My nephew lifted a 3.0 Ranger and changed it from a nice little somewhat peppy and economical truck into a gas sucking dog.

 

Supercharger!!!!!

 

my 08 is just as quick to 60 as my 04 heritage was at 9.6 seconds with 3.55 LS rear compared to 3.08 non LS. but my 08 gets to 100 quicker. and i have teh same intake from my 04 on it. ford bumped up the torque from 256 to 260 somewhere between 04 and 08. it is true no V6 and also no standard for 09. and all you guys who crap on the V6's in a full size truck and say how stupid it is think about this. i had a 78 f150 with a 351W and a 4spd manual. engine was rated 165hp, well the 4.2L V6 is rated 202hp. the 351 worked just fine even with 4wd. the only reason why the 4wd seems too much for the V6 is because we are used to thinking 4wd vehicles always had V8's. well now you have a V6 that has more power, better gas mileage if not the same(my 78 got 12mpg only having rwd and my 04 got 18.9 and my 08 got about 17 all only with rwd and all manuals. the V6's have proven themselves over and over so it is fine to have a V6. ford just found a better way to get gas mileage out of the V8 so they made the financially better choice because nobody would get a V6 for fuel economy when a V8 with more power gets better fuel economy. i have seen them rated up to 24mpg when both my V6's were rated at 20

 

is hard to find and is expensive for the 4.2. the easier one to find is a turbo but it has to be custom made and is about $6k

 

You can get a S/C for the V6. They have an adapter plate out there that will allow you to hook up a M112 from a Supercoupe Thunderbird or 3.8L V6 Mustang

 

haha, sounds like what I did to my 2.3. 14mpg as it sits right now

 

and that pisses me off that they quit making such an amazing engine... i guarentee you wont see that many 4.2L's in the shop becasue of a engine ailment... they need to bring it back... ford is stupid to not still make it.

 

then get rid of it... dont ever put down a V6 4.2L i guarentee it will last longer then any V8 ford makes ANY!

if your not happy with your V6 sell it so someone else can appreciate it

 

My v6 gas mileage sucks. The best I ever get out of a tank is like 300m city before dummy light comes on. Ive also got a k@n dropin and exhaust running 2755520's. And I baby it 70% of the time.

 

Dropping the 4.2 was a huge mistake almost as bad as eliminating the 5spd...what they shouldve done was drop the POS 4.6.... I work for a car lot and it is company policy that we are not to buy any 4.6 fords because they are unreliable. not to mention performance wise they arent much better than the 4.2 and the 6 gets better gas mileage...

 

After driving a 3.0 Ranger for 4 years, I vowed that I would never own a V6 truck ever again.

Any one have 0-60 times on these engines in a short bed regular cab configuration, with 3.55 gears?

Oh and Paul, the 4.6 is an extremely reliable engine. More reliable then 5.4 3 valves.

 

Id say you got some other issue going on like dragging brake bad plug gap or clogged converter?????
I dog the **** out of my truck and get a very reliable 20mph avg

01 4.2 5spd, ext cab, K&N on 265/75/16 with 147k miles
Ive put 87k miles of them on and the only time my gas mileage suffered was the couple weeks before my coil pack went out that was at 145k on original plugs still.... replaed all that gas mileage is back where it should be

 

i only get 300 to 330 out of tank to. your biggest problem is the tires you have on it...

 

i have never heard of a 4.6 being very reliable. and it doesent do much better if any better then a 4.2L so whats the point in having one.

 

I had a 3.0 Ranger 4x4 also. After 2 year's of driving it around I had to upgrade. It's sad when a gust of wind would cause it to downshift. Although I've been impressed with my dad's 4.2v6 I don't agree with some of these statement's about the 4.2 being just as good as the 4.6. Reliability yes the 4.2 is great but the 4.6 in my friend's F150 has been one of the toughest engine's i've ever been around. Also get a comparably equipped 4.6 and put it up against a 4.2 and I bet that V8 is gonna out perform that 4.2 with fuel mileage being an exception. I'm not trying to put the 4.2 down or try to convince everyone that the 4.6 is the goddess of the engine's available so take my opinion with a grain of salt.