Wow! Evolution!

[Anthony]

The Ranger is now as big as my '97 F150 was. The current F150's are just huge!

current Ford Ranger: 211″ L x 78″ W x 71-72″ H
1997 F150: 202-244″ L x 78-80″ W x 72-75″ H

The 97 F-150 was still quite a bit bigger:

• The current Ranger is actually only 73.3" wide. (The 78" is including the mirrors). The 1997 F-150 specs do not include the mirrors. (which makes it almost half a foot wider)
• A 1997 Supercab shortbed F-150 was 222" long (about a foot longer than a comparable SuperCab or SuperCrew Ranger).

However, the top engine on the F-150 in 1997 was a 5.4 V8 with a measly 235 hp & 330 lb/ft of tq. Imagine more power in a turbo 4 just 20-odd years later! We've come a long way!

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[lohchief]

I started out looking at Canyons (preferred) and Colorados for the towing capacity. Then I drove a Ranger and was done. Just before pulling the trigger, I drove a Taco. Just anemic and dated. I concluded that the 'mini-truck' was over and Toyota did not get the memo. Now the minis are coming back. C'est la vie.

At the end of the day it goes to mission. I wanted at least 6K# towing, the extra 1500# on my Ranger is some great headroom. I also wanted 4WD and the TMS on the Ranger was just over the top.

My biggest issue was the lack of a TBC option. Now that (after mucho tears and cursing) I have the Redarc/Lumen installed with the control next to the TM knob, I am a happy camper--literally. I plan to do a lot of camping at the beach, bed facing the surf, up out of the way of sand fleas

My wife and I first checked out the new gladiator,as I've had 3 jeeps in the past. I hated the gladiator,so moved on down to the chebby dealer. Test drove the zr2 diesel,love the diesel,hated everything else about that truck,especially the seats,(it had the optional leather pkg). Then drove down to the Ford dealer and found a ranger lariat we liked,we drove it,we bought it,we love it.Compared to the other choices,(NEVER TOYODUH) the Ranger was an easy win,a no brainer.

 

[Darth Ravage]

Caught this in a pkg lot today...wow! (mines on the right )

This was about a week after I got mine. Mine is on the right.

 

[DeathRanger]

Old and New

 

[Mokume]

Caught this in a pkg lot today...wow! (mines on the right )

Father and Son...

 

[Edsel]

Father and Son...

I prefer 'Big Sis' & 'Little Sis'--I consider all my machines to be female

 

[RangerCoby]

A lot of my friends and family thought my Ranger was an F-150 when I first got it.

"That's a Ranger? Wow, they are so big now!"

It's definitely bigger than my 96 single cab Ranger that I traded in. Night and day, lol.

 

[Kevin D.]

My 2000 and 2019 XLTs. What will truck sizes be in another 20 years?

 

[lohchief]

1/2 tons are now bigger then 3/4 ton pickups from 20 years ago. I believe the credit for that goes to cafe bs.

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