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

[tw205]

I finally took my frame off resurrection BII for a drive around the block. I’ve had her on the dirt out front and down as far as the neighbors but never outta second gear. Spent a day checking I tightened everything and had cotter pins in castle nuts that sorta stuff. It’s been 8 years. Torqued down the lug nuts and went for it. She did well. 33” tires and 3.73 gears isn’t ideal but it’s a work in progress. Adjusted my toe in a little and went out again. So far I ain’t mad about it. Shifts thru the gears nicely. First suspension lifted BII I’ve driven. 6” skyjacker drop brackets and springs in the front. 6” skyjacker softride leaf springs in the back. A little bouncy. Minimal bump steer and no steering stabilizer. I need to throw on an exhaust so I can hear things better. I’d like to drive her around a little before diving into the ring and pinion upgrade.
Was a Milestone day

 

[Uncle Gump]

That's gotta be a good feeling...

 

[sgtsandman]

Took the 2019 camping on Friday and Saturday and the 2011 to resurrect @lil_Blue_Ford 's green Ranger on Sunday and today. When I left the suspension was back together, the fuel tank and driveshaft were reinstalled and the truck was supporting it own weight.

 

[Curious Hound]

Took the 2019 camping on Friday and Saturday and the 2011 to resurrect @lil_Blue_Ford 's green Ranger on Sunday and today. When I left the suspension was back together, the fuel tank and driveshaft were reinstalled and the truck was supporting it own weight.

You're a good man, Charlie Brown.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I'll second that... that's some good karma you're spreading.

 

[Rick W]

7.3L can sensors are one it’s most common issues. (There’s not much else that can go wrong with one.) Usually they’ll start failing as the truck warms up and then work again after it cools. If you ignore that long enough, it just stops working.

It never hurts to to replace the cam sensor.

Thank you thank you again @snoranger and @scotts90ranger. I finally swapped out the cam sensor on the 7.3 250. It started and purred and ran for a while, but I had it blocked in with the Ranger fleet, so no test drive yet, but I’m confident that was the problem. Even the idle and the start up sounded better.

On the Ranger front, mostly it’s still cleaning up from when I was getting ready for the 40th. I have a bad habit of dropping stuff when I’m done with it, and it was 10 times worse when I was on the deadline. It’s starting to get a little like normal.

I got my bargainland Pintle Hitch painted and back together. I’m sure there’s a Ranger future in that thing somewhere.

and I probably didn’t mention that one of the tank bolts in the “facility” in the shed of miracles had corroded out, and it was leaking. It may not seem like a Ranger thing, but trust me if the crapper in the shed of miracles isn’t working, there is very little progress on anything…

 

[Rick W]

Took the 2019 camping on Friday and Saturday and the 2011 to resurrect @lil_Blue_Ford 's green Ranger on Sunday and today. When I left the suspension was back together, the fuel tank and driveshaft were reinstalled and the truck was supporting it own weight.

I concur, good man, good stuff.

I reminded Lincoln who you were from the trip to the 40th, and told him about what you did with @lil_Blue_Ford. He went into his toy basket and pulled this out and asked me if I would give it to you next time I see you.

it may have some chew marks by that time, might be missing some stuffing

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Took the 2019 camping on Friday and Saturday and the 2011 to resurrect @lil_Blue_Ford 's green Ranger on Sunday and today. When I left the suspension was back together, the fuel tank and driveshaft were reinstalled and the truck was supporting it own weight.

Many, many thanks! My buddy Paul stopped over last night and the bed got thrown on. Still have a couple things left to do today, but the wee green beast is almost ready for a run to get exhaust and inspection. I’m stoked, pulling this off with some help has been huge. I‘ve been praying about being able to get it done because I’ve managed to work beyond my usual expiration date with these concussions and I know that’s not me at that point.

I ran up to Paul’s in the Choptop after it got dark last night for a quick bite since he did a cookout. Started thinking on the way back home that this is about to be a banner year for me with getting the Choptop and green Ranger running. Soon as I finish sucking down some coffee I’ll be out to finish.

 

[sgtsandman]

Many, many thanks! My buddy Paul stopped over last night and the bed got thrown on. Still have a couple things left to do today, but the wee green beast is almost ready for a run to get exhaust and inspection. I’m stoked, pulling this off with some help has been huge. I‘ve been praying about being able to get it done because I’ve managed to work beyond my usual expiration date with these concussions and I know that’s not me at that point.

I ran up to Paul’s in the Choptop after it got dark last night for a quick bite since he did a cookout. Started thinking on the way back home that this is about to be a banner year for me with getting the Choptop and green Ranger running. Soon as I finish sucking down some coffee I’ll be out to finish.

Chug the coffee and get to work!

 

[Uncle Gump]

When outta coffee... get some wings.

I'm pullin for ya... hope to see you there.

 

[RangerBilly]

Since I couldn't find any non-rusted rear crossmembers in the Chicago area (the Heart of the Rust Belt!), I asked my brother-in-law in Texas to look around HIS local junkyards for one. It took him about two months (he had to buy a cordless angle grinder to remove it) but the crossmember arrived in the mail today. No dents or warpage, only light surface rust, and the hinge was intact.
I gave it 2 coats of Rustoleum Rust Reformer, and when that dries, it will get a coat or two of Rustoleum glossy enamel.
I'll have to grind off 5 rivets and what's left of the rear frame before installing with nuts and bolts. The urgency, of course, is that the spare tire carrier needs that crossmember to hang on to AND the rear bumper needs to attach to the frame at some point. I have purchased one of those braces in mind, but I will have to drill a few holes in it to get things to line up, since I couldn't find any that would fit a long-bed..
Not looking forward to the work but it's gotta be done, RIGHT?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Well, I got the last of the stuff done on the Ranger yesterday, only to find the one fuel filter fitting was leaking and it came apart when I took it off the filter. There’s a rigged repair currently. I’m beat. Transmission seems a little randomly flaky, hopefully that’s just from sitting. I have to do a little running around today so we’ll see how it does. Only had enough time to get exhaust to the muffler yesterday because of the fuel problem. But it runs and drives, lowered and mean. It’s gonna be ridiculous. I love it. I’ll have to address a few things after the trip, but I’m planning on bringing some tools.

 

[Rick W]

Well, I got the last of the stuff done on the Ranger yesterday, only to find the one fuel filter fitting was leaking and it came apart when I took it off the filter. There’s a rigged repair currently. I’m beat. Transmission seems a little randomly flaky, hopefully that’s just from sitting. I have to do a little running around today so we’ll see how it does. Only had enough time to get exhaust to the muffler yesterday because of the fuel problem. But it runs and drives, lowered and mean. It’s gonna be ridiculous. I love it. I’ll have to address a few things after the trip, but I’m planning on bringing some tools.

View attachment 98140

Looks great! Good luck!

What size tires? And is it lower than original, lowered from stock?

And just my two cents, but even a good rustoleum custom paint job won’t quite get it on that front bumper. Got to do a little bit better on that when you catch your breath.

Again, looks good, good luck!

 

[rubydist]

It certainly does look mean with that dozer blade up front.

 

[BroncLander]

Well, sadly the Bronclander is down. I took it off the road today. The engine is leaking too much oil, it's running like a bag of ***** and when I did the brake calipers I failed to properly deal with the crush washers and air got in the lines (no big deal just need to bleed em).
The idea is to either buy a new fresh engine or have mine rebuilt. And then it can go back on the road. I'm still undecided whether to do the 2.8 rebuild or do a 302 swap. I'll definitely know more in the coming days after I speak to a few people, like the engine rebuilders, the scrapyard ect.
For now, it's not reliable enough to go very far so I put the Grand Am GT back on the road. I actually gave the car to my kids, but they aren't using it so it works out ok for now. I got it almost new and have had it for about 15 yrs and it's in good shape.
For now, I'll be looking in here for the 302 swap thread and read it. I don't need to decide right away so it's nice to have options open.

I don't see this as a bad thing, more like an opportunity to make this vehicle 10x better than it is. And no matter what it costs, it's still better than $1000 payments for 8 years.

I wonder what the weight difference is between a 2.8 and a 5.0