Old School 1986

[Jim Oaks]

Old school 1986......

I graduated from high school in 1986. Does that meen I'm old?

 

[Will]

You were 25 when you graduated, so yeah, old school for sure.

 

[B2 Addict]

Man that is a sweet truck!

1st gens are the best looking of them all in my opinion!
Congrats on a great find my friend!

 

[Louisville86]

There don't seem to be a lot of the '83-'88 models around here in Denver, but I do see quite a few of the '89-'92s. And the Bronco IIs are much more numerous. We have some strict emission tests here on the front range, so if your truck doesn't pass you have to spend $715 in repairs in order to get a waiver that's good for two years. So spending an extra $360 a year for basically nothing is a big incentive for people to send their old trucks to the junkyard (or sell them to somebody up in the mountains where they don't do the strict tests). I really despise taking my vehicles to Envirotest and watching those minimum-wage fools flog them on the treadmill. Pre '82 just has a tailpipe-sniff test so a lot of folks look for those '81 and older trucks as they are at less risk of being forced off the road by the MAN!

I did see a very clean 1986 4x4 XL longbed Ranger while I was waiting in line for my emission test, of all places. It was Desert Tan Metallic (sort of a light, metallic brown that sounds bad but is kind of nice when it's clean and shiny) with a beige interior and a 5-speed. It was a 2.3 that the owner had turbocharged for some extra power. Very nice!

 

[Mark_88]

I'd have to add another "nice truck, good find"...and a "welcome to TRS"...

But I would dump the AM, dump the A/C, drop in a 429 cobra jet (or was that 428), put on a 6" lift, change the cab for an extended cab, put 31" tires, a manual transmission, paint the outside pink, put in some cushy leather seats from the Lincoln (power, of course), tint the windows, add a sun roof, and get an A-ooooo-Ga horn...

Otherwise...leave it stock...

 

[Fast Doc]

Nice truck. Modest and capable. Looks good, outstanding price.

FWIW I have a like new stock stereo and tape player and 4 speakers from my '92 I'd sell to you for next to nothing if you'd pay the shipping.

 

[Louisville86]

OK, just one more update. I took the Ranger in for an A/C recharge this morning. I didn't know what to expect as I might have had a leaky hose or some other hidden problem (the compressor wouldn't engage but turned freely by hand).

Anyway, two lbs. of (kind of pricey) R-12 and it was showing 41.3 degrees of cool air at the dashboard vent - yay! The kid who did the work said he never sees under 45 degrees with a R-134 conversion so I was pleased. It was 91 degrees in Denver today but I kept that A/C cranked and was cool as you please.

I think they just never charged it all those years. Western Oregon isn't very hot and who bothers in a work truck.

 

[AllanD]

I'm getting the A/C charged this week (I'd do it myself but I prefer the real R-12 even though it's pricey nowadays). Maybe a stereo but the AM radio works fine. I might get an '83-'84 dashboard trim piece with three radio holes as I have an old (1977 Lincoln Mark V) AM/FM stereo that would fit perfectly in there and I'm cheap! Lucky for me there are two speakers in the dashboard.

.

You can't.

The TWO ROWS of warning lamps in the '86-up dash won't work with the
early dash facia.

OK, just one more update. I took the Ranger in for an A/C recharge this morning. I didn't know what to expect as I might have had a leaky hose or some other hidden problem (the compressor wouldn't engage but turned freely by hand).

Anyway, two lbs. of (kind of pricey) R-12 and it was showing 41.3 degrees of cool air at the dashboard vent - yay! The kid who did the work said he never sees under 45 degrees with a R-134 conversion so I was pleased. It was 91 degrees in Denver today but I kept that A/C cranked and was cool as you please.

I think they just never charged it all those years. Western Oregon isn't very hot and who bothers in a work truck.

I'm suprised you could actually get R-12.

AD

 

[Louisville86]

Yeah, I noticed that about the four little warning-light holes vs. one big one. I could live with that but I probably won't bother at the moment. There are several extra lights in that cluster that aren't hooked up ("Water in Fuel" etc.).

The R-12 is still available but it's pricey ($90+ per lb. vs something like $3.99 per lb. for R-134). And it used to be so cheap. But I have encountered some vehicles that had been converted that just didn't have enough cooling power.

 

[dhinch279]

I used to have several boxes (12 cans in each box) of R-12 I picked up for $20, the person I bought it from thought it was illegal to own so they wanted to get rid of it. I don't honestly know what the laws are concerning R-12 so I picked them up anyway

 

[Will]

I'm going to be sad when you start modifying that truck.

 

[RangerMan64]

Nice find!

 

[Louisville86]

Question for you guys:

It seems that my power-brake booster is going south. There's a hissing noise that comes from underneath the dashboard (near my feet) while the engine is running. It goes away when I put my foot on the brakes. The brakes are fine, though, and the pedal feels the same as it did before (i.e. no loss in boost).

Is this a difficult repair? I can get a rebuilt booster for $65 or so (plus a $25 core charge) and it looks like I wouldn't have to disconnect any of the actual brake lines. I don't mind doing my own work but brakes make me a bit nervous.

 

[Speedwagon]

Hey Ranger People:

Just thought I'd share my new (to me) Ranger. It's a 1986 that I bought off of ebay last month. It was a work truck from Albany, Oregon, that I bought through the Oregon State University surplus property office in Corvallis. I paid $680. Amazingly, it's a lot nicer than I expected for such a measly amount.

If you see a hacked up, 4x4, 4 banger version of that truck rolling out of town to the trails, with some big "stay the trail" stickers on the side of the bed, wave... it'll be me.

And where'd you go to charge the A/C?

Oh, and if you need junkyard parts, hit up Colorado Auto and parts... cheap, and they carry alot of Fords.

 

[Mark_88]

Question for you guys:

It seems that my power-brake booster is going south. There's a hissing noise that comes from underneath the dashboard (near my feet) while the engine is running. It goes away when I put my foot on the brakes. The brakes are fine, though, and the pedal feels the same as it did before (i.e. no loss in boost).

Is this a difficult repair? I can get a rebuilt booster for $65 or so (plus a $25 core charge) and it looks like I wouldn't have to disconnect any of the actual brake lines. I don't mind doing my own work but brakes make me a bit nervous.

If the brakes are otherwise working fine, then the hissing noise may be normal...mine hissed for years and I never had a problem...it's when the brakes do not respond properly, as in hard to brake, that you may need to consider changing the booster...

But it is a fairly easy thing to swap a booster...the only problem you might find is that the master cylinder can be adjusted and if it is too far out or too far in you will get improper brake pedal and may damage something...