Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and Mangler Malachi
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2014
- Messages
- 1
- Vehicle Year
- 1996
- Transmission
- Manual
Hey folks! Been lurking in the shadows of TRS for a couple of years, since I bought, (out of necessity, NOT by first choice) a well used '96 to get to work.
I had been a diehard GM fan since 1985, (my 2nd car was a '70 Olds Cutlass), after my 1st car, a '73 Gran Torino broke a timing chain. After that, I NEVER thought much of Ford until I got in a situation where I had to be 2 states away in 2 days (for a job) and only about $1800. A friend of a friend had had this ol '96 for sale in his front yard for about 2 months, it was Saturday afternoon, and I had to be in Kosciusko, Mississippi Sunday evening.
It had 4 different 14" maypop tires on it, but the man threw in a set of 15" wheels, 2 of which, although unmatching, had decent tread. Neither the gas gage nor the odometer worked, they quit at 172k, but the little 4 banger started right up, sounded fairly strong, and was clean where it counted, so I said a prayer, and plunked down $1400 for the truck. Put two Goodyears on the other 15" rims and got an oil change at Walmart, and went home to pack.
That was in January of 2012. I found TRS while looking for a calculator to tell me how fast I was actually going with those 15" wheels, lest I get a ticket cruising some rural county highway on the way to another job. Over time, I have really come to love "Ol Ruth" and have come to the conclusion that these Ford Rangers are just about the perfect little pick-up for me. They are durable, easy enough to work on when you need to, and parts are cheap and plentiful. And best of all, if there is anything I ever needed or wanted to know, I have the legions of like-minded members of TRS to help.
I had been a diehard GM fan since 1985, (my 2nd car was a '70 Olds Cutlass), after my 1st car, a '73 Gran Torino broke a timing chain. After that, I NEVER thought much of Ford until I got in a situation where I had to be 2 states away in 2 days (for a job) and only about $1800. A friend of a friend had had this ol '96 for sale in his front yard for about 2 months, it was Saturday afternoon, and I had to be in Kosciusko, Mississippi Sunday evening.
It had 4 different 14" maypop tires on it, but the man threw in a set of 15" wheels, 2 of which, although unmatching, had decent tread. Neither the gas gage nor the odometer worked, they quit at 172k, but the little 4 banger started right up, sounded fairly strong, and was clean where it counted, so I said a prayer, and plunked down $1400 for the truck. Put two Goodyears on the other 15" rims and got an oil change at Walmart, and went home to pack.
That was in January of 2012. I found TRS while looking for a calculator to tell me how fast I was actually going with those 15" wheels, lest I get a ticket cruising some rural county highway on the way to another job. Over time, I have really come to love "Ol Ruth" and have come to the conclusion that these Ford Rangers are just about the perfect little pick-up for me. They are durable, easy enough to work on when you need to, and parts are cheap and plentiful. And best of all, if there is anything I ever needed or wanted to know, I have the legions of like-minded members of TRS to help.
