New Member, Low Dollar Truck

[Dan German]

Hello all, I just picked up a beater Ranger for camping/kayaking. Don’t expect any cool build threads, ‘cuz this truck ain’t goin’ down that road. ’92 2WD 3.0 L (I wanted a 4 cylinder, but you can’t be picky AND cheap). It has my favourite stock rims, although they’re a) not too pretty and 2) 14” instead of 15”. Luckily, I work for a car dealer, and got a screaming deal on General Grabber A/TX 27x8.50s! I can already see that this site will be quite useful when the inevitable problems crop up, so thanks in advance! Here’s a couple of “before“ pics:

 

[Uncle Gump]

Looks like it's all there... take good care of it and it will be good to you.

Welcome to TRS...

 

[89Twincharge]

Love gen2 rangers!! my fave stock rims as well..I have 15s on rear and 14s up front!! Dont have to be a crazy build but if you purpose build(kayaking camping fishing,etc) still be nice to see what you do!! Welcome

 

[Dan German]

Love gen2 rangers!! my fave stock rims as well..I have 15s on rear and 14s up front!! Dont have to be a crazy build but if you purpose build(kayaking camping fishing,etc) still be nice to see what you do!! Welcome

Isn’t everything up to ‘92 1st Gen? Or does the facelift count? Either way, it’s my favourite look for the Ranger. For the record, I used to own my Ranger’s granddaddy:

 

[ericbphoto]

The face-lift counts. Gen 3 starts at 93 when things got all curvy and rounded.

 

[89Twincharge]

Isn’t everything up to ‘92 1st Gen? Or does the facelift count? Either way, it’s my favourite look for the Ranger. For the record, I used to own my Ranger’s granddaddy:

Yes facelift couts... I have a 2.3t swapped courier!!! I love minitrucks period!

 

[Dan German]

First update: new air filter, lubed the squeaky creaky clutch pedal, crossbars mounted, and (drum roll please)…

NEW TIRES!

Yeah, I know a lot of you guys are doing 3 and 4 inch lifts and the like, but this ain’t no 4x4, this ain’t no pre-runner. The Grabber A/Tx tires are 1” bigger diameter than stock 215/70 R14. That’s a whopping 1/2” lift! Maybe it’s just me, but this seems like the “correct” size for this truck in stock form. That little bit of extra sidewall corrects the “roller skate” look of the stock tires. And to think some came with 195s.

The truck drives much better than on the petrified old T/A Radials (although I did save the best one to replace the even older and worse spare). It was raining today, so I learned how much better they are in the wet, too. Enough extra grip that axle hop is more noticeable. I don’t care what you drive, quality tires make all the difference.

(Side note: I work at a car dealership. When I went to work to pick up my tires, they were stacked with all the modern tires, mostly for SUVs. Nothing in there smaller than 19”, and mostly 21-22”. Our parts guy referred to mine as “your adorable little tires.” A**h*le.)

 

[Shadowrider6661]

Welcome to the club.

 

[Dan German]

Side note to my side note:

When I ordered the tires from the distributor, he replied that I had “some kind of weird size going on there.”

Dude, you’re the one with 62 of them in your Canadian warehouse…

Edit: 58 of them. FTW.

 

[Dan German]

Crucial repair job #1: no blower fan action. Considering the rainy climate I live in, having actual air move across the actual windshield is probably a good thing. It doesn’t work on any speed, so probably a power or ground problem.

Fuse: Yup, it’s good.
Power to the fan: Yup, it’s good.
Fan ground: Yup, it’s good.

I have not seen very many blower motors quit working in my life. I’ve had them squeal, or grind, or start shaking the fan wheel, but “just not working” has always been an external problem. Pulled it out, jumpered it to the battery… nothing. Hmmm… wait a minute, it just started working! And stopped. And started! I tapped on the housing while it was not working, and it started working. After a bit, it worked all the time. Put it back in, and… it works! But only on high, and it quit working at all in a few minutes. So the answer is, BOTH the blower motor and the resistor block were bad! Good thing those are cheap. $75 CDN later, I have all the speeds!