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

[Rick W]

I replaced the shifter bushings and cap on the shifter in the Road Ranger. I’ve been dreading it, not because the job looked particularly hard, but because of all that CB, brake controller, etc., junk I’ve installed in my “command center“ overhead and below. Fortunately, once I took the four screws out of the bottom of the shift boot housing, I was able to just kind of lay everything over and out of the way without actually having to disconnect anything.

I’ve had that truck something like 30 or 40,000 miles now, and, until a few weeks ago, it shifted the way it shifted when I got it. Wasn’t too bad, so I never thought about it.

I noticed I was having a little more difficulty shifting about the same time as a few of you guys were talking here about upgrading trans fluid in the manual shift transmissions. I got to wondering if the trans fluid had EVER been changed in the 300,000 miles this thing’s been on earth, so I drained the Mercon 5 out and just filled it with fresh Mercon 5. I didn’t see much difference.

A little bit before I went north for the funeral, it seemed to be harder to shift, more sloppy, and I actually ground second gear a couple times. Over the 2200 mile trip it just got worse, so I parked it when I got home and ordered the bushing kit.

I watched all the videos, and I was curious to see how much wear I would find on my washers and bushings and pins compared to the new set. I’ll never know. The pins seemed to be fine, and the bottom thrust washer seemed to be fine. No flat metal washer bushings, no beveled poly bushings, and the top thrust washer split on one side, and actually overlayed itself by about a quarter inch like a spring. I was really hoping to see how much wear there was, so I’d know if I was correct in thinking that was the problem and time to replace them. I decided to go with the new kit anyway.

Haven’t driven it yet, but the range of the shift pattern seems to be about 1/3 of what it was last week. I also found my earbuds, a lost glove, a couple pens and pencils, several screws, a pair of dollar store reading glasses, and a “new” pair of needle nose and pliers I bought about three years ago and used once or twice. They had bright orange handles, which I liked, so I wouldn’t lose them……

Test drive up to the cute little brunette’s house later today.

And go and vote, it matters.

 

[scotts90ranger]

On a similar note last night while loading up after looking for deer I went to turn on the dome light to try to help the neighbor put stuff in the bed and revel at the cargo light that I've never had work before and wouldn't you know it the dang thing turned on... after 7 years I just needed to cycle the switch more and yell at it a little . That sure would have been handy a bunch of times in the past!

The weather this year has been garbage for deer hunting, we saw one doe last night right at dusk, over here no doe just "visible point" deer... there's a dang 3 point or better hanging around but they're only active when I'm not there...

 

[superj]

Towed the bmw gone from Omaha to corpus. 1100 miles of fun. We left at 0700 and got home at 0145 the next morning so 19 hours of cruising.


The ranger did good no trouble at all towing a dolly and having junk in the bed.

I did some go with the flow driving and got 12-14 mpg and then set cruise at 70mpg and got 17 so if you are interested in better mileage while towing, 70mpg still gets decent time and really good gas mileage.

This is us in omaha

And us in corpus christi

The dang bmw ran perfect up there but wint start here. I guess it doesnt like the humidity/heat either. It was 55 when we left and 72 when we got home at 0145. And soooo humid and mosquitos everywhere.

 

[Sideflop]

I took the heat shield off of the muffler to measure it. Likely gonna keep it off, it was rattling pretty bad. While I was at it, I oiled and exercised the hinges on the spare tire mount and took the (original) spare out to make it easier for the shop when I get new tires next weekend.

While I was at it, I went and played in the rain for a few hours. It's better to make sure the 4x4 works (which it does) in this weather than to find out when my truck spins into a wall in the next freeze.

 

[Rick W]

I took the heat shield off of the muffler to measure it. Likely gonna keep it off, it was rattling pretty bad. While I was at it, I oiled and exercised the hinges on the spare tire mount and took the (original) spare out to make it easier for the shop when I get new tires next weekend.


View attachment 150276

While I was at it, I went and played in the rain for a few hours. It's better to make sure the 4x4 works (which it does) in this weather than to find out when my truck spins into a wall in the next freeze.

View attachment 150278

EDITED: Heat shield over the CAT? Might want to rethink that one. The high heat can do a lot of damage to all the elastic and plastic seals on the bed seems, and the cab, etc..

 

[Sideflop]

Heat shield over the CAT? Might want to rethink that one, that high heat can do a lot of damage to all the elastic and plastic seals on the bed seems in the cabinet, etc..

No, I'm keeping the shield for the cats and the rest of the exhaust. I'm planning on changing the muffler at some point too, so the shield that clamps around the stock muffler likely won't fit anyway.

 

[Rick W]

No, I'm keeping the shield for the cats and the rest of the exhaust. I'm planning on changing the muffler at some point too, so the shield that clamps around the stock muffler likely won't fit anyway.

I edited mine, a lot of typos, but you’ve got the idea, good sense.

 

[Rick W]

I replaced the shifter bushings and cap on the shifter in the Road Ranger. I’ve been dreading it, not because the job looked particularly hard, but because of all that CB, brake controller, etc., junk I’ve installed in my “command center“ overhead and below. Fortunately, once I took the four screws out of the bottom of the shift boot housing, I was able to just kind of lay everything over and out of the way without actually having to disconnect anything.

I’ve had that truck something like 30 or 40,000 miles now, and, until a few weeks ago, it shifted the way it shifted when I got it. Wasn’t too bad, so I never thought about it.

I noticed I was having a little more difficulty shifting about the same time as a few of you guys were talking here about upgrading trans fluid in the manual shift transmissions. I got to wondering if the trans fluid had EVER been changed in the 300,000 miles this thing’s been on earth, so I drained the Mercon 5 out and just filled it with fresh Mercon 5. I didn’t see much difference.

A little bit before I went north for the funeral, it seemed to be harder to shift, more sloppy, and I actually ground second gear a couple times. Over the 2200 mile trip it just got worse, so I parked it when I got home and ordered the bushing kit.

I watched all the videos, and I was curious to see how much wear I would find on my washers and bushings and pins compared to the new set. I’ll never know. The pins seemed to be fine, and the bottom thrust washer seemed to be fine. No flat metal washer bushings, no beveled poly bushings, and the top thrust washer split on one side, and actually overlayed itself by about a quarter inch like a spring. I was really hoping to see how much wear there was, so I’d know if I was correct in thinking that was the problem and time to replace them. I decided to go with the new kit anyway.

Haven’t driven it yet, but the range of the shift pattern seems to be about 1/3 of what it was last week. I also found my earbuds, a lost glove, a couple pens and pencils, several screws, a pair of dollar store reading glasses, and a “new” pair of needle nose and pliers I bought about three years ago and used once or twice. They had bright orange handles, which I liked, so I wouldn’t lose them……

Test drive up to the cute little brunette’s house later today.

And go and vote, it matters.

HOLY CRAP does this thing shift different! I don’t know if I was clear, that when I went to compare the bushings and such, the old ones were just gone, no doubt chewed up by the transmission.

The motion in the stick shift is probably 1/3 what it used to be, and it’s almost as tight, as I change gears, tight as a prom queen’s….

Skip that one, but it’s shifting in and out of the gears like a new truck, but it is a little stiff. No worries on that.

TRS should pound the benefits of changing those bushings, with as little time and minimal effort it takes!

And I’m with the cute little brunette now. She doesn’t seem as interested as I thought she would be…

 

[scotts90ranger]

Went on the evening "hunt" with the '00 Explorer this time, good thing as it barely started so good time to charge up the battery... stupid battery drain... gotta look into that...

While screwing around doing stuff earlier I also pulled the diff speed sensor from the '97 Ranger and wiped the metal flakes off it, will see tomorrow if that gets the ABS light to go out... wasn't much so don't have my hopes too high...

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

I finally put the driver side tie rod end on the Missing Linc. It fits a lot better than the passenger side end I ordered by accident. It was only a couple dollars more to get the pair, so now the ones on the truck are in good shape, and I have two spare passenger side ends. That’s how you build a shed of miracles. It was also running a little rough with a high idle, but that was just a vacuum line that had come loose.

Driving at night was becoming an issue because I still had the 1980s 4 x 6 square headlights in it. Someone told me since they are filament bulbs, the filament just burns off over time. and they get dimmer. I was thinking it was something with the wiring. I got a 4-pack of high low LED headlights for about 30 bucks and I put them in.

View attachment 149428

HOLY CRAP those things are bright!!! Of course all you guys east of the Mississippi probably knew that from when I turned it on a couple days ago. But I don’t like the way they look in the Lincoln grille, so I’m already planning on getting the glass housings, and converting them to the bulbs like the F250 users.

I’ve had a hard time adjusting them, until I realized that those LED lights don’t sit in the stainless bezel flush. It seems like three corners drop down, but one corner doesn’t drop down, so all four are pointing in different directions. I fiddled with it, but I’m going to have to take them apart and probably grind down those stainless bezels a little bit. The problem with that is the way I did that Lincoln grille, you have to take the Lincoln grill apart to get at them. So I’ll probably order the glass housings without the bulbs, and then round up some bulbs and sockets from the scrapyard. Project for another day.

The weather has finally broken down here, so I can ride around in that jewel with the windows down in comfort. Lincoln’s favorite. I hope to get the new air-conditioning parts in over the winter, so it’s cold next summer. Another project for another day.

But it’s running better than ever, and I can actually see where I’m going now.

I don't know how long you will be using those headlights, but I recommend either spraying a UV clear over them or getting some kind of UV resistant paint protection film and applying it to them. The reason I say that is because I've seen far too many of them yellowed, and very quickly.

 

[Rick W]

I don't know how long you will be using those headlights, but I recommend either spraying a UV clear over them or getting some kind of UV resistant paint protection film and applying it to them. The reason I say that is because I've seen far too many of them yellowed, and very quickly.

Thanks, but I’ve already decided to replace them, I don’t like the way they look with my Lincoln grill and headlights up there. The pattern of the LED reflectors in the new lights is very sparkly, and totally wiped out the effect of the quad lights and waterfall grill.

Right now I’m adding a crown to the Lincoln Grill that will actually mount to the hood. You can buy old looking glass lights without a bulb that use the new LED bulbs, so that’s the way I’m heading, but it’s a low priority now that I can see.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

Right now I’m adding a crown to the Lincoln Grill that will actually mount to the hood.

That's going to look great, I think. I'm looking forward to seeing it.