HELP. I’m not a mechanic but I am trying to fix my 03 ranger.

[03rangerNM]

I have an 03 ranger that I hit a deer with in January of this year. It ended up getting totaled and I kept it as a salvage title. It is my hunting truck (YES I KNOW THE IRONY IN THIS SITUATION LOL) and it still runs fine (minus the a/c and the low 4x4) but the front end has sustained decent damage. I would like to do whatever I can to get it cleaned up and stripped down before I get the frame and alignment checked. Then I’d like to replace what I can to get it back to a point where I can continue building it for off road driving in the southern Rockies. I’ve included photos of before and after the deer. I have some limited mechanic experience (working in my driveway) but I am a carpenter so I can work with my hands well!

Backstory- my brother and I were elk hunting in this truck, Katinka is her name, and the ac compressor went out. On top of a mountain pass we managed to get a shorter belt on and bypass the compressor to get the truck running again…in a pouring rain storm. She deserves to keep on rolling!

 

[franklin2]

You can do this. But instead of being used to carpentry work where you glue and fasten things tight, these vehicles are thrown together on the assembly line with plastic clips. You might hit a few bolts here and there, but most of it just snaps together. You will be surprised and think "how does this thing hold together going down the road". They are all like that, the interior of the truck is even worse.

You can check www.car-part.com for the pieces you need at a local junkyard. Just plug in the information and see what they have. Some of the bigger places cut the whole frontend off and strap it to a pallet and sell it like that. Has everything you need, though it may be the wrong color.

 

[03rangerNM]

do they mostly snap into the frame? I’ll have to pull the actual bumper, I assume that’s bolted on.

 

[pjtoledo]

your frame probably isn't damaged. the chrome part of the bumper appears to be fixable with a big hammer.
by fixable I mean good enough push brush out of the way, not pass a beauty contest.
the fender is bolted to the body extensions. easily removed. actually all the front parts are easy to remove.
the biggest concern would be the radiator bulkhead where it connects to the pass side body extensions.

any salvage yards close by? maybe visit one and look at Rangers that already have front parts removed so
you can see what is behind the mangled stuff.

once your bad parts are pulled we can point out where things may need straightened.

 

[03rangerNM]

your frame probably isn't damaged. the chrome part of the bumper appears to be fixable with a big hammer.
by fixable I mean good enough push brush out of the way, not pass a beauty contest.
the fender is bolted to the body extensions. easily removed. actually all the front parts are easy to remove.
the biggest concern would be the radiator bulkhead where it connects to the pass side body extensions.

any salvage yards close by? maybe visit one and look at Rangers that already have front parts removed so
you can see what is behind the mangled stuff.

once your bad parts are pulled we can point out where things may need straightened.

Okay, I’ll pull parts and try to look into radiator. Those photos are not totally up to date, I cut off a large portion of the steel bumper so it doesn’t hit the tire when driving. I planned on just pulling it and then replacing it with an off road bumper. I did drive the truck for about a month and a half over the summer while my daily was at the shop.

There is a salvage yard close by, that’s where I was planning to go to look for a new hood, front grill, front end parts.

 

[pjtoledo]

good luck, and us guys in the rust belt really envy you that have access to good used parts.

 

[03rangerNM]

good luck, and us guys in the rust belt really envy you that have access to good used parts.

Haha yeah there is a pretty large junkyard near by I’m hoping I’ll be able to find what I need easily! I’ve seen some really cool old cars out here at the local car shows!

 

[Roert42]

If it drives straight down the road then it should be pretty easy to repair. Mostly body work, take the old parts off / bolt the new parts on.

+1 about checking the radiator. If it was the original radiator it was probably leaking already anyway.



Was the 4low working before the accident? Seems odd that that would be affected. Probably just the contacts are crusty on the switch. Some time just working the switch back and forth about 100 times will clean the contacts enough to get it working again.

 

[03rangerNM]

If it drives straight down the road then it should be pretty easy to repair. Mostly body work, take the old parts off / bolt the new parts on.

+1 about checking the radiator. If it was the original radiator it was probably leaking already anyway.



Was the 4low working before the accident? Seems odd that that would be affected. Probably just the contacts are crusty on the switch. Some time just working the switch back and forth about 100 times will clean the contacts enough to get it working again.

The 4low did work before the accident. It just takes a loooot of rpm to get the truck moving when it a in 4low. I haven’t had a manual 4x4 before this and I never needed 4low cause 4hi never gets stuck but it’s something I may need to look into. And yeah like I mentioned about a month of road driving with it and no problems with it driving crooked. I also haven’t noticed any fluid leaks since the accident. That was the first thing I looked for assuming something would have been damaged.

 

[Roert42]

Definitely something wrong mechanically if it’s driving crooked, hopefully just suspension and not a frame issue.

Could be a bent control arm.

Might be worth it to take it to a shop before you do too much body work and have them at least figure out why it’s pulling.

That way you can have a better picture of all what’s wrong before you start spending money.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Definitely something wrong mechanically if it’s driving crooked, hopefully just suspension and not a frame issue.

Could be a bent control arm.

Might be worth it to take it to a shop before you do too much body work and have them at least figure out why it’s pulling.

That way you can have a better picture of all what’s wrong before you start spending money.

I didn't see the OP say it was driving crooked. He did say he was taking it in to get the frame and suspension looked at, so I think he is on the right track already.

 

[03rangerNM]

Definitely something wrong mechanically if it’s driving crooked, hopefully just suspension and not a frame issue.

Could be a bent control arm.

Might be worth it to take it to a shop before you do too much body work and have them at least figure out why it’s pulling.

That way you can have a better picture of all what’s wrong before you start spending money.

Sorry I wasn’t clear, the truck does NOT drive crooked. It drives just as it did before the wreck.

 

[03rangerNM]

I didn't see the OP say it was driving crooked. He did say he was taking it in to get the frame and suspension looked at, so I think he is on the right track already.

I wanted to have it looked at before I put any body part back on. The only thing that seems like it could be a sign of frame issue is the passenger door now rubs on the panel in front of the door, the same side panel where the deer hit. But as I said drives STRAIGHT

 

[Roert42]

My bad, I misunderstood.

That’s great news then.

 

[03rangerNM]

My bad, I misunderstood.

That’s great news then.

No worries! It is great though. It’s the main reason I kept the savage title because it felt like it was driving fine, I even drove it home right after the accident.