msmith

I had a 13 SCAB with a 5.0, 3.73 gears and was thoroughly impressed. That is also having a 6.0 Superduty at the time. Long story short, I needed the truck for my job and couldn't afford two insurance payments, two tax payments, and maintenance on two trucks, as well as having a place to put both of them in the driveway, so I sold both and bought a new 15 Superduty with the 6.7. Now my son, who is 6'3" 190# is complaining about his Ranger being cramped, so we started looking at half tons. I found a nice 2012 XLT SCAB but it has the 3.7 which I have zero experience with. He is in college so most of his driving will be around town, fishing, and a 13 hour trip home and back. In the summer he does work his truck some hauling feed for me, mowers, weedeater, etc.. Having something other than a Ranger, he will most likely do some towing too such as my fishing boat, and a small trailer with a small diesel tractor or our Polaris Ranger.


What would you guys with the 3.7 think? I'm thinking that this truck would be the ticket. The 3.7 certainly lowers the price considerably. With only 53k on the ticker, I could do brakes, shocks, battery, change the fluids and air filter and he would have a pretty sweet reliable set of wheels for his situation. Fuel economy is one of my concerns, but for the price difference you can buy a lot of gas. I'm just a little leery of this motor.


Thanks in advance,

msmith

Also, IF he decided to level it an put one size bigger tire on, how detrimental to the fuel economy and power would that be? I really didn't notice a difference with my 5.0.

bship15

I love my 3.7. How big is the boat? I have a level on mine with 295/70/17s on it. I think I lost about 1 maybe 2 mpg with the level and bigger tires.

msmith

The boat is a 17.5' duck boat. Basically an overgrown Jon boat.

bship15

Oh he will be fine with it. What other questions do you have?

Spiky

I agree, everything is cramped except for full size trucks. Sounds like an excellent vehicle for him. It won't get a lot better mpg than the 5.0, though.

msmith

I was impressed with the 5.0 mileage. If you kept it in that sweet spot, 45 - 60 mph, it was pretty good for a truck. Interstate, not so good but not bad considering.

montanaman

That 3.7 is the little engine that could - I would have no problem with it. ~We have one in my wife's AWD Taurus, and it makes 305hp, and has a slick-shifting transmission.~It doesn't have as much low-end torque as a eco or V8, but it'll get you anywhere you want to go.~To put it in perspective, in 1995 300hp was Cobra R territory, and in 1979 a full-sized pickup with a wheezing 351M had 154 hp.

Blondie70

I like my 3.7. Goes plenty fast enuf for me and the mileage ain't too bad. 20-21 mpg highway.

msmith

Sounds like it's the ticket for him. I sent him some pics and he loves it. It's exactly like his Ranger except it's a 150 with an automatic instead of a 5 speed.