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

[Bgunner]

Since I had the battery issue I haven't been able to charge my capacitor for my amp. I spent about an hour searching the manufactures web site looking for the manual. Well today I decided to look again but this time I was on a Windows machine and I got one of those site popups for chat with them and took advantage of it. The guy said none of the manuals are online because they didn't meet some ADA something or another but he gave me a download link.

I went out and charged the cap as the instructions said but once I hooked the wires of the amp up to it it started to loose charge, it has a digital readout on it, so i grabbed the multimeter and started checking voltages. I was only getting the same reading with the multimeter so I went from the power wire to the ground connection and still got 9.3v. I wiggled the negative lead around a bit and all of a sudden I got 13.4v. I removed the ground and found that some how rust had formed under the eyelet and with a bit of scraping and scrubbing I cleaned up the connection and suddenly the cap was reading the 13.4v, yes the truck was running at the time. I now have my subwoofer back in action.

I jammed to music all the way home from the GF's house.

 

[scotts90ranger]

So far I've fully removed the 6 rivets I was working on yesterday and wacked the rockers with a hammer handle to get all the dirt out of there so it doesn't fall on me later... next step is to sweep that mess up then get my plate steel out and find some pieces for the side plates of the transmission crossmember and start marking things up and sketching things and drilling holes and such... but before a lot of that I gotta clean up the shop some so I have room for fabrication and rig up some type of setup that will condense less moisture in the air line so I can use my plasma cutter... I have an idea...

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

Drilled then air hammered off the rivets for the side brackets for the transmission crossmember last night, still gotta grind them flat then drive out tonight...

Don’t tell me the transmission crossmember is attached the same way the leaf spring hangers are… ouch.

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

Since I had the battery issue I haven't been able to charge my capacitor for my amp. I spent about an hour searching the manufactures web site looking for the manual. Well today I decided to look again but this time I was on a Windows machine and I got one of those site popups for chat with them and took advantage of it. The guy said none of the manuals are online because they didn't meet some ADA something or another but he gave me a download link.

I went out and charged the cap as the instructions said but once I hooked the wires of the amp up to it it started to loose charge, it has a digital readout on it, so i grabbed the multimeter and started checking voltages. I was only getting the same reading with the multimeter so I went from the power wire to the ground connection and still got 9.3v. I wiggled the negative lead around a bit and all of a sudden I got 13.4v. I removed the ground and found that some how rust had formed under the eyelet and with a bit of scraping and scrubbing I cleaned up the connection and suddenly the cap was reading the 13.4v, yes the truck was running at the time. I now have my subwoofer back in action.

I jammed to music all the way home from the GF's house.

Impossible. Those online chat thingy’s never get results!

Bgunner is a wizard guys.

 

[ben_2_go]

Put the hitch on last night, got pics of it today.
I went with the curt round tube, as the square tube is too much of an eyesore for me. I like the more hidden look of the round tube. View attachment 110457View attachment 110458

My Ranger came with a round tube hitch from Ford. The hitch was stolen off the truck. I bought a Hidden Hitch, same as Curt for the ext. cab 4x4 with the dual overhead cam engine. It came stamped with the Ford data on it. It turned out to be a Ford hitch. Hidden Hitch provided Ford with hitches back in the 90s and early 2000s.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Don’t tell me the transmission crossmember is attached the same way the leaf spring hangers are… ouch.

The style the 4 cylinder trucks get with the wide cross bar with bushings on the end, the frame side brackets are definitely riveted on, the one the V6's got is normally bolted in...

 

[rubydist]

The style the 4 cylinder trucks get with the wide cross bar with bushings on the end, the frame side brackets are definitely riveted on, the one the V6's got is normally bolted in...

Undoubtedly due to the fact that the massive torque of the 4 cylinder engine required the stronger joint...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, no kidding, why it needs 3 bushings on the transmission/transfer case is beyond me... sure a 4 cylinder has stronger pulses since there's 180 degrees between events instead of 120 degrees but still...

Here's the current pile of spare parts (just noticed the frame brackets were still in in that picture), and in the second pic to the untrained eye it might not look like a transmission crossmember and extended radius arms but it sure will be...

 

[Rick W]

I used my short triple ball Pintle on the Missing Linc to couple up to The Town Cart eye, getting everything ready to head out at 6:30 for Caffiene & Octane.

I had to do a quick upgrade to the tongue jack on the trailer. I pulled the rotary handle, and made a gizmo, so I could run it up and down with the hyper tough battery drill. I didn’t realize the only thing that holds the lower part in place was that bolt down handle. I drilled the shaft a half inch below the existing bolt hole, and put a cotter pin in it so it won’t fall out the bottom.

Then I did a 7 out of 10 wash. No time for perfect. Show is officially 9-12, but I’m planning on getting there at seven to try to get a good spot. We’ll see….

Like any new project, I have to trouble shoot the trailer strobes, statues, pond, etc.

 

[Roert42]

Hence why I bought it, and probably why superj did too.

Annoying that the genuine ford one wouldn’t fit either.

It’s probably one of the best looking covers made for an 8.8.

 

[superj]

Motorsport clone diff cover is on. I did some machining (i have a grinder and am not scared to use it) on the internal fin that the tone ring kept touching. And its a go.

 

[scotts90ranger]

So far I've made side plates to bolt to the frame for the radius arm and transmission crossmember, drilled the holes and leaned in to check something and caught my forehead on the square corner on one... wasn't leaking too bad though...

Fired up the plasma cutter for the first time in a couple years to butcher the stock radius arm crossmember, worked fine, then made some strips of 3/16" steel to go on the bottom side of the frame, plasma is much nicer than angle grinder!

Stopped for dinner, will go back out and screw around here shortly...

 

[Rick W]

I rode over to caffeine and octane this morning, and I wrote that up under the thread I started. Truly, an amazing gathering, amazing vehicles.

I have a question about my 87 2.9 4-Wheel Dr. five speed. Short cab short bed. When I drive it around empty, it does everything I want it to do. I have no problem with hills, and it’ll go 75 or 80 miles an hour if I want to push it.

It seems like when I just put a few hundred pounds in it, or today pulling this trailer, that I hit some pretty mild inclines, and I’ll lose speed. If it’s more than a mild incline, I have to downshift to fourth, or maybe to third.

This trailer is an 88 bed on a thin 2 in.² stock frame, with an Aluminum weatherguard toolbox. It rolls on 15 inch wheels, 235/75/15 tires, and its balance very well. I can’t believe aerodynamics is an issue because it exactly parallels the truck.

The engine in the truck was a professionally rebuilt 2.9, with the upgrades on the heads and such, with 40,000 miles on it. I know the people I got it from.

My question is, is it normal for those 2.9‘s to lose speed with a light load like that? The 4.0 in the 97 doesn’t even lose speed when I’m pulling that step trailer with stuff on it. And one last thought on the 2.9, it was all new plugs and components when I put it in, about 5000 miles ago.

Is that kind of performance normal? Is there anything I should check? I’m already planning on changing the oil and swapping the filters, checking the plugs, but if there’s anything else I should be checking, somebody please let me know.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I imagine that's normal, the 2.9L is like 120hp (probably a touch low maybe 130, but not curious enough to look) and depending on the gear ratio and rpm at cruise it makes sense... on my '97 Ranger with 2.3L it's rated at like 105hp but if I drag like 5 pallets home from work I have to downshift in the right condition which is a couple particular hills where 5th is on the edge at 55mph empty IE if dumb people are in front of me I can't maintain 50mph...

When in a horsepower deficit you will have to downshift , I drive 4 cylinder Rangers, I understand, its' even more exaggerated...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I rode over to caffeine and octane this morning, and I wrote that up under the thread I started. Truly, an amazing gathering, amazing vehicles.

I have a question about my 87 2.9 4-Wheel Dr. five speed. Short cab short bed. When I drive it around empty, it does everything I want it to do. I have no problem with hills, and it’ll go 75 or 80 miles an hour if I want to push it.

It seems like when I just put a few hundred pounds in it, or today pulling this trailer, that I hit some pretty mild inclines, and I’ll lose speed. If it’s more than a mild incline, I have to downshift to fourth, or maybe to third.

This trailer is an 88 bed on a thin 2 in.² stock frame, with an Aluminum weatherguard toolbox. It rolls on 15 inch wheels, 235/75/15 tires, and its balance very well. I can’t believe aerodynamics is an issue because it exactly parallels the truck.

The engine in the truck was a professionally rebuilt 2.9, with the upgrades on the heads and such, with 40,000 miles on it. I know the people I got it from.

My question is, is it normal for those 2.9‘s to lose speed with a light load like that? The 4.0 in the 97 doesn’t even lose speed when I’m pulling that step trailer with stuff on it. And one last thought on the 2.9, it was all new plugs and components when I put it in, about 5000 miles ago.

Is that kind of performance normal? Is there anything I should check? I’m already planning on changing the oil and swapping the filters, checking the plugs, but if there’s anything else I should be checking, somebody please let me know.

What axle gears and tire size are you running on the 87? I think 3.73 gears are a decent gear for a stock Ranger and 4.10 if you want more pulling power. When you get to the 3.45 and 3.08 gears they can start to dog if you’re not just trying to drive it around empty all the time