Staring at my Ranger

[AutoRnD]

I'm here outside looking at my Ranger and I have these metal trims and apparently one is missing but I'm liking the look without them.

Is the trim stock or what this done by the previous owner?

What do you guys think?

Do you like the trim or not?

 

[scotts90ranger]

They were aftermarket, someone added them. I'm not a flashy kind of guy, I put a chrome explorer grille on my '90, thought it matched the white better than the black so I'm ok with that but prefer more subtle tones... Looks like it shouldn't be too hard to remove with either a couple screws or a heat gun...

 

[AutoRnD]

I put a chrome explorer grille on my '90, thought it matched the white better than the black so I'm ok with that

My main goal is black and chrome with that Ford blue for accents. I feel like this would be too much. I honestly don't like them. The truck is trashed but when simplified to the decent looking panels, the trim makes it look cheap.

Your truck looks great lifted. I like the white!

Thanks for the information!

 

[scotts90ranger]

Thanks, I like the '90, I need to drive it more, hard to justify when gas is $4+ a gallon for regular when it needs plus or premium... yeah, it looks like it brings attention to the giant wheel openings the '93 up had... big part of why I went with a bigger tire on my '97...

 

[Josh B]

Cool photo

 

[AutoRnD]

Big part of why I went with a bigger tire on my '97...

View attachment 100522

I definitely need bigger tires. Looking at my truck I felt like the wheels looked just a bit too small.

 

[James Morse]

If it's 4x4 that gen, 31x10.5-15 seem to fit really nicely with no issues and they look right, not so much gap at the fenders but still plenty to work right.
Since 265/75R15 was an available option on 4x4 - and 31" is the same size, insignificantly larger cross section.

 

[Josh B]

Check the door label, it may well say 265/15

 

[AutoRnD]

Door says p225 70R14SL

 

[Josh B]

Wow, that kinda went the other way

 

[scotts90ranger]

yeah, on the 4x2's they put tiny tires on... mine had the same size but I jumped to 225 70 15... 235 75 15 fit fine and looked better but I didn't like the cruising rpm in 5th gear, too much shifting on my commute.

 

[Blmpkn]

235/75/15 is just about the perfect size tire for a stock height 2wd IMO.. but like Scott said.. you'll be in and out of 5th quite a bit if you live pretty much anywhere but the Bible belt or Florida.

Wasn't a big deal to me.. 4cyls like to rev so it's not like 50-55 in 4th was hurting anything. Probably helped out efficiency slightly honestly.

 

[AutoRnD]

Eventually I'd like it a bit lower that is if I can get the style wheels I want to fit. How would that effect the ride feel?
If not, Ill try to restore the stock wheels and see how it looks with larger tires.

 

[RobbieD]

If not, Ill try to restore the stock wheels and see how it looks with larger tires.

Your wheels are actually in pretty good condition. I don't see a lot of the "aluminum rot" that these wheels tend to get.

I honestly think it would be a good idea, on your part, to keep these wheels nice, or do a good restoration on them if it's needed.

They do look nice on your truck, and if you change wheels later you can always sell a nice set of OEM wheels and then put that money back into the truck. Good original parts for these trucks just keep getting scarcer.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I actually was attempting to find some 15" deer hoof wheels but stumbled on what I got for $80 for the 4 with center caps and lug nuts... it took me several hours to strip then wet sand them to make them look decent (followed by a can of wheel clearcoat).

The problem with 14" wheels is the size you have is as tall as is available, they're relabeled 27" by something or other in some forms like all terrain or winter tires... the sizes available open up a lot in 15" which is why I went with that...

Correcting for the speedo difference tire size didn't make much of a change on mileage at all, with more aggressive winter or AT tires my '97 got 21-22mpg from 27-29" tall (225 70 14 through 235 75 15), once I switched to P tires it migrated to 23-25mpg consistently... I get bored so check most tanks of fuel, in the 60k miles the lowest I've seen is 19mpg towing and screwing around and highest around 25.5... mileage falls if you shift over 4k consistently, increases if you stop at 4k for hard acceleration and normal 3k... best cruising below 3k... a 3L will be similar but with an auto you have less choices...

If you mess with tire sizes too much look into what rear differential gearing you have as taller tires will make it more painful to drive (slow), lower gears (bigger numerical) will make it better, mine already has the lowest factory ratio of 4.10:1 so it's more forgiving than say my '90 was with 3.08 gears... For driveability doing a rear axle swap to change ratios is a good starter project, it's like 10-12 bolts, a brake line and parking brake cable... that was pretty much my first modification on the '90, factory ratio 3.08, got a $15 axle with 3.73's (back in the fordranger.com days, like '02), did a frame swap to 4x4 and got 4.10's then lifted and axle swapped to 5.13's...