04' Ranger Mini Truckin' Mission

[manifesto]

Hey everyone, I just purchased a 2004 Ford Ranger Edge Sport. Its a single cab, manual transmission, V6 3.0L. Its has 210k miles but has been taken great care of and runs great.

The plan is to drive this for a while, get it tricked out, and pass it on to my son who is currently 13.

I grew up in the "mini truckin" scene...Ive had Chevy S10s, Toyota Pickups, and a different Ranger before this one.

Im new to working on trucks in general, but my son and I are going to learn together. I started this thread to show the progress, finances depending, it may be slow, but there will be progress.

 

[manifesto]

I really like this look

 

[MISWFL]

Needs a Snug Top full of subs on top of a spinning hydraulic bed, hydraulics on all 4 corners and slammed on some Daytons or Porsche rims.

Show your son the mini truck dancing beds video.

 

[manifesto]

First project is the exhaust and cool air intake...

Back in the day, I had a KN intake and Flowmaster....

I want that deep sound...

I know it's only a V6 but can you guys recommend

 

[Jim Oaks]

Sound like a great father and son project. Tech him how to DIY and how to have cool stuff on a well thought out budget.

 

[MISWFL]

Fiesta project in the exhaust and cool air intake...

Back in the day, I had a KN intake and Flowmaster....

I want that deep sound...

I know it's only a V6 but can you guys recommend

Fiesta, like a '79 or '80? 1.6 with a 4 speed manual?

 

[manifesto]

Fiesta, like a '79 or '80? 1.6 with a 4 speed manual?

It was a typo...it's 04 Ranger and my first project is the exhaust and intake

 

[manifesto]

Sorry about that, I went back and edited the original post.

 

[PoodlePuncher]

It was a typo...it's 04 Ranger and my first project is the exhaust and intake

Congrats on the truck, but I'm bummed there's no Fiesta.
Anyhoo...

For what it's worth, don't waste your money on a so called "cold air intake"...
the K&N system pulls air from the exact same spot as the factory box.
"less restrictive flow" may have helped back in the day with carbureted engines, but your engine is managed by a computer, which is tuned specifically for the factory air box.

Get a K&N air filter if you like, and then spend the rest of the $400 you just saved on something cool.
like suspension, or speakers (That go Boom!)

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Hey everyone, I just purchased a 2004 Ford Ranger Edge Sport. Its a single cab, manual transmission, V6 3.0L. Its has 210k miles but has been taken great care of and runs great.

The plan is to drive this for a while, get it tricked out, and pass it on to my son who is currently 13.

I grew up in the "mini truckin" scene...Ive had Chevy S10s, Toyota Pickups, and a different Ranger before this one.

Im new to working on trucks in general, but my son and I are going to learn together. I started this thread to show the progress, finances depending, it may be slow, but there will be progress.

View attachment 148196

What gears are in the rear?

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

What gears are in the rear?

That's called the rear differential.

 

[manifesto]

What gears are in the rear?

Im green as hell when it comes to working on trucks, but im not sure i understand your question...

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Im green as hell when it comes to working on trucks, but im not sure i understand your question...

Easiest way to make your truck feel more powerful is to change gear ratios in your rear end, or swap a compatible axle from the junkyard.

The 3.0 is fairly unresponsive to performance modifications. However, they are very responsive to gear changes since they produce most of their power at high RPM.

Somewhere on your rear axle there will be a little tag attached to the rear cover. See if you can find it and snap us a pic.

If you have a low rear ratio (3.something), the easiest way to make it feel like a bigger engine is to upgrade that ro something like 4.10 gears. The engine will necessarily run at higher rpm to go the same speeds as before, but that's the point. On a 3.0, you'll feel like you added a number of horses to the equation.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yeah, gears play a part. The M5OD manual has a kind of high first gear and that doesn’t really agree with a 3.0 since you’re not hitting the fattest part of the powerband until like 2,800 rpm but it will pull hard to like 4,800 rpm.

The door sticker, if original (check the vin to the one on the dash if you’re not sure), will have an axle code as well.

If you do decide to change gears, the easiest is to swap a junkyard rear axle with the preferred ratio but, if you plan on changing tire size, you need to account for this too.

For lowering, if you have an Edge, it’s going to have torsion bars in the front which give you limited options for going lower and will likely land you in the camp of needing coilovers in the front. That pretty much requires welding.

 

[manifesto]

Easiest way to make your truck feel more powerful is to change gear ratios in your rear end, or swap a compatible axle from the junkyard.

The 3.0 is fairly unresponsive to performance modifications. However, they are very responsive to gear changes since they produce most of their power at high RPM.

Somewhere on your rear axle there will be a little tag attached to the rear cover. See if you can find it and snap us a pic.

If you have a low rear ratio (3.something), the easiest way to make it feel like a bigger engine is to upgrade that ro something like 4.10 gears. The engine will necessarily run at higher rpm to go the same speeds as before, but that's the point. On a 3.0, you'll feel like you added a number of horses to the equation.

Excellent. Thank you

Im really looking forward to working in this...im getting the "itch" BIG TIME