97 Ford Ranger Step Side, 2.3 liter; should I sell, scrap or keep & put in new engine/trans?

[nadsab]

Hello,

It has been years since I posted here last LOL. Anyway it's decide time. we have been storing our
ranger for years and now it's time to decide to either rebuild, sell or scrap. As it is now it is
just taking up room.

Chassis has 277K miles on it so yes obviously if we keep it we will want to put in an engine & trans.
either remanufactured or rebuilt, and trade out our old for a core charge. Best price we got for
that from a major US rebuilder that ships nationwide was around 4K bucks after core charge is
refunded, with 3-year warranty, I think. Or neighbor
is a professional diesel mechanic and I think would be willing to do the work if he has time
and we would pay him a fair price.

I have heard rangers were built to last 300K and I don't know if that is engine/trans, or chassis.
or both.

I'm a hobbyist woodworker so it is definitely good for some guy like me to have a truck, and
I see the prices of new and my jaw drops. I guess I could buy a decent used truck for around 8-10 k
like an F150 but that would have close to something like 200K already on it so I would be close to the
same boat there with mileage.

Anyway, so what do you guys think? Should I be willing to put in that much?
If we did this and the chassis is in good shape - think we can
get another 10 or so years out of it? Also, what is a fair price for our neighbor?
labor to do the work at his
home? He does this kind of work often in his garage...has the tools...

Any opinions appreciated - since we are about to retire, I'd like to drive whatever I decide into my
early 70's if possible. If we sell what is it worth as is? Battery is dead but it started last time I checked, needs a new
break line and 3 chassis shackles.

 

[nadsab]

As secondary question, what are the most vulnerable or at risk areas of the chassis should be looking at – to check if chassis is still road-worthy for another decade or hopefully more…which areas are most prone to rusting out first…? Or floor, bed, etc?

 

[Shran]

Even if it had really low miles I would be evaluating the frame, body, brake lines, suspension, etc for rust given your location. Common areas are the rear leaf spring hangers/shackles, fuel tank straps, basically all of the frame behind the cab, and in the front there are some common rust areas between the frame and coil spring buckets and where the radiator core support bolts to the frame. Brake lines throughout the truck are prone to rust. Some spots are really hard to check, like between the fuel tank and frame... that spot gets packed full of mud pretty easily.

If everything checks out OK there, if it's in running condition, just drive it till it pukes. 300k is just an arbitrary number, you could kill one of those trucks in 50k or with proper maintenance they might be good for a million.

Keeping that in mind - if everything checks out OK - it is probably worth fixing if it needs something major. You probably can't replace it with a vehicle in good condition for $3-5000.... so spending some cash on it starts to make sense. My old boss spent about $3500 on heads for his '03 F150 for that exact reason, the truck was in exceptionally good shape but had about 230k on it - thought about trading it off but a fix is WAY cheaper than a used truck in good shape.

 

[nadsab]

Thank you Shran.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Does it actually need an engine and trans? Or are you just scared of the mileage.

If its still running good....drive it till the end.

 

[Blmpkn]

Idk if that 4k figure is motor AND trans or just the motor.. but.. chances are you could have the motor rebuilt locally for much less than 4k.

Like shran said, the back half of ranger frames always gets the worst of it, bed supports too. Taking the bed off to increase ease of inspection would be a good idea.

We have a member @Lefty who's spent big bucks giving their ranger a pretty comprehensive restoration because new trucks are even bigger bucks lol.. and buying used is always a gamble...

You could put a handful of thousands into the ranger and have a relatively fresh vehicle that could potentially last the rest of your life.. or put a handful of thousands into buying something "new" just to have sonething go wrong in a few months and require more money to put straight.


Rusty does have a point though. My buddy (finally) just replaced his '98, it has 360k miles on it. He replaced it not because it broke in half or blew up or became a financial burden.. he replaced it because with the amount of miles it has on it.. it's probably down to 80hp and didn't like towing his wheeler around lol.

 

[superj]

My 98 b2500 had almost 350k on it when i sold it, if i remember right. I drove it m-f as a plumbing test truck for a few years and almost 200k miles, all over texas from san antonio to brownsville and from laredo to almost houston.

If it wasnt a single cab, i would have kept it but since the wife and i had kids the single cab didn't work anymore.

The point to this though is that mileage means nothing. All i did was the normal oil changes and stuff and drive the heck out of that truck and the truck was great.

I sold it for 2500 in 04 to a guy who had the same truck but his rusted in half from fishing. He loved his so much he wanted the same truck again.

My 04 has 210k right now. I would drive it across the usa this afternoon

 

[Shran]

My wife's '95 has 89,000 on it and I don't trust it to drive across town. Mostly because of janky wiring and mice damage that cause weird issues but it's also seen some really hack repair work from before we inherited it. My old '96 had 260k on it when I sold it to buy a 4x4, and had it been a 4x4 truck, I would still be driving it - mileage indeed means nothing (to some people.)

 

[Lefty]

Idk if that 4k figure is motor AND trans or just the motor.. but.. chances are you could have the motor rebuilt locally for much less than 4k.

Like shran said, the back half of ranger frames always gets the worst of it, bed supports too. Taking the bed off to increase ease of inspection would be a good idea.

We have a member @Lefty who's spent big bucks giving their ranger a pretty comprehensive restoration because new trucks are even bigger bucks lol.. and buying used is always a gamble...

You could put a handful of thousands into the ranger and have a relatively fresh vehicle that could potentially last the rest of your life.. or put a handful of thousands into buying something "new" just to have sonething go wrong in a few months and require more money to put straight.


Rusty does have a point though. My buddy (finally) just replaced his '98, it has 360k miles on it. He replaced it not because it broke in half or blew up or became a financial burden.. he replaced it because with the amount of miles it has on it.. it's probably down to 80hp and didn't like towing his wheeler around lol.

Thanks for the mention. Yes. I bought an 18 year old Ranger and restored it to new. It may sound crazy, but @Blmpkn is right. No one makes a body style like that anymore. Today's trucks are all cab and no bed, hard to park too. The new ones are lifted or raised, making them difficult to load and unload.

I suppose I could have bought one anyway. I got the money. Hell, I could walk right into a show room and write a check.

I chose to restore instead: bought a Ranger for $4,000, took the bed off the back, sandblasted, repainted the frame and the underside. spent $13,000 at the body shop fixing the rusted body and having it repainted, bought new wheels and tires ($600), installed twin exhausts ($500). I did some work under the hood, replaced hoses, battery, alternator, ignition, spark plug wires, seafoamed everything twice in two years.

Now I got the truck I want. It runs like new, and all for less than $20,000. It's got 150,000 miles on it. It's good for maybe another 100,000. And if not I'll put a new engine in it. That little Ranger would still a good deal, half the price of new.

 

[Josh B]

Thanks for the mention. Yes. I bought an 18 year old Ranger and restored it to new. It may sound crazy, but @Blmpkn is right. No one makes a body style like that anymore. Today's trucks are all cab and no bed, hard to park too. The new ones are lifted or raised, making them difficult to load and unload.

I suppose I could have bought one anyway. I got the money. Hell, I could walk right into a show room and write a check.

I chose to restore instead: bought a Ranger for $4,000, took the bed off the back, sandblasted, repainted the frame and the underside. spent $13,000 at the body shop fixing the rusted body and having it repainted, bought new wheels and tires ($600), installed twin exhausts ($500). I did some work under the hood, replaced hoses, battery, alternator, ignition, spark plug wires, seafoamed everything twice in two years.

Now I got the truck I want. It runs like new, and all for less than $20,000. It's got 150,000 miles on it. It's good for maybe another 100,000. And if not I'll put a new engine in it. That little Ranger would still a good deal, half the price of new.

That's a good looking truck dude

 

[Lefty]

That's a good looking truck dude

Thank you! Basically it's brand new. New wheels and tires and clean glass are very cost effective ways of making your rig look good. I replaced the glass when they painted it. But you don't have to replace. Just a clay bar and buff freshens it up.

 

[stmitch]

Does it actually need an engine and trans? Or are you just scared of the mileage.

If its still running good....drive it till the end.

Agreed. If it runs, I'd take the money you'd spend on replacing the engine/trans and change the fluids, replace the fuel filter, inspect the brakes and suspension (replacing parts/bushings as needed), and be ready to put new tires on it. Save the rest of the engine/trans budget for little things that pop up and repair them as needed.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Agreed. If it runs, I'd take the money you'd spend on replacing the engine/trans and change the fluids, replace the fuel filter, inspect the brakes and suspension (replacing parts/bushings as needed), and be ready to put new tires on it. Save the rest of the engine/trans budget for little things that pop up and repair them as needed.

Its kinda been my observation over the years if you make it to the 175-200k mark without serious mechanical issue it will keep going almost indefinantly.

As in, something else will take it out, rust, accident, etc.

My dads got an 01 Town and Country van with 362k on it with zero serious mechanical isssues. The rest of the van is junk but it still goes down the road decent. Thats the highest mileage (verifiable) vehicle ive ever personally seen.

Rusty #1 went over 300k, and still ran hard. But im not sure how far over because the speedo didnt work for years.

 

[nadsab]

Thanks much for all the comments! OK I spent some time on my back yesterday trying to decide if I want to do this or not. There are definitely areas that need to be cleaned up/welded if I keep this and make it roadworthy again. Mainly body stuff and the cross members on the underside of the bed. Can new cross members be purchased somewhere? Or are those welded to the bed itself? I don't know what the technical name is for them. The bed itself has quite a bit of rust around the bed bolt holes. Would it be possible to repair that with welds if i got new cross members for the underside of the bed? Or what about buying a new bed from a junk yard?

I had one of the shackles in the rear replaced years ago this time I'll definitely replace all the rest if I do this.

The two main chassis beams that run the length of the bed and motor mounts are the areas I'm most concerned about. Have not looked close at them yet - there are some areas on the main beam where the rust is like large flakes so
I don't know how much thickness has been eaten away from the main beams. Anyone know what the factory spec is on those beam thicknesses? I could take a micrometer to the areas I'm concerned about.

UPDATE: My neighbor who does welding and does this kind of stuff all the time said on an older rusted out ranger he worked on the rear was rusted out so bad - he actually cut the frame off right up to the back of the cab, and spliced a newer frame and box to the frame under the cab. Brand new back end from the back of the cab to the rear bumper. Sounds pretty cool and radical for trucks rusted out much in the rear. My question is - Has anyone here actually done that and were the results good?

 

[Lefty]

Agreed. If it runs, I'd take the money you'd spend on replacing the engine/trans and change the fluids, replace the fuel filter, inspect the brakes and suspension (replacing parts/bushings as needed), and be ready to put new tires on it. Save the rest of the engine/trans budget for little things that pop up and repair them as needed.

I don't intend on replacing my 3.0 any time soon. I'm not in love with it. It's a plain Jane. The 3.0 Buick Fireball 6 offers better mileage and lots more horsepower. Still, it's faithful, solid, 4 square. This one seemed right and tight. It was one of the reasons why I bought it.

I've improved it some, putting in an e fan, a performance chip, a K&N air filter, and dual exhausts. I've given it the standard treatment mentioned here on the Ranger Station: Seafoamed the crankcase, the inside of the engine, Seafoamed the gas to clean the injectors. I use only synthetic oil.

Some of you may argue that none of these treatments and upgrades make much difference. It is, after all, just a 3.0 Vulcan. But when you make all of these changes, you do get a LITTLE better mileage and a LITTLE more horsepower. Now it runs like new or better. I expect this motor will last a long time.