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Spidey300
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2021
- Messages
- 34
- City
- St. Louis, MO
- Vehicle Year
- 1998
- Engine
- 2.5 (4 Cylinder)
- Transmission
- Automatic
- Tire Size
- 225/70R14
Hi All,
I'm from St. Louis, MO and my '98 Ranger, who my wife and I have dubbed "Tanya", was my second vehicle and my ride since I started college ~17 years ago. Before that, my farmer Grandpa bought it new as his "town truck".
It's a '98 regular cab long bed XL with 2.5L 4-cylinder SOHC and 2WD automatic. Bare bones, no power windows/locks/cruise, etc. It has about 230k miles on it now but is on its second engine. My Dad borrowed the truck for about a year 6-7 years ago and, unfortunately, the engine went out when he had it and he paid for a replacement. I don't know all the details and my Dad's not very mechanically inclined but he thinks it threw a rod. The replacement engine had about 60k miles on it at the time and my Dad's pretty cheap so I don't think the guy who switched it out was very professional. I've found a few things since then that I chalk up to shortcuts he took.
Anyway, I've done a bit of work on it over the years, aftermarket radio, new alternator, wheel bearings, starter, tie rod, rack & pinion, AC compressor, accumulator, etc. I've salvaged a few things from the local JY to fix things like the broken center console, broken front bumper, radio bezel, and recently had a nasty wiring issue related to the VSS.
It's our secondary vehicle these days that I drive to work a few days a week, trips to the hardware store, etc. We've also taken it on a cross country camping road trip to the NV desert a couple years ago and plan to again in the future. I've recently installed a fiberglass camper shell to help with that.
Nice to be here, thanks!
I'm from St. Louis, MO and my '98 Ranger, who my wife and I have dubbed "Tanya", was my second vehicle and my ride since I started college ~17 years ago. Before that, my farmer Grandpa bought it new as his "town truck".
It's a '98 regular cab long bed XL with 2.5L 4-cylinder SOHC and 2WD automatic. Bare bones, no power windows/locks/cruise, etc. It has about 230k miles on it now but is on its second engine. My Dad borrowed the truck for about a year 6-7 years ago and, unfortunately, the engine went out when he had it and he paid for a replacement. I don't know all the details and my Dad's not very mechanically inclined but he thinks it threw a rod. The replacement engine had about 60k miles on it at the time and my Dad's pretty cheap so I don't think the guy who switched it out was very professional. I've found a few things since then that I chalk up to shortcuts he took.
Anyway, I've done a bit of work on it over the years, aftermarket radio, new alternator, wheel bearings, starter, tie rod, rack & pinion, AC compressor, accumulator, etc. I've salvaged a few things from the local JY to fix things like the broken center console, broken front bumper, radio bezel, and recently had a nasty wiring issue related to the VSS.
It's our secondary vehicle these days that I drive to work a few days a week, trips to the hardware store, etc. We've also taken it on a cross country camping road trip to the NV desert a couple years ago and plan to again in the future. I've recently installed a fiberglass camper shell to help with that.
Nice to be here, thanks!
