What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[Roert42]

Ok, Riddle me this:

. So I got the number off the lock on my free Ranger toolbox, went online, ordered two keys and got them in 3 days. That was great for me, but why can’t anybody do that for anybody else’s tool box, or are we assuming thrives are too dumb to order keys online?

Theft is usually a crime of convenience.

 

[racsan]

Ok, Riddle me this:

. So I got the number off the lock on my free Ranger toolbox, went online, ordered two keys and got them in 3 days. That was great for me, but why can’t anybody do that for anybody else’s tool box, or are we assuming thrives are too dumb to order keys online?

oh they can, my box trailer was locked with keyed padlocks, had a e-z up canopy inside along with some tires. The canopy came up missing and I know it was stolen as that was where I stored it. Luckily thats all that came up missing. The locks weren’t broken and still work though I took them off and havent used them again. I do remember there was a number on the bottom of the lock, shoulda defaced that somehow.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I would highly recommend just using a hitch pin as an anchor next time. Hitch balls are not designed for that kind of load and eventually become a projectile.

I was going to respond with the same thing, the hitch pin is way more convenient too, strap falls off less... I see a lot of people getting really crazy and going way overboard with shackles and so forth getting adapters just to deal with the twist lock pin that is always stuck... no tools required with a pin!

Hauled the boat trailer tire to the tire shop to get a new one put on today, that's about it other than commuting duty, the sploder will be used to haul the boat to a lake on Saturday since it's supposed to be a billion degrees this weekend...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

oh they can, my box trailer was locked with keyed padlocks, had a e-z up canopy inside along with some tires. The canopy came up missing and I know it was stolen as that was where I stored it. Luckily thats all that came up missing. The locks weren’t broken and still work though I took them off and havent used them again. I do remember there was a number on the bottom of the lock, shoulda defaced that somehow.

This is why I rely on a better grade of padlock anymore. My local Home Depot no longer carries them but there was 4 packs of a Masterlock padlock that looked like the American locks that are so common in commercial use, but had a boron carbide shackle and no numbers stamped on it. Ball bearing latch so not able to shim. The bad is it uses a standard 4 pin lock cylinder, but here’s the fun part, the cylinder is replaceable and re-keyable. Plus, you can knock the cylinder out and the spacer and replace it with a 5 pin cylinder for about 5-10 bucks. Now you have a decent lock without spending a fortune. My other favorite is the Abus 83 series locks which have replaceable cylinders and can take things like 5 pin house keys or 6 pin commercial keys.

Another favorite is to take apart a numbered lock and pin it to a new key. I like making things more challenging. Locksmithing is a hobby/side project for me.

 

[racsan]

The problem I saw with putting a “good” lock on it is that the hasp aint all that stout, put a long screwdriver/tire iron/prybar through it and twist, you’d probably gain access and the lock would be untouched. At the end of the day a lock merely keeps a honest person honest.

 

[Rick W]

Yeah, locks are for relatively honest people. Unfortunately in the age of instant broadcast and communication, there’s more temptation. I’m almost sorry I posted about this, but I was astonished they didn’t even ask a question, and now I’m afraid I educated some of the unworthy, certainly not the folks who spoke up.

When I was in college, some wise soul figured out that if you pour salt water down the coin slot, the machine dropped all its change. So the school newspaper ran it and, the next day, every vending machine was empty. The only reason I mention it is it doesn’t work anymore. Media is about chaos and ratings (money) these days, no investigative reporting to root out the corrupt and fight for what’s right….

 

[racsan]

Its funny how some things just invite temptation, for example a barn near where I used to grow up- Ive drove by it for years, never gave it a second thought. One day a “no trespassing “ sign appeared, only then did I wonder what was in there. You could put a sign under a button randomly installed on a wall, hooked up to a overhead air horn, sign saying do NOT push button, you know someone would push it.
Dad said that back in the day you would only lock the front door if you were away, just to let someone know you weren’t home but youd leave the back door unlocked in case they needed in for a phone or other emergency reasons. Not now, even with locks, cameras, dogs ect nothing seems safe . Im out in the country and keep the back yard closed up most of the time. Kind of a pain every time I have to mow.

 

[snoranger]

Its funny how some things just invite temptation, for example a barn near where I used to grow up- Ive drove by it for years, never gave it a second thought. One day a “no trespassing “ sign appeared, only then did I wonder what was in there. You could put a sign under a button randomly installed on a wall, hooked up to a overhead air horn, sign saying do NOT push button, you know someone would push it.
Dad said that back in the day you would only lock the front door if you were away, just to let someone know you weren’t home but youd leave the back door unlocked in case they needed in for a phone or other emergency reasons. Not now, even with locks, cameras, dogs ect nothing seems safe . Im out in the country and keep the back yard closed up most of the time. Kind of a pain every time I have to mow.

 

[Roert42]

I live outside a small rural town. Very friendly neighbors.

Someone stole my wife’s car out of the driveway. Both her escape and my truck were normal sitting unlocked in the driveway. Now we gotta check to see the cars are locked every night before we go to sleep.

 

[Rick W]

& depending on what kind of dog, they’ll steal the dog too!!

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So I still don’t really want to talk about yesterday, but I suppose I should…

My goal was to work on the green Ranger, get the plugs and wires changed, fuel rail and injectors, harness, bolt the headers on and set it in place. The wires were stamped Ford and 1998 and the plugs were Motorcraft so I’m thinking they were all original, but a test Friday night had two of the plugs out without any trouble at all with a 3/8” ratchet. Plugs are completely toast (no idea how it ran, the gap is over .060 and they are badly fouled). But at any rate I had a high degree of confidence that it was going to work. I needed a thin wall socket for the back plugs but I figured I could taper a cheap socket and be golden.

Enter Saturday morning. Managed to get one of the back plugs out without a modified socket, another of the front ones, then snapped the #1 plug off. Fine. I’ll move on and go run for parts later. Figured I’d pull the intake. Well, one of the 5.0 cover screws came right out after cleaning around it and stuff. The other, well, I broke my T-20 with a 1/4” ratchet, then two more T-20s with my 12v impact. Dug out a fourth and tried a hand impact (one of those you hammer on) and stripped the screw out. Decided to make a parts run. Got what I thought I’d need, got back, modified a socket, pulled the rest of the plugs with no problem (figures), and fought with the broken one for hours. Heated it with an acetylene plumbers torch, used Freeze-off, chiseled around it until I got every bit of rust free, put a punch that fit down to the shoulder and hammered on it to shock it free, worked at it with an easy-out, rinse and repeat. Finally thought it started to budge so I leaned harder and snapped the easy out. Tried to get that loose or shatter it but no go. So it’s looking like the head has to come off now.

At this point I feel like I’m hosed either way and maybe I should just go for broke and give the motor a good going through or rebuild it. Was trying not to get that involved to save on money and time, but if the heads have to come off, I feel like I should just do it right. Not exactly what I needed right now with everything else broken.

 

[Rick W]

Did I ever mention I LOVE Craigslist?

Now that the city is pretty much done with the road work, I have less room to turn around the fleet than I did before. I already got some post lights (9 for $20 total, plus 3 matching sconces for $25) to put in partially for light and partially for decoration. I’m using some 2-3/8” black 21’ fence poles for the posts ($100/ea, 3 poles per 22’ stick)

I always wanted some low voltage landscape lamps to mark the edges of the driveway so I could back up at night without crushing the pansies, but I was too cheap to buy the lights at $250/10 with a timer.

Wham, Craigslist: 40 lights (half never used) and 4 timers and the wire: FREE FREE FREE!!! YIPPEEEE!!!!

The guy listed them at about 7:00 last night and I picked them up in the 97 red ranger at 9:00 this morning. Old ones are high quality metal and the new ones are plastic, but that’s fine with me. Only one with a broken lens and you can buy the lens.

I already ordered 3 12vAC to 12vDC adapters ($35 ea eBay) so I can swap them to LEDs for the power bill. They’ll power the light poles too. I found some 2w 12vDC candelabra bulbs, and I got a few 7w where I need more light for the poles, so I don’t even have to change the sockets.

Now the trick is to put it all in without the place looking like Disneyland!

I LOVE Craigslist!!!

 

[Blmpkn]

Did some more heavy hauling. 1961 Buick special, swapped with a Chevy 350/th350.

Right around 4800lbs with trailer, hauled 100 miles, 50-70 mph mostly, 12.8 mpg averaged. The truck, despite what the picture has you believe, rode mostly level. Dudes driveway was super uneven. My 4 wheeler in the back of the truck easily squats it twice as much.

Motor in the car is pretty sweet. Under 10k mile goodwrench shortblock, camel hump heads, street/strip cam, 650cfm carb, longtubes, neighbor hater mufflers, pretty rowdy converter..

Coworker traded a little kids wheeler, a broken Suzuki z250, an ugly but functional honda 300 wheeler, and 1500 bucks for it. He had less than 3k into all the wheelers so he got a pretty decent deal I think.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So I haven’t wrenched on any of the trucks lately. Been struggling with that. Hopefully tomorrow I can get back to work on it all. Still a little unsure as to how to handle the red Ranger. It apparently lost oil pressure, the oil gauge on the dash does not move and I get a lot of top end clatter. Starts with only a little cranking. Only had it running briefly a couple times since it bottomed out, lost power and kicked off on the highway. Fired it up to load it on a tow dolly, to get it off the dolly, and when I put some oil in to see if maybe the idiot light gauge was malfunctioning. Still clatters, just not as loud. So do I change oil pumps and maybe do head gaskets or do I pull the motor and convert the 4.0 that came out of the green Ranger to run in it? Not particularly excited about doing either, but I can probably get one or the other done this weekend… just not exactly sure what would be the wiser idea. Pulling the motor and changing it requires moving it from my property to my parents and moving the tow dolly and trailer so I can get it to where it will be easier to work on. Patching the motor up can be done where it sits.

 

[Saddle Tramp]

Stereotyped it.