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

[Curious Hound]

Sprinkler is on.

Speaking of all that... on the day of mom's surgery, 11 days ago, I parked the Snooperduty in the grass so I could get moms car out around my brothers truck, since her car is much more suitable for bringing a hip replacement patient home. Due to rain and the sprinklers being run every day, the front wheels of the truck sank in and got stuck. Pulled it out with Marks Tahoe. I had to make repairs to the yard a couple days later. So, yeah. I am the yahoo that tore up the pristine grass in moms retirement community.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Speaking of all that... on the day of mom's surgery, 11 days ago, I parked the Snooperduty in the grass so I could get moms car out around my brothers truck, since her car is much more suitable for bringing a hip replacement patient home. Due to rain and the sprinklers being run every day, the front wheels of the truck sank in and got stuck. Pulled it out with Marks Tahoe. I had to make repairs to the yard a couple days later. So, yeah. I am the yahoo that tore up the pristine grass in moms retirement community.

View attachment 147656

Some people's kids..

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Only one. Refer back to what 85 said about that grenaded transmission.

Par for the course. Also, worth it.

 

[Rick W]

View attachment 147654

I really don't like mud.

You need to read the site rules again, you’re not supposed to share your dirt with everybody.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

You need to read the site rules again, you’re not supposed to share your dirt with everybody.

Money is fake and the sun is going to explode.

Have a nice day.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

 

[sgtsandman]

Recently purchased a 2003 XLT (4L w/man trans) and noticed that the axle wrap was much more noticeable with the stick shift then the automatics I've owned in the past. So, I clamped the leaf springs about eight or ten inches forward of the axle centerline and it made a noticeable, maybe not dramatic, improvement, less bounce when coming off the clutch.
I then added a rear sway bar from my spare parts hoard, which helps on these curvy WV roads. (it's not an off roader, just my daily driver)
Today I'm rebuilding a track-lock dif to swap in sometime before winter sets in, a winch bumper is also in the process of modifications before installation.

You can off road with a rear sway bar and do quite well. I do. I'm not saying you have to, only that you can.

Now, if you get into the extreme technical stuff or rock crawling, that may be a different story.

Heck, I've been doing it with the factory unlimited slip differentials as well and haven't gotten stuck yet

 

[sgtsandman]

I installed the two final solar panels on the 2019 on the roof racks of the roof rack tent a couple of days ago and ran the wire yesterday.

The front two panes are a parallel pair and the back two panels are a parallel pair (it's in how they are connected together, not their physical location). And the two pairs are run in series to increase the amperage output.

The setup allows one pair to still continue charging if the other pair are in the shadows. If one panel in a series wired setup is down due to lack of sun exposure, it shuts the whole string down. But you can only do so much in parallel or you could fry the charger from too much amperage.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yesterday…

The plan was to take my F-150 and drop it at Paul’s so he could load scrap after dropping me back at home to work on the green Ranger…

The F-150 didn’t want to start, battery was low. Concerning because it’s warm enough out that the battery should be fine. Multimeter said 11.47v. Well, out come the jumper cables, fire up the Choptop and pull it over there, pop the hood and dang if that doesn’t sound like a vacuum leak somewhere towards the back of the motor. Put the cables on, give it a minute, and the F-150 happily roars to life. Pull the cables and check voltage… 13.4v, which makes me question if the alternator in the F-150 is on its way out. Joy.

So after that adventure, I took the F-150 up, Paul brought me back, and we are shooting the breeze for a minute when our attention is called to a shrub against the house in the front yard. We wander over and go looking and next thing you know a buck with a mangled leg jumps out and almost runs Paul over. Didn’t see that coming, I expected a bird or groundhog or something.

After everything calmed down I started working on stuff for the green Ranger finally when I remembered about the vacuum leak in the Choptop. Went poking around and found the Dorman vacuum cap that I put on the one barb of the vacuum Tree was split out. I should throw the rest of that package of those vacuum caps away, every single dang one of them I’ve used splits apart within a couple months. No matter, I’ll make a plug.

Go to stick my newly manufactured plug (piece of vacuum line with a screw covered in RTV capping it) and the barb snaps off the Tree. Thankfully I was able to remove the Tree from the intake, so then I tapped it out and RTV’d a bolt in the hole. While I was under the hood I also swapped out the plug on my TPS since the locking tabs were broken on the old plug.

Maybe I can make some decent progress on the Ranger today?

 

[scotts90ranger]

Not on a Ranger but today I took the '00 Explorer on a road trip to hang out with some friends on the sand dunes and go for a cruise out there, probably close to 300 miles on the ol sploder and it worked fine, even squeaked out around 18mpg on the road portion that was through the mountains and stuff... had a misfire at one point but turns out the #1 wire fell off the spark plug somehow... It did get low middled once, a friend was able to flag down a rig to pull me out (everyone else was on quads) and it happened to be a Ranger on 42's.

Tomorrow I get to deliver a 60 gallon air compressor, upright in the '97 Ranger so that'll be interesting, and picking up a water heater in trade for that...

 

[Ranger Kip]

Brain surgery

 

[97RangerXLT]

well yesterday, i was finally able to unload a bed full of tree limbs/ brush/ branches that have been sitting in it for over 3 weeks.

So in the past 3 weeks if I wanted to go anywhere in the Ranger it was with a bed full of brush. So, what the hell AJ why would you not do something with them? Story goes like this... 4 weeks ago we got some windy/ stormy weather, and between my house yard cleanup (and a small pile accumulated from last fall) I loaded them all into the back of the Ranger to take to the Madison County yard waste center. even loaded some stuff from the Ex's house. Now here is something about the Madison County yard waste center. it is free to Madison County residents, BUT.. it is only open 8am to 11am, then again 12pm to 230pm. But only on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Because I work through the week, Wednesdays are out. So 3 out of 4 Saturdays I have tried to drop off a load they have been closed. one of those Saturdays was due to the flooding, I will give them a pass on that one. Website does not tell you if they are available. phone number goes to voicemail immediately and they never call back. so I have to drive 20 minutes to go figure out for myself when they are open. Madison county administration all suck. so yesterday I lucked out, it was open (or at least the gate was) and I shot in there and unloaded.

Jerks.

AJ

 

[sgtsandman]

I rewired the solar panels on the 2019. I thought I had them in Series/Parallel, but I did not. They were in pure parallel, which, while not harmful to the system, is not ideal. Here is why:

Connecting four Renogy RSP100DC 100W panels to a Renogy RBC30D1S 30A MPPT controller in a 12V system requires careful wiring configuration to avoid exceeding voltage limits while maximizing efficiency. You cannot wire all four panels in series, as the total open-circuit voltage would exceed the controller's 100V maximum input rating, but wiring them all in parallel wastes potential power due to low voltage.

Optimal Configuration: 2S2P (Two Series, Two Parallel)

• Wiring Setup: Connect two panels in series to create one string, and do the same for the second string. Then, connect these two strings in parallel.
• Voltage Check: Each RSP100DC panel has an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of approximately 22V. Two in series yield ~44V, which is well within the RBC30D1S controller's 100V limit, even in cold temperatures.
• Current Check: Each panel outputs roughly 5.5–6A. In a 2S2P configuration, the voltage doubles but the current remains at ~11–12A per string. With two parallel strings, the total input current is ~22–24A, which is safely under the controller's 30A input limit.
• Power Output: This setup allows you to utilize nearly the full 400 watts of solar capacity. A 30A MPPT controller on a 12V system can theoretically handle up to 360W (30A × 12V) continuously, but MPPT controllers boost current from higher voltages, so 400W input is manageable as long as the output current to the battery stays within limits.

Why Not Other Configurations?

• All Series (4S): Total Voc would be ~88V, which is dangerously close to the 100V limit and can exceed it in cold weather, potentially damaging the controller.
• All Parallel (4P): Total voltage would remain ~22V. While safe for the controller, the low voltage may not be optimal for MPPT efficiency compared to the 44V of the 2S2P setup, and it requires thicker cables to handle the higher total current (~22–24A).

Recommendation: Use the 2S2P configuration for the best balance of safety, efficiency, and power harvesting. Ensure you use appropriate fuses for each series string (typically 10A–15A fuses) and a main fuse on the positive line from the controller to the battery.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Turns out a ~5'tall air compressor in the bed of a 4 cylinder ranger is quite the wind brake! The thing didn't want to go over 55 which was fine by me since I REALLY didn't want it to fall over... might have gone overboard at 4 straps (corner to corner then front to back) but a 3 legged compressor isn't meant to travel not bolted to a pallet... The 2' tall water heater I traded for was not an issue on the way home

Then I loaded some Camry parts to sell tomorrow night after work...

 

[Rick W]

UPDATE ON VACUUM A/C: When I installed the little tiny vacuum pump, I ran the hot to the blower hot, and the neutral to the blower neutral. The speed of the blower is controlled by the resistors on the neutral leg, so as you turn the speed up and down, you also turn the little vacuum pump up and down. I was still losing vacuum when I stomped on the gas for a while. So I moved the ground to the fender, and I put the second soup can back in. So far so good. Ice cold AC is a good thing, you guys should try it.

NEW ALTERNATOR: I got a rebuilt 130A alternator and put it in the Road Ranger.

I upgraded to the 130 2-3 years ago when I added the second battery and a lot of the horns and lights and such, but the unit I received was a lemon. Instead of just sending it back, I worked out a couple bugs. Pulley was loose, the cover on the shaft on the back was missing so I made one, etc., etc. Well, I never got stuck on the road, but it acted up three or four times so I finally bit the bullet and put in a replacement. There was no core charge, so I’ve got the old one for parts.

DIGITAL CLOCK/VOLTS/TEMP: I have OEM radio that has a clock, but it’s very hard to see in the sunlight in the daytime. Also, considering the alternator problems and all my extra junk, I wanted a little separate voltmeter to just keep an eye on things. I’ve seen some aftermarket combination units, but they were all too big and they just looked like crap. Then I found this.

They’re only 1/2” high, a combination unit, but don’t have any cover or case. I got two green ones and one red one. You can easily set them to alternate between all three modes, or alternate between time and volts, or time and temperature, and they have an internal memory, so they turn off when you turn the ignition off, but don’t lose the time. BTW, it’s not engine temperature, it’s the temperature inside the cab. I put one of the green ones in the Road Ranger, in a low part of the command center.

Push/pull for traffic advisor bar on the shift, clock/volts on top of the brake controller, Radio Shack SSB CB. To the left, black cap is pepper spray, with a Chapstick and a nasal spray in their own sleeves (don’t get old). Besides the original drink holders, on the right, I added a cupholder for Lincoln‘s water, and a little prescription bottle for a couple pens and pencils and a comb.

In the pictures, the dead digits kind of show through, but that’s the camera, just looking at it with your eyes it’s jet black and only the numbers show. And of course, I immediately used it to check the new alternator. On vs battery

I made the little housing/holder from a piece of the frame of a fancy baby carriage that I bought at Goodwill for 10 or 15 bucks a couple years ago. The two holes on top are so I can access the tiny buttons that you use to program it I’ve used the stroller parts for all kinds of stuff, good quality materials. Goodwill is kind of like a main warehouse for people who maintain a shed of miracles.

AND A QUESTION: What is this?

It’s on the passenger side, on the inner fender, just in front of the blower motor. The truck has an aftermarket cruise control (that doesn’t work) that’s tied into this thing. What does it do?