Most Repairs..... In A Year???

[Canuck4x4]

...Just curious who has had needed the most repairs in the their first year of ranger ownership? I bought my 03 xlt 4x4 with 70,000 miles showing back around January for $3000. Its s good thing I got it cheap because this thing has been a money pit. It had a fresh legal inspection on it but as you will see this really means nothing. So far in the last year 9 months here is what it needed.
...front passenger upper control arm, outer tie rod end, front passenger wheel bearing, front sway bar links, front drivers brake caliper, front brake pads, rear brake shoes, drums and hold down kits, 1 rear wheel cylinder, 2 rear emergency brake cables, 1 rear leaf spring plate. Cab taken off to fix seedy cross member. In probably forgetting 1 or 2 things. That's with 11,000 miles logged on it. Is this normal maintenance for rangers?? Lol

 

[BlackBII]

To be fair; any vehicle with 70k+ miles on it is going to need many of it's wear items replaced, so that isn't all that surprising. Ball joints, Tie rod ends, Brakes, Bearings, Anti sway bar links, etc are items that wear out over time.

I'm not sure what a seedy crossmember or a leaf spring plate is.

 

[Canuck4x4]

To be fair; any vehicle with 70k+ miles on it is going to need many of it's wear items replaced, so that isn't all that surprising. Ball joints, Tie rod ends, Brakes, Bearings, Anti sway bar links, etc are items that wear out over time.

I'm not sure what a seedy crossmember or a leaf spring plate is.

A lot of parts were already replaced before my mechanic started working on it and were worn out again. What I really mean by seedy cross member is I guess the brace that goes under the gas tank. I guess I misnames it. One of the bars in the leaf spring needed changing. I hear what your saying about things wearing out and such but I have owned a lot of used vehicles that were older than this ranger and with double the mileage that only required a fraction of the parts that I have put into this vehicle so far. I'm not so much complaining ,but am a little surprised.

 

[hank857]

sounds more like the previous owner did little to no PREVENTATIVE maintenance and you are now making up for it. My 94 has 300000+ on it and I have done the brake a couple of times to include calipers and drums at least 1 time along with front rotors. It had 60K on it when we got it and I have not had but alignments on it and they say all still good up front. Do plan to have it rebuilt as we are going to use it for a towd vehicle with the rv so it can carry the boat and grandkids can go fishing. Once you get it straigtend out all should be ok, but keep the salt and stuff washed off to help it last.

 

[fr7]

Sounds like it was very neglected by the previous owner. I've owned mine for almost 2 years and it was neglected, I've spent a lot of money on it but I only paid $1,500 for it and luckily it's got only minor rust. I've done all of the work myself, that saves tons of moneys. the only time this truck sees a shop is for wheel alignments and tire related issues. The first time I took it in for alignment they couldn't do it cause of worn parts. The shop wanted the light sum of money of $1,150 to replace a wheel hub and both lower ball joints, obviously I told them where to stick their bid. First thing I did after I picked it up was spent like $50 worth of car wash and supplies to scrub and wash off 3 years worth of tree sap and moss before I could find out what color the truck actually was LoL. After that, I have a center console overflowing with receipts. In under 2 years I've replaced/fixed wheel hubs, cv axles, upper control arms with ball joints, lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, front and rear brakes with rotors and calipers, power steering pump, u-joints, rebuilt transfer case, 2 shift motors, rear window, door ajar sensors, maf sensor, IAC sensor, spark plugs, wires, tail light lenses, replaced rear end with limited slip one, park brake cables, door handle, cruise control buttons, radiator cap, new radio, shocks, driver's mirror twice (idiots keep driving by and hitting it), tail gate cables, miscellaneous plastic trim pieces, and some random stuff I can't think of. That's not including regular maintenance like oil and fluid changes, filters, tires, etc. And I'm still trying to figure out why my 4wd keeps quiting working on me. The odometer quit working at around 174,000 so by now I bet I'm getting close to 200,000 miles on the original motor and still running really good.
If somebody offers me just what I've put into it I'll sell it in a heartbeat, but that's never gonna happen.
They're damn good trucks if you take care of them but you have to spend quite a bit of money to keep them running, sometimes you have to sit back and think if it's really worth it throwing money at them. Good luck...

 

[Doofy]

1998, 113K. Have not spent a dime other than for routine maintenance. No money pit here. Been a fine little truck!

 

[Canuck4x4]

Sounds like it was very neglected by the previous owner. I've owned mine for almost 2 years and it was neglected, I've spent a lot of money on it but I only paid $1,500 for it and luckily it's got only minor rust. I've done all of the work myself, that saves tons of moneys. the only time this truck sees a shop is for wheel alignments and tire related issues. The first time I took it in for alignment they couldn't do it cause of worn parts. The shop wanted the light sum of money of $1,150 to replace a wheel hub and both lower ball joints, obviously I told them where to stick their bid. First thing I did after I picked it up was spent like $50 worth of car wash and supplies to scrub and wash off 3 years worth of tree sap and moss before I could find out what color the truck actually was LoL. After that, I have a center console overflowing with receipts. In under 2 years I've replaced/fixed wheel hubs, cv axles, upper control arms with ball joints, lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, front and rear brakes with rotors and calipers, power steering pump, u-joints, rebuilt transfer case, 2 shift motors, rear window, door ajar sensors, maf sensor, IAC sensor, spark plugs, wires, tail light lenses, replaced rear end with limited slip one, park brake cables, door handle, cruise control buttons, radiator cap, new radio, shocks, driver's mirror twice (idiots keep driving by and hitting it), tail gate cables, miscellaneous plastic trim pieces, and some random stuff I can't think of. That's not including regular maintenance like oil and fluid changes, filters, tires, etc. And I'm still trying to figure out why my 4wd keeps quiting working on me. The odometer quit working at around 174,000 so by now I bet I'm getting close to 200,000 miles on the original motor and still running really good.
If somebody offers me just what I've put into it I'll sell it in a heartbeat, but that's never gonna happen.
They're damn good trucks if you take care of them but you have to spend quite a bit of money to keep them running, sometimes you have to sit back and think if it's really worth it throwing money at them. Good luck...

Wow..thanks I feel better now. I'm not alone..lol

 

[Canuck4x4]

...When I brought the ranger to my mechanic he said they are a good little truck but its not going to be easy on parts like my girlfriends Tacoma..lol.
...The body itself is mint for a 14 year old truck. The door jams ect look like the day it left the dealer. I get my parts through my mechanics discount at the local parts store for a insanely low price and his labour rate is low so I really don't mind putting a lot of new parts on it. This is primarily going to be my winter ride because I need a 4x4 where I live. It did a good job last winter.

 

[Plum Ranger XLT]

Back in the mid 1990's I inherited a 1980 Pinto from my older brother and it needed work to it not long after I got it but not to that extent. It seemed like once a month it was in the shop for something that was wrong with and parts for it were almost impossible to find for it at the time.