Any major updates in the 89 facelift?

[Nickel_Plated]

I'm searching for a Ranger to buy as a daily driver.
Trying to hunt down a clean 4cyl, manual, extended cab, RWD. Just a simple, fuel efficient commuter that can do some light hauling when needed. I REALLY prefer the 1st gen square bodies.

Been mostly limiting myself to 89-92 just to have all the latest updates to the motor, interior and electronics that were available in the 1st gen. But that configuration seems pretty tough to find. Even if you're willing to deal with a rustbucket. (Which I'm really kinda not. Rust is pretty much a dealbreaker for me.) Never mind a clean one. And I live in PA so I'm willing to travel far out of the rust-belt for a clean one. Been searching Craigslist and FB Marketplace through Autotempest in the entire lower 48. If I gotta take a crosscountry roadtrip to get the truck I want, so be it. Sounds fun. But pickings are still pretty slim. Lots of V6 4x4s and standard cabs.

But would I really be missing much if I went back to 85 or so? Just to expand the list of possible candidates. I think 85 is when they started doing EFI on the 2.3l. I do prefer the 83-88 front end. Part of the plan if I got the 89-92 was to swap to the earlier front end eventually, as time and money permitted. So that would be some work saved. But then I would want to swap the dash and door insides to the later ones if I got a pre-89. Same amount of hassle either way I suppose. Pick your poison. But doing sheetmetal seems somewhat simpler than a dashboard with all the electronics and wiring associated with it. To me and my skillset atleast. Electrical stuff isn't really my strong point. Might as well be voodoo magic as far as I'm concerned.

TLDR: Any major changes between 85-88 and 89-92 besides front sheetmetal and interior doors/dash?

 

[RobbieD]

If I recall off the top of my head, it was in 1989 the 2.3 changed to the 8 plug head, roller cam, and DIS ignition.

I like the 2.3; it's a good motor. And a clean base model early Ranger is a nice truck.

I'm not sure what year the 2.3 changed from square-tooth to rounded-tooth timing belt, but the the rounded is much better. I think that the recommended change interval went from 30,000 to 100,000 miles with the rounded.

If it were me, I would be tempted to find a nice second generation ('89-'92), with the more improved 2.3 and the updated interior, and then back-date the front sheet metal to get that classic first generation look.

Good luck on reaching your goal.

 

[ZMan]

in a nutshell, 89-92 has more in common with the 93-94 than 83-88. I could do a lot of explaining, but there is a lot more different than just the front sheet metal, I mean the doors aren't even the same.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Engine wise EFI was added in '85, anything carbureted after that is likely a 2.0L which was an option til '88 in US and '89 in Canada. In '88 it went to smaller crank journals and roller cam. I think '88 was when they went with the standard rectangle pleated filter for everything. '85-89 fuel injection was basically identical, same sensors and stuff aside from the crank sensor used for ignition, the only downside of the '85-88 as opposed to the newer is the TFI distributors, you never know if they are going to give out, could be fine could conk out, don't know, never ran one...

I think '87 or '88 was the first year of the M5OD transmission, if anything that might be what I would look for...

The round tooth timing belt came in in '92, all the parts are swappable to that just takes the 3 pulleys... it was 60k recommended for the square tooth belts and 100k for the round, not a huge deal to do yourself...

For what you want I wouldn't be afraid of a EFI '85 up assuming everything else looks fine...

 

[JoshT]

These guys got you squared away pretty well on the drivetrain.

The suspension also went through some changes for the 89 model year. Primarily the ball joints were relocated from the I beam to the steering knuckle. With the 89+ style beams you also have the option of bolting on the knuckles from a 95-97 ranger and installing dual piston calipers from those models for a small braking upgrade.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yeah, there’s a bit of debate, but there are enough changes, IMHO, to warrant calling 83-88 first gen and 89-92 second gen. The wiring harnesses changed, especially on the drivers side it went from multiple small plugs to one large plug to go through the firewall. That change made a swap to a different motor easier, less wiring that needs spliced. Interesting enough, the dash stayed the same into third gen (93-97) but changed to the newer style dash around 95. Arguably, the 4th gen (98-00) had the least amount of changes compared to the 01-11 (5th gen), the fenders were actually the same and only minor changes to the grill area and interior happened.

That said, the front clip swap between the second gen and first gen has been done and I was looking at doing it for awhile on my choptop.

 

[Nickel_Plated]

So seems I might really be better off just picking up an 89-92 and working from there. With an 87 or 88 as a possible fall-back if I really can't find anything soon. My previous car got totaled in an accident about a month ago. And I've been having to make a pretty long commute on my motorcycle since then. With fall really kicking-in that's becoming less and less doable, so I need to really find something.

in a nutshell, 89-92 has more in common with the 93-94 than 83-88. I could do a lot of explaining, but there is a lot more different than just the front sheet metal, I mean the doors aren't even the same.

I have read that swapping the front end from an 89-92 to an earlier one is not a simple matter of bolting on older fenders, hood, and grill. But I'll figure all that out later on. I don't hate the 89-92 face, so worst-case, I'll learn to love it eventually.

Good news though, it seems you get alot more results on FB Marketplace if you search on your phone instead of on a desktop. So i'm seeing ALOT more options now. Just waiting on some money to come in now so I can jump on one of them.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So seems I might really be better off just picking up an 89-92 and working from there. With an 87 or 88 as a possible fall-back if I really can't find anything soon. My previous car got totaled in an accident about a month ago. And I've been having to make a pretty long commute on my motorcycle since then. With fall really kicking-in that's becoming less and less doable, so I need to really find something.



I have read that swapping the front end from an 89-92 to an earlier one is not a simple matter of bolting on older fenders, hood, and grill. But I'll figure all that out later on. I don't hate the 89-92 face, so worst-case, I'll learn to love it eventually.

Good news though, it seems you get alot more results on FB Marketplace if you search on your phone instead of on a desktop. So i'm seeing ALOT more options now. Just waiting on some money to come in now so I can jump on one of them.

So, to do the swap, you need to do radiator/core support, hood, fenders, grill, bumper, stone guard (under the grill), headlights, marker lights, and that should about cover it. The issue with the front bumper is the frame rail ends changed. That’s probably going to be your biggest challenge to the swap

 

[rusty ol ranger]

83-88's had better looking and less cheap feeling interiors then the 89-92's....

Granted thats subjective...but still.

 

[RobbieD]

83-88's had better looking and less cheap feeling interiors then the 89-92's....

Granted thats subjective...but still.

I like both of the first and second designs interior designs. The first design is "old school" enough to feel like the '60s and '70s cars I've owned, and the second design is just "modern" enough to suite my old dinosaur ass.

I really don't care at all for what cars have now, in instrumentation and controls, and I especially despise in-dash touch-screens. But, that's just me; to each his own.

 

[scotts90ranger]

And that there is why I bought a '97 for a daily driver... sure I like the '89-94 dash way better (I swear it's 6" more legroom with the older dash...) but with the 4 years of driving the '00 Explorer it grew on me some. I have no desire for all the electronic junk on new cars, the '97 doesn't even have PATS...

I thought long and hard, kinda wanted a '92 for the front end and dash but '95-97 has more power, and I found a '97 for dirt cheap...

Swapping I beams is nothing though if the front suspension stuff is part of your reasoning... there's literally like 6 fasteners per side (pivot bolt, radius arm nut, sway bar bolt, shock nut, brake banjo bolt and might have to loosen the spring nut) to change out a suspension beam including steering and brakes, I bought my '97 with a bent I beam (they pulled it out of a ditch using an I beam with a chain...), went to the junkyard, got a complete I beam, seat and door for like $150 and started driving it... then sold the door that I pulled off for $30 (what I paid for the replacement, couldn't have a white door on a burgandy truck) and have been driving it for almost 3 years and like 45k miles... have had to do brakes, timing belt, alternator and a clutch master cylinder so far but have saved like $3k or so in gas...

 

[rusty ol ranger]

And that there is why I bought a '97 for a daily driver... sure I like the '89-94 dash way better (I swear it's 6" more legroom with the older dash...) but with the 4 years of driving the '00 Explorer it grew on me some. I have no desire for all the electronic junk on new cars, the '97 doesn't even have PATS...

I thought long and hard, kinda wanted a '92 for the front end and dash but '95-97 has more power, and I found a '97 for dirt cheap...

Swapping I beams is nothing though if the front suspension stuff is part of your reasoning... there's literally like 6 fasteners per side (pivot bolt, radius arm nut, sway bar bolt, shock nut, brake banjo bolt and might have to loosen the spring nut) to change out a suspension beam including steering and brakes, I bought my '97 with a bent I beam (they pulled it out of a ditch using an I beam with a chain...), went to the junkyard, got a complete I beam, seat and door for like $150 and started driving it... then sold the door that I pulled off for $30 (what I paid for the replacement, couldn't have a white door on a burgandy truck) and have been driving it for almost 3 years and like 45k miles... have had to do brakes, timing belt, alternator and a clutch master cylinder so far but have saved like $3k or so in gas...

How the hell do you bend a beam?

Ive bent radius arms (including a fullsize E series one) but a beam? Even in an accident id think a smack hard enough to do that would render the truck junk

 

[Nickel_Plated]

So, to do the swap, you need to do radiator/core support, hood, fenders, grill, bumper, stone guard (under the grill), headlights, marker lights, and that should about cover it. The issue with the front bumper is the frame rail ends changed. That’s probably going to be your biggest challenge to the swap

Oh, well that just sounds like a pretty standard front clip swap. I imagine the bumper wouldn't be TOO complicated to figure out.

Though I read that the 83-85? Was different from the 86?-88 ( not exactly sure on the year of the changeover). Even though they look the same on the outside. Some panels aren't interchangeable?

Seems odd that Ford would make all these random changes on what is supposed to be a cheap economical truck. I would think you would avoid making any unnecessary changes just to keep the existing tooling and production lines that you already invested a ton of money into.

 

[RobbieD]

Ford invested a lot of care and money in developing the Ranger, as during the 1970s light imported trucks created a new market niche (same as GM also did with their S trucks). Then in following years they further invested in improving it, as it was a good seller.

So while it could be inexpensive (especially base models), and economical, the Ranger has been successful because it's a good small truck that sold well. And if they weren't making a profit on it, they wouldn't have improved it, or wouldn't even have kept making it.

I like to think of it as an "inexpensive", but not a "cheap" truck.

 

[scotts90ranger]

How the hell do you bend a beam?

Ive bent radius arms (including a fullsize E series one) but a beam? Even in an accident id think a smack hard enough to do that would render the truck junk

Step one, get the truck stuck in a ditch. Step two wrap a chain around the center of the drivers side beam (not by the coil spring like would make sense). Step 3 attach other end of the chain to a Dodge Ram and pull out of said ditch... I was wondering that too and asked to confirm when I picked it up with a trailer...

That pulled the center forward about 2", far enough that shortening the toe adjuster on that side wasn't enough to get it to be straight