My first 4x4 FINALLY!

[MusicManiac]

Last night I finally got my first 4wd vehicle! YEAH! I am not new to offroad by any means, just have been a VW guy since my mid-teens. I did end up selling my sandrail and the 2wd Cherokee I had been using to tow it a while back to fund my wife's Saturn Vue when we were getting to ready to have our first baby last year... I got to drive the Accord... Haha! Well, I bought another VW a couple months back and have it up and running and I think it is ready to hit the dirt too, BUT, you guys don't care too much about no stinking '66 baja right? So...

Last night I used a good part of our tax return and bought my first 4x4. It is a '93 extended cab Ranger with the 4.0 V6 and 5 speed trans. Has a 5 digit odometer and the guy said it had 125k miles. Well, carfax says that in '06 it was reported as having 155k... Hmmm... Oh well. It runs and drives great! It will remain mostly stock as it is going to be my daily driver, but it will see its fair share of dirt too. It has a bunch of mis matched tires on it now. Real weird. It has 3 31/10.50/15 ATs on it in varying condition. Only one of them is really decent to drive on.... What about that one other tire you say? Well, it is a nearly new 225/75/15 that matches the spare. Haha! They both look almost new so I think I will just have the spare mounted on the other alloy for up front and run those up front. As for the rear, I am thinking I will keep the one good AT on there and buy another to match it.

 

[KELLY88]

Congrats on the purchase and welcome to TRS! That truck is a beast with plenty of potential of being a good wheeler with a few mods if you ever change your mind one day.

 

[MusicManiac]

Oh I don't mind mods one bit! My only requirement is it will have to stay my daily driver for at least a few years so I don't want to go crazy on a lift and 35s or anything. Need to get decent MPG as I drive about 50 miles a day to and from work.

Here is my other toy that is dedicated to offroad and weekend driving.

And yes, I know I need to crank the rear torsions up a bit on the VW to level it out. Haha!

 

[bseamop]

my first Ranger was a '93,I loved that thing, enjoy it because its a factory built monster
that bug is badass too by the way

 

[KELLY88]

The 4.0 OHV does pretty well for mileage, more than one would usually expect. I get about 17mpg around town and about 22-24 on the highway in my 4.0. That's also lifted with 33s and 200,000 miles.

 

[MusicManiac]

The 4.0 OHV does pretty well for mileage, more than one would usually expect. I get about 17mpg around town and about 22-24 on the highway in my 4.0. That's also lifted with 33s and 200,000 miles.

Right on. That is EXACTLY what I was hoping to hear man! Haha! I was hoping to get about 17-19 on my daily drive. I do hit alittle traffic, but for the most part I can usually cruise at 40-50 mph. So, my 17-19 mpg hopes may not be too far out of line with the 31s. Good to hear! My wife thought I was getting a 4 banger and was worried when I told her it was the bigger of the 2 V6s that Ford offered that year. (They did a 3.0 and a 4.0 in 93 right? Haha!)

 

[MusicManiac]

Alright guys, so the radio and dome light were not working when I got it. Checked the fuses this morning and one was toast. Replaced it and bing bing bing, the dome light is on as well as the door ajar sound. Haha! Cool. But, I can't get the dome light off!!! What position does the switch need to be in? I tried all 3 and nothing. It just seemed to change the brightness. I didn't get an owner's manual with the truck so I just checked all fuses. That was the only one that was popped. What other reasons can you think of for there to be no power to the radio? It is a stock radio. I will probably pull the dash over the weekend and see if it is the actual radio's wiring, but would like to get other thoughts before going to that trouble. What do you guys think?

 

[pickuptrucker]

man that bug is nice ranger too welcome to the forum!

 

[MusicManiac]

Thanks man! It is on its way. Still needs a lot of work, but it is gettin there. I have it running and driving at least now, so that is a bit of a morale boost! Haha. For a while there the bug was just sitting in my driveway and felt like no matter what I did, I was no closer. But, now we are movin!

 

[bobbywalter]

dont remember if the t lights are gem controlled on a 93.


bug is awesome though!

 

[BlackBII]

killer bug!

Sweet ranger..now it just needs 6" of lift, lockers, gears, boggers......

 

[MusicManiac]

killer bug!

Sweet ranger..now it just needs 6" of lift, lockers, gears, boggers......

Haha! Someday my friend.... Someday...

 

[MusicManiac]

I finally got some new shoes put on her last night! WOOHOOO!! Nothin super special, but they will get the job done and were darn affordable too. A buddy of mine runs a tire shop out of his house and got me 4 new Chaparral radial XTs for 105 a piece. After tax and all the fees it was 480 out the door. Not too bad! Stuck with the 31/10.5-15s. Pretty excited to get it in 4wd now!

 

[MusicManiac]

Woohoo!! Had to go out to the middle of nowhere this week to pick something up and on the way I had to stop. Haha! I saw some small trails just off the dirt road and had to at least put it in 4 for a second! HAHA! What do you guys think about taking off the whole black plastic piece that hangs off the bottom of the front bumper? I think I am going to and at least see how it looks. I pulled off the reflectors that the PO had hot glued over the lights down there and found a bunch of rust in the light cans. Think I will just take all that off and see how she looks then.

Anybody got a Ford emblem they want to send me so I can put it back on the front of the truck? lol. There had been a skull and crossbones belt buckle super glued to where the Ford emblem should be before I got it.

 

[1ATony]

Rice Ranger,but I wanna see that bug in action.