advice on keeping a new truck "new"

[gman]

So my dad bought a 4 month old 2010 ranger xlt, 2.3, auto,2wd a few days ago. it looks brand new and is really nice. it only has 1500 miles on it and he is planing on running it into the ground. unlike his last ranger witch he beat on and got totaled he actually wants to spend a little money on this one to keep it running and looking good and running good.

so he currently planning on doing this to try to keep it nice,

interior


good floor mats
seat covers (any one know where to get some nice ones ?)
and maybe fabric protector ( don't know yet, head good and bad things about it)

Exterior

under coat (he want do get it Zebarted, i have heard good and bad stuff about under coating, what do you recommend)

it has a drop in bed liner( i think he should get it line xed or at least a diy bed liner kit because he uses the be so much)

Mechanical
all synthetic fluids


i looking for your opinions on what you would spend your money on as well as any tips you have for keeping a new car nice. any input would be appreciated
thanks

 

[adsm08]

The shop I work at uses Xylon brand fabric treatment. Works pretty well. We had a glow stick break on the back seat of our escape that has the Xylon on it, can't tell it ever happened.

I agree with the spray on bed-liner.

As for synthetic fluids, pretty much all your factory fluids are synthetic or at least semi-synth on a truck that new. Just keep up with the regular maintenance schedules, or even do them a little early and it should keep you going for years and years.

The maintenance schedules on that truck would be:

Oil change and tire rotation: 5000 miles

Trans fluid, coolant, and fuel filter: 30,000 miles

Air filter: 15,000 or as needed.

P/S fluid every 30 or 60K.

Brake fluid: 60K

Also, remember that this truck, being so new, likely takes the new Mercon LV type trans fluid. The top of the dipstick or the owners manual will tell you for sure. If it does take LV, you need to use something that is up to LV specs, or you will burn up the trans very quickly.

 

[OilPatch197]

Always park your vehicle in a garage, and never drive on Gravel roads.

...and keep your vehicle clean, and never consume food beverages while behind the wheel.

The worst enemy to your vehicle would be the Sun(causes fading) dust, and polluted rain.

My Grandpa parks his car in the Garage all the time, he is a weekday Golfer, and his vehicles are always nice and clean. He is a retired School Principle.

 

[4x4junkie]

Always park your vehicle in a garage, and never drive on Gravel roads.

...and keep your vehicle clean, and never consume food beverages while behind the wheel.

The worst enemy to your vehicle would be the Sun(causes fading) dust, and polluted rain.

My Grandpa parks his car in the Garage all the time, he is a weekday Golfer, and his vehicles are always nice and clean. He is a retired School Principle.

Beat me to it.

Garaging it is the one most beneficial thing you can do to keep a vehicle looking nice.

Don't drive it at all during wet/icy conditions if they salt the roads in your area too.

 

[adsm08]

And wash it frequently if you do drive in in salt.

 

[OilPatch197]

Garaging it is the one most beneficial thing you can do to keep a vehicle looking nice.

It is SO amazing how that works! BTW I bought last year a 1987 Ford Ranger, from the Original owner, garage kept, and it looked good except for a few rust spots... then I just let it set outside, four months later the red paint was flaking off the friggen bed side!

 

[rrbrian222]

If you really want to go the extreme, being that you live in the chicagoland snow belt, don't drive it at all in winter. Just park it in the garage from Dec-March and get yourself a winter beater. A lot of my friends park their hot rods in winter and many of them have never seen an ounce of road salt. Makes a HUGE difference in maintaining the longevity of the vehicle.

One thing about garages....hopefully you have a concrete slab that was poured on top of well-drained gravel, not organic topsoil like mine. My garage sweats moisture so bad that at times its probably better for my vehicles to be parked in the driveway...

 

[MountainMike]

As for seat covers, at the dealership we order ours from a company called SCC Northwest. They make them using the factory templates and super quality materials. They are quite pricey at around $250 for the front and $250 for the rear but I've never seen better seat covers in my life.

And get a set of weathertech moulded floor mats. They are great.

 

[nitrofan1]

+50 on the Garage. Weekly washing and good wax bout every 6 months or so. Good fluids and regular changes (including the ones most forget- axle, ps & brake fluid etc..)

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Always park your vehicle in a garage, and never drive on Gravel roads.

...and keep your vehicle clean, and never consume food beverages while behind the wheel.

The worst enemy to your vehicle would be the Sun(causes fading) dust, and polluted rain.

My Grandpa parks his car in the Garage all the time, he is a weekday Golfer, and his vehicles are always nice and clean. He is a retired School Principle.

I have heard the garage thing go both ways in the winter. Granted it keeps the truck warmer, but each deicing melting cycle gives it another salt bath every night, vs the fewer natural cycles when a warm front comes thru.

It isn't surpising that an older person that rarely drives their car and keeps it sitting in the garage all the time stays clean. Kind of unpractical for someone that actually uses it as a source of transportation. Mine always sits out in the sun when I am at work throughout the day.

Basically if you want it to stay perfect, put it on jackstands in the back of a climate controlled building. If you want to use it, keep up on maintenance and try to keep it as clean as practical. Molded floormats are nice too.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

If you really want to go the extreme, being that you live in the chicagoland snow belt, don't drive it at all in winter. Just park it in the garage from Dec-March and get yourself a winter beater. A lot of my friends park their hot rods in winter and many of them have never seen an ounce of road salt. Makes a HUGE difference in maintaining the longevity of the vehicle.

One thing about garages....hopefully you have a concrete slab that was poured on top of well-drained gravel, not organic topsoil like mine. My garage sweats moisture so bad that at times its probably better for my vehicles to be parked in the driveway...

Sounds like your floor was not properly done. A properly poured garage floor should have a layer of gravel to allow the slab to "float" then a vapor barrier needs to be put down and the people pouring the floor need to be careful not to puncture the barrier. IIRC, that's what's in the building codes and recommended by the American Concrete Institute (ACI). Sadly, too many guys try to cut corners and skip the gravel and vapor barrier... or just dont' know any better because they never learned how to properly do concrete work. Drives me nuts that I have to bid against morons like that...

But anyway... on to the OP's questions...

If possible, store it in a garage during the winter months and drive a winter beater - that will go a long way towards keeping it nice for a LONG time.

Use good synthetic fluids and change them at the regular intervals. There is no need to change synth oil at 3,000 miles - even 5k is usually a little early anymore. Use a good filter too - I run only Motorcraft filters.

I stand by breaking in a motor properly. Drive it easy - no stomping your foot to the floor for the first couple thousand miles. Try to avoid towing/hauling too. And change the oil and filter at the first 2,500 miles, then again at 5k. I did that with my Ranger, it got babied till after 5k. And my fuel economy numbers (on pure gas, something that you can no longer get around here) showed it. With a 3.0L, 5-speed and 3.73 gears I was getting 19-21 mpg around town with a cap on the back, 21-23 mpg around town with a tonneau cover. Highway was 25-31 mpg. Yes, I hit 31 mpg with a 6-cyl truck on the highway. Now with this ethanol blend crap they pass off as gas, I'm stuck down around 17-18 mpg around town and 21-24 mpg highway.

Spray in bedliners are good, but if you're going to do a bit of hauling with it, you might want to consider a hard bedliner and rubber bedmat approach.

I had the fabric protector stuff put in my Ranger when I got it. Then I got some carpet remnants and covered the entire floor with it and put some floor mats down for the driver and passenger. Pull up that carpet and the factory stuff looks like new - 10 years and 85k later (and I used it for work for a few years, lol). Seatcovers are a good idea too.

Wax on a regular basis with a quality wax. I prefer Meguires Gold Class.

DO NOT use a spray-on "rubberized" undercoating. It makes a mess, some places don't prep or get things sprayed good, and you have to re-coat it every year or two because the stuff will dry out and crack. Once moisture gets behind the coating and starts to rust, it'll spread like a California wildfire. I put an electronic rustproofing system on my Ranger and it worked ok, but I wasn't overly impressed with it. I'm going with oil coating from now on. There are a few places around here that will oil undercoat, but if I can't find anyone I'm gonna just spray it with old hydraulic oil on a regular basis. Oil will not let it rust.

Try to avoid eating in the cab too. Beverages can be ok if you're careful with them - but it's usually best if it's nothing more than something like water.

And whatever you do, DO NOT smoke in the truck. You'll never get the smell out without replacing the entire interior. My rule is "if you NEED to have a cig, have it before or after you get in the truck."

 

[MountainMike]

And whatever you do, DO NOT smoke in the truck. You'll never get the smell out without replacing the entire interior. My rule is "if you NEED to have a cig, have it before or after you get in the truck."

It is possible to get the smell out, I have done it. Let's just say full interior detailing and stripping it down to the sheet metal. Not fun.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

It is possible to get the smell out, I have done it. Let's just say full interior detailing and stripping it down to the sheet metal. Not fun.

lol, close enough to tearing out the interior and replacing it

 

[MountainMike]

lol, close enough to tearing out the interior and replacing it

True that, haha

 

[02RangerXLT]

My best advice... Clean the hell out of it... Coat every part of the thing in cosmoline, stick it in a giant vacuum bag, suck all the air out of it, and seal it up.
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If that doesn't work for you... Park it in the garage, don't smoke in it, don't drive it in the winter if you can help it, don't eat or drink in it, and if you can help it don't store tools in the cab. Line-X'ing the bed will also help with that aspect. Line-X'ing the rockers will help too.