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

[pacstud]

Sometimes, the rubber is vulcanized into the sleeve and is meant to be pushed out as a unit, sometimes not. I depends on the engineer and what the manufacturer wants when they make the part. It is possible that the current bushing is just rust locked into the sleeve. Plus, years of being compressed will force the the bushing to be form fitted to the sleeve as well. If the replacements you have are just the rubber, then that would indicate that the bushing was meant to be replaced separately or the aftermarket found a work around to what was originally intended.

Also, if you do get the old bushing out and the new ones are a pretty snug, which they probably will be, silicone spray will help greatly in getting the new ones in. Not to say it won't be a fight. They very well could require a press to push them back in as well. Even with freezing them in a freezer before hand.

They're at the shop right now, with a 20 ton press, so the control arm will break or the bushings will come out. I gave him the bushings (which are metal sleeved) to put in.

We did measure, and the replacement sleeve and the rear passenger LCA is the same as the original, so I still don't know what to do with the "spacers" on the originals.

It's not a hole where it mounts, more of a horizontal slot, but it's sizeable. My fear is the inner sleeve won't "catch" enough when I go to torque it, and those washer/spacers helped it grab the interior where the LCA mounts. If any of that makes sense. I'm hoping they come off. The inner sleeve seems way more rusted than those end washers, so if I can pop em off then just install them into the new bushing. Hopefully we'll find out tonight.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

It will be fine most likely. Remember that you finally torque control arms when the vehicle is sitting level at ride height

 

[pacstud]

It will be fine most likely. Remember that you finally torque control arms when the vehicle is sitting level at ride height

Yes sir. Seating the coil will be a little interesting as I'm going solo, but I'm hoping thats not too terrible.

 

[Betty White]

Bought on fleabay for $33, just installed so much better than the cracked one before.

 

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

i meticulously cleaned all the grounds on my trailer and checked that the wires arent crossed for the 8th time

 

[sgtsandman]

i meticulously cleaned all the grounds on my trailer and checked that the wires arent crossed for the 8th time

I need to do similar. I noticed the ground wire on the harness extension that plugs into the truck is broken the other day. The lights still work. So they are getting ground. But continity between the tow vehicle and the trailer should be there, and it isn't. At least not through the wiring.

 

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

I need to do similar. I noticed the ground wire on the harness extension that plugs into the truck is broken the other day. The lights still work. So they are getting ground. But continity between the tow vehicle and the trailer should be there, and it isn't. At least not through the wiring.

okay, ive been thinking im having grounding issues and it may be on the truck side. where do i follow the trailer wire harness up too? is it spliced into a mess of wires around the spare tire or something? is it easy to inspect and clean? i just imagine my trailer wire harness connects to some tangled nest of wires that i probably shouldnt disturb or mess around with

how would i check truck side ground wire with multimeter? turn head lights on and run running-light connection thru multimeter to the ground and check for 12v?

 

[sgtsandman]

okay, ive been thinking im having grounding issues and it may be on the truck side. where do i follow the trailer wire harness up too? is it spliced into a mess of wires around the spare tire or something? is it easy to inspect and clean? i just imagine my trailer wire harness connects to some tangled nest of wires that i probably shouldnt disturb or mess around with

how would i check truck side ground wire with multimeter? turn head lights on and run running-light connection thru multimeter to the ground and check for 12v?

It depends on the wiring. If it is a factory or factory style harness, it is a T shaped plug that goes into the factory connectors above and behind the spare tire.

That type should be pretty easy to troubleshoot and check.

Now, if it is an aftermarket one that has been spliced in, your guess is as good as mine. The best you can do is reference the wiring diagrams and see which wire does what after you find out where the pigtail for the trailer was spliced in.

 

[Rick W]

It’s just me, but I have learned to run a separate ground wire independent of the plug between the truck and the trailer. I try to keep the plug working properly, but I basically put in an extra one. I ground it well to the truck, and just use a bayonet connector, and then ground it well to the trailer, usually taped along the side of the Trailer connector. I usually leave them a little bit long so they don’t pull apart when the trailer wiggles back-and-forth or when I’m parking it. It’s cheap insurance. With a bad ground or no ground, the lights can flicker, which can blow the fuse.

To specify, I’m talking about the flat four prong or five prong trailer connectors. I’ve never really had trouble with the big round trailer connectors, whether they are seven pin or seven blade or whatever, they’re just a better built unit.

 

[sgtsandman]

It’s just me, but I have learned to run a separate ground wire independent of the plug between the truck and the trailer. I try to keep the plug working properly, but I basically put in an extra one. I ground it well to the truck, and just use a bayonet connector, and then ground it well to the trailer, usually taped along the side of the Trailer connector. I usually leave them a little bit long so they don’t pull apart when the trailer wiggles back-and-forth or when I’m parking it. It’s cheap insurance. With a bad ground or no ground, the lights can flicker, which can blow the fuse.

To specify, I’m talking about the flat four prong or five prong trailer connectors. I’ve never really had trouble with the big round trailer connectors, whether they are seven pin or seven blade or whatever, they’re just a better built unit.

I built the redundancy into the trailer. Apparently, it worked or it's grounding to the truck via the hitch and coupler. Either way, the lights work and are solid. I would just rather have it grounding and bonding properly to the vehicle.

EDIT: I do plan to rewire the trailer again at some point with a 5 wire system. That way I can have some flood lights as backup lights on the trailer. There are times it's damn hard to see the area I'm backing into at night and lights on the trailer would be real handy.

 

[2011Supercab]

EDIT: I do plan to rewire the trailer again at some point with a 5 wire system. That way I can have some flood lights as backup lights on the trailer. There are times it's damn hard to see the area I'm backing into at night and lights on the trailer would be real handy.

Might as well just do the 7 pin plug, don't need to do the 12 volt or the electric brake wires.

It's more universal than the 5 or 6 plug.