2025 ford ranger

[addjunkie]

Didn't some of those Ssanyung things have Merc lumps in them?

The new ones dont…its their own engine.
I too have heard of Hilux corrosion issues, one where Toyota bought it back in the name of research!!

 

[Bobupndown]

Yes the earlier one's did. I still have one on the road. 2.9 merc engine. View attachment 503883

Looks only a mother could love!

 

[Bornfree]

Looks only a mother could love!

My mates all call it
Kim Jong Un's staff car.

 

[Agrismith]

Where I worked a couple of years back I towed heavy regularly with a D-Max 2.5 Twin Turbo, 63-plate. That thing pulled like a demented dentist! Drive it fast solo though, & it was a bit like a powerful high speed bouncy castle - no way should a soft-suspensioned, over 2-tonne lump on balloon tyres be that fast - the running gear was no match for the motor.
They also had a newer 1.9 version - as you say it was underwhelming. Not as gutless as expected towing heavy, but not a patch on the bigger one.
The thing is... a big twin cab 4x4 pickup is IMO a one-trick pony. Not as comfy or roomy as a car or a van, the rear bed is too high to work out of & zero security even with a truck top, the turning circle & lock are rubbish, and they aren't great off-road either. What they excel at (or should do) - is towing weight. If you don't tow - they are pointless thirsty trinkets.

I've always said that pickup are good at doing lots of things not very well. But if you only need to do one or two of these things then something else is better. Be it a van car suv lorry, transit tipper

 

[anto44]

If you're looking at buying new it's hard to find something capable of doing heavy towing short of a 7.5 ton truck. I don't think there's any pick up, jeep or van on the market today that'll tow a heavy trailer on a regular basis reliably.

 

[pint]

None of the trucks are as good as they were. The D max’s have gearbox issues too, so I’ve been told. My Hilux has been treated for rust after we bought it. I wasn’t allowed to take it until it had been treated. Two of our 19 plate Hilux’s were taken off the road due to severely corroded chassis’s. Pal has a mk1 Hilux, chassis is solid. It’s never been treated and you can still see the factory white painted on numbers. The body is rusty !

yep around the mk5 time they started to "paint" the chassis with what appears to have the protective properties of black chalk dust. the baby landcruisers are worse, the axles rot off