1998 Ranger XLT 4x4

[DannyG]

That is the reason I traded my 87' for the 92'. It was a never ending problem to keep it running, and never having the time or money to fix it or have someone else fix it.

And you might have a cracked boot, that would be my guess anyways.

 

[MountainMike]

So I got the truck back from Ford. Looks like the PVH hubs are done. Apparently the genius before me plugged the lines. The service guy was telling me how the truck was behaving and doing in the 4x4 tests. I looked at him and I said "So manual hubs would fix all this" as my t-case is all good. He said "Yep" as he laughed. The other service guy said "Oh yeah, go manual, cheaper and way better that the ones Ford put on there". This is why I like the dealership in my town and they will keep getting my business if I need it. They booked another apointment to get the GEM Module scanned so they know everything else is good for the manual hubs.

I am looking at either the Warn hubs or the AVM's. I am not sure if you can get the Warn's in Canada but what are your opinions on both. Thanks, Mike.

 

[MountainMike]

Oh yeah I forgot to add, they did the Cruise Control wiring harness recall on my truck while it was in the shop. No crispy Ranger for me! I guess it pays to bring the truck in to the dealer every once and a while.

 

[MountainMike]

Well I finally got a Cardomain
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3371993

 

[dontendupzero]

Like the truck man

 

[MountainMike]

Like the truck man

Thanks, yours looks like it is going to ed up pretty slick too. Tomorrow morning I am ordering a set of AVM manual hubs. I'm looking forward to wheeling again.

 

[MountainMike]

I ordered the hubs this morning! A worth while upgrade in my books. Got them from Baseline4x4, great place to deal with.

 

[MountainMike]

My AVM hubs came today. I'll ost up some pics later tonight. What are everyone thoughts on these hubs? and what do I do with my old vacuum lines?

 

[Toms01PSD]

Most guys plug the lines.

 

[MountainMike]

A little update...

You all know that last week I went down to Ford and they diagnosed the hubs were gone and the truck was giving the 4x4 error codes on the dash. So they booked me in for another apointment today. One of the mechanics gets in my truck and I'm working away in parts and he calls me over. The stupid thing started working just fine. It shifted a little slow into 4x4 but not abnormally. We took it into the gravel puddley lot and he whipped it around getting all four wheels to spin and it to hop at full steering lock. So I'm confused and I head home for lunch. Driving home I decide to try shifting it on the fly, like it is supposed to do. I am driving along at around 50 kph, flick the switch and KA-BLAM!!!!! I hear the loudest noise and it felt like I ran over a tree. All of a sudden I have no power down to the wheels. Sure I was on pavement but in a dead-straight line. Did it shove itself into a neutral position or what? I pull over, put the t-case in 4 HI, then back into 2WD and the stupid thing acts normal. No grinding or other weird noises except for the normal clunk comming from the driveshaft (I think my pinion yoke on the shaft and axle is going). This thing has given me almost more trouble than it's worth. I bought a set of AVM hubs which I am going to put on anyways just because.

And I founds out some steering seals are blown and it is a whole unit piece. I really can't afford a new power steering rack so the mechanic said to put some trans stop leak in to see if it helps for now. The dealership was good but man am I starting to hate (maybe that's a little strong... dislike) my truck. Which is not good.

 

[MountainMike]

Going to post some pics in a bit, one of a mudding session I had last week. (With my truck stuck in 2WD no less). And some from today, I brought the truck into the body shop at work and got some very nice help (well mostly it was done for me, help states I did more than half the work but the person I was working with is just way too nice) getting the poor stripe and the Canadian Tire spiderweb thing off and a new pinstripe put on.

 

[MountainMike]

Here are the puddle jumping pics.

I, of course, was cruising in the Ranger.

While my buddy was driving this

Here are the pics, in no particular order. I took some detail shots, trying to be artsy

The mud just ends in a line on the tail light, check back later to see the truck with no web!

After the post mud debrief, buddy's car wasn't running to good.

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

thats one dirty muddy nice truck looking nice, and wtf was that mirage doing?? that aint evolution
i buffed my rims today, check my rims thread

 

[MountainMike]

And the beauty shots from today

As anybody that has checked out my pics knows, this truck had an assload (well 5 or 6) dumb/ugly stickers on it. So I went into the bodyshop and removed them. The only issue was my bedside and cab has been bondo'd so the paint starting to come off, but a little touch up paint later and no problem.

Check it out, it think it looks WAAAAY better

All spiffed up as soon as I get home

Finally, a proper license plate! Not that stupid flying raven it had before

Nice clean, decal removed tailgate. The scrape will be dealt with promptly. Probably a tailgate cap or something.

4x4 badge is off a Jeep Cherokee mud bogger I helped build as a final ever school shop project way back when.

The whole thing from the side, looks a lot better with out the Mining decal on the other side above 'Ranger' too.

The little detail at the front of the line, looks much better than just a simple cut. I really happy with this stripe job

 

[Duke]

The truck is looking great! I like it better without all the stickers, especially the spider man ones. Who puts that on a truck?
If you like to play in the mud you are gonna have to keep wrenching on your toy and it will cost a lot of money. It's a good thing you can do quite a bit yourself though. Keep up the good work.