Cheap Level II "Build"

trailbikerider · Sep 20, 2014

Howdy! I guess we'll start out with a bit of an introduction. I've been driving my 1994 Ranger 2.3 2WD for the past four years as my daily driver. After last winter, I decided it might not be a bad idea to upgrade to a 4x4. I briefly owned a 1997 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 earlier this February for about a month, but after realizing what kind of hack work was done by the previous owner, I ended up selling it. This brings me to now. For the last month or so I've been on the hunt for a 4wd Ranger 1993 or newer. I've driven to just about every corner of the state looking for one, and I ended up finding this one only about 2 miles from where I live........ go figure... :annoyed:

Anyway, I can't complain. I picked this up two days ago. It's a 2004 FX4 Level II with a manual trans and 145,000 miles that I got for $3500. It was a little dirty on the inside and it was smoked in, but after about 3 hours last night, it cleaned up pretty well! The driver's seat is in pretty bad shape, but it's a truck and a daily driver so I'm not too worried. All it needs is a good service (air & fuel filter, oil change and some bulbs), fog light and a headlight retaining clip. So all in all, I'd say I got a fairly good deal.

Here's a few photos of the truck. If the cap was a painted fiberglass cap, I'd keep it but it's an ugly black aluminum one so it's coming off.

trailbikerider · Sep 21, 2014

Well that didn't take long haha. Got the truck up on the lift yesterday to do an oil change and fuel filter swap and saw that the passenger side rear shackle rotted in half. So ordered the hangers and shackles for both sides from Rock Auto and I'll be doing those sometime soon.

The shifter is also giving me a bit of issue, it's a little bit difficult to put it in gear. My 94 had the same issue and it turned out to be the fingers on the pressure plate were slightly bent preventing it from disengaging.... I really hope I don't have to do a clutch on this truck.

Ford78 · Sep 21, 2014

Nice looking ranger! Looks like u got a really good deal on it.

trailbikerider · Sep 23, 2014

Yeah not bad, like I said needs some work but it should be a nice truck when it's all said and done.

trailbikerider · Sep 30, 2014

More not exciting news.

Replaced both shackles and hangers this past weekend. Pulled the plugs out of curiosity and found out they are the original Motorcrafts with almost 146,000 miles....... Some people's kids should not own vehicles.

Anyway got all 6 out and got 5 back in. The 6th one apparently pulled a few threads out with it.. so I have to get a tap and chase the threads and get it back in. Also going to replace the wires while I'm at it.

PlumCrazy · Oct 1, 2014

Sounds like you have a slave going out. Id gravity bleed a few reservoirs worth of fluid through just to verify that the PO didn't just do a shitty job replacing the clutch or clutch hydraulics.

trailbikerider · Oct 1, 2014

Seems to be the case. When it was replaced, the local Ford dealer did it... so I'm hoping they did it right.

trailbikerider · Oct 4, 2014

Got all the plugs and new wires in and it runs great! I'll get some photos here soon to make this "build" thread actually worth looking at.

trailbikerider · Oct 23, 2014

Took some photos with my DSLR. Ahead for the truck are winter prep items. A front end alignment, tire re-balance, muffler and a serpentine belt. The last two aren't required for winter, but seeing as how the plugs were original, I'd be willing to bet that the belt is too.

I need to check the rear brakes as well. The truck feels like it's abnormally hard to stop and the front pads seem to put out a LOT of brake dust.

New DD by grannygoldblake, on Flickr

New DD - 04 Ranger FX4 Level II by grannygoldblake, on Flickr

Dprocks100 · Oct 28, 2014

Dude, that is a good looking truck. Those pictures look amazing! Can't wait to see what you do with it.

trailbikerider · Nov 28, 2014

Well winter is upon us here in southwest Michigan. I finally got around to replacing the muffler and tailpipe and have it aligned. Also found out while I was under the truck that the front pinion seal was leaking, so that was a fun unexpected repair. I've got a couple of projects floating around in my head. One of which being an LED light bar to sandwich between the headlights in the grille as well as changing out the rear differential fluid and transfer case fluid. However more pressing is some shocks. This truck has the original Bilsteins on it with close to 150,000 miles. I want to replace the shocks but I don't want to fork over almost $300 for a set of replacement Bilsteins.

I work at NAPA and I can get Monroe Reflexes for ~$40/shock. Any experience with these or recommendations for other aftermarket shocks for around $50 a pop? I drive mainly onroad with some light offroad duties as well as pulling the occasional trailer.

trailbikerider · Dec 14, 2014

More maintenance/boring updates.

Installed 4 new Monroe Reflex shocks as well as two new sway bar links today. Rides much better than the old Bilsteins. Next up is to change some fluids.

I'll be taking it wheeling for the first time this upcoming week, so I should have some pictures!

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