James86
New Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2009
- Messages
- 889
- Reaction score
- 10
- Points
- 0
- Location
- 55381, Minnesota
- Vehicle Year
-
1999,
2012,
- Make / Model
-
Ford,
Ford,
- Engine Size
- 3.0 Flex Fuel, 2.5L, 3.3 Flex Fuel
- Transmission
- Automatic
- My credo
- WHY DO I KEEP BUYING DODGES?!?!?
I've had my truck for a while and done a few things, so figured, what the hell, I'll start some sort of a build/change thread, just to remind myself I couldn't leave the damned thing alone. If I hear any suggestions of what else to do, I'll probably at least consider them (isn't that the point of this forum?). Haven't done much, but I like it as much now as ever.
Bought in 2005 with 78,000 miles on it. 3.0 FFV 4x4 XLT. Kinda wish it had the rear cab doors, but that's not much of an issue if you're in the driver's seat lol.
When I bought it:
I liked the alloys on it since I've only seen two other Rangers with them - although countless Mountaineers - in my area. The damn things leaked air like crazy and were pretty badly pitted under the lamination:
How/why the clearcoat/laminate allowed corrosion to spread so badly beneath it is beyond me, but I decided to change the look a bit and go with steel wheels. I always liked the older style RBV wheels, so I snagged a set of four and sandblasted them so I could repaint them gloss black. While they were off, I fitted new tires on them since the Wrangler Radials seem to wear out like pencil erasers on me and I figured it was worth trying a different tire.
I really like the Uniroyal Liberators compared to the stock tire, and they seem a LOT better in the rain.
Original Goodyear Wrangler Radial on left, Uniroyal Liberator on right:
After mounting them:
Usually I have the topper off, but even with it on, my truck seemed kinda jacked in the back, so I finally had the T-Bars cranked to level it somewhat. I will mention it's not a bad idea to get new camber bolts as the camber will be thrown off, plus it finally helped me get rid of that funny "Ranger lean" I've heard mentioned. With the bed empty and no topper, I had a 4" difference between the front and back
Now it sits with the back 1" higher with my toolbox and shit in the bed.
As for other mods, I did a 2.5" cat back with a Flowmaster 40 muffler.
It doesn't sound too bad either in my opinion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWiynDOfHW
(edit: can't get embed to work)
The other minor mods I did were to remove the air horn looking thing in front of the airbox, then port and polish the MAF housing: (A better explanation is given here: http://rogueperformance.com/ModifiedMAF.html )
The only other thing I touched on the intake was the tube itself. I thought it looked better and was smoother flowing than the rubber one.
After three years, the intake kit is still holding together fine, there are no leaks, I can still use an OEM style filter, and my upper is even fairly clean when I popped off the throttle body to clean the IAC, compared to when other friends took the TB's off their 3.0's:
It's been pretty much to that point for tha last 3 years. I've run only E85 thru the engine since I bought it due to the ease of finding E85, and the price difference vs. fuel economy difference (Last fill up was $2.68/gallon for E85 at the local Cenex, while regular 87 was $3.58 around town). Only other change I don't have pictured is replacing the stock alternator for a larger 135amp for an Explorer.
Let me know what you think (here we go....)!
Bought in 2005 with 78,000 miles on it. 3.0 FFV 4x4 XLT. Kinda wish it had the rear cab doors, but that's not much of an issue if you're in the driver's seat lol.
When I bought it:
I liked the alloys on it since I've only seen two other Rangers with them - although countless Mountaineers - in my area. The damn things leaked air like crazy and were pretty badly pitted under the lamination:
How/why the clearcoat/laminate allowed corrosion to spread so badly beneath it is beyond me, but I decided to change the look a bit and go with steel wheels. I always liked the older style RBV wheels, so I snagged a set of four and sandblasted them so I could repaint them gloss black. While they were off, I fitted new tires on them since the Wrangler Radials seem to wear out like pencil erasers on me and I figured it was worth trying a different tire.
I really like the Uniroyal Liberators compared to the stock tire, and they seem a LOT better in the rain.
Original Goodyear Wrangler Radial on left, Uniroyal Liberator on right:
After mounting them:
Usually I have the topper off, but even with it on, my truck seemed kinda jacked in the back, so I finally had the T-Bars cranked to level it somewhat. I will mention it's not a bad idea to get new camber bolts as the camber will be thrown off, plus it finally helped me get rid of that funny "Ranger lean" I've heard mentioned. With the bed empty and no topper, I had a 4" difference between the front and back
Now it sits with the back 1" higher with my toolbox and shit in the bed.
As for other mods, I did a 2.5" cat back with a Flowmaster 40 muffler.
It doesn't sound too bad either in my opinion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWiynDOfHW
(edit: can't get embed to work)
The other minor mods I did were to remove the air horn looking thing in front of the airbox, then port and polish the MAF housing: (A better explanation is given here: http://rogueperformance.com/ModifiedMAF.html )
The only other thing I touched on the intake was the tube itself. I thought it looked better and was smoother flowing than the rubber one.
After three years, the intake kit is still holding together fine, there are no leaks, I can still use an OEM style filter, and my upper is even fairly clean when I popped off the throttle body to clean the IAC, compared to when other friends took the TB's off their 3.0's:
It's been pretty much to that point for tha last 3 years. I've run only E85 thru the engine since I bought it due to the ease of finding E85, and the price difference vs. fuel economy difference (Last fill up was $2.68/gallon for E85 at the local Cenex, while regular 87 was $3.58 around town). Only other change I don't have pictured is replacing the stock alternator for a larger 135amp for an Explorer.
Let me know what you think (here we go....)!
Last edited: