Well, it's been a 'great' couple of weeks, but I'm getting rid of my Ranger

[Doofy]

I would imagine that your age is half your problem. I had very little patience when I was young and was easily frustrated. Now that I'm older I just don't get all that excited about anything. Shit happens...then you die!

 

[scooter]

Buh bye.......

 

[shane96ranger]

I guess you've never worked on a 94 Cadillac STS.

What I don't get, is you bought it knowing it was broke, fixed a good portion of it, and then throw in the towel. I'm glad I don't just give up when something throws me a curve ball.

Sent while I should be doing something else

 

[Ranger Kip]

Lol, you asked why i called you dumb/respectable in your last post. I have plenty of patience to work in tight engine compartments. I'm a professional mechanic for a sandblasting/painting company, and I regularly work on their forklifts and bobcat/skidsteer (for those who don't know, small forklifts and especially bobcats are extremely tightly packed). But I don't have the 'patience' to stick with the manufacturer who deliberately makes life harder than it has to be (through both constant need of work and making that work difficult to accomplish) when there are so many better options.

I actually have worked on these things, and they are a terrible way to make your statement. I was able to remove (on my 84' Ranger) everything on top of the engine, body panels, all the interior, all the exaust, and the tranny pulled all in 3 days time with a total of 9 hours of work without using a knife, air wrench, or impact wrench, I JUST used a 1" and a 1/2" ratchet. And it ran without anything more than a wd40 job and new plugs to make it run just fine. Granted, it rusted out lol

But if you unsatisfied, take it up with Ford, dont be calling anyone here any variation of "dumb" not only did we not design the damned vehicle, this is a website DEDICATED to the vehicle, you dont walk into a biker bar and say after 2 weeks of riding a bicycle that you hate motorcycles.

 

[509lifted]

this right here is well said

But if you unsatisfied, take it up with Ford, dont be calling anyone here any variation of "dumb" not only did we not design the damned vehicle, this is a website DEDICATED to the vehicle, you dont walk into a biker bar and say after 2 weeks of riding a bicycle that you hate motorcycles.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have been deeper in my Ranger than you have thought about being in yours, I never thought it was that hard to work on. Most of my early problems was the feedback carb, nobody knew anything about them or could get parts for it... you have nothing to compare to that.

I don't care what badge is on the grille, they all have stupid moments in design.

And my dad's '92 GMC 1500 is half metric and half standard too... mine has grown to be mostly standard.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I'll agree that Rangers are cramped to work on, as are most modern vehicles, especially compact ones. I'll also concede that I find myself scratching my head and wondering who let these idiot design cars at least once in a 40 hour work week. Usually more.


But I do the same thing working on GM, MOPAR, and just about any other car you can come up with.

I gotta say, I was barely able to get the trans out of my 2001 S-10. It didn't fit. I have never had to tip an engine to such a severe angle to make the trans clear the fire wall.

One other thing I have learn working on cars from all makes and models is that it's like learning a language. Each maker has it's own way of doing things, its own "language" it you will. Gotta get used to it or you get this same reaction.



And the Windstar is NOT a good representation of Ford's design quality.

Well...Pruples....it's been fun.....JESUS loves ya......Bye!

And with that... this thread has been appropriately responded to.



Oh, and S-10s are garbage.

Most of the problems I've encountered on my Fords are either things that the P.O. didn't maintain, normal wear items, or things that I was responsible for breaking.

I will admit, working on 98+ Rangers can be a pain at times. But at least you can pop the hood to change a headlight bulb, unlike some of the new GM crap (and some manufacturers) where to replace a headlight bulb the directions start out something like... Open hood. Disconnect battery. Remove front fenders. Remove front bumper. Remove grill and headlight assemblies.....

 

[Ranger Kip]

And with that... this thread has been appropriately responded to.



Oh, and S-10s are garbage.

Most of the problems I've encountered on my Fords are either things that the P.O. didn't maintain, normal wear items, or things that I was responsible for breaking.

I will admit, working on 98+ Rangers can be a pain at times. But at least you can pop the hood to change a headlight bulb, unlike some of the new GM crap (and some manufacturers) where to replace a headlight bulb the directions start out something like... Open hood. Disconnect battery. Remove front fenders. Remove front bumper. Remove grill and headlight assemblies.....

speaking of headlights, The taurus has an impossible aligning scheme, its so hard to line them up!

 

[shane96ranger]

I would really hate to see this dude put a starter in a Northstar equipped Cadillac. Or replace the radiator on a 94 STS. Or do a tune up on an LT-1 Camaro. Maybe I am just used to how Ford does things, but from the newer GM vehicles I've worked on, they are definitely more complicated IMHO.

Sent while I should be doing something else

 

[ZMan]

odd, all of the nuts and bolts on my '92 are metric *shrug*..now the '99 Buick Park Avenue I had for 4 years, THAT had standard and metric mixed together, I found that out when I had to replace the engine, do wheel bearings multiple times, replace 2 transmissions, and so on, you can say I had the same experiance as you, except I won't ever be buying a GM again.

 

[509lifted]

yea all mine are metric on my 84 the only diff is size and then my drive shaft had 12 point metric and nuts that hold my carb down the person before me lost two and went and got two 1/2 sae nuts.

 

[dankhimself]

I did my full 8" lift, leafs, cross member, coils, buckets, radius arms, drop brackets, shocks with dual shock mounts, drilling, grinding, corrosion removal/prevention, brake calipers, pads, shoes, braided lines (rerouting the hard steel lines for the braided ones to mount behind the buckets too), drive shaft carrier mod, u-joints on both shafts and a fresh carrier bearing, camber bushings, pitman arm, all types of ELECTIVE stuff, in 7 days, AFTER WORK, SOLO!!

I say elective because nothing was broken, and I did preventative maintenance with the u-joints and all that stuff, I did this as a suspension upgrade. The calipers, they were kind of old, one had a ripped dust seal, nothing big. And the carrier bearing was fine, but the rubber was cracking so I just swapped it.

Just take your time and when something is hard, you probably need to buy a tool that goes beyond a basic mechanic's tool kit from sears. I'm only assuming this was your problem because 1- I had to pick some tools up here and there for the job (and I have a TON of tools), and 2-we both might as well jump to conclusions, no matter how broad or specific they may be.

I have mostly metric tools, and they are all that I used, other than a 3/4 socket and wrench for the bracket bolts and lugs.

You basically just told a bunch of Ranger pros that you had a hissy fit meltdown in your garage and developed a hatred for the manufacturer that you blame because the repairs you did were a frustrating learning experience.

Get used to it, machines break. Have fun at the GM forums.

 

[Brownie Mobile]

I have been deeper in my Ranger than you have thought about being in yours, I never thought it was that hard to work on. Most of my early problems was the feedback carb, nobody knew anything about them or could get parts for it... you have nothing to compare to that.

I don't care what badge is on the grille, they all have stupid moments in design.

And my dad's '92 GMC 1500 is half metric and half standard too... mine has grown to be mostly standard.

I still cant figure out anything about them !

 

[press 1 for english]

I've only owned it since May 21, but in that time I've had to fix too many things (some of which I knew about when I bought it, some of which the seller deliberately hid) in that time, and every single thing on it was designed as if the engineer was a fan of eating his own excrement. Every nut and bolt is a different size (some metric, some standard) and every nut and bolt is blocked so you can't hardly get a ratchet on it, much less an impact or air-ratchet. And every single thing requires you to take 3 other things off first just to be able to even see the nut/bolt. None of which is a problem on my S10, not to mention my S10 has 130,000 miles (versus 80,000 miles for the ranger) and is 6 years older and hasn't had half the problems.

It's been an educational couple of weeks and I can say with utter certainty that I will never ever buy another Ford again. I don't know whether to have respect for those of you who own Fords and work on them regularly for sticking through all the crap Ford puts you through or to pity you for being too dumb to buy something else.

Anyone interested in buying a 2001 Ranger Edge 2WD with a 3.0L engine and auto tranny with 80,000 miles and nothing wrong (anymore) other than a weak fuel pump check valve (didn't get around to it) in the 'burbs of Chicago pm me.

You are a piece of work who shouldn't even attempt to use tools. You know sometimes more than a Walmart socket set, mommy bought you, might be required to fix a truck.

 

[Andy D]

I am more familiar with GrandWags and 528es. Also the 94 Ranger is the newest vehicle I have owned so far. So the new style line couplings on the clutch plumbing were a WTF moment. As was the slave cylinder. The rest was just frozen fasteners, typical for an 18 yr old car in the NE. And the last Ford I owned was a 75 LTD, so I was way behind on the Ford way of doing stuff. I soldiered on, Most of the stuff I replaced, was due to rust. Once I got the old brake lines off, and the transmission and stuff out, the 800$ worth of parts went in easy enough. There were times when I was ready to junk the thing, it got me so mad. But once I got it off the blocks and drove it awhile. I love the little beast. It reminds me a lot of the 60 F 100 I had when I was a kid. I'm not a Ford guy by any means. I was looking for a Toyota 4wd, four banger, 5spd. But the prices that they want for a used Taco are ridiculous. So, I ended up with the 600$ Rat. It is good enough for my needs.