1st gen Ranger cab openings? Mouse problem..

[Bird76Mojo]

For those that are knowledgable on 1st gen Rangers, what areas of the cab are open to the outside environment? I know the firewall has several small openings, and the large opening for the blower motor squirrel cage..

I keep getting mice in my 87 Ranger. I've checked ALL openings on the firewall, and they're all sealed up perfectly. No grommets are chewed through either. The floor shifter opening is sealed tightly as well, and there are no chew holes on the shifter boot.

Any ideas or areas for me to check? The truck sits in my carport a lot because I won't drive it all winter, and I try not to drive it in the rain.



GB

 

[Curious Hound]

Door seals? It doesn’t take much. A mouse can go through a slot as narrow as a pencil.

Or...
Treat them like a puppy and give them sacrificial stuff to chew, eat and make nests with do they leave the important stuff alone.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Don't remember if yours is carb or EFI but there is a large grommet in the firewall under the blower motor for the PCM harness to pass thru, if you went from EFI to carb it would be open unless you plugged it.

I just stuck a bolt in mine to plug it until I snagged the regular blockoff plate from a 2.0 truck.

Blockoff plate installed from cab side (with usb charger added)



They could possibly get in thru the shifter hole and travel under the carpet to come out somewhere else if it isn't cinched down good around the shifter. And even if it is they could still tunnel in the jute/insulation if they had to.

 

[Shran]

If they can get up onto the cowl, they can crawl through the slots and then into the fresh air flapper which leads directly into the HVAC ductwork inside the cab. You could put some screen inside the cowl...would also keep leaves out of it.

 

[Snoranger]

Blockoff plate installed from cab side (with usb charger added)

What do you need to charge down there?? Is it your light up shoes? It gotta be...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

What do you need to charge down there?? Is it your light up shoes? It gotta be...

View attachment 60699

Right now nothing, on our road trips cell phones. They ride in the cubby on the dash and the cords stay more or less out of the way.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

The block-off plate for the harness in the firewall is being used. I've already checked it. Good to go..

I'll have to check out the door seals. I hadn't thought of that.. Good suggestion! I know they're in rough shape in some places.

As for the cowl, I've been making a habit of throwing the switch on the dash to close the "outside air" portion of the HVAC, but a clever little bastage still got in somewhere..

As for the shifter, I know it's good to go. I modified the way it mounts to the floor. A steel flange holds the boot down tightly. They'd have to chew through the boot, and so far they haven't. Fingers crossed..

 

[bobbywalter]

They come in through the cowl, a and b pillars...the mesh is like 1/4 on the cowl vent.


Fawkers murder my paperwork in the glovebox....have to keep it in visor.

And the boidz.... as soon as I pull up they are all over it. When I rework the floor and firewall...it's getting tightened up. The gunwhales are blown out so they are in there with me for a few miles some mornings...can be hectic....

 

[Bird76Mojo]

I gotta say, these things have been a blessing so far for catching these little a-holes.

JT Eaton Repeater Multiple Catch Mouse Traps

JT Eaton's Repeater Mouse Trap is a galvanized steel multi catch trap that catches up to 30 mice at a time, discreetly. It is a low profile trap that easily fits under pallets, equipment and furniture. This mice trap is a standard in many industrial locations such as warehouses and loading docks...

store.doyourownpestcontrol.com

 

[Curious Hound]

I gotta say, these things have been a blessing so far for catching these little a-holes.

JT Eaton Repeater Multiple Catch Mouse Traps

JT Eaton's Repeater Mouse Trap is a galvanized steel multi catch trap that catches up to 30 mice at a time, discreetly. It is a low profile trap that easily fits under pallets, equipment and furniture. This mice trap is a standard in many industrial locations such as warehouses and loading docks...

store.doyourownpestcontrol.com

Those work good. Peanut butter is a good bait. Used lots of them when I was doing building maintenance for a major insurance company. Problem is, the bleeding hearts wanted us to release the mice live somewhere. I felt silly driving my van out in the country and releasing mice into the woods. We often joked about marking them to see if we had any repeat offenders.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Those work good. Peanut butter is a good bait. Used lots of them when I was doing building maintenance for a major insurance company. Problem is, the bleeding hearts wanted us to release the mice live somewhere. I felt silly driving my van out in the country and releasing mice into the woods. We often joked about marking them to see if we had any repeat offenders.

I bought one of those traps years ago and never managed to catch anything with it.

The old snap traps, the new jaw type, and even the enclosed traps I caught a bunch with. I wage war on the little bastages all the time. I also got one of the rolling pin style for a bucket. That racked up about 18 in about 2 months in my box truck back in the fall.

 

[Roert42]

I’ve caught like three or four in them box’s at a time. Get a lot of mice in house when it cools off.

 

[bobbywalter]

Those work good. Peanut butter is a good bait. Used lots of them when I was doing building maintenance for a major insurance company. Problem is, the bleeding hearts wanted us to release the mice live somewhere. I felt silly driving my van out in the country and releasing mice into the woods. We often joked about marking them to see if we had any repeat offenders.

I would release them......to a herd of barn cats.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

Call me evil, but I either let them die in the trap and then dump them out, or I fire up the burn-barrel and dump em in..

Brake cleaner kills them in seconds too.

 

[Roert42]

I’ll either drown them or crush them with a brick.