Thinking out Loud about Old and new Rangers: Three Schools

[Saddle Tramp]

 

[Garth Libre]

Not long ago, I had a very interesting conversation with a friend who spent most of his career on the Ranger assembly line. He really enjoyed his work. After he retired, he spent his time restoring and selling Gen IIs. He's got a three car garage with a second floor, most of it packed with Ranger parts.

He said that there are three different schools of thought for Ranger owners. The first is the most common. That a truck is just another tool: hauls sod, works on the farm, carries lumber every day. These are worked hard, very hard: seldom washed, never waxed, repaired the cheapest fastest way, never with a second thought. I'll never forget the Rangers that work at a local Upull. Resurrected from junk, they are not much to look at, badly rusting out. One is made from a number of different color body panels which might even be taped or wired on. Say whatever you want, there is a certain beauty here. These trucks are survivors, not at all pampered. They still turn in a good day's work.

The second school is a rarer breed. These are men and women who implicitly understand that they are driving what has been (or will be) declared an antique. They are into restoration and preservation. They buy OEM or scour the yards looking for a still pristine, but dated, old part. My friend from the assembly line wasn't at all impressed when one day, I showed up with new aftermarket wheels and oversize tires. Then there was another occasion when I put on fender flares. "They should never go on a step side." he told me. If this is you, then watch the Sarah-n-Tune series on You Tube. You will love it, even find some inspiration there.

Rarer yet are those who ignore the purists, totally make theirs over, just because its fun. They cut and weld with no regard for looks in order to race the big Baja race. Maybe they lift them up impossibly high. And if this were not enough, they might even do a truxarosa build.

Personally I love each school of thought. They all have a special place in the great big Ranger dream, a dream we have all dreamed at one time or another. In time we make our trucks over, patch them up like a two bit prize fighter, and keep them working hard, even if just for another year or week. Or we dress them up, make them look like the very first day, that special day when they rolled off the dealer's lot. Maybe we get creative and crazy, the more outrageous the better, just because we can.

Which school of thought are you?

My school of thought is that a Ranger should meet the humble needs of the people I first saw driving these economical, low luxury runabouts. When I first got to California, a painter employed me to help him - he had a small Toyota pickup. My poor friend had a Courier. Two of my other friends had small pickups too. When I moved to Miami I saw these Rangers everywhere and humble, working stiffs had them. Now I see gas guzzling, mega buck trucks that look like they barely fit on the road - and most - have nothing in the bed! My Ranger is stock, clean, hard working and economical. I think we've become a nation of spoiled poseurs.

 

[JohnnyO]

My school of thought is that a Ranger should meet the humble needs of the people I first saw driving these economical, low luxury runabouts. When I first got to California, a painter employed me to help him - he had a small Toyota pickup. My poor friend had a Courier. Two of my other friends had small pickups too. When I moved to Miami I saw these Rangers everywhere and humble, working stiffs had them. Now I see gas guzzling, mega buck trucks that look like they barely fit on the road - and most - have nothing in the bed! My Ranger is stock, clean, hard working and economical. I think we've become a nation of spoiled poseurs.

I've spent a lot of time in FL and yeah, lots of really lifted trucks there. I don't see the purpose unless it's to get through floodwaters. I use my trucks like trucks and I look at a lifted truck as that much higher I have to lift stuff into the bed.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Id say im a mix of 1 and 2. Lets say 1.5. I use the absolute shit out of my rangers, or really any of my trucks. They never see a washbay much less a wax cloth. They get overloaded, run over shit, push shit, pull shit, get scratched, dinged, etc etc.

But by that same note im not one just to beat the hell out of it for the sake of beating the hell out of it. Its different if im pulling the guts out of it trying to get something done then just floating the valves every shift cause i can.

But at the same time im not going to just go and paste on a fender in whatever color i can find. Id rather drive with it dented. Im not going to drive around with it down a cylinder blowing smoke. Im not going to neglect an oil change or drive with a busted whatever cause "eh its not worth fixing"

Every rust hole, dent, scratch is a battle scar that truck has earned and i think they should wear it proudly.

But if its a serious bulletwound it gets fixed atleast semi correctly so she can continue fighting.

 

[Lefty]

Here's the pictures I promised.
View attachment 84964

Oh, very nice!

 

[Lefty]

I've spent a lot of time in FL and yeah, lots of really lifted trucks there. I don't see the purpose unless it's to get through floodwaters. I use my trucks like trucks and I look at a lifted truck as that much higher I have to lift stuff into the bed.

I lowered my Ranger Edge for the very same reason.

 

[Lefty]

View attachment 84965

I like it when the fender flares match the paint job.

 

[superj]

i try to keep mine pretty stock. it gets washed and spray wax.

 

[Lefty]

i try to keep mine pretty stock. it gets washed and spray wax.

Yours looks brand spanking new. It's almost twenty years old, soon to be an official antique.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Yours looks brand spanking new. It's almost twenty years old, soon to be an official antique.

Crazy to think of an 02 as an antique.

My 87 and 97 are both firmly in antique territory and neither really seem old to me. My 77 seems old. But to me an 02 is damn near new

 

[Shran]

I guess I fall into all three. My red, now gray '88 is a total rust bucket and it has been worked hard. I love that truck but I don't really take care of it either, I always intended for it to be somewhat disposable... I am slowly letting it recycle itself back into the earth. My wife's 87 is pretty much the same thing. There's #1...

#2 is probably my wife's '95 and my Explorer to a lesser extent. They are both in great shape and I have not gone out of my way to do any permanent modifications to either - most everything is reversible and I enjoy tracking down nice factory parts for them.

#3 is my '86... V8, solid axle swap, etc... and my '88 stepside truck (lift, '92 interior, 4.0, etc.)

 

[Lefty]

Crazy to think of an 02 as an antique.

My 87 and 97 are both firmly in antique territory and neither really seem old to me. My 77 seems old. But to me an 02 is damn near new

I guess it's all relative. One thing for sure, there are people who actually appreciate a car or truck that's been kept up.

For those of us who care, keeping up with missing or broken little parts can be problematic, even nickel-and-dime us all to death. I keep a little tablet in the glove box, a shopping list of small, perhaps even insignificant parts which I get out every time I go to the junk yard.

It makes a difference.

 

[Lefty]

I guess I fall into all three. My red, now gray '88 is a total rust bucket and it has been worked hard. I love that truck but I don't really take care of it either, I always intended for it to be somewhat disposable... I am slowly letting it recycle itself back into the earth. My wife's 87 is pretty much the same thing. There's #1...

#2 is probably my wife's '95 and my Explorer to a lesser extent. They are both in great shape and I have not gone out of my way to do any permanent modifications to either - most everything is reversible and I enjoy tracking down nice factory parts for them.

#3 is my '86... V8, solid axle swap, etc... and my '88 stepside truck (lift, '92 interior, 4.0, etc.)

Post some pictures some time,

 

[Lefty]

Crazy to think of an 02 as an antique.

My 87 and 97 are both firmly in antique territory and neither really seem old to me. My 77 seems old. But to me an 02 is damn near new

Post some pictures is you can.

 

[Shran]

Post some pictures some time,

Links to my build threads in my signature.

Almost not even worth posting pics of my beater '88... this was about four years ago before the rust really started to take over

That was the good side, the other side had big holes everywhere. I found a better body and swapped most of it which is now in even worse shape... too many years of this.