- Joined
- Aug 15, 2019
- Messages
- 4,005
- Reaction score
- 1,986
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Oklahoma
- Vehicle Year
- 1993
- Make / Model
- Ford Ranger
- Engine Type
- 4.0 V6
- Transmission
- Manual
- 2WD / 4WD
- 4WD
My First Ford Ranger
I was driving an 80 Chevy LUV. Someone at church said they had a friend who wanted a vehicle gone, i was like, "who cares", but eventually succumbed to going by there and checking it out. It was an 87 2wd
I can't remember when I first talked to them, before or after, but I wound up parking my Chevy Luv (with the wooden front bumper I'd given it), beside the road, after I'd cleaned the cables and found a greasy ground, and gotten it started. I was by that time well aware it had NO brakes, was all but rusted out underneath, but I wasn't that far from home, so I cranked it up and headed there, using only the motor and gears to increase or slow my speeds as I drove it on home.
It was from Wisconsin, had considerable salt damage to the frame, but, it was free!
The young man who gave it to me was a physics student at Vanderbilt University there in Nashville, a fine young man with a wife and baby, who promised to get me the clear title.
I spent the next two months with it up on jackstands, chipping away at the rust underneath in what time I could give it, while doing my usual work as a commercial carpenter (I especially liked the larger projects there in the city).
I was on a historic renovation project then that was on the farrrr side of town and my Chevy LUV gave up the ghost, I was stranded, with a broke down worn out Chevy and a Ranger up on stilts. Got to chippin and twisting bolts, and whatever else I could do to get it going.
I had found a brake line which had been cut, and had a rubber hose as a patch, and had concluded that young man had unknowingly preformed this repair, unaware that it could not work. I also came to believe he had gotten into a bad situation, possibly with his wife and baby onboard, and barely avoided a crash, which left him only wanting the truck gone. He had my sincerest sentiments with this.
I got new shocks on it and back on the road within a week, back to the job, then on to another, a large pool and spa store showroom, and warehouse, back on my side of town.
It had a new motor before I got it, and almost by Christmas time I went by the fella's home, and he handed me a title. i got it tagged and insured and used it to go home that year for Xmas/New Years.
It did good on straightaways, in 4th gear, but it wouldn't do overdrive unless it was headed down the side of a mountain, which I did in Oklahoma, heading to Ft Smith to see some cousins, and I floored it down a mountainside(in front of a sheriff), but I guess he was trying to make it home or somewhere for New Years also, he passed me near top of the other side as the road there gave me a slow lane, and I realized who it had been.
I drove that truck the next 4 years, 87 XLT, manual 2WD 4 1/2 speed, across Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana, and Georgia(far beyond Atlanta).
My father was getting weaker and I wanted to get back home, it was 2006 by then, and I got to scrimping and saving and looking for another truck. It didn't have many requirements, other than being a Ford, preferably one on the lighter side. The daily newspaper there listed vehicles in a fairly simple way, Chevys, Fords, cars, trucks etc. I only looked at the Ford trucks for Ranger and F150.
After looking at a couple 93/94 Rangers(in my price range) which had tailpipes full of soot, one morning I got up early, drove downtown and got a paper almost as it came off the press, and saw a new ad, 93 Ranger (my price range) headed home and called them up. She said, "I just got home from work, my husband just left for his, and I'm tired. I persisted in asking to see it, so by 8am I was looking at it, she went back inside(an extremely fine home), and first thing I did was look underneath (for oil, wrecking yard yellow numbers on the parts etc) but all I noticed was a transfer case and a front differential. "we didn't list it as a 4WD as the 4WD isn't working".
Well, I'll save that for the "my Second Ranger" thread
I was driving an 80 Chevy LUV. Someone at church said they had a friend who wanted a vehicle gone, i was like, "who cares", but eventually succumbed to going by there and checking it out. It was an 87 2wd
I can't remember when I first talked to them, before or after, but I wound up parking my Chevy Luv (with the wooden front bumper I'd given it), beside the road, after I'd cleaned the cables and found a greasy ground, and gotten it started. I was by that time well aware it had NO brakes, was all but rusted out underneath, but I wasn't that far from home, so I cranked it up and headed there, using only the motor and gears to increase or slow my speeds as I drove it on home.
It was from Wisconsin, had considerable salt damage to the frame, but, it was free!
The young man who gave it to me was a physics student at Vanderbilt University there in Nashville, a fine young man with a wife and baby, who promised to get me the clear title.
I spent the next two months with it up on jackstands, chipping away at the rust underneath in what time I could give it, while doing my usual work as a commercial carpenter (I especially liked the larger projects there in the city).
I was on a historic renovation project then that was on the farrrr side of town and my Chevy LUV gave up the ghost, I was stranded, with a broke down worn out Chevy and a Ranger up on stilts. Got to chippin and twisting bolts, and whatever else I could do to get it going.
I had found a brake line which had been cut, and had a rubber hose as a patch, and had concluded that young man had unknowingly preformed this repair, unaware that it could not work. I also came to believe he had gotten into a bad situation, possibly with his wife and baby onboard, and barely avoided a crash, which left him only wanting the truck gone. He had my sincerest sentiments with this.
I got new shocks on it and back on the road within a week, back to the job, then on to another, a large pool and spa store showroom, and warehouse, back on my side of town.
It had a new motor before I got it, and almost by Christmas time I went by the fella's home, and he handed me a title. i got it tagged and insured and used it to go home that year for Xmas/New Years.
It did good on straightaways, in 4th gear, but it wouldn't do overdrive unless it was headed down the side of a mountain, which I did in Oklahoma, heading to Ft Smith to see some cousins, and I floored it down a mountainside(in front of a sheriff), but I guess he was trying to make it home or somewhere for New Years also, he passed me near top of the other side as the road there gave me a slow lane, and I realized who it had been.
I drove that truck the next 4 years, 87 XLT, manual 2WD 4 1/2 speed, across Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana, and Georgia(far beyond Atlanta).
My father was getting weaker and I wanted to get back home, it was 2006 by then, and I got to scrimping and saving and looking for another truck. It didn't have many requirements, other than being a Ford, preferably one on the lighter side. The daily newspaper there listed vehicles in a fairly simple way, Chevys, Fords, cars, trucks etc. I only looked at the Ford trucks for Ranger and F150.
After looking at a couple 93/94 Rangers(in my price range) which had tailpipes full of soot, one morning I got up early, drove downtown and got a paper almost as it came off the press, and saw a new ad, 93 Ranger (my price range) headed home and called them up. She said, "I just got home from work, my husband just left for his, and I'm tired. I persisted in asking to see it, so by 8am I was looking at it, she went back inside(an extremely fine home), and first thing I did was look underneath (for oil, wrecking yard yellow numbers on the parts etc) but all I noticed was a transfer case and a front differential. "we didn't list it as a 4WD as the 4WD isn't working".
Well, I'll save that for the "my Second Ranger" thread