Faults:

The air-conditioning went out at around 65,000 miles. Too soon for such a new vehicle. The cause was a leak in an obscure place that was costly to fix.

The interior lights will not shut off, so I had to pull the fuse so they do not work at all! Not even the map lights!

The windshield wipers in all of these trucks have problems with spontaneous operation.

The door chime sounds whenever it wants to. It will startle you when driving.

The truck eats up tires very quickly and the front suspension suffers due to the poor weight distribution which I believe was fixed on later models. It's not even worth it to try and have the tires rotated, because the front ones wear so badly that it makes more sense just to get at least two new ones. The rear tires do not wear as quickly, but they're always leaking... even when new!!

The drive belt squeals irritatingly all the time. It has been changed, adjusted, "dressed," you name it! No fix seems possible. In fact, I believe it has been changed twice.

General Comments:

Overall, it is a good vehicle. It starts every time and gets you where you want to go. The front seats are very well-shaped, but the rear seats stink of course.

It handles reasonably well compared to the 4.0 model which rides like a Jeep. Neither one handles well in wet weather though. The rear drum brakes lock up dangerously when they get wet and can cause the tail to swing out. They do have ABS control, but it seems to be ineffective. The brakes have always done this, and they have been checked numerous times.

Aside from these problems, it gets you where you want to go and so far it has not left anyone stranded. It still looks new too.

Faults:

There really hasn't been anything wrong with the truck since I owned it except I had the exhaust replaced because it was very loud when I got it from a rotted exhaust.

My dad had to replace the rotors 2 times while he owned it.

The center console won't latch shut.

The radio volume is tough to adjust, the knob doesn't always work.

General Comments:

Other than those small things this truck is a wonderful thing.

I had an Eagle Talon Tsi before this and that thing was totally unreliable.

When I got rid of that my dad gave me this 1997 ford ranger, his old work truck that he bought new.

I am very unpleased by the performance as it has no balls at all, it seems to take years to accelerate to highway speeds.

It is a very very reliable truck though! it has never ever left me on the side of the road, 154,000 miles and absolutely no irregular engine maintenance, and I am not easy on this truck.

You can't kill it, I've tried.

It shifts smoothly through all five gears.

All in all it is a very trustworthy truck, if you can handle its slowness.

If I bought this truck new myself I would have made sure to get the 3.0 v-6 engine, but at least the 2.3 is great on gas.

Faults:

I bought the truck in 1999 with 65000. The day after taking the truck home the check engine light came on so I took it back to the dealer. They told me it would be $100 just to hook it up to the computer. For only owning the truck for 24 hours I was quite up set. so I put all pulled all emissions off the truck.

In 2000 I got stuck In a sand bar and had the auto hubs go out. I then replaced them with manual locking hubs and never had a problem again.

2003 I was driving my truck home from work and lost the engine, I through a rod. witch in turn there is a 5.0HO in it know. I was really I'm impressed with the trucks pulling power with the 4.0 I've had around 10,000lbs behind it. and don't ever use the stock bumper four pulling a trailer. I ripped the bumper completely off the truck. the rivets that are on the frame aren't strong enough. they needed grade 10 hardened bolts.

General Comments:

My 1997 Ford Ranger was the best truck I've ever owned yet. It was as fast as a mustang and out pulled two Chevy full size trucks, dodge Dakota, and a full size dodge.