93 Ranger, is this a good deal?

[William Spitzer]

I found this through a friend on Facebook, and im not sure if its a good deal, or ive been out of a ranger for too long. it's 93, with a 3.0 and 5 speed, auto transfer case, 6 inch suspension, 3 inch body lift, with 35 inch tires. I feel like thats way too much tire for any stock ranger gearing, but thats just opinion. the front brakes need to be completely rebuilt, no big deal,it needs a bed, again, no big deal, i'll tube it or make a flatbed. The only thing im worried about is he said the rear frame is bent in slightly where the previous owner tried to pull it/something by the rear cross member. now it seams fairly evident to me that this truck was rode hard and put away wet, but i think it would make a good toy/ winter 4x4. He said make offer, and the best offer hes gotten has been $500. I'm going to check out how bad the frame is bent Thursday, so that will pretty much make or break the deal for me. Can anyone offer any insight?

 

[Insanejughead]

Are you sure that it still has the stock gearing in the differential?

I agree with the bed and brakes being no big deal, but neither is the gearing if you're thinking about doing anything hard with it.


If the tires are too big, you could think about getting smaller ones (31s or so) and take the body lift out. I'm not much into the 4x4s, but I agree with those tires being too big for stock differentials.

 

[William Spitzer]

I knowing the guy that's selling it, its got the stock gears, haha. can't really tell from the picture, but the tires don't look like there's to much life left in them anyway. I've actually got a spare set of 31 inch general grabbers from my last ranger that I'd probably put on anyway. I'm just worried about the frame, would it affect driving or tire wear since its in the back? I've never had any experience with bent frames or anything like that.

 

[Insanejughead]

For the back end of the ranger, no it won't affect anything.


If you're worried, you can check the parallel-ness of the frame rails with a tape measure. The most that a bent frame rail in the back will do is just affect how your leaf springs flex; even then, they'll need to be bent several inches to even make a difference.

 

[brinker88]

That's a 4" suspension/ 3" body lift btw. For the price, you cant beat it tho. I say go for it, altho I wouldnt touch it with that 3.0L

 

[William Spitzer]

When I go see it how would I check how much of a suspension lift it has? Not doubting just curious. And I'll take a tape and measure it, shouldn't hard since the beds already off. And that's reassuring, the way he talks about it it didn't sound that bad, but I don't want to get excited about it yet. And as for the motor, he said he's not sure, but thinks its a 3.0. I'd definitely rather have the 4.0, but I loved my 98 with the 3.0, 250,000 miles and it was still kicking.

 

[brinker88]

I can just tell by looking at the truck w/ 35s on it that it has the 4" suspension/3" BL by looking at the space in the wheel wells.

For example, I bought my truck for $400 in worse shape than that with a 3" BL installed, cracked heads, bad t-case motor, no driveshaft up front, etc etc...

 

[William Spitzer]

so I just got a text informing me it isn't the 3.0, its a 2.9. slowly looking less appealing.

 

[brinker88]

2.9L? Um, that had to have been a custom engine swap as that motor became extinct with the arrival of the 3rd gen ranger...Unless they did a body swap on a 2nd gen.

 

[det107]

so I just got a text informing me it isn't the 3.0, its a 2.9. slowly looking less appealing.

When you go out to check rear frame w/ tape measure, peek at the engine bay-

 

[William Spitzer]

So theres no way a 2.9 is factory?

 

[Insanejughead]

Not if that body VIN matches the frame VIN.

 

[William Spitzer]

Hmmmm, I really can't wait to get a look at this thing. how similar are the 4.0 and 2.9, could they be mistaken for one another?

 

[brinker88]

Not really, as one has a distributor and the other one doesnt.

 

[PlumCrazy]

The 2.9 says "2.9" in huge letters cast into the upper intake.lol

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