What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[Bill]

Ordered a rebuilt M5OD r1 for her. I recomend Mid West Transmission if anyone else is looking for a rebuild.

I’m also looking for the trans shift lever, T-case shift lever assembly and boot if anyone is looking to sell one.

How much did the transmission cost?

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

How much did the transmission cost?

$1225 shipped to my house. If I had a core that was the same, then it would have been $250 less.

 

[sgtsandman]

Here's the EPA mileage for 2011.

Fuel Economy of 2011 Ford Ranger

Fuel economy of the 2011 Ford Ranger. 1984 to present Buyer's Guide to Fuel Efficient Cars and Trucks. Estimates of gas mileage, greenhouse gas emissions, safety ratings, and air pollution ratings for new and used cars and trucks.

www.fueleconomy.gov

According to that, I was regularly exceeding EPA estimates and now I’m meeting or exceeding them.

 

[superj]

I drove on the scale at work. I had a quarter tank of gas and I weigh 200 pounds.

 

[Curious Hound]

I drove on the scale at work. I had a quarter tank of gas and I weigh 200 pounds.

View attachment 73962

And there was some guy in a red truck taking your picture, too.

 

[superj]

Sure was, I was looking at him sideways wondering who the heck that is

 

[scotts90ranger]

Decided to get a start on the shackle bracket on the '90 tonight... was just going to get the bed bolts out but just went for it... shout out goes to the extendable ratchet and weed sprayer thing to clean out the mud/dirt from the front two bolt heads... been a couple years since it's been apart and it's pretty much only been offroad since then... I was just going to lift the back of the bed but that wasn't working out which is why the two hooks are way back so I threw a ratchet strap over the I beam... plus 3 points are more stable... And now everyone gets to see the wrench that was welded up to the shackle bracket in camp like 5 years ago... as you can see that's the only part holding a load right now... That's as far as I got tonight, we'll see if I can get it finished this weekend... Don't mind the welds on the wrench, I was using a 24V (2 car batteries) portable spool gun sitting on sand, not the easiest thing to use...

 

[sgtsandman]

Cleaned up the radio setup some and neatened up the wires. The Midland radio is eventually destined for the FX4. So no hard wiring for it. I intend to replace it with the 50 watt model of the same format some time in the future. The DMR HT will eventually get replaced by a DMR mobile unit.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I finished up the shackle bracket tonight, finished everything about an hour ago... I took some pictures that I'll see about posting in the morning if I wake up early enough before tomorrows activities... I took some just to tease you rust belt guys, and some to show just how janky the hangover in camp welding was that somehow held for years... and another few to show that I follow ALL OSHA guidelines when I'm working... That part mainly consisted of another chain around the A frame and another come-a-long to pull the frame up to unload the rear suspension, so there was two come-a-long's, a chain hoist and a ratchet strap on the same gantry... Somehow the stock shackle bolt came apart again and went back together, a long time ago the factory finger deal broke off the nut so I finished it off and filed the hex back into a hex... One of the front bed bolt J nuts made a bad noise right as I thought it was tight so I need to get a new set the next time I'm at a junkyard and wander around...

 

[Bill]

I drained the gear oil out of the differential housing. The spider gears look OK, but show some wear. They have some play when I turn one of the wheels, but I can't find anything that tells me how much play is normal. This kind of thing is annoying. The oil that came out was still clear and didn't smell burnt. I expected it to be black. Maybe I'll take a video of the play in the spider gears tomorrow when I put it back together and post the video to see what people think. I have the cover soaking in paint remover so I can repaint it so it looks all purdy. I thought about painting a butthole on it because I have a really bad sense of humor, but after careful consideration I decided not to do that because you know someone who doesn't have a sense of humor would see that and think I'm calling him an a**hole.

 

[racsan]

Ive seen very badly wore spiders, most likely caused by miles & miles (probably years) of 2 different sized back tires. didnt seem to affect anything, did wonder if they would break at some point.

 

[scotts90ranger]

This is the spider gears from my '00 Explorer when I got it at 206k miles, it lost rear drive, I put a new to me junkyard set in and new to me junkyard LS clutches in with fairly minimal cleanup and 50k miles of abuse later and it still does rear axle things, I wouldn't stress about a little play...

 

[Bill]

This is the spider gears from my '00 Explorer when I got it at 206k miles, it lost rear drive, I put a new to me junkyard set in and new to me junkyard LS clutches in with fairly minimal cleanup and 50k miles of abuse later and it still does rear axle things, I wouldn't stress about a little play...

View attachment 74031

I'm not stressed about the play. It is the looseness that is annoying when I get on and off the gas, or shift.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, I don't mind that too much on mine, I think it helps in the shifting, but my '90 is a beater offroader anymore and the '97 I just consider a hooptie... kinda wish it had the duratec but wanted TTB more and I know the Lima's too well... it'd be nice to get over 24mpg...

Today I only drove the '97 about 5 miles to the local market and back for lunch, I borrowed a coworkers mini backhoe and he came down and helped me dig trenches for power from the power pole to the shop and shop to house to get that process started...

Ok, pics from last nights adventures... first is the comealong holding up the frame, second is the only rust pitting behind the shackle mount, I primed it before assembly as you can see in the done picture... In the first picture you might also notice there's a spring loaded Chevy license plate bracket to stop my plate from bending so dang much, I obviously backed into a dirt or sand pile at some point and bent it forward... I know the plate paint is done but don't want to pay an extra $100 for that...

 

[97RangerXLT]

ok inquiring minds want to know.... did you clean up the wrench and return it to the toolbox?

AJ