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NEW 4WDs VS OLD 4WDs - Ronny Dahl


rusty ol ranger

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177 CID
Transmission
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My credo
A legend to the old man, a hero to the child...


Blmpkn

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sgtsandman

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Pre-2008 lift/Stock
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31X10.5R15/265/65R17

rusty ol ranger

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1987
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Engine Type
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Engine Size
177 CID
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
My credo
A legend to the old man, a hero to the child...
I used to look at it as, if you didn't break anything you didn't have much fun.
A good wheeling trip youll talk about for a few days after youre home

A "bad" wheeling trip, where you were trying to get back to the trailhead thats 20 miles away, over nasty terrain, with a busted front knuckle, no power steering, and a major radiator leak all while trying to beat a massive storm....youll still talk to your buddies about around a campfire 15 years later
 

85_Ranger4x4

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A good wheeling trip youll talk about for a few days after youre home

A "bad" wheeling trip, where you were trying to get back to the trailhead thats 20 miles away, over nasty terrain, with a busted front knuckle, no power steering, and a major radiator leak all while trying to beat a massive storm....youll still talk to your buddies about around a campfire 15 years later
And just like that Rusty is one of those Jeep things nobody understands...
 

rusty ol ranger

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Vehicle Year
1987
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Type
2.9 V6
Engine Size
177 CID
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
My credo
A legend to the old man, a hero to the child...

85_Ranger4x4

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superj

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corpus christi, texas
Vehicle Year
2004
Make / Model
ranger edge
Engine Type
3.0 V6
Engine Size
3 liters of tire smoking power
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Total Lift
none
Total Drop
none
Tire Size
235s
My credo
Grew up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s
No they aren't, those are the last of the good straight axle non Wrangler Jeeps but certainly weren't the best. The 91-99 Jeep XJ was the best platform.

87-99 were all good. prior to 87 it had the carb'd chevy v6 which no one seemed to like. but 87-90 still had hte 4.0, though with the other fuel injection that most people didn't know how to trouble shoot. it was easy with a multimeter and an oversized throttle body made a world of difference on the renault/bendix fuel injection. i put 31s on my 87 and it was a dog with the 3.55 stock gears but once i put an over sized throttle body, i never thought of regearing again.

the older cherokees also had the high pinion diffs so vibes were less of an issue.

here is my 87 cherokee. sorry about photobucket deal on it.

1683912508231.png
 

rusty ol ranger

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Vehicle Year
1987
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Type
2.9 V6
Engine Size
177 CID
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
My credo
A legend to the old man, a hero to the child...
We have evolved passed that, you are obviously a throwback and probably have cooked food over an open fire
We have microwaves now, live in houses and cut down trees, i.e. we are evolved passed the caveman stage
:)

Camping is when Room Service stops at 9PM
I thought all canadians lived like lumberjacks?

Campfires, flannel, syrup and that weird thick beer.
 

00t444e

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Southern OH
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2003
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Ranger ext cab
Engine Type
4.0 V6
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
4WD
87-99 were all good. prior to 87 it had the carb'd chevy v6 which no one seemed to like. but 87-90 still had hte 4.0, though with the other fuel injection that most people didn't know how to trouble shoot. it was easy with a multimeter and an oversized throttle body made a world of difference on the renault/bendix fuel injection. i put 31s on my 87 and it was a dog with the 3.55 stock gears but once i put an over sized throttle body, i never thought of regearing again.

the older cherokees also had the high pinion diffs so vibes were less of an issue.

here is my 87 cherokee. sorry about photobucket deal on it.
91-99 had the High Output 4.0 and high pinion non CAD Dana 30. 87-90 had the Renix 4.0 with the Dana 30 with the junk vacuim disconnect. 00-01 had the 4.0 with the coil rail, 331 head that was prone to cracking and a weaker low pinion Dana 30.
 

superj

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2004
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ranger edge
Engine Type
3.0 V6
Engine Size
3 liters of tire smoking power
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Total Lift
none
Total Drop
none
Tire Size
235s
My credo
Grew up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s
That crappy vacuum disconnect was on my 87 wrangler too. I replaced all the lines eith rubber line and never had another problem

This is the 87 yj

1684013864860.png
 

Josh B

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4WD
In sand you need model T tires.

Part of my father's family lived in East Texas and I would go there school holidays and hunt deer. One of dad's uncles lived in the country there on old HWY 75 and I would get off the Greyhound right in front of his place.

He could remember coming there by wagon in the 1890s. They first went to Austin, then settled in Freestone County.

The earliest dallas to Houston route was a lot of dirt, and a lot of sand, even as parts of it were being improved, or even paved. When I was going there during the 60s they were doing the same with the interstate a couple miles over.

Big heavy Buicks and their big wide tires could not do well in the deep sand, so the old Model A and T's would come by sooner or later and pull them out
 

85_Ranger4x4

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In sand you need model T tires.

Part of my father's family lived in East Texas and I would go there school holidays and hunt deer. One of dad's uncles lived in the country there on old HWY 75 and I would get off the Greyhound right in front of his place.

He could remember coming there by wagon in the 1890s. They first went to Austin, then settled in Freestone County.

The earliest dallas to Houston route was a lot of dirt, and a lot of sand, even as parts of it were being improved, or even paved. When I was going there during the 60s they were doing the same with the interstate a couple miles over.

Big heavy Buicks and their big wide tires could not do well in the deep sand, so the old Model A and T's would come by sooner or later and pull them out
Even with the pizza cutters the old Ford's probably still had less ground pressure than a big ol' boat with floaters.

Generally you want to float though, if you are really in sand there is nothing to dig down to (which I kinda feel is a hype most of the time anyway)

However larger diameter gets a bigger foot print than a wider one, and it grows dramatically faster as the tire is aired down.
 

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