Im back too...sorta..hopefully...

[camusmuse]

Heh, I have largely been a lurker, exploiting all the great info here back when I had my Dad's old '91 Ranger that I had big plans for, but life got in the way and sadly lost the truck(along with a house and alot more...long sad story). My Dad's old truck with some Mustang rims I picked up just to have tires with air in them(traded an amp for them...). The 14” tires were shot. Not quite sure what happened to the truck...but if I could I would love to have it back, he had it since new. Oh well, hope it found a good new home.

But finally getting back on my feet again, and am picking up this little "gem" this week or next. Just a basic 2002 2wd 2.3 5speed, a good daily driver with a ton of miles but an immaculate dealership maintenance history(and a new clutch).

I have already lined up a hard tonneau cover and some Mustang wheels(real original...I know), but again....this is just a start: both are great deals form Craigslist. No good pic of the tonneau but it is one of the textured abs ones...very happy about it. I have had campershells before, and though nice, I miss the “truck” look and have wanted one like this for a while. Will update here once I get everything together hopeful in the next few days....(I feel like a little kid at Christmas..lol)

Will be getting any altitude adjustment as time and money allows...maybe someday it will be bagged, but even that is up in the air(bad pun intended..heh). Will focus on the interior mainly. I used to have a Lincoln Aviator...and believe a lot of the parts *should* swap over. It was a lot of fun with the DOHC 300hp AWD, but yeah, not the most reliable, but very comfortable seats. Will be looking for one at the local junkyards...at least for the seats if they are in good shape... I am also an “old school” car (and home) audio fanatic and “collector”. So a Sound Quality stealth system will be installed, but yeah...stealth so I dont know how much I will share..lol...I have had my system jacked before back in the 90's when I briefly “competed”, and have built stealth systems ever since. I repair amps and speakers, build boxes, was MECP certified way back in HS, installed a lot of systems for friends and friends of friends. Audio and music is in my blood...I play guitar when I can, but I still wouldnt call myself a musician...lol....I just play for myself..sometimes the wife.... I have decent Home Theater and Vintage stereo setups...that arent setup right now...heh...still house hunting for a place worthy of the time to unbox and set everything up right. If so inclined, feel free to ask me anything audio..I might not know the answer, but usually know where to find it!!! ...and I am sure I will have plenty of Ranger questions that will come out(after exhausting the SEARCH function..lol).

I also have a '98 Dodge(booo...lol) V10 ext cab dually that I need to get rid of...It needs more work than it is really worth, but it would of been a great project...still might be, have to see what my finances do..and what my wife allows me...lol. I originally got it as a toy hauler, back when I had toys to haul...sigh, but oh well...gotta play the cards I was dealt. It has since had a frown put on the front bumper when I slid into a Kia in wet weather in stop and go highway traffic...sigh. Even with the terrible mileage it served me well as a DD for a few years(didnt have far to go...lol).. Needs clutch mainly, then a laundry list of stuff to make it road worthy again....hope I can keep it but I need to be realistic. I named it Brutus for obvious reasons...lol...

Anyway THANKS again to all that have contributed to the knowledge base here, it has been invaluable to my research for my "new to me" truck that I am *very* thankful for, a very good friend found it for me, along with a '05 Buick Park Ave for my wife: which we both love...sorry..I *am* loyal to Ford(well mostly Lincoln), but a good deal is a good deal..lol. And that PA is just great cruiser too...its really hard not to do 80 on the interstate....lol.

As for me...I do have a pretty unique since of humor, fairly hard to offend, but likewise, I do speak my mind. So if in conversations on threads I offend someone...it isnt personal, just let me know...I want to get along with everyone and have a good time here...and hopefully contribute what I can here and pay back some of the knowledge with my own Ranger "odyssey". I hope to get much further than I did on my Dad's old truck...sigh...

Nathan

 

[prymetime1]

Hey bud, nice intro and nice find on the new ranger. Good luck with it. Looking fwd to seeing what u do for system in it. I love me some tunes as well & fit some goodies in my 94 xcab. Be well.

 

[camusmuse]

Hey bud, nice intro and nice find on the new ranger. Good luck with it. Looking fwd to seeing what u do for system in it. I love me some tunes as well & fit some goodies in my 94 xcab. Be well.

Thanks...

Will probably, maybe, do a build thread for the stereo. There really wont be much to see. I had an old Nissan ext cab when I was a teenager...many years ago...heh...that had the whole back below the windows filled with various gear. I used to switch systems and speakers like shoes... But unfortunately that was a time where not everyone had a camera on them (or a cell phone for that matter), so I have no pics...but it was all pretty with tinted plex around an Autotek 7204(later stolen) and my EQ behind it...first Cerwin Vega XLs 12s...then some Orions, then some Kicker Comps... had a S-10 Blazer at the same time so alot of stuff got traded around.

This ranger will probably just get a shallow downfiring sub box...either Kicker Round Solos or some Sundown SD-8s that I need to recone still... Have more than a few amps to choose from, so it will depend on how the speakers/box/cabin gain all come out...some amps do better than others in certain areas...sigh. Still dont even have the truck...lol, but I have been looking for an Ext cab for a while myself, so yeah these ideas have been bouncing around for a while. Still have to decide on dome tweets or under dash horn "tweeters/upper mids/"

Still trying to make it a "Stealth build..."...and I need room on top of the box for stuff...like my dog lol....so we will see...lol...

 

[prymetime1]

If you doing a component set up for the fronts, alpine type s units are pretty nice for the money. I'm sure it will take a little to make them fit properly but they have some nice sound to them.

 

[camusmuse]

If you doing a component set up for the fronts, alpine type s units are pretty nice for the money. I'm sure it will take a little to make them fit properly but they have some nice sound to them.

Thanks for the suggestion. I got out of the business many years ago, before that line of Alpine came out, so I might give them a look.

I also have a pair of Orion NT 8" midwoofers....and also a pair of the NT 6"...(I think)...I have a few pairs of the NT 1" domes...but dont know if I want to build obvious "pillar" pods. Its a 5-speed so kicks are out(ebrake in the way), really leaning toward some horns and maybe the NT8's...I have them now in my Dodge, but that truck came with pillar tweeters factory, so I custom fabbed a pair of NT1's in to the stock location. If I had grey paint, they would look almost factory...but yeah...will see how much clearance is down there, might have to be mini horns from Image Dynamics or I might fab something(whatever is cheaper).

I have a pair of Sundown SD-8" Shallow mount subs(still need to recone..got them blown)...thinking a "pseudo" 4th order down/forward firing box just high enough to fit the subs and about two inches of clearance on the bottom(the pseudo port). My dually has a prefab ABS box with two old round Kicker Solo Barics also down firing, but again, I am not sure if I want to tear that system apart yet, as I am not sure what I am going to do with the truck yet. Amps....ohhh that might have to remain a secret..lol, have some bench testing to do and see how close some amps outputs are(same model...but they can be different).

What I really need help on and might start a post in the Stereo forum, is the headunit. As mentioned, I LOVE stealth, so I might even leave the stock in place...I do use my Android phone for lossless music, might find an older model and just use it as a music player...I dunno...been tossing around the idea of a Raspberry Pi Carputer...sigh...just dont know how much time and money I want to put into the truck....

 

[camusmuse]

Made it home.....YAAY!!!

...as stated, made it home...man what an adjustment going from that V10 to the 2.3l....ugh...never even used first in the Dodge...lol..except in extraordinary circumstances...ha. But yeah, I killed the motor, first time I went and just let out the clutch...forgot...just plain forgot. The trip home is one I have made literally a THOUSAND times(I used to live there as a kid and teenager for a while)...and yeah....lots of rolling hills on two lane roads that if you dont get up to 70 mph...you will be in 3rd gear at 40 miles per hour..lol. But I did have the AC on, my Dad's old truck, the '91 was a factory AC delete, so I figure HP to be about the same....sure felt the same and brought back MANY memories...heh. Like being passed by several cars...lol. But after a few I got my memory back and remembered where I had to get up to speed to make it up a hill. I love the gas mileage, but it WILL take some getting used to... What's that??? A turbo motor you say?? Maybe someday...lol...