I had a 91 4cyl 5 spd, a 98 4x4 4.0 5spd and now an 04 4 cyl 5 speed. I can
tell, the 43 (or so) more hp in the 4cyl. made a world of difference. It is
no racer, but it does fine on in the city and on the highway and I'm meeting
the mpg numbers 24/29. The 3.0 V6 will give you some lower end torque, but
gives only 5 more HP over the 4 and fuel eco. dips down to 18 in the city.

My 04 stickered for 16,000 something, but I got it for $11,300 incl. tax &
title (new). It is very basic. Only options were the cloth bucket seats and
AC. If you can find any 04s left on the lots, you can get deep discounts. I
got mine 6 weeks ago. I haul up to 600-700 lbs for my side business and it
does fine for the little trucklet that it is.

Sorry, I can't answer all your other Qs other than no problems with any of
them.

John

the 2.9 is excellent

the A4LD transmission is light-duty

but the 2.9 / A4 combo is a joy to drive, good mileage

one thing...86 was the first year for FI, and it will not adapt to altitude
more than about 6000 feet.....our 86 was pretty much useless over 7500 feet

To talk about the 4x2 versus 4x4, I've got a 4x2 that I've had for 7-8
years.  Outside of mud holes which I stay away from (no 4x4ing in my 2x4),
I'm going to mention my experience with winter snow.  Originally having
bought it with the 4x2 to save $$$ I had some issues with snow, but found
the solution to be:
1.  winter time - 5 bags of construction sand always at the back end.
2.  the use of winter tires on standard rims (versus the wider profile rims
the truck has for the summer)

With this setup I don't worry about snow or winter.  The rear-end in the
truck of course is the locker type so there's no messing around with only a
wheel spinning.

Outside of this, there's two special things I keep in the truck in case of
very deep snow or being stuck in a icey snowy parking hole.
1.  traction ?????? - 8"x16" metal grate that you put in front of the tires
and they grab onto.  Will rocket you out of those places you can't even move
from.
2.  tire chains for those remote wilderness places, or back road (dirt
roads) that the plows haven't hit.

Can you do 4x2?  YES.

I've made it all these years on it, and hope to do many more.  Originally it
was $6000 more to get 4x4.  What a savings it has been.

C.

'01 std-cab, 2WD, alum 2.3L OHC 4cyl (Mazda), 5sp manual.

Very light, good ground clearance, good traction in rough terrain, even with
stock tires (haven't tried snow yet). Glad NOT to have 4wd. Very spunky
around town on level ground--more acceleration than I need. But lack of low
RPM torque gets annoying at speed on steep grades on highways, where it's
sometimes necessary to downshift into third to keep up with traffic.

22 mpg city-only, 25 mpg mixed (expected better).

The stock vinyl bench seat is uncomfortable (no lateral support), and the
cab is too narrow for 3 adults. Might as well have buckets.

Only 10k miles and air conditioner and windshield washer have crapped out.
Other than that no problems.

nf

I bought a 2001 Ranger XLT extended cab 4x4 / 4.0L new and have thus far
been satisfied with the performance. The 4.0L definitely gets the job done.
I have had a couple minor problems(electric mirror switch, loose gear shift
knob) but otherwise no other major issues @ 65K miles. I avg. 18-19 highway
MPG with the 5-speed manual with a 4.10 diff.

De Nada...

Yet another $.02 worth from a proud owner of a 2001 Ford Ranger 4x4 and a
1970 Mach 1 351C @ http://community.webshots.com/album/18644819fHAehGJAjt