Owned an 89 X cab Ranger 2.9 V6 4x4. Awesome little truck. Beat the crap out of it daily for 2 years. Didn't care for the front end though. Have an 88 4x2 X cab Ranger with 4.0 5speed swap. Very good little truck, gets 23-26 MPG during the summer. Put it away in the winter. Had a 90 Dakota 3.9 V6 5speed lifted 3". Ran it hard and gave it to my brother. His father in law uses it for a farm truck now. 450,000 miles on it last time I looked.
My only gripe with Rangers is they do seem to have weak automatic trannies. My brother has an 01 Offroad 3.0 auto. It's eaten 3 trannies in less than 100,000 miles. Sad part is, it never goes offroad ever!
Doesn't matter which one you go with, both have good points and both have bad points. I'm a diehard Mopar man, but you have to give the Ranger credit. They've been around since 1983 and still going strong. The S-10 can't say that!!

 

I say Ranger all the way!! I had a 87 with d30 swap and 37" toyo m/ts. Even the weak *** dana 28 ttb front was ok, at least for drivability and comfort. I havent really driven many dakotas but the ones I have were junk and I didnt like the interior layouts. The 2.9 is actually really reliable if maintained correctly.

 

I'm gonna say a Dakota, FAR better ride quality, more power, more room, tows more, and imo looks better. With the 02 Dak in my sig I get at least 22mpgs on the highway (its a V8 btw), and get around 18mpgs doing city/town driving, while towing a trailer with 3-4 700-900lb ATVs on it I can still get 15-16mpgs. And thats with the crappy stock 3.55 gearing, if I had better gearing for my tires it'd be better then that. Oh yea, its also run a best time of 14.2@94mph in the 1/4 with 28" slicks and 4.56 gears, with my 31s and the stock 3.55 gearing its dead consistent at 14.71-14.75 @ 88-89mph.

If you're gonna get a Ranger definitely either get a 2.3 or a 4.0, don't waste your time with the 3.0. The 2.3 will be faster and get better fuel mileage then the 3.0. My grandfather just recently bought a 03 Ranger, his previous truck was a 98 Dakota, he does like the truck, but comparing the trucks the Ranger rides far rougher and stiffer, and the fit and finish is less "refined" I guess is the best way to say it. All in all the Rangers are tough and cool little trucks, definitely better then a S-10, but not as comfortable or smooth as a Dakota.

 

Ford Ranger, better reliability. Period. Plus with the crew cab its very spacious.