What did YOU do today?

[Lefty]

I'm only going to repeat what my friend, who does transmissions, told me after he did the axle and shift kit, "That is one strong running V-6!" The louvers on the hood of my truck are fully functional. Just idling, there is a lot of air coming out of them. Couple winters ago, I had cleared the snow off the hood, but left it in the heat vents. At around 45 mph, ten pieces of snow came flying out of them and hit the windshields, without ever touching the hood. Lot of pressure escaping them.

The hood scoop is a very large Boss 429 part. With 25 1.5 inch holes in the hood beneath it. Even in the summer ,my aluminum intake doesn't get anywhere near as hot as it used to. And during the winter, it's cold to the touch. Sure, idling, it gets warm. Drive it 10 minutes and it's cold again. Most important is the three inch diameter intake tube, made of polished stainless. It used to get hot enough to fry an egg on. Not anymore.

My air filter is a Spectre stainless steel mesh filter. Man it makes a lot of racket. There are two small scoops on the hood directly above it. As with the intake manifold and intake tube, it never gets hot at all.

Exhaust has no muffler, with two exits in front of the passenger. Sure it's loud. I love the way it sounds. And I have a JET chip on the computer altering the fuel trims, the timing and the transmission shift points.

Yup, sure runs good. A lot better than it ever did when it was stock.

sweet

 

[Rick W]

Drove to a friend's house Sunday in the old Ranger. Highway speeds. Going there it was fine, running along 85 to 90 mph with everyone else. Coming home, it suddenly lost power. Would barely maintain 60 mph with a lot of throttle. Checked it yesterday and found the sleeve on the PCV line that connects it to the oil filler tube was split open and unconnected. AHAH! Big vacuum leak. Made a new one and put it on, back to it's good old self again.

I know no one believes it, but I love my 3.0. With 4.10 gears and a shift kit in the trans, it's a fun vehicle to drive. No muffler, and people ask me what size V-8 it has. CAI with two scoops on the hood for cold air, a large scoop in the middle keeps the intake manifold cold to the touch, and especially the steel three inch tube from the MAF to the TB. Cold to the touch. Runs awesome. I love it. Also fitted it with some 50 year old barn find Cragar Mag Master rims two years ago, with knockoff center spinners. OLD SCHOOL!

My friend has a 1994 Honda Accord with the VTEC four cylinder. Has headers and a CAI. Lowered on 17 inch rims. Front air dam, side skirts, lowered rear pan, and double wing rear spoiler. Doesn't even have 12,000 miles on it. Garage kept with a cover over it. It's immaculate. Factory paint, interior and all the rubber on the outside is factory stock. Buying it from him for ten large. My offer. KBB says it isn't even worth a grand. But you should see it. Only thing it needs it blacked out windows. Yes, tinting is legal here in Oklahoma. Lots of people, including me, have a minor tint on our front windshields. Even a lot of the police cars out here have tinted windows, including limo tint.

Pictures!

 

[cbxer55]

Of the Honda? When I get it off his hands, I will post some. For certain. Sam rarely ever gets it out of the garage. When he does, he drives it around town for 10 miles or so, then sticks it back in the garage and puts a cover over it.

 

[Rick W]

Of the Honda? When I get it off his hands, I will post some. For certain. Sam rarely ever gets it out of the garage. When he does, he drives it around town for 10 miles or so, then sticks it back in the garage and puts a cover over it.

no, you’re 3.0

 

[cbxer55]

Here is a thread I started when I put some 50 year old Cragar rims on it. The last page, bottom, is the current set up.

Cragar Mag Master from 1974

As many here know, I purchased a set of ancient Cragar Mag Master rims from another member here. They appear to have been manufactured in 1974, as there is some number stamped on the back, most of which is goblety-gook, but the last two digits are 74. They were only made form 74 to 78. Another...

www.therangerstation.com

 

[Lefty]

Couple years back we put gutters on a house that was bought/built by the grandparents of the current owners.. current owners said that the land was bought AND the house built (way back then) for the sum of 4000$. I looked the place up online and nowadays it's valued at 2.1 million



Legroom in the back of a 2 door bronco is surprisingly nice. Rear passenger comfort is actually better than a new ranger as well.. somehow.. despite the back seats being directly over the axle.

Well, my wife didn't like the Bronco. She didn't like the seats. I've spoiled her! She's more comfortable in our Ranger. The seats are leather and come from a Subaru.

The salesman liked my old 2003 Ranger too. He said the old ones really sell like hot cakes, that they go within a day or two. It got me thinking. Maybe the public would have been equally as happy if Ford still made them. They could have made a few updates and perhaps they would continue to sell.

 

[Blmpkn]

Well, my wife didn't like the Bronco. She didn't like the seats. I've spoiled her! She's more comfortable in our Ranger. The seats are leather and come from a Subaru.

The salesman liked my old 2003 Ranger too. He said the old ones really sell like hot cakes, that they go within a day or two. It got me thinking. Maybe the public would have been equally as happy if Ford still made them. They could have made a few updates and perhaps they would continue to sell.

Ranger sales dropped by 80% between '06 and '12. That's why ford stopped making them. People started wanting whoppin' assed full size trucks.

The trend continues today.. the best selling year for the "new" Ranger so far was 2020 at just over 100k units sold.. compared to 1999 when ford sold nearly 350k. The Maverick is the same story.. best year for those so far has been about 100k units sold..

Compared to the f150.. that consistently sells over half a million annually..

Niche market.


Seats are easily enough remedied.. drop the Bronco off with an upholstery shop, tell them pusher foam and wrap them in leather. Could make it easier on them and purchase fitted leather covers from Katskin (spelling?) before you bring it in.. then all they shop really needs to mess with is foam work.

I don't think the seats are super comfy either... but the rest of the vehicle definitely makes up for what the seats lack.. exponentially.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I wonder if small car and truck sales faltered because dealers and ford wanted to get away from them, because of more stringent emission control regulations, not because consumers didn't want them. More profit in large trucks and SUV's

 

[Curious Hound]

Put the bumper and winch back on the Ranger and painted the grill. Just need to paint all the new stuff around the lights. That will come with warmer weather. But hopefully before I get into the salty sea air at Outer Banks later in March.

 

[Blmpkn]

I wonder if small car and truck sales faltered because dealers and ford wanted to get away from them, because of more stringent emission control regulations, not because consumers didn't want them. More profit in large trucks and SUV's

You bring up a good point. The ever increasing strictness of CAFE standards likely did have an impact on ford axing the ranger.. as the footprint&weight of a vehicle pretty much dictate how 'green' it has to be (this is why new civics are bigger than old accords, and one ton trucks are now big enough to live in) I still feel as if the sales numbers really tell a story though.. 80% decrease over 6 years IS a massive drop.

GM went through the same deal with the coloranyon's in the same time period too.. (un)healthy decrease in yearly sales between 06-12.. but once they became mid-sized.. sales increased by 2-300%.


Psychology.. lots of it.

I saw a full size truck commercial recently.. forget the brand.. but the idea that the commercial tries to implant in the brain of the person who watches it was quite literally "your not a man unless you buy this". Damn commercial was so incredibly... toxic... I guess. Super cringe. Makes me uncomfortable thinking about HOW MANY PEOPLE fall for it. These people VOTE for fcks sake


Western "culture" is so easily molded by corporations it's disgusting.

 

[sgtsandman]

Well, my wife didn't like the Bronco. She didn't like the seats. I've spoiled her! She's more comfortable in our Ranger. The seats are leather and come from a Subaru.

The salesman liked my old 2003 Ranger too. He said the old ones really sell like hot cakes, that they go within a day or two. It got me thinking. Maybe the public would have been equally as happy if Ford still made them. They could have made a few updates and perhaps they would continue to sell.

Like others have said, sales had dropped a lot since fuel was relatively cheap and a lot of people fell for the " buy a real truck" mentality than some people were pushing. I never understood or went for that crap. If your vehicle defines how much of a man you are, you need to reevaluate your priorites, what drives your self image, and life choices.

The other part of fuel economy and emmisions standards was a big driver too. A small body on frame truck can't meet those standards. That's why the Maverick is built the way it is and why you can't get a body on frame truck smaller than a mid size unless you buy used.

 

[sgtsandman]

I wonder if small car and truck sales faltered because dealers and ford wanted to get away from them, because of more stringent emission control regulations, not because consumers didn't want them. More profit in large trucks and SUV's

There is a lot of truth in there being more money in a full size truck. For whatever reason, the domestic brands always had a hard time making money on small vehicles. The Japanese and Europeans figured it out but the US never seemed to.

 

[Lefty]

There is a lot of truth in there being more money in a full size truck. For whatever reason, the domestic brands always had a hard time making money on small vehicles. The Japanese and Europeans figured it out but the US never seemed to.

 

[Curious Hound]

Americans generally seem to be bigger in size.

Particularly in girth, unfortunately.

 

[Lefty]

Americans generally seem to be bigger in size.

Particularly in girth, unfortunately.

It's funny. While the salesman was trying to make his best pitch, a guy driving a semi full of cars pulled up right next to us to unload a bunch of new Fords. No one asked his opinion, but he offered it anyway, telling us that pickups are getting so expensive they are beyond the reach of too many people.

Maybe so. One of my coworkers who also owns and old ranger once explained that he wanted a truck that was inexpensive, that could hold a sheet of plywood, and fit in his garage.

I rather like this new all electric truck which comes in 2 WD or 4WD. So does my wife. A cheap truck that looks fun to drive, holds a sheet of ply, and fits in the garage.

The bed is only 5 1/2 feet, same as so many modern versions with a king cab, but the front is also a trunk. It's perfect for short errands and fits in an old fashioned garage. https://insideevs.com/news/493819/alpha-wolf-old-off-road-electric-truck/

If I were the engineer, I would design a foldable tonneau that would also served as a solar power collector.