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

[99 XLT]

The truck passed emissions today!

Waiting on some nice tires to arrive tomorrow, hoping to get them mounted and balanced, then off to the alignment shop.

Only thing left that I can think of right now is eventually replacing the radiator because one of the plastic end tanks is leaking a pinhole drip. And throughout the summer knocking off surface rust and coating with fluid film.

 

[pjtoledo]

did hauling duty today, there may be a V6 swap happening soon.

but not in this Ranger.

 

[97RangerXLT]

My Ranger is back to driveway duty again, and it is doing a fine job of making sure the driveway doesn't float away... Need to get it out and go driving


AJ

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Went out and poked at the green Ranger. I’m still a bit gun shy of getting it back up on stands even though I pulled it up to some firmer ground and I only have to work on one end at a time. Tackled the front a bit today since I could work one side at a time. Took two more turns off the torsion bars, I’ve got them dialed about as low as possible now, short of having lowering keys (do they even make such a thing?) or something. Pulled the bump stops and since I had a suspicion that my shocks were limiting up travel, they came out temporarily. Of course, now the truck needs rolled on the wheels to settle the front and I don’t really want to go through the trouble at the moment so I’m not sure exactly where it will end up. Did a couple other little things and helped dad a little with his Ranger.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Replaced the headlights with some Auxito led bulbs on my 2004 Ford Ranger XLT. Without modification to the headlamps or the securing rings, there is only one way for these to be installed into the headlamp to allow the locking rings to hold the headlight in place. Also, the connector "clicked" into place with a secure fit. The cooling fan is so quiet, I had to put my ear on the headlamp to hear it running. I had to make no adjustment to the headlamps. The beam pattern is the same as a standard halogen bulb, but much brighter. I took them for a test drive at night & they provide bright "down the road" lighting, both in low & high beams. I have tried several other LED headlights (with & without controllers) which induced noise in the radio during operation. These were an exact fit replacement for my standard halogen bulbs with no induced radio noise.
View attachment 90276

EricJohn, which model Auxito did you use? The website lists Q16 (most expensive), Y13, and M3 (least expensive). The Q16 description sounds like what you used, but I wanted to confirm. The site says the Q16 draws 100 W per pair or 50 W each, which is about the same as stock. The other two draw less current. I cooked connectors with 100 W offroad halogen bulbs years ago in another car, but those drew 100 W apiece, not per pair.

Have you done a lot of night driving with the Auxito LEDs, and is your wiring holding up?

 

[superj]

i drove the ranger to work today and easily parked in the tiny spots they have. my titan was a pain to park and i had to get into a spot before people got on both sides or they crowded that lines and made it impossible to get in

 

[pjtoledo]

i drove the ranger to work today and easily parked in the tiny spots they have. my titan was a pain to park and i had to get into a spot before people got on both sides or they crowded that lines and made it impossible to get in

get an older beater truck, parking problem solved.

 

[99 XLT]

Tires came in the mail, shot em over to the tire shop and sheesh, it's been about 3 years since I last had a mount / balance / valve stem on 4 tires and it's doubled in price. Use to be around $90-100 for all four. Now I am getting charged $180 for all four. I understand though, tires are hard to make good money on, and they're a great little shop so I don't mind giving them business.

Off to the alignment shop tomorrow.

 

[Roert42]

Last summer I did two sets of tires. One at a local gas station, $25 a wheel, and one at chain tire shop, $30 a wheel ( I them trash the old tires too).

Just got a set of tires for my wife's car. I bought the tires through the tire shop because it was about the same as anywhere online, and they installed them for free.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I got my own tire machine, lol. I did have a place to dispose of tires but now I might have to work something out.

Went out and poked at the green Ranger some more. Did a little clean up and burning a few brain cells and finally jacked the back up and put it on stands again. I really don’t expect adding another leaf to the packs to get the rear high enough to sit level. I’m still going to add another leaf because me sitting on the tailgate drops the rear by an inch at the tailgate. I’m really not that fat. My F-150 barely moves with my weight on the tailgate and my blue Ranger moves a little more than the F-150 but not by much. So I see no reason not to do another leaf. I just don’t see it lifting the rear another inch. I could be wrong.

Lowering the front spring hangers, however, would help my pinion angle and lift the rear. I’m sure there’s probably some formula for calculating how much lower that would have to go to achieve an inch or so more of clearance at the wheel, but I don’t have any idea how to calculate it. I’m not even sure how it could be mocked up to figure it out by trial and error. I’ll do some head scratching on it unless someone can help me out with it, lol

 

[JoshT]

...mount / balance / valve stem on 4 tires and it's doubled in price. Use to be around $90-100 for all four. Now I am getting charged $180 for all four. I understand though, tires are hard to make good money on, and they're a great little shop so I don't mind giving them business.

Makes me glad that I don't bother with trying to buy tires online and get installed locally. If I had to pay $180 on top of the tire price I would hardly save anything.

I think I'll keep buying through the local Discount Tire. Between mount and balance, tire disposal fees, and and the road hazard warranty it's worth it. I've had to use the road hazard enough times with my car to make it worth the cost. Could probably find slightly better prices at other tire shops, but I can find a Discount (or America's) Tire almost anywhere in the country that I'm likely to visit.

 

[JoshT]

@lil_Blue_Ford I haven't read through everything, but what happened to your project sucks. Glad to see you are recovering and pressing on. I'll tell you that lack of a poured concrete pad has caused me to hold off or rethink doing a lot of things, for fear of exactly what happened to you. If I have to do anything that requires all 4 tire off the ground I usually arrange to do it over at the parent's house where there is a pad available. Inconvenient due to locations, but much safer than having a truck fall on me with no one else around. A pad, shop, and maybe a lift are high on the priority list for my house. In the mean time if I'm doing work on stands or ramps, I tend to have them placed on 3/4" pressure treated plywood rather than directly on the ground. If I have a chance in the next few days I'll snap some pic of what I have setup for the ramps. Don't have anything for stands at the moment, but have material to make them.

Lowering the front spring hangers, however, would help my pinion angle and lift the rear. I’m sure there’s probably some formula for calculating how much lower that would have to go to achieve an inch or so more of clearance at the wheel, but I don’t have any idea how to calculate it. I’m not even sure how it could be mocked up to figure it out by trial and error. I’ll do some head scratching on it unless someone can help me out with it, lol

What is your current suspension setup in the rear and what do you need? <found your other thread, will continue over there>

 

[Bill]

I haven't done much with the Ranger other than drive it to work. However, I did replace the MAF sensor because it was intermittent. I think it may have fix the problem I had with a high idle between shifts.

The next project will be an order for ceramic brake pads and brake shoes so I have them around so I can replace them when the variables of good weather, time, and my motivation intersect. It's the latter part of that equation that is the problem.

 

[sgtsandman]

I got my own tire machine, lol. I did have a place to dispose of tires but now I might have to work something out.

Went out and poked at the green Ranger some more. Did a little clean up and burning a few brain cells and finally jacked the back up and put it on stands again. I really don’t expect adding another leaf to the packs to get the rear high enough to sit level. I’m still going to add another leaf because me sitting on the tailgate drops the rear by an inch at the tailgate. I’m really not that fat. My F-150 barely moves with my weight on the tailgate and my blue Ranger moves a little more than the F-150 but not by much. So I see no reason not to do another leaf. I just don’t see it lifting the rear another inch. I could be wrong.

Lowering the front spring hangers, however, would help my pinion angle and lift the rear. I’m sure there’s probably some formula for calculating how much lower that would have to go to achieve an inch or so more of clearance at the wheel, but I don’t have any idea how to calculate it. I’m not even sure how it could be mocked up to figure it out by trial and error. I’ll do some head scratching on it unless someone can help me out with it, lol

Would flipping the front hangers drop the spring down? I’m trying to think of how the hanger sits on the frame. I think where the spring bolts on sits higher but I’m not sure. I’ve paid more attention to the rear hangers than the front since that is where the bulk of the issues are. So, I might be wrong.

 

[rubydist]

You will need to drop the back of the leaf about 2" to get the axle to drop 1" as a result. (iirc, the length of spring ahead of the axle and behind the axle are about equal.)