89 Ranger, interchangeable parts?, misc ?'s

[StinkyCheese]

I purchased an 89 Ranger, auto transmission (transmission seems healthy fwiw)
I'm hoping to find parts from donor vehicles if possible. Looking for both brake light assemblies, the in cab hood release, and a driver side seat belt, and I'm wondering if there are any models that might share a variety of parts both for what I need and any future needs I may have. Thank you
I don't have an owner's manual (the information booklet that originally came with the vehicle), anyone know where I can find a digital copy? Here it says dexron II transmission fluid, is there a suitable alternative or must I find dex II?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So Bronco II‘s would share a lot of parts in the 89/90 vintage, but they’re starting to get more rare than the Rangers around here so that may not help much. For Rangers your vintage is 89-92 for everything. From the front of the cab behind the fenders and back on 83-88, body panels are the same. Front clip is different. Some parts interchange, like some engines and stuff. For interior parts, the dash stayed the same from 89 to I believe 94 even though the body changed. Some parts from first gen Explorers 91-94 will interchange but not the fenders or doors. Interior parts may largely interchange. Seat belts may interchange on a much wider year range but I don’t know for sure. I don’t know if the brake light assemblies can be used from anything other than an 83-92 Ranger, there may be aftermarket available, I haven’t looked in awhile.

Depending on your engine and axles, there may or may not be upgrades available from some donors and you may be able to use a much wider selection of donors for parts.

Dexron II got replaced by Dex/Merc, which is fine to use in them. Really they say you can even use Mercon V but I don’t think I would mix them and I’ve always just run the cheaper Dex/Merc in my A4LDs, which is what you have if you have an auto. They have a bad rep, but I think to some degree it’s more abuse that gets them. There are ways to help them and care for them. They like clean, cool fluid. So fluid and filter change every so often. Should check and tighten the bands (there are two adjustable) every about 20k from my understanding. An auxiliary transmission cooler or two helps too, yours may or may not have one, you’ll see it behind the grill on one side if you have it. I’ve rigged up a second in mine. This last one is a big one, one that I learned when I was searching for how to help the poor slushbox out, shift kit and valve body mods. I went through my 92 Ranger’s A4LD, I didn’t go quite full bore on it, but dang close. The difference was absolutely amazing. No more slushy ho-hum shifts, just a nice crisp change and hitting the throttle too hard from a stop was enough to light up both back tires (limited slip). Those smooth transitions help keep heat down and heat kills a lot of them.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Taillights should be the same clear back to 83.

Seatbelt i have no idea. But im guessing back to 83 as well.

Hood release i think changed in 89. But dont quote me. I believe the pull handle is mounted on the kick panel instead of under the dash like 83-88.

 

[StinkyCheese]

Is there an easy to remove, hard to find part to make it so it won't run? There's been some thefts in my neighborhood and I don't want to wake up to a missing truck...

An auxiliary transmission cooler or two helps too, yours may or may not have one, you’ll see it behind the grill on one side if you have it. I’ve rigged up a second in mine. This last one is a big one, one that I learned when I was searching for how to help the poor slushbox out, shift kit and valve body mods. I went through my 92 Ranger’s A4LD, I didn’t go quite full bore on it, but dang close. The difference was absolutely amazing. No more slushy ho-hum shifts, just a nice crisp change and hitting the throttle too hard from a stop was enough to light up both back tires (limited slip). Those smooth transitions help keep heat down and heat kills a lot of them.

Thanks for all the information. It's gonna be a putter around town rig for a while, and I'll look into a trans radiator for it before any long trips.

Hood release i think changed in 89. But dont quote me. I believe the pull handle is mounted on the kick panel instead of under the dash like 83-88.

It's straight under the wheel.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Is there an easy to remove, hard to find part to make it so it won't run? There's been some thefts in my neighborhood and I don't want to wake up to a missing truck...


Thanks for all the information. It's gonna be a putter around town rig for a while, and I'll look into a trans radiator for it before any long trips.


It's straight under the wheel.

It would be relatively easy to tap into the fuel pump circuit and put a switch or something on it, the inertia switch is up under the dash on the passenger side.

Actually, it’s the putter around town that builds the most heat usually because it’s forced to do a lot of shifting and there’s not a ton of air flow over the cooler. The other big heat builder is towing and hauling.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Unplug the coil wire plug

 

[97RangerXLT]

For a harder one to find, get an extra fuel pump relay and take it apart and snip the coil wire where it is soldered to one of the blade terminal. Put that bad relay in anytime you want the truck not to move. Added bonus, the starter still works so you can hear someone try to start it.

Once they spin it over a few times with a no start they will assume it is another POS Ford and move on.

AJ

 

[1990RangerinSK]

Taillights should be the same clear back to 83.

Seatbelt i have no idea. But im guessing back to 83 as well.

Hood release i think changed in 89. But dont quote me. I believe the pull handle is mounted on the kick panel instead of under the dash like 83-88.

Seatbelt is the same up to 1990, for sure.

Tail lights are the same.

Hood release - see below.

It's straight under the wheel.

Yes, and moulded into the knee (whatchamacallit). It sits flush. For '83 to '88 it's a "T" handle mounted to the bottom of the dash, over on the left.

 

[gaz]

@StinkyCheese ,

An ignition kill switch is easy and simple, deciding on a coy location, is more interesting.

My air conditioning is disabled, so that switch is available in my mine to control "kill switch power". My buddy was very creative, he located his ignition kill switch inside an air duct, the controller looks like the direction control for the duct

 

[StinkyCheese]

Actually, it’s the putter around town that builds the most heat usually because it’s forced to do a lot of shifting and there’s not a ton of air flow over the cooler. The other big heat builder is towing and hauling.

So whatever large aluminum rad that will fit good?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So whatever large aluminum rad that will fit good?

Well, no matter whether it’s a plastic tank rad or all aluminum, the transmission cooler that’s in the rad is tiny. That said, a rad for a 91 Explorer will be largely a bolt in and they are bigger cooling for the engine, but since the side tanks are all roughly the same size, the transmission cooler built in to the rad isn’t bigger. The additional coolers in front of the rad is where you can get more cooling for the transmission. I’ve mounted two factory coolers before, it’s easy enough to do. My green Ranger I got a transmission cooler out of an 07 F-150 which worked out pretty nice, but you have to do a decent bit of modifications to make it work. Had to custom build mounts for it, transmission lines, and re-engineer the center support for the header panel/grill. I don’t have any temperature readings to say what actually is the most effective.

Bear in mind, it will likely be largely ok as it is. It’s survived this many years. I’m just saying that it merits consideration that a few upgrades can help with the performance and reliability. Band adjustment every 20k and keeping after the transmission fluid and filter are the important things. I wouldn’t pay a shop to flush the transmission, just drop the pan and change filter and fluid every 50k. It’s a messy process but not hard to do. Band adjustment you just need a torque wrench and a tap socket to fit on the bolts. An extra cooler or two isn’t a bad idea and again doesn’t have to be very complicated. The shift kit and valve body work sounds super scary, but really it’s just an exercise in cleanliness and patience. A wooden popsicle stick was one of my best tools for that. Again, aside from keeping the bands adjusted and the fluid clean, you don’t have to do the rest. I’d just highly recommend the rest.

 

[dvdswan]

Where in WA are you? Kitsap Peninsula has a pick-n-pull that has quite a few Rangers, BIIs and Explorers. Good prices too.

 

[StinkyCheese]

Where in WA are you? Kitsap Peninsula has a pick-n-pull that has quite a few Rangers, BIIs and Explorers. Good prices too.

All the way across the state... Thanks for the notice though.

And thanks all for the help.
This page lists rims at the bottom for Rangers and Explorers, are these all direct swap? I have plenty of explorers in the local yards and I need a spare anyway...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

91-94 Explorer rims should fit just fine and 97 and older Ranger rims. The rest of them, well, maybe. The bolt pattern would be correct and they should fit fine other than some may not fit over the front hubs.

 

[StinkyCheese]

91-94 Explorer rims should fit just fine and 97 and older Ranger rims. The rest of them, well, maybe. The bolt pattern would be correct and they should fit fine other than some may not fit over the front hubs.

These are the rims I found, didn't see any fitment issues. (E:15x7, stock was 14x6)
I used a tire size calculator and found 235/60R15 is equivalent (original tires 215/70R14), either way it looks like I'm ordering tires so I want to make sure I order some that will work.