!

its funny popping the hood on this thing, its got an identity crisis, all these parts labeled motorcraft yet its assembled in japan!

Posted by nostra-YOUPPI! well went and test drove the B4000 today, any input on the cologne v6 would be apreciated.the only ford engine i ever dealt with was the 3.0 vulcan in my dads aerostar. that thing ran and ran and ran and ran. The b series that i tried is an 05, clean, 55 000kms with good summer tires and 4 mounted 1 year old snow tires. loaded except cruise. asked my dealer to put it on a lift, clean! its funny popping the hood on this thing, its got an identity crisis, all these parts labeled motorcraft yet its assembled in japan!

2wd or 4wd?
auto or manual?

Posted by Samurai 2wd or 4wd? auto or manual?

2wd auto, extended cab short box

Posted by nostra-YOUPPI! 2wd auto, extended cab short box

don't care for an automatic, but for your purposes, it will be fine.

i have to retire one of the fleet if i get this one, debating dumping the 03 cavalier or the 02 grand prix

Dump the GP, I dunno why, but it seems the older they get, the more issues they have. Gotta give the durability rating to the Cavi here. They tend to last longer than you want to drive em. And if you want advice on truck, look to the south. We drive the piss out of trucks for no reason. Nissans tend to do well here for a really long time. I would think they would do well up north. I have had a 1988 Pathfinder with a V6 (decent) and a 02 Frontier (One of the best vehicles I have ever owned). Tadah!!

Posted by jeepdave Dump the GP, I dunno why, but it seems the older they get, the more issues they have. Gotta give the durability rating to the Cavi here. They tend to last longer than you want to drive em. And if you want advice on truck, look to the south. We drive the piss out of trucks for no reason. Nissans tend to do well here for a really long time. I would think they would do well up north. I have had a 1988 Pathfinder with a V6 (decent) and a 02 Frontier (One of the best vehicles I have ever owned). Tadah!!

for used trucks in these parts the field is dominated by 2 trucks, the ford mazda twins and the gm twosome.

From what I understand, it's a strong motor, just doesn't get the fuel econ you'd expect. You're not buying strictly on fuel econ, so I wouldn't give a fuck about it. I haven't seen a ton of them dead, unlike something like the Dodge Neon 2.4 or whatever that POS was.