dannyboy3141

The brat is just a little too old. I would have to redo the drivetrain entirely. And the all wheel drive is a must

It seems you all see the dilemma I face. Ranger... Or subaru... Hardest choice on earth

Well, I still like the idea of a Forester ute. I have ideas

I would honestly like to attempt an outback ute. Because that's basically all a Baja is. And I can 100‰ fabricate a complete truck bed interior to give it the double wall it needs . I can fab all the parts needed for the conversion

Already thought about the floppiness. I have methods of taking care of that. It's not double walled, but I can add that second wall. But if we're getting on the subject of doing an "ute," is there another Subaru, even a car, you would think would be best for a conversion? Something that would be well priced? I could successfully do an ute conversion to a car as well as a Forester.

The Ranger that I have now is a 1992 Ranger XLT Supercab with a 3.0L V6 in it. It is slowly dying, despite my babying of it. I do like it, but honestly, I feel I could get by with a smaller vehicle. I would like a small truck bed (I don't need to haul anything big, but I do like having at least a little space outside the vehicle to put things)so a Baja would be the most obvious choice. But if I end up with a Forester, it would be cheaper than a Baja from the getgo, and there are always some body modifications I can make to give it a bit of a bed. I could probably turn a Forester into a Baja of sorts. Probably. But that means I need to look for an old, cheap Forester with a beat up body that would need work anyway. I don't want to chop into a perfectly good body. I have a lot of modifications planned whichever one I would get.

I am definitely not interested in a turbo. I will be keeping my eyes open to see if I can spot decent deals on Bajas, but I am assuming I will probably end up with a Forester. Personally, I don't much mind a base model, as I don't need all the fancy extras. But the one thing that would bug me is the fact that I really do want the 4 wheel disk brakes. I am planning plenty of work to it, though, so a base model that is a little cheaper would work better. I would rather take a base model of either Baja or Forester and add what I want rather than have something with all the fancies in it already. I would much rather have the small truck bed of the Baja than the enclosed Forester, but I can always plan a little "body work" to a Forester...

That is quite helpful, thank you. What else can you tell me about the forester? What mileage are you getting? Is it framed or unibody? Independent or solid rear axle?

Hey all, I am new here. I am presently the owner of a 1992 Ford Ranger. As much as I love her, she is going to need replaced in the next few years. The thought up til now was to purchase a newer Ranger to replace it. But I regularly drive an elderly gentleman around in his Subaru, and have gotten to really appreciate the quality of the vehicle. I really don't need much of a heavy duty truck, but it is nice to have a more rugged vehicle. I just started contemplating the idea of getting a Subaru Baja. What would you guys have to say? What would be the ups and downs of the Baja? What would make getting a Subaru more worth it than another Ranger? And are there any other Subarus you all would suggest? What do you have to say about the Forester? I am still not sold on the idea of moving from a Ranger to a Subaru, so please, convince me.