So I'm going to be saving up for a beater here soon and I've come down to either a '97+ S10 or a 01+ Ranger. My general requirements are that it's a single cab short bed, 2 wheel drive, and standard trans, I'd rather have a 4 cylinder (I think) but it's not really required.

So far I've made a small pros/cons list mentally.

S10 pros:
-I know GM
-Easier to make into a go fast toy (LS swappage)

Cons:
-Generally a tad bit more expensive
-Tend to have higher mileage
-Tend to be "modified" by different ethnic groups more often
-I believe I've heard of them having front end problems but not certain that's what it was.

Ranger pros:
-Cheaper
-Look better
-Easier to turn into offroader (long travel suspension FTMFW)
-Pretty friggin reliable (from what I hear)

cons:
-Don't know Fords as well as GM
-It's a Ferd
-I'll need a screen name change

So what is y'alls input on the subject at hand? I'm sure plenty of y'all had one of the two as a first vehicle.

i think the ranger's a better truck. base s-10 engine is lame, plus like you said ranger looks better (interior included)

I was more into the first-generation S10, but I thought the late-model S10/Blazer "Xtreme" appearance package looked good.

If you can find an Xtreme single cab, that would be a fun little truck, especially if you can find one with a manual and the 4.3L Vortec (don't know if that combination was offered).

As someone who owned a 4-cylinder S10 for several years, I would rather have had the 4.3L. Mine was the old 2.5L so I dunno what kind of power the later 2.2L made, but I felt the truck was kinda dangerously underpowered with the old iron duke.


It might be worth expanding your search to the old-school Tacomas and Nissan hardbody pickups too, if they aren't too far beyond your price range. I don't know what the market is like for them.

[This message has been edited by madd_ag_05 (edited 3/22/2012 9:14p).]

Both suck. The Ranger sucks less.

Ranger. Had a 2000 4 cylinder stick shift for a couple years. Not going to win any races but tough as nails.

Include the Mazda in your search as well. 2 years ago I was looking for a small truck for my 16 year old and ended up finding a Mazda B3000 for him.

Here in Austin the folks were very proud of their Rangers and I stumbled upon the Mazda that had just been traded in and it only had 60k (2001).

Mazda B-series from that era is just a re badged Ranger as you probably know, so if you can get a good deal on one go for it. I lived in Upstate NY at the time and the "Mazdas" were significantly more expensive but I guess the TX market may be different.

I prefer the S10 to the ranger, but that's a matter of taste. Odd that you say 97+, since 98 was the mid-generation refresh -- new front clip and interior; also on manuals the shifter was moved back, (which makes it easier to put in a T56 <IMG SRC="/images/forum/biggrin.gif">). If you were looking for the Vortec 4.3 that came in 96 actually.

I like the 91-93 and 98-04 S10s. IMO the 94-97 is ugly -- from the front it looks like a squished base-model (Cheyenne) half-ton.

The "front end issues" you've heard of are probably referring to the idler arm. Fortunately it's easy to replace and parts are cheap (for 2WD at least).

If you start with a 4.3 it's easier to swap in a V8 since the tranny will bolt right up. The 4-bangers (and 2.8 V6 in the 1st-gen) used the "GM metric" bolt pattern, not to mention the lower torque rating.

I don't know as much about the Ranger, except that the 3.0 is prone to head gasket failure. Haven't heard anything bad about the 2.3 or 4.0, except that they get slightly worse mileage than the equivalent S10s.

If you're including the Mazda B-series, you might as well include the Isuzu Hombre too. They're both just rebadges.

I had a '94 S-10 with the 4 banger and standard trans. it was a extended cab but at that point its not like it was good for anything except storage anyway.

The 4 banger was pretty peppy due to the manual tranny and i pegged the speedo (at 87 mph) more than once. i hydorplanned it my senior year of high school (eff you katy freeway construction) and pinged that sucker off the barricades on both sides. sold it a week later as is for 1k to some mexican that was going to use it to run a paint crew. at the time the repairs were going to be at least 2k and would have made it worth maybe 2500-3k.

i also drove a 01 ford ranger x-cab with the v6 for a while too. i hated that truck. it was just a turd. my bro in law dds it now and he hates it too (similar complaints) it was significantly less peppier than the s-10 and overall i just didn't like it.

I had a 95 s10 4 banger 5 speed 2wd long bed that had 200,000 miles on it when it got taken out by a woman that somehow escaped the kitchen and commandered her husbands ford one ton.

It was a good truck that held up well even though I drove it hard. It would get 28 - 30 mpg when not driving like an idiot.

My cousin had a ranger of the same vintage, and preferred my s10 over his ranger.

If I needed a small truck I would buy another one.

IMHO, the way to do the S-10 would be with the 4.3l. The 2.5l is not that awesome. The Ford engines are (IMHO) all equally awesome or crappy.

Ranger with Cologne V6 (4.0L)

You want to LS swap a S10 or Long travel a ranger for a beater? Really?

Then what about the silverado?

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You want to LS swap a S10 or Long travel a ranger for a beater? Really?

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The same way you compulsively buy cars, others modify them.

Its just not something you can control, and it doesn't always make sense logically.

Wow, how bout a single cab Tacoma with the 2.7 liter and a standard instead of that crap you have listed?

Also, my vote is Ranger with 4.0.

I am thinking about looking for one to play with as soon as I am re-employed.

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The same way you compulsively buy cars, others modify them.

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I do both at the same time.

But SL is talking about buying one to save gas so he can mod racetruck more.

I assume he would hold off modding his mini truck until he gets the racetruck where he wants it, and needs something else to play with.

I had a friend who had a barely streetable jeep and racetruck. He alternately used them as tow vehicles for each other, depending on the current state of mods.

quote:

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The 4 banger was pretty peppy due to the manual tranny and i pegged the speedo (at 87 mph) more than once

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I also drove a S10 4 cyl and it was a crappy no power engine. Couldn't pass on a 2 lane divided highway for nothin.

quote:

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I assume he would hold off modding his mini truck until he gets the racetruck where he wants it, and needs something else to play with.

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Dis, by the time I could afford to do another LS swap or LT kit I would be till I'm out of college. I'm looking for something that can be a beater now and a toy later.

I've looked at Tacos...bit out of my price range though(<$5000), I looked at some of the Mazda's but there just weren't as many around as some of the other trucks. As far as the Hombre...I already have one Mexi truck according to Texags, do I really need another? lolz

I was looking at the gas mileage the v6 Rangers are getting...it's only a little bit better than what I should be getting with the 5.3 (in stock form). Good to hear about the v6 Rangers being turds though, my friend used to have a 5 speed S10 with the 2.2 and it didn't move too bad for what it was.

Edit: 1ags, it's not ALL about better gas mileage. The thought of a Truetrac + 3200 stall on a slick road sounds fun at first, but I'm sure it'll start to get a bit hairy at times lol

[This message has been edited by silverado_lover (edited 3/23/2012 11:16a).]

Not like the S10 isn't kind of a Mexican truck too -- my coworkers call mine the Vatomobile. I've actually had the (Mexican-looking) person working the drive-through at Jack in the Box offer to buy it off me.

You said regular-cab short bed but I prefer the extended cab. Beside the extra space (more for carrying stuff than people), the longer wheelbase is more stable. I had a RCSB S10 before and it was real squirrely in the rain. With my ext. cab on the other hand, I can spin the tires all through 2nd gear on a wet road with no fishtailing. I suppose a reg. cab longbed would be about the same.

I was thinking I'd like the RCSB because it would be lighter, thus better fuel mileage and I would either get a toolbox or a nice bed cover for hauling stuff around.

I've owned both... go with the ranger. There was a big hill on my way to work that would drop my speed in the S10 from 60 or so to 30 with my foot all the way down. The S10 was scary slow...

Oh... and both were sold to Mexican guys with painting businesses.

[This message has been edited by jah003 (edited 3/24/2012 10:46a).]

[This message has been edited by jah003 (edited 3/24/2012 10:46a).]

Jah, were both trucks standard or auto? 2.5 or 2.2 in the S10?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say something was not right with jah's S10. The 4-banger S10s are slow, but not stupid slow like that or like being unable to get up to speed on an onramp.

My '94 2.2/5-speed was a dog, moreso at highway speeds, where passing on a two-lane road meant downshifting to 3rd, but nothing like he describes. Not helping was the 3.42 rear end -- the 4-cyl. usually comes with a 3.73 or 4.11. Not sure how that happened -- previous owner broke it and did a junkyard swap maybe?

+1 sounds like that particular truck was in need of repair.

My 92 had an automatic teamed up with the weaksauce iron duke 2.5L, and passing on 2-lane roads was a scary proposition...but I never had a problem where it couldn't at least maintain highway speed on hills.

Man...I was hoping making this thread would make me more decisive.

It's definitely good to hear from those who have driven both, I was looking around on CL this morning and still didn't see a decent S10. There was one that would've been good had it not been dropped.

But there was an 02 Ranger that looked to be in damn good shape, it had the 2.3.

S10 probably did need some work... inherited it from the wife and drove it for 6 months or so. Still... I preferred the Ranger.

The S10 was an automatic (4 cylinder obviously) and the Ranger was a standard (4 as well). Not sure if you have the option, but the standard did make the Ranger better to drive.

Take all this with the fact that I am certainly not a car guy, just throwing my opinion out there.

Oh... and we aren't talking a minor hill here... didn't want to give that impression. But my 01 Civic can handle it and maybe drop 10 MPH.

[This message has been edited by jah003 (edited 3/24/2012 3:39p).]

I'm in your same boat. Want a little truck for weekend chores. I have looked at both and come to the conclusion that the Ranger (or mazda) is the best buy.

I'm looking to spend $3k or less.

We had a V-6 S-10 4x4 for work at the same time I had a V-6 Ranger 4x4 for personal use. Both were ext. cabs.. about the same year. Everybody hated using the S-10 (of the 3 trucks we had.. 4x4 Tacoma, the S-10, 4x4 Jeep Cherokee).

The S-10 was a bi@#$ to get into; hated the seat release (really, one knob on the top side of the seat, one on the bottom of the seat), and the mileage and passing ability sucked. I liked my Ranger immensely more.