Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and - Joined
- Jan 13, 2021
- Messages
- 78
- City
- montana
- Vehicle Year
- 1987
- Engine
- 2.9 V6
- Transmission
- Manual
- Total Lift
- stock 4wd
- Tire Size
- 31x10.5R15
Howdy
I'm Martin, I've had a few of these 1st gens now over the years.
Ranger 1: My dad had (actually still has) an 85ish extra cab XLT with a 2.7 iirc, manual transmission. That and a Mazda MPV were the first vehicles I was aware of in my childhood.
I still remember riding home from baseball or soccer as a kid when it dumped coolant on the highway a couple miles from our house, flat-towed it back, and it sat in the driveway for maybe 15 years thereafter.
Thinking back, it kind of surprises me how relatively "new" the truck actually was(especially breaking down like that), even then it looked and felt "old". The MPV also had way too many problems for its age...
A few years ago I figured I'd try to fix it while I was in town. Freeze plugs had given out back then it seemed, had to replace the fuel tank, starter I think, some other things. Thought we had it fixed at a friends garage, tried driving it back to my dad's place.
The engine didn't much like that. Cant remember off-hand what the problem is now, but it was something I wasn't going to be fixing at the time. It's back to its spot in the driveway.
Ranger 2: One of my first real jobs, for a "high school graduation bonus" I was gifted an 89 ranger, also extra cab, XL or XLT but auto and I think 2.3(its been a while), that had been sitting in their warehouse for as long as I'd worked there.
I recall that summer, still on the first fresh fill-up of gas, my buddy and I discovered that the fuel gauge didn't read properly. In the middle of the night. On the highway, an hour or two out of town. Good times.
Sold that to a friend when I left the state. It was a decent little truck.
Ranger 3: Just picked up a '90 2.9 4x4 XLT RC/SB, running and driving, for $500 which is about unheard-of for a 4wd in Montana
It is ugly. And the floor was coated in sunflower seeds and whatsit. Vacuumed up ok, I'll probably still be pulling the carpet at some point. It does have a nice little bull bar on it, good to have up here.
...Unfortunately, after checking it out in advance and finding no real issues other than age, rust, tires, and valve cover gasket leaks, *while driving it up the trailer to haul back to my house*, it let the smoke out.
Coolant level looked okay, haven't checked compression yet; still fires up and drives, but I'm assuming I've got a head removal coming up. More on that later.
I'm kind of surprised I didn't already have an account here, I'm pretty sure I'd been all over this site back on the first 2 rangers.
Anyway, great stuff here, good to finally have an account.
Martin
KI7RWJ
I'm Martin, I've had a few of these 1st gens now over the years.
Ranger 1: My dad had (actually still has) an 85ish extra cab XLT with a 2.7 iirc, manual transmission. That and a Mazda MPV were the first vehicles I was aware of in my childhood.
I still remember riding home from baseball or soccer as a kid when it dumped coolant on the highway a couple miles from our house, flat-towed it back, and it sat in the driveway for maybe 15 years thereafter.
Thinking back, it kind of surprises me how relatively "new" the truck actually was(especially breaking down like that), even then it looked and felt "old". The MPV also had way too many problems for its age...
A few years ago I figured I'd try to fix it while I was in town. Freeze plugs had given out back then it seemed, had to replace the fuel tank, starter I think, some other things. Thought we had it fixed at a friends garage, tried driving it back to my dad's place.
The engine didn't much like that. Cant remember off-hand what the problem is now, but it was something I wasn't going to be fixing at the time. It's back to its spot in the driveway.
Ranger 2: One of my first real jobs, for a "high school graduation bonus" I was gifted an 89 ranger, also extra cab, XL or XLT but auto and I think 2.3(its been a while), that had been sitting in their warehouse for as long as I'd worked there.
I recall that summer, still on the first fresh fill-up of gas, my buddy and I discovered that the fuel gauge didn't read properly. In the middle of the night. On the highway, an hour or two out of town. Good times.
Sold that to a friend when I left the state. It was a decent little truck.
Ranger 3: Just picked up a '90 2.9 4x4 XLT RC/SB, running and driving, for $500 which is about unheard-of for a 4wd in Montana
It is ugly. And the floor was coated in sunflower seeds and whatsit. Vacuumed up ok, I'll probably still be pulling the carpet at some point. It does have a nice little bull bar on it, good to have up here.
...Unfortunately, after checking it out in advance and finding no real issues other than age, rust, tires, and valve cover gasket leaks, *while driving it up the trailer to haul back to my house*, it let the smoke out.
Coolant level looked okay, haven't checked compression yet; still fires up and drives, but I'm assuming I've got a head removal coming up. More on that later.
I'm kind of surprised I didn't already have an account here, I'm pretty sure I'd been all over this site back on the first 2 rangers.
Anyway, great stuff here, good to finally have an account.
Martin
KI7RWJ
