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

[Burnsy]

Today I noticed intermittent ac from the vents, it was coming thru defrost vents...i know this is vacum related, checked vacum lines and sure enough, the rubber elbow where vacum line goes onto heater valve was cracked/split along one of the seams, preventing a tight seal........replaced it and ac is back from the correct vents

 

[600$04Ranger]

The original discussion has disappeared. IDK.

We need some positive news. What did you do to your Ranger taday?

Made it take me up to our first big snowthis year to get donuts A couple months ago I payed a muddy donut down at work and covered two 1997 F-250's that my boss owns in mud. Pissed him off real bad. Oops. So I sent him this pic with the text attached that said " you know how much I love donuts in the morning" He replied "bastard!" Figured enough time had passed that we could joke about it

 

[Blmpkn]

What the hell is the factory wax/tar all over this thing? Any way to clean it off chemically?

Meth and elbow grease

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Frame rails are ok. The crossmember above the spare tire was starting to rot, plus a few pinholes around where it attaches to the frame. So, new spring hangers, crossmember and frame repairs, and a coat of chassis saver over everything.

What the hell is the factory wax/tar all over this thing? Any way to clean it off chemically?

My 00 the frame rails looked like Swiss cheese, I kid you not. I did a half frame, but now there’s some holes in the front section. I can patch those though

No idea what that waxy tar stuff is. So far the best way I’ve found is to scrape as much as possible and use solvent. Brake clean, acetone, xylene, that kinda stuff. It kinda melts into a sludge so it’s best to scrape as much as possible first

 

[Ramcharger90]

My 00 the frame rails looked like Swiss cheese, I kid you not. I did a half frame, but now there’s some holes in the front section. I can patch those though

No idea what that waxy tar stuff is. So far the best way I’ve found is to scrape as much as possible and use solvent. Brake clean, acetone, xylene, that kinda stuff. It kinda melts into a sludge so it’s best to scrape as much as possible first

2x4 120 wall frame time

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

2x4 120 wall frame time

Nope, I’ll use C when I build a frame. Get rust started in a square tube and it grows like fire. C and some care building and there won’t be really any place to hold water and start rust. I did that with the little trailer I rebuilt. It had a rectangle tube frame that had been capped off and it rotted to junk. I built a new frame out of 3” C. Where it had to be boxed it got painted with grease and capped with a rubber plug. Rust will have to find somewhere else

 

[bobbywalter]

Your state is junk, all my bare steel frames from 24-32 years ago are just fine

I don't envy you guys dealing with the rust belt...

Dude...92 late....they changed metallurgy....then sometime before split frames changed it again...then again with sla.

There are 1st gens With 30 winters on them that are in better shape then houses 2011

 

[bobbywalter]

Went home for Lil bob's tournament...some r&d programming and wiring stuff ...a installed a remote start for Zoie.

Then hacked in a tarpalated roof for the bronco....... Went to test it ...and the 4x4 module was swimming in a 1/2 froze puddle.......the holes froze shut and filled the floor pan with water.... something I assumed impossible..... And didn't realize I left it on the floor when measuring for a way to keep the weather out.

Too late .. pisser .

So. Swapping in the manual unless I can find a good gem for close to free. I gave away a bunch...and can't find one out there . So..I assume I don't have one ..

I have a right angle drive critter somewhere if I have to get by I guess.

Missed out on a good tire deal too....

 

[Danger_Ranger.308]

What the hell is the factory wax/tar all over this thing? Any way to clean it off chemically?

If by chemically you mean a flame then yes lol

now that craps flammable so carefully apply some heat, key word there SOME your not wanting to red hot the frame a propane torch will suffice and once it starts flaming and dripping you can blow the flames out with a blower and wipe the surface area with a rag.

or meth and elbow grease whatever floats your boat lol

Today on the ford ranger i finally got around to fixing the 4 cyl tach, got tired of cruising at 5000 rpms. The trs tech notes for V8 swaps about doing the pin swap on the ipc were correct with one addition needed.

you locate the black and yellow wire on pin 8 c216 then move it to the vacant spot on pin 16 c214 put the dash back together to discover this.. Ford tachs are capable of functioning with any engine its all where the ground is added as far as the way the cluster interprets the signal.

4cyl= no ground
6cyl= grounded at pin 8 c216
8cyl= grounded at pin 16 c214

removed the cluster again lol grounded the black and yellow wire to some good metal behind the IP and viola

 

[scotts90ranger]

Dude...92 late....they changed metallurgy....then sometime before split frames changed it again...then again with sla.

There are 1st gens With 30 winters on them that are in better shape then houses 2011

Don't doubt that, they probably changed some stuff to be cheaper/thinner too but I raise you my '97 with 170k miles on it... that's the extent of the rust I saw when I pulled the bed a few months ago (BTW, that pipe tape is still keeping the gas in!)... the rust belt is the real problem...

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Whatever Ford applied on the frames at the factory, it wasn't worth much. When I was trying to find a decent later Ranger, I found lots of 2009–2011s with serious frame rust visible looking from the rear wheelwells. Some of these should not have passed Virginia state inspection because of holes, but dealers put a sticker on them anyway. Buyer beware.

Most truck buyers would never look at the frame. A quick look by the rear wheels will tell a lot.

My 2011 was rustproofed and undercoated by Line-X when new. That, along with it being the 4–door SuperCab, was the deal maker. Had the local Line-X shop touch up everything after buying it.

There are lots of complaints in other forums about drivetrain components showing rust on brand new F-150s. Some examples are rear axles and transfer cases, which apparently use some of the cheapest paint known to man. These can have surface rust on the Ford dealer showroom floor.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Ranger headlamp assemblies are dirt-cheap new from China on eBay. I don't even know if original Ford versions are still available, and if they are, they're probably a lot more than the $60 I paid for the set of both assemblies on eBay. I look at it this way: I can always buy another cheap set...

The plastic lenses can develop cracks over time in addition to yellowing and fogging. The ones on my 2011 were probably the originals and they probably had been polished soon before I bought it. At first glance, they looked all right. But I could see vertical cracks developing from inside, so I got new units. "Crazing" is fine cracks, and they'll get worse with time.

A seldom-mentioned problem you could have is the lens fogging inside, especially if you ran high-output or non–halogen bulbs or the unit was exposed to moisture. For some other vehicles, instructions online tell how to get the lens off the body to wipe off the inside and then reassemble the unit using adhesive, but if the headlamps are that bad, you're better off with new ones.

By the way, neither the original headlamp set nor the new one was/is all that great at night. But that's a well known Ranger issue...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Went home for Lil bob's tournament...some r&d programming and wiring stuff ...a installed a remote start for Zoie.

Then hacked in a tarpalated roof for the bronco....... Went to test it ...and the 4x4 module was swimming in a 1/2 froze puddle.......the holes froze shut and filled the floor pan with water.... something I assumed impossible..... And didn't realize I left it on the floor when measuring for a way to keep the weather out.

Too late .. pisser .

So. Swapping in the manual unless I can find a good gem for close to free. I gave away a bunch...and can't find one out there . So..I assume I don't have one ..

I have a right angle drive critter somewhere if I have to get by I guess.

Missed out on a good tire deal too....

I went through something like that with my 92. I had an Ohio plate on it so I could ignore the rust holes. Then the electric transfer case wouldn’t work the one cold snowy day. I was under the mistaken impression that the module was in the dash (don’t ask), and @holyford86 corrected me that it’s under the jump seat behind the driver. So I went out and looked through the rust hole and by golly the module was right there in a frozen lump of slush. Got lucky and found the spare easily that I wasn’t sure I had and promptly patched the rust hole to protect the replacement.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Whatever Ford applied on the frames at the factory, it wasn't worth much. When I was trying to find a decent later Ranger, I found lots of 2009–2011s with serious frame rust visible looking from the rear wheelwells. Some of these should not have passed Virginia state inspection because of holes, but dealers put a sticker on them anyway. Buyer beware.

Most truck buyers would never look at the frame. A quick look by the rear wheels will tell a lot.

My 2011 was rustproofed and undercoated by Line-X when new. That, along with it being the 4–door SuperCab, was the deal maker. Had the local Line-X shop touch up everything after buying it.

There are lots of complaints in other forums about drivetrain components showing rust on brand new F-150s. Some examples are rear axles and transfer cases, which apparently use some of the cheapest paint known to man. These can have surface rust on the Ford dealer showroom floor.

I went through that the last time I went looking for a Ranger. The one I settled on the frame looked pretty good. I had just had hip surgery so I didn’t get under and bang on the frame, but it looked good. Then a shock mount sheared off and I took it to a mechanic buddy who started cleaning the frame around the mount and put a screwdriver through the frame rail. Someone (and I don’t really want to blame the previous owner because he didn’t have the truck long before needing a minivan instead of the truck) Used spray foam and some carving techniques and coated the mess with undercoating so it looked solid.

 

[sgtsandman]

Nope, I’ll use C when I build a frame. Get rust started in a square tube and it grows like fire. C and some care building and there won’t be really any place to hold water and start rust. I did that with the little trailer I rebuilt. It had a rectangle tube frame that had been capped off and it rotted to junk. I built a new frame out of 3” C. Where it had to be boxed it got painted with grease and capped with a rubber plug. Rust will have to find somewhere else

The square and rectangle tube I put on the trailer has the ends left open for that very reason. Plus the openings are where a person not under the trailer would see them but air flow will blow any moisture built up in the tubes out.