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Liberty no longer passes crash tests here in the US. It was replaced by the new Cherokee.
But a small, diesel powered truck would be great. Ever since the Ranger went away there is nothing to really fill the nitch of a compact truck. The Tacoma is quite a bit larger (and more expensive), and the new Colorado is WAY bigger than the ranger.
Indeed, the current global ranger is too close in size to a full size pickup, and Ford says the F150 fills that market segment's needs and that they have no plans on selling the global ranger here. A mini-truck like what the domestic Ford Ranger used to be just didn't sell well enough in this country. As for light diesels... Chrysler is taking a big risk with selling them in this country that I hope pays off for them. There is a lot of stigma attached to diesels in this country, and at least in the past, most consumers didn't want them. Hopefully the Ram and Grand Cherokee can change some minds.
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Last edited by jeremyji on Sun Mar 23, 2014 9:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
When I went looking for a used daily driver I stumbled upon the Explorer Sport Trac. I was looking through fords 'towing guide' and it listed a 'sport trac'. I had no idea what one was. Smaller than a f150 (which with an extended cab would not fit in my garage) and slightly larger than the ranger. With the v8 it has a 7000lb towing capability and and 6 speed auto. I like the short bed, it's all I really need.
Ford stopped selling these as well. It was probably hitting the f150 sales some and they most likely didn't want to lose 'first place'. It's a nice ride. Plenty of interior room, independent suspension, full time 4wd.
will e wrote:When I went looking for a used daily driver I stumbled upon the Explorer Sport Trac. I was looking through fords 'towing guide' and it listed a 'sport trac'. I had no idea what one was. Smaller than a f150 (which with an extended cab would not fit in my garage) and slightly larger than the ranger. With the v8 it has a 7000lb towing capability and and 6 speed auto. I like the short bed, it's all I really need.
Ford stopped selling these as well. It was probably hitting the f150 sales some and they most likely didn't want to lose 'first place'. It's a nice ride. Plenty of interior room, independent suspension, full time 4wd.
They stopped selling those because it was based on the explorer. When the explorer changed over to the current generation, the sport trac went away. But they are a cool half-breed sort of vehicle.
Stuka wrote:
The roll bar that is bed mounted maybe?
Only the last generation sport trac came with a V8. Its quite a bit larger than the original one (Which was ranger based).
The rear bar for the rollbar has the same angle as the Jtruck, looks cooler. Every other truck I've seen with a rollbar is always straight like a YJ rollbar.
That makes sense. I was looking at an '01 the other day with the 4.0 and it almost looks shoehorned in there.
82 J10
77 J10 Golden Eagle 401
88 GW
You know it's bad when your car is on the EPA's 10 most wanted list!
I believe they were all based on the Explorer. Looks like part of the problem is the Explorer went unibody and that is when they discontinued the sport trac.
Anyways, it's a great little truck. I would recommend them to anyone looking for something used, with a pickup bed and a little on the smaller side.
I believe they were all based on the Explorer. Looks like part of the problem is the Explorer went unibody and that is when they discontinued the sport trac.
Anyways, it's a great little truck. I would recommend them to anyone looking for something used, with a pickup bed and a little on the smaller side.
Explorers that used a solid rear axle used the same platform as the Ranger. So '91 to '06 I think.
As a guy with an Explorer sitting in his driveway though, just lemme say... Don't bother trying to rent a U-haul to tow behind it. The company won't allow rentals that are to be towed behind an Explorer due to that roll-over issue they had for a couple years because of their tire choice. They are fine with renting for Mountaineers, or the earlier generation Navajo, both Mercury versions of the Explorer, but they won't have anything to do with anything that says Explorer on it.
They stopped using the solid rear axle on the 4 door Explorer in 02, the sport trac got independent rear in 07. They produced the explorer sport (the 2 door version) until 2003, and it always had a solid rear end. 4 door explorers had a V8 option since 95 with the 5.0, and the 02+ got the 4.6. The sport trac didn't get any V8 option until 07, which is sad, because it was a slightly longer, heavier vehicle than the vanilla Explorer. 5.0 swaps are common and easy in the first gen sport tracs though. You just need a second gen (95-01) Explorer donor.
As for platform sharing... well, the basic platform is the same as the ranger for the Explorer up to 01 (06 for the sport trac), but there were a lot of odd little differences between the explorer and the ranger. Frame width, suspension, etc. But, the Ranger platform basically never changed after they moved away from it with the explorers.