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I have had my 4.0 5sp. shortbed for nearly a decade now... bought it as a beater with 223,000 and now I have 241,400. Haven't quite driven 1000 miles this year... do I need to change the oil this year then???
I bought it with 4 different brands of tires between the 5. I got it down to 3 brands 2 per axel and the original Firestone spare, that I put air in 3 years ago. First fix I wanted to do was re-pad the broken down foam in the driver's seat... an old bath towel has been bunched up and folded there to this day.
Against my pro-mechanics advise I changed the smelly old tranny and diff lube around 235,000. I still don't really understand why he said I was wasting time and money? That stuff was smelly and dirty... I won't do it again till 400,000 miles. I do wonder if new shocks might be in order?
Anyway... this year's repairs... right brake caliper and hard-hose/rubber hose.
Driver's side tailgate strap broke, and I had the coolant changed (it looked like the Wabash River)... the mechanic said all the hoses looked good.. I said if I am 200 miles from home and one burst he is in deep do doo..
Mods... None... I do for some idiotic reason want to put old Ford Steel wheels on it with some old Ford Hubcaps, or perhaps caps from a 1970 Stang. I thought about those new killer aluminum wheels they are put on some Rangers last year.
I over loaded my truck often back iin 2005 and 2006 when I was building a patio. The leaf spring hangers disintigrated because of a combination of rust and 1600# loads.
Rust HAS NOT been an issue on the truck (I waxed it in 2007 and wash it each January and July!).. it sits outside year-round and is no worse than it was when I got it. There is a small bubble at the top of the drivers side windshield...thinking of treating myself to a "new used" front window and fixing that rust before it goes bad. The OE window is pretty pitted up from the first 223,000 miles in 6 years of high-speed highway driving from the original owner... he drove 75 miles one-way 5 or 6 days a week. (Did I say the truck has no a/c that is a lot of Indiana summers behind (WORN SMOOTH at 10 and 2) wheel... I hope his new Ranger had a/c! He told me he usually drove his Rangers to 100k or 120k miles but this one was a "good one". He was right "Henry" as I call it is a trooper. Never let me down yet... I change out the battery BEFORE it went bad in 2008... humm miight be time to do it again?
THats my story.
I bought it with 4 different brands of tires between the 5. I got it down to 3 brands 2 per axel and the original Firestone spare, that I put air in 3 years ago. First fix I wanted to do was re-pad the broken down foam in the driver's seat... an old bath towel has been bunched up and folded there to this day.
Against my pro-mechanics advise I changed the smelly old tranny and diff lube around 235,000. I still don't really understand why he said I was wasting time and money? That stuff was smelly and dirty... I won't do it again till 400,000 miles. I do wonder if new shocks might be in order?
Anyway... this year's repairs... right brake caliper and hard-hose/rubber hose.
Driver's side tailgate strap broke, and I had the coolant changed (it looked like the Wabash River)... the mechanic said all the hoses looked good.. I said if I am 200 miles from home and one burst he is in deep do doo..
Mods... None... I do for some idiotic reason want to put old Ford Steel wheels on it with some old Ford Hubcaps, or perhaps caps from a 1970 Stang. I thought about those new killer aluminum wheels they are put on some Rangers last year.
I over loaded my truck often back iin 2005 and 2006 when I was building a patio. The leaf spring hangers disintigrated because of a combination of rust and 1600# loads.
Rust HAS NOT been an issue on the truck (I waxed it in 2007 and wash it each January and July!).. it sits outside year-round and is no worse than it was when I got it. There is a small bubble at the top of the drivers side windshield...thinking of treating myself to a "new used" front window and fixing that rust before it goes bad. The OE window is pretty pitted up from the first 223,000 miles in 6 years of high-speed highway driving from the original owner... he drove 75 miles one-way 5 or 6 days a week. (Did I say the truck has no a/c that is a lot of Indiana summers behind (WORN SMOOTH at 10 and 2) wheel... I hope his new Ranger had a/c! He told me he usually drove his Rangers to 100k or 120k miles but this one was a "good one". He was right "Henry" as I call it is a trooper. Never let me down yet... I change out the battery BEFORE it went bad in 2008... humm miight be time to do it again?
THats my story.
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