well, heres how its been:

about a week ago i called up a dealer and offered him 8500 for a ranger ('00 3.0L 5-speed XLT 4x4 w/ 90K miles). ran into the usual "this is prime stuff here, our prices are the best" BS. looked elsewhere, test drove another one (almost the same as above except 4.0L automatic). was a nice ride but single cab and they were asking 9000 for it.

not wanting something i could barely afford, i looked elsewhere, and found a 4th ranger in town. this one is a '97 XLT with a 4.0L 5-speed w/ 4x4 and 115K miles. they were asking 5800 for it, i got them down to 5000 (private deal, not from a dealership). after a few days going to the bank, i gave the guy $5,000 in cash.

got it today, and i like it. engine and tranny are in good shape, but a few things confuse me.

-when i shift from 2nd to 3rd, its a big difference. no big deal, yet i was on the highway and at 55mph, shifted from 3rd to 4th. my RPM's went UP a few hundred or so. (from 2000 to 2500 im guessing). shifted down to 3rd, they go up again (to about 3000 this time). shifted to 4th then to O/D, and they go back down to 2000 (did this a few times to make sure i wasnt going back to 3rd).

the 4th gear bieng lower then 3rd i can understand, but whats with 3rd gear? its like it has 2 sub-gears coming up from 2nd or down("up") from 4th.

 

worthless without pics

 

are u sure the clutch isnt slipping

 

:

 

found out the problem. was actually shifting from 2nd to O/D. then (thankfully) O/D to 4th, and 4th back into O/D, so thats why it seemed lower. i was skipping 3rd completely.

(not used to shifting a vehicle, used to the different clutching system on my quad).

ill try and get some pics soon