'97 XLT 4x4 125k miles

[sgtsandman]

The rubber flaps are probably going to be a junk yard or make your own type item. My 2011 has them. I can’t remember if the 1998 had them or not (I think it did).

Though a different bed design, my 2019 does not and the gap is noticeable. I intend to remedy that at some point. Just to help keep the road dust out.

As far as the bed, the floor and the side panels are separate but are spot welded and sealed together. They are not a bolt and unbolt project.

 

[sgtsandman]

Recovery hooks. If there is a provision for them, they will be in the frame horns and probably the bumper mounts. The bolt straight through the frame but I’ve never had mine off or installed any. So, other than there being two bolts, I can’t help much more on that.

A bed liner made for Ford Rangers should drop right in. The outer bed sides changed from a flat profile, front to back to a tapered one. I think in 1993. So and over the rail style would be more specific than an under the rail design. Since you have rail caps already, you probably would be more interested in the under the rail style. From everything I’ve read, the interior of the bed, other than the mounting hardware count, is the same. Verify before you buy but any under the rail liner should work.

 

[James Morse]

The trans tag - little hard to read but I think this is right:
6359F R
3L78 88 7E21

 

[fastpakr]

3.73 limited slip, 8.8".

 

[Shran]

If you decide to wait on the hub conversion it would be worth your while to pull the auto hubs off and look inside - if they are packed full of grease, you will have problems. Best at that point to disassemble them, clean the grease off of everything and reassemble with just a light coating of ATF or engine oil. That includes the wheel bearing nut assembly too... that should not be packed with grease either. Just a light bit of grease or oil. Being packed full of grease is the #1 reason people have problems with them.

 

[Josh B]

@Josh B You were saying the hubs aren't electric, (which answers my question wouldn't I have wiring) but the forward movement of the drive shaft engages the hubs. If I got that right.
So then it makes sense that my manual says when I turn off 4x4 I need to back up in a straight line 10' or more that will dis-engage the hubs. Right?
They call them "Automatic" (says on the hub) but really, it's not totally auto.
I don't know if I would want to switch to manual transfer case I can see it's more reliable but how often are you in a situation where the electronics fails for the dash switch?
Realizing that when you go from highway driving to off road you are basically asking things to break because it's more stress on things than usual.

Absolutely James, my sentiments entirely, and for the same reason I would never attempt to convince someone they should use manual. There are still some die hards, and I see their side as well, but I will not oft be on Devil's Backbone or whatever their preferred mountaintop may be.
The very first time someone slips in the snow and uses that button to engage 4X they will either be convinced, or a true die-hard manual enthusiast

 

[Josh B]

@Josh B You were saying the hubs aren't electric, (which answers my question wouldn't I have wiring) but the forward movement of the drive shaft engages the hubs. If I got that right.
So then it makes sense that my manual says when I turn off 4x4 I need to back up in a straight line 10' or more that will dis-engage the hubs. Right?
They call them "Automatic" (says on the hub) but really, it's not totally auto.
I don't know if I would want to switch to manual transfer case I can see it's more reliable but how often are you in a situation where the electronics fails for the dash switch?
Realizing that when you go from highway driving to off road you are basically asking things to break because it's more stress on things than usual.

You don't switch the transfer case, only the electric or manual switching aperatus

And yes, back up to disengage etc, I can hear mine well enough, they usually click out in less than ten

 

[James Morse]

Well you COULD make the transfer case manual, right? I mean it's a diff thing I realize.

Thanks Josh I see what you mean, if they work you didn't have to get out in the snow, if they don't work, you'd probably never want them again.

Thanks Shran I am wondering if they did wheel bearings would they have had to mess with what you are talking about and if they did then is it right. But I suspect they will have packed it. That's interesting but I see your point, if the only thing they have to do is turn a small distance sometimes then there's no reason for grease packing it would just impede things. I'll have to check that.

Thanks fastpakr. So 8.8 is about the beefiest I'd get w/out custom, right?
3.73 seems fine, 4.10 wasn't offered in that package and going the other direction to me would be wrong.

Went for short drive, Vicky liked it. Seats are like velour, you don't slide around in them. I floored it and got to 50 in about 5 seconds. Or so, I mean, it's not a sports car, but let's say you're going up an on ramp and trucks are coming it's nice to know you have a little pep. Brakes are awesome. Steering is tight. She said it rides way nicer than the B3. That's probably the 60k miles diff. Plus the XLT was a way better model. Tires don't seem to really make it much noisier; that's not a terribly aggressive treat on the RTX's.

Had coolant leak after I got home. There's a back story: at the dealer I saw coolant, I showed them. Here's their story. Somebody tried the truck before me. On the test drive the heater valve (the one in the engine bay) broke and it sprayed coolant all over the engine. There's a U-shaped crossmember (this is where you see it dripping out) and they kept saying not all the old coolant that sprayed out was out of there yet so it was just moving around. I said the side of the radiator seemed wet (I'm not seeing that now... yet). We went back and forth on that for a while finally I said you know what if the radiator is shot it doesn't look that hard to pull it so if I don't see tons of it coming out let's forget it for now.

I'd say about maybe 1/2 oz total I saw - drips. I'm going to try to see where it's coming from, that I haven't determined. I don't see the coolant level going down at any noticeable rate.
There was a coolant jug in the cargo box. That might tell me something.
Anyway where do leaks come from (assuming this is not old coolant) - hose connections, radiator itself, what else? Head gasket? That'd be bad - but there would be other symptoms I suspect. I bet it's something simple. It can't be a huge hole or the stuff would be spraying out of there at temp. So I'm kind of chasing that first because there should be zero coolant coming out it unless it was overfilled and it vented some.

Here's a couple pics - not horrible for 25 years old! Wiped some of the bugs off the chrome otherwise didn't even wash it yet.

 

[James Morse]

@sgtsandman what is frame horns?
Seems like wherever they go they have to be pretty low or it would tear off the lower shield even pulling level.
Bumper mounts I should be able to find. Sorry I just don't know all the parts yet.

 

[James Morse]

What I wish I had also on the disc changer is the user manual to determine what is "DJ" that's what it says I looked at it again and the little led's definitely says that.
I have to think that since it was a factory option they would have given people a little booklet or something that talks about how to load the discs and all that. My other half insists they have to go in label-down because her '02 Lexus does that but to me that makes no sense at all. I tried both ways it doesn't matter. I can't believe they would just put it in and assume, people will figure it out.
The manual should tell me how to get it unbolted from the truck and techs would want it for all the diags. I guess I was thinking I could get it to work. Like, if it's a disconnected cable or something stupid like that. If "DJ" means "I'm communicating with the changer, and it's not working" then I'd know it's probably not a connection problem. You can hear the thing moving the heads around and you can hear it parking the heads (I assume) about 30 seconds after you power-off. So it's at least got power and is trying to work but it's somehow bolloxed.

 

[sgtsandman]

@sgtsandman what is frame horns?
Seems like wherever they go they have to be pretty low or it would tear off the lower shield even pulling level.
Bumper mounts I should be able to find. Sorry I just don't know all the parts yet.

The frame horns is the portion of the frame where the bumper brackets attach.

My recovery loops are attached so they poke through the center hole in the bumper. There isn't a lot of clearance but there shouldn't be much strap movement at that point either.

They are located on either side of the license plate bracket in these pictures.

The bumper on the 1998 model is more similar to the 1997. The loops or hooks would be mounted about similarly as the 2011. The lower valence got ripped off due to damage done to it. It hung down about the same as the 2011. If I remember correctly, the valence on the 4X4 models don't reach down so far.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Heater core… thats another place coolant can leak. Often it makes the passenger floor wet, but it can leak out the drain hole and under the truck. The good news is it’s not overly hard to change.

Really easy to lift the TTB front an inch or two and easy to lift the rear too. Extended control arms in the front would be good but not absolutely needed.

 

[James Morse]

But heater core seems like it wouldn't work its way all the way to the front. Not seeing or smelling any coolant in cabin or in engine bay so I'm not saying it's impossible but doesn't seem like it.

That's great, about the lift, do you think it affects the drivability much? Would you be going to a 31" tire then? Or maybe 255/70 or something? Not a whole lot of diff I guess between those.

Thanks for more info on the tow hooks I see what you are talking about there. I'll have to look better in daylight but either side of the license plate is that big slot so if they line up with that it'd be good to go and look stock.

In '97 you could get tubular rear bumper and you could get roll bar with lights. Probably not on XLT, but, on other models. I think the roll bar would be nice, do you think that's possible to get or to do without a lot of custom welding? I mean, like old OEM stock sitting around that is bolt-in, something like that.

As to the graphics if I did put one on the fender it would be this one below but here's the thing the truck is bright red and the decal colors are shades either side of that so I don't know if that's the right amount of subtlety or too much invisibility. What do you think? It's the right decal, comparing to the brochure, just not sure it's what they would have used for colors.
New OEM 1997 Ford Ranger STX "4x4" Right Side Stripe Decal F77Z1020000DAC | eBay

You can see the decal and the bumper and roll bar/lights in this brochure: think it's from TRS

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

It may not be the heater core, but I was just throwing that out there since I didn’t see it in your list of possible places for coolant leaks.

I don’t really think a 2” lift really affects drive ability, as someone once said long ago, it’s a Ford, not a Ferrari. My first Ranger I ran 235/75/15 tires which are the same as 30x9.50x15, which is what I ran on my 92. My green 00 I put 31x10.50x15 on.

It is also is relatively cheap to lift it more, but you would want deeper gears for that.

 

[Josh B]

My 93 had an am/FM/ Cassette in the dash, and a 10 Disc Pioneer CD changer in the floor under the driver side rear flip up seat, and a remote changer cable and keypad coming from under the dash to rest in a lower front console pocket. It was ok till it somehow failed to release a cd and I never got it going again, eventually removed it all while working in the dash for some reason.
The previous owner always had their work done by decent shops ( I received the entire 12 years maintenance record file at purchase ) and the changer and remote control were seemingly done well, but the wiring under the hood to a hot and ground appeared to be done by a junior high dropout