I blame y’all

[Texan209]

That’s right, you heard me. It’s all of y’all who have posted your wrong-handed, impractical, or “reasonable” trucks that inspired me to clean up the garage to fit a non-serious yet practical project car.

my goal: have fun with the car and experiment. Its “real” purpose is to haul materials, plants or whatever else the house needs on a given day, and to take on long trips for the sake of “cheap miles”, but my real motivation is that I need something to wrench on, something to make fun, in a seriously unserious way.

the first orders of business are small - spring clamps, tires (maybe wheels) and a replacement of most/all fluids, but I‘m already looking at suspension and paint options. The truck has a clean interior and solid engine but looks like sin.

So, I have two questions for the group:
1. Where do y’all go for new, aftermarket suspension parts? I know junkyards are good for certain things like swaybars, but coilovers, etc.
2. Is it ridiculous to truck-bed-line the whole truck? Obviously yes, but should I not?

Finally, if my weird references didn’t land, shoutout to @Lefty and @bhgl for their build threads that motivated me to finally pull the trigger on a Ranger.

 

[Lefty]

I gotta admit that suspension ugrades are the cheapest and best ways to upgrade the Ranger. We each have our own preferences, of course, but I really love the way that my own Ranger handles now.

I would recommend that you buy new wheels. They are the easiest way to add value to your truck. I bought a set of Procomp wheels for about $150 each.

I've had good luck with Ebay parts.

You may not mind repainting your truck with bedliner, but it's ugly. And it will lower the value.

Call me crazy, but I have had very good luck with rattlecan 2K (epoxy) paint from NAPA. They've done a great job mixing and matching colors. I bought a $30.00 Bauer buffer which corrects the paint. My own truck was professionally painted but I did the rattlecan trick on a friends. I've also had good luck with another friend's Impala.

Enjoy!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I snagged my swaybars from the JY. Rear swaybar came in various sizes but they fit pretty much all small rear axle tube Rangers 83-11. FX4 Level II and later model (like 10-11) Rangers had bigger tubes on the rear axle.

James Duff, Bronco Graveyard, Hellwig for aftermarket stuff.

+1 on no bedliner outside of the bed

 

[Texan209]

Thanks for the recommendations from you both - and I’ll look into that rattle can option. I was thinking that bedliner would hide more sins than trying to match 20 year old paint, but that’s a much easier thing to try as a first option

 

[Lefty]

Thanks for the recommendations from you both - and I’ll look into that rattle can option. I was thinking that bedliner would hide more sins than trying to match 20 year old paint, but that’s a much easier thing to try as a first option

Not every NAPA dealer has a full service paint shop, but there is one here in Saint Paul that offers this service. They require both a VIN paint number and a BATCH paint number. You will have to call the Ford parts desk to get the BATCH. The NAPA shop follows the numbers but also looks at the truck itself and compares in order to make final adjustments by eyeball. They have been uncanny accurate. Your final color will be noted on their computer. After that, They will mix every spray can exactly the same. Paint technology has come a long way.

Here's a side by side photo of my Ranger in the foreground and my buddy's Ranger in the back. His was painted with cans. It doesn't shine like mine, but it would if he took the time to buff it. There was a Ranger plant here in Saint Paul. Another friend worked there. He gave us decals for my buddy's rear fender.

His freshly painted Ranger is in the foreground....

This is a 2008 (?) Chevy Impala with a freshly painted metallic gold "new" junkyard bumper. People say metallics are very hard to match, but thanks to NAPA, the paint is perfectly matched to the trunk.

BTW Those are polished aluminum ProComp wheels on my Ranger.

None of this is really hard.

 

[MaicoDoug]

Welcome!

The coilover mod on the front I did was easy. It's worth it. There were a couple of pre-fab'ed parts I used, but being a fabricator, I can tell ya that it's no big deal. If yall ever get over to Bryan/College Station look me up, I'll buy you lunch! Keep those wheels tucked in tight.

 

[bhgl]

.

So, I have two questions for the group:
1. Where do y’all go for new, aftermarket suspension parts? I know junkyards are good for certain things like swaybars, but coilovers, etc.
2. Is it ridiculous to truck-bed-line the whole truck? Obviously yes, but should I not?

Finally, if my weird references didn’t land, shoutout to @Lefty and @bhgl for their build threads that motivated me to finally pull the trigger on a Ranger.

I want to say I'm honored, small trucks are in fact the best trucks so I'm glad you're getting into one!

As for answers to your questions:

1. I usually just go through Rock Auto for stock/standard replacement parts. If it isn't a consumable part (tie rods, ball joints, e.t.c.) the junkyard is always a good bet if to replace something that's broken, or find upgrades for your Ranger from similar vehicles that have better parts from the factory.

For swaybars, you're looking for Explorer and Explorer SportTrac (of specific years), Bronco II, Mercury Moutaineers e.t.c, take a set of calipers and measure your own sway bars, then next time you're in the yard you can take your pick of some ranger based vehicles of the right vintage that have a thicker sway bar.

What components you want to go for depends on what you plan to do, if you're looking for comfort and practicality, I'd keep the suspension stock as possible, while picking up a set of Bilstein Shocks. Unless your truck is an Edge model (Torsion Bar), a 2WD should be coil sprung at the front, mind you this doesn't mean coil-over, but it's actually kinda similar, just that the upper and lower control arms seat the spring, and hold the shock rather than it being a separate unit.

If you're like me, and want to keep the truck an honest useful run about that's fun to drive on-road while leaning more into the simple utility/reasonableness. I'd suggest potentially lowering the truck a small amount, here's a thread on my experience lowering the truck using a Belltech suspension Kit and installing some new suspension components: https://www.therangerstation.com/fo...nch-lowering-coil-and-leaf-kit-review.210495/

2. Please for the love of god, don't bedline the truck. For one thing, you're in Texas, you'll fry in that thing and you better pray your AC don't quit on ya.

Whereas my dear @Lefty does a great job of keeping his build clean and cohesive, I'm personally more fond of a "practical" paintjob.

Originally I was planning on fixing all the dents and rust patches, but short of the problematic rust patches, I've actually really come to love those imperfections and want to keep em around.

I've got a dent on a rear quarter panel from the first time I took the truck out in the bush to take my girlfriend camping and whacked a tree limb sticking out into a tight bush road, the truck's not showing bare metal, and the dent isn't that big but now every time I look at it, I remember that day and how much fun I had thanks to the little truck that could.

Depending what's wrong with it, I'd say patch up the problems spots, peeling clear coat, rust e.t.c, and just let it be reasonable!

Or you can take a reasonable restoration approach too if you'd like like Lefty, and it'll be a great chance to learn how to work with automotive paint.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Explorer rear sway bars are much different than Ranger's. Not really swappable unless you swap the axle too (or weld brackets on your rear axle.

The problem with keeping rust patches is that they grow...

 

[superj]

welcome from corpus christi!!!!

here is hte place for coil overs:
RicksRangerz - ricksrangerz.com, Ford Ranger, Online Store

man, you are fb marketplace parts heaven for rangers. everything i find that is cool and decent priced is somewhere near austin.

that would be awesome if it wasn't 3+ hours away.

 

[Texan209]

Not every NAPA dealer has a full service paint shop, but there is one here in Saint Paul that offers this service. They require both a VIN paint number and a BATCH paint number. You will have to call the Ford parts desk to get the BATCH. The NAPA shop follows the numbers but also looks at the truck itself and compares in order to make final adjustments by eyeball. They have been uncanny accurate. Your final color will be noted on their computer. After that, They will mix every spray can exactly the same. Paint technology has come a long way.

Here's a side by side photo of my Ranger in the foreground and my buddy's Ranger in the back. His was painted with cans. It doesn't shine like mine, but it would if he took the time to buff it. There was a Ranger plant here in Saint Paul. Another friend worked there. He gave us decals for my buddy's rear fender.

View attachment 119606
His freshly painted Ranger is in the foreground....
View attachment 119609
View attachment 119610

This is a 2008 (?) Chevy Impala with a freshly painted metallic gold "new" junkyard bumper. People say metallics are very hard to match, but thanks to NAPA, the paint is perfectly matched to the trunk.

BTW Those are polished aluminum ProComp wheels on my Ranger.

None of this is really hard.

Thanks for the info, that's super helpful. That truck came out great, so I'll make another Harbor Freight trip and see what she'll look like after a spray and buff.

 

[Texan209]

I want to say I'm honored, small trucks are in fact the best trucks so I'm glad you're getting into one!

As for answers to your questions:

1. I usually just go through Rock Auto for stock/standard replacement parts. If it isn't a consumable part (tie rods, ball joints, e.t.c.) the junkyard is always a good bet if to replace something that's broken, or find upgrades for your Ranger from similar vehicles that have better parts from the factory.

For swaybars, you're looking for Explorer and Explorer SportTrac (of specific years), Bronco II, Mercury Moutaineers e.t.c, take a set of calipers and measure your own sway bars, then next time you're in the yard you can take your pick of some ranger based vehicles of the right vintage that have a thicker sway bar.

What components you want to go for depends on what you plan to do, if you're looking for comfort and practicality, I'd keep the suspension stock as possible, while picking up a set of Bilstein Shocks. Unless your truck is an Edge model (Torsion Bar), a 2WD should be coil sprung at the front, mind you this doesn't mean coil-over, but it's actually kinda similar, just that the upper and lower control arms seat the spring, and hold the shock rather than it being a separate unit.

If you're like me, and want to keep the truck an honest useful run about that's fun to drive on-road while leaning more into the simple utility/reasonableness. I'd suggest potentially lowering the truck a small amount, here's a thread on my experience lowering the truck using a Belltech suspension Kit and installing some new suspension components: https://www.therangerstation.com/fo...nch-lowering-coil-and-leaf-kit-review.210495/

2. Please for the love of god, don't bedline the truck. For one thing, you're in Texas, you'll fry in that thing and you better pray your AC don't quit on ya.

Whereas my dear @Lefty does a great job of keeping his build clean and cohesive, I'm personally more fond of a "practical" paintjob.

Originally I was planning on fixing all the dents and rust patches, but short of the problematic rust patches, I've actually really come to love those imperfections and want to keep em around.

I've got a dent on a rear quarter panel from the first time I took the truck out in the bush to take my girlfriend camping and whacked a tree limb sticking out into a tight bush road, the truck's not showing bare metal, and the dent isn't that big but now every time I look at it, I remember that day and how much fun I had thanks to the little truck that could.

Depending what's wrong with it, I'd say patch up the problems spots, peeling clear coat, rust e.t.c, and just let it be reasonable!

Or you can take a reasonable restoration approach too if you'd like like Lefty, and it'll be a great chance to learn how to work with automotive paint.

It's mostly the chipping roof that I'm concerned about, along with some sub-par patches from the last owner and their very-not-color-matched rattlecan that I'm trying to address. It's a work/fun truck and I want it to have personality, just not embarrass me when I get out.
Super helpful info with all of the components; this is where my inexperience starts to show - I know a lot about cars and mechanics but have only ever owned foreign sports cars that I haven't trusted myself to work on.

 

[bhgl]

It's mostly the chipping roof that I'm concerned about, along with some sub-par patches from the last owner and their very-not-color-matched rattlecan that I'm trying to address. It's a work/fun truck and I want it to have personality, just not embarrass me when I get out.
Super helpful info with all of the components; this is where my inexperience starts to show - I know a lot about cars and mechanics but have only ever owned foreign sports cars that I haven't trusted myself to work on.

Yeah there's a difference between a "beat up ol' pickup truck" aesthetic, and "beat pickup". I wouldn't appreciate mismatched paint and obvious flaking.

This forum is one of the best places to be on the internet for learning about rangers and cars in general so you're in the right place!

 

[MaicoDoug]

Found a 2005 level II in Alvin just now, posted in another thread, but I'll post it here too......2005 Level II $3.500

 

[superj]

there is one in mcallen for 2k, also, i think is where i saw it

 

[Texan209]

Well, Rosa passed her first real test - after a shakedown drive to Dallas and back, we hit the road for west Texas - about 350 miles each way and she did great.
An alignment and wheel balance helped the vibrations at certain speeds, but I’ll be looking further into what’s causing it to resonate around 62-70mph. No real problems to report beyond that