Best starting upgrades for off-roading 1994 Ranger XLT

[Curious Hound]

How would I go about installing a second transmission cooler on my Ranger?

It's not difficult. You may gain some insight in this thread.

Inline aux transmission cooler hookup for A4LD

Hi, I have searched the archives (for this forum and elsewhere) and have not been able to find an answer to my question. New to me 1994 Ranger with 2.3 and auto trans (which was recently rebuilt under previous ownership). While I don’t plan to do any towing with this vehicle I do want to take...

www.therangerstation.com

 

[Dirtman]

For an auto trans on a ranger a auxiliary cooler is like mandatory even on the street, off-road is a absolute must. I got mine for less than 50 bucks, took some creativity to install but my trans now stays at about 170 degrees which is perfect. I'll try to dig up my old pics. I think I got a "Hayden"?

Worth it's weight in gold on a ford ranger transmission.

 

[Curious Hound]

I see them all the time at the junk yard. Different sizes and shapes. Easy to grab and inexpensive.

 

[Dirtman]

Here's how I did mine, not great but works with the supplied "mounts" you need one adapter for the high side to go from compression to barbed fitting. Just run appropriate oil lines to and from the cooler and you're good. I could make a better mount but I'm lazy and this has worked for years.

 

[RangerRyan50]

Here's how I did mine, not great but works with the supplied "mounts" you need one adapter for the high side to go from compression to barbed fitting. Just run appropriate oil lines to and from the cooler and you're good. I could make a better mount but I'm lazy and this has worked for years.

View attachment 60947

where exactly did you mount it? Is that on the outside of the radiator? Can’t quite tell where it’s at from the photo.

 

[RangerRyan50]

Does anybody have any other suggestions for basic things I should replace on a 1994 Ford Ranger due to age (other than the basics, I’m already working on all of that)

I more am wondering if there’s any parts I should check that commonly go out in rangers from 1994?

 

[scotts90ranger]

Check the U joints on the driveshafts and front axle, check all 3 on the front axle, mainly check for some wiggle as they shouldn't have much if any.

I hope you got reasonable tires if your plan is to go offroading, with the stupid current trend of getting 20" wheels and 30" tires you aren't going to go far... 15" wheels are where it's at... sidewall height is your friend... the ONLY GOOD reason to get any bigger wheels is if the brakes are too big to fit, which they weren't in '94... I fit some Jeep aluminum 15" wheels on my V8 Explorer with the more normal type of front suspension, they self clearanced a little

Other than that, just tune up and check/change fluids

Yes, the trans cooler goes in front of the radiator

 

[RangerRyan50]

Check the U joints on the driveshafts and front axle, check all 3 on the front axle, mainly check for some wiggle as they shouldn't have much if any.

I hope you got reasonable tires if your plan is to go offroading, with the stupid current trend of getting 20" wheels and 30" tires you aren't going to go far... 15" wheels are where it's at... sidewall height is your friend... the ONLY GOOD reason to get any bigger wheels is if the brakes are too big to fit, which they weren't in '94... I fit some Jeep aluminum 15" wheels on my V8 Explorer with the more normal type of front suspension, they self clearanced a little

Other than that, just tune up and check/change fluids

Yes, the trans cooler goes in front of the radiator

For sure are the U joints fairly simple to replace if I need to? And yes I got some 15” wheels with some nice all terrain tires. I don’t remember the tire size off the top of my head but they are a good size side wall. The new wheels I got fit and look great on my Ranger! And would you recommend getting a tuner?

 

[Dirtman]

where exactly did you mount it? Is that on the outside of the radiator? Can’t quite tell where it’s at from the photo.

It's in front of the radiator and AC condensor. Mounted right behind the grill.

 

[sgtsandman]

For sure are the U joints fairly simple to replace if I need to? And yes I got some 15” wheels with some nice all terrain tires. I don’t remember the tire size off the top of my head but they are a good size side wall. The new wheels I got fit and look great on my Ranger! And would you recommend getting a tuner?

U-Joints aren’t bad if you have the right tools. Harbor Freight sells a kit for that and for working on the front suspension.

All-Terrain tires are a good all around tire but keep in mind that they aren’t normally designed to eject mud. So, with enough mud on the trail, the tread will become clogged and turn your tires into racing slicks.

Right now I’m running All-Terrains but once I get the money to replace my winter tires, they get mud tires as a replacement. The All-Terrains are the replacement for the winter tires.

 

[RangerRyan50]

It's in front of the radiator and AC condensor. Mounted right behind the grill.

how hard was adjusting the hard hoses from the radiator? Did you have to cut them at all? And did you keep it cycling through the radiator and the cooler or just the cooler?

 

[RangerRyan50]

U-Joints aren’t bad if you have the right tools. Harbor Freight sells a kit for that and for working on the front suspension.

All-Terrain tires are a good all around tire but keep in mind that they aren’t normally designed to eject mud. So, with enough mud on the trail, the tread will become clogged and turn your tires into racing slicks.

Right now I’m running All-Terrains but once I get the money to replace my winter tires, they get mud tires as a replacement. The All-Terrains are the replacement for the winter tires.

forsure I will look into the u joints, and I did not know that about all terrain tires. I will mostly be driving it on the street but plan to do a small amount of off-roading. My next set of tires I will look into getting some mud tires. For now I will just avoid mud lol, luckily it’s very dry in Colorado from June-September.

 

[Dirtman]

Yes it still runs through the radiator and plumbing it into the existing line was not difficult at all. Attaches at the upper line / upper radiator port with barb fitting adapters. All I had to do was slightly push the OEM hard line over a bit to make room for the rubber lines. No cutting required. Plumbing it was the easiest part of the process. I'll take a pic of how the hoses are hooked up when I go outside.

 

[RangerRyan50]

Yes it still runs through the radiator and plumbing it into the existing line was not difficult at all. Attaches at the upper line / upper radiator port with barb fitting adapters. All I had to do was slightly push the OEM hard line over a bit to make room for the rubber lines. No cutting required. Plumbing it was the easiest part of the process. I'll take a pic of how the hoses are hooked up when I go outside.

sounds good I definitely want to see it! Also, what cooler did you buy?

 

[Dirtman]

sounds good I definitely want to see it! Also, what cooler did you buy?

This one, it's cheap but it works well.

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