1999 Ford Ranger

[James86]

I've had my truck for a while and done a few things, so figured, what the hell, I'll start some sort of a build/change thread, just to remind myself I couldn't leave the damned thing alone. If I hear any suggestions of what else to do, I'll probably at least consider them (isn't that the point of this forum?). Haven't done much, but I like it as much now as ever.

Bought in 2005 with 78,000 miles on it. 3.0 FFV 4x4 XLT. Kinda wish it had the rear cab doors, but that's not much of an issue if you're in the driver's seat lol.

When I bought it:

I liked the alloys on it since I've only seen two other Rangers with them - although countless Mountaineers - in my area. The damn things leaked air like crazy and were pretty badly pitted under the lamination:

How/why the clearcoat/laminate allowed corrosion to spread so badly beneath it is beyond me, but I decided to change the look a bit and go with steel wheels. I always liked the older style RBV wheels, so I snagged a set of four and sandblasted them so I could repaint them gloss black. While they were off, I fitted new tires on them since the Wrangler Radials seem to wear out like pencil erasers on me and I figured it was worth trying a different tire.

I really like the Uniroyal Liberators compared to the stock tire, and they seem a LOT better in the rain.

Original Goodyear Wrangler Radial on left, Uniroyal Liberator on right:

After mounting them:

Usually I have the topper off, but even with it on, my truck seemed kinda jacked in the back, so I finally had the T-Bars cranked to level it somewhat. I will mention it's not a bad idea to get new camber bolts as the camber will be thrown off, plus it finally helped me get rid of that funny "Ranger lean" I've heard mentioned. With the bed empty and no topper, I had a 4" difference between the front and back

Now it sits with the back 1" higher with my toolbox and shit in the bed.

As for other mods, I did a 2.5" cat back with a Flowmaster 40 muffler.

It doesn't sound too bad either in my opinion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWiynDOfHW
(edit: can't get embed to work)

The other minor mods I did were to remove the air horn looking thing in front of the airbox, then port and polish the MAF housing: (A better explanation is given here: http://rogueperformance.com/ModifiedMAF.html )

The only other thing I touched on the intake was the tube itself. I thought it looked better and was smoother flowing than the rubber one.

After three years, the intake kit is still holding together fine, there are no leaks, I can still use an OEM style filter, and my upper is even fairly clean when I popped off the throttle body to clean the IAC, compared to when other friends took the TB's off their 3.0's:

It's been pretty much to that point for tha last 3 years. I've run only E85 thru the engine since I bought it due to the ease of finding E85, and the price difference vs. fuel economy difference (Last fill up was $2.68/gallon for E85 at the local Cenex, while regular 87 was $3.58 around town). Only other change I don't have pictured is replacing the stock alternator for a larger 135amp for an Explorer.

Let me know what you think (here we go....)!

 

[Kevery]

NICE!! I like the rims. Maybe through a small suspension lift on it and that's it. its a clean truck.

 

[James86]

I don't know how much taller I really need it. It's surprising how much height i gained under the front axle just cranking the T-Bars. The rims were off a 1988 Ranger and are 15x7 rims. I just got sick of seeing so many Crager Soft 8's

 

[James86]

Just got done putting these on today. Made a HUGE difference in stopping power:

 

[James86]

A better pic of how it sits with the T-bars cranked:

 

[Kevery]

Its leveled out nice! Would look sweet with a little bit bigger/meaty tire.

 

[James86]

I can't deny I'm pondering a bit bigger tires, but it's more of a DD. I didn't realize until it leveled out how much bigger the front wheel well is than the back wheel well. Running it as long as I did with the front sagging and the camber off really chewed the inner tread down, so new tires are coming within a year. I just have to figure out what's good for year round use. The Wrangler Radials were great for ice because they were so soft, but I've gotten three years out fo the Uniroyal Liberators. The Wranglers would've been great if they didn't have a propensity to hydroplane and lasted longer than the blink of an eye when piling on highway miles. I think the combined effects of going from the lighter/cheaper Wranglers/alloys to the steel wheels with the heavy Uniroyals might bere where 1-2mpg went in the last couple years....

Of course, always wanting to put my foot in it a little with the Flowmaster doesn't help either - but the look on people's faces when i burble past about 1500ish RPM is great. Im not sure if I should be amused or dumbfounded by some people when they ask if I did a V8 swap, and at least one guy (my neighbor) had owned 3 rangers himself.

 

[Kevery]

This is what my truck looked like before the SAS.
4in lift
33x12.50 BFG Allturrains
I'm from the snow myself and these tires served me VERY well.

 

[James86]

Those look nice. Did you have any speedometer issues? I really don't want to stumble into that sort of headache when all the small towns are populated speedtraps and 2-3mph over can get you pulled over. I think our stock tires are roughly 31inches.

 

[Kevery]

My speedometer didn't change much. You should be fine since you'll be running a little smaller size.

 

[James86]

Got my new leaf packs in finally! The rear spring hangers were pretty rotted (which I've seen on this site before). Upgraded form 3 leaves to 4:

 

[James86]

 

[miller time]

Get falken wild peak tires in 31 10.5 15 it's got the street grove that does good off road. They come will a 50k mile warranty.

 

[Dprocks100]

I also have Falken Wild Peaks (technically rocky mountains from Discount tire, but same tire as wild peaks) in 30 9.5 15 and they are a great tire! My father has had a set for 4 years on his Chevy 3/4 ton 265/70r17 or something like that, and my brother has the 235/75r15 version on his ranger. All 3 sets have been amazing on road, off road and in the snow. Plus, I think mine were around $100 a piece. I highly recommend them

 

[James86]

I'm considering the Cooper AT 3 for my ranger since I'm hearing good things about them:

All my cars have Coopers on them but I haven't run Coopers on a 4WD since my XJ almost a decade ago and I don't remember what they were: