Ranger Brad

[Dan German]

I’m just gonna start posting here, so that (if nothing else) I can look back in months or years to come and say “oh, yeah, I did/was gonna do/shouldn’t have done that!” Despite the fact that camping is unlikely this year (don’t ask), and kayaking will be a logistical struggle, I decided to buy a cheap truck for just those purposes. I missed out on a nice ‘93 4 cylinder 5 speed, but stumbled onto this ‘92 (I prefer the styling) for less money. $1000 CDN, which is like coffee money for you Americans (actually, about $830 right now). Typical rust, faded red paint (except the bed, which got a repaint in ‘99 and still looks pretty good—you did a crap job, Ford!) No issues that would keep it from being a daily driver. Clutch including slave cylinder was done a couple of years ago. Blower motor doesn’t work, but that’s an easy fix. Pendaliner, no-name cap, lots of tread on the (very old) tires. Two owners previous to me, 187,000 kilometres (116,000 miles) with just enough service paperwork to support the truth of that. My inner Cheap B***ard wanted to keep using the tires, but my brain won the battle and I have ordered General Grabber A/TX 27x8.50 R14s. Employee discount for the win!

I took some rubbing compound to it when I got it home, not trying to make it pretty, just less ugly. It’s helping. Next, doing something about the rust on the cab. A previous owner had some kind of rack on the top, evidenced by the aluminum brackets bolted at the corners of the cap. I looked at my Sportrack bars to see if they would fit. They would, if I could find longer bolts. Couldn’t find longer bolts (I tried for like two hours!) Got an idea, and flipped the brackets. Cross bars went on like butter. Even if the cap can’t hold a lot of weight, it just looks more bad*ss with a couple of crossbars. Will post more pics as changes are made.

Oh, and there are Extra Meaningless Bonus Points (redeemable for absolutely nothing) if anyone can guess why I call it “Ranger Brad.”

 

[Uncle Gump]

B-right R-ed A-nd D-ull

 

[Dan German]

B-right R-ed A-nd D-ull

Excellent try! But wrong! (I am impressed, though. Here’s a pic of the hood.)

 

[Uncle Gump]

B-ank R-epair A-ccount D-windling

 

[Dan German]

B-ank R-epair A-ccount D-windling

So far, not so much, but you are On A Roll!!!

 

[Angie]

Broken Rusty and Damaged....

welcome to the TRS, left of left coast... must be an island boy.

if you are in Van area I have parts from a truck I am parting out. just shout if I can help. If you are on the Island, my guess is there must be tons of these left there.

cheers

 

[Dan German]

Broken Rusty and Damaged....

welcome to the TRS, left of left coast... must be an island boy.

if you are in Van area I have parts from a truck I am parting out. just shout if I can help. If you are on the Island, my guess is there must be tons of these left there.

cheers

That’s weird. I didn’t name my location. That must have automatically filled itself in from another forum where I use the same name. Kinda creepy. Of course, you are correct, I live on the PRVI, and my truck was bought new in the same town where I live. Thanks for the offer, so far there is no indication of a dire need of parts (other than a blower motor resistor, and maybe a blower motor), but I will keep you in mind.

 

[Angie]

"Location Left of the left coast " "That’s weird. I didn’t name my location. "

LOL not tooo hard to guess... or figure out.

cheers and it does show a BC plate in the pic of the truck

 

[Dan German]

"Location Left of the left coast " "That’s weird. I didn’t name my location. "

LOL not tooo hard to guess... or figure out.

cheers and it does show a BC plate in the pic of the truck

Yeah, but I didn’t say “left of left” anything. I’m guessing TRS is Big Brother-ed by the same Big Brother that runs my other forum (where I did actually say that). And before anyone goes all stalker on me, that’s the previous owner’s BC plate!

 

[Angie]

<<<<<<<<< what does it say under your name? i see location... left of the left coast ..... plates don't mean much really... lol
i don't know about big brother anything but strange if you didn't specify a location on your profile

 

[Dan German]

I got my threads mixed up. I meant to put my build/repair updates here, not in New Members.

First update: new air filter, lubed the squeaky creaky clutch pedal, crossbars mounted, and (drum roll please)…

NEW TIRES!

Yeah, I know a lot of you guys are doing 3 and 4 inch lifts and the like, but this ain’t no 4x4, this ain’t no pre-runner. The Grabber A/Tx tires are 1” bigger diameter than stock 215/70 R14. That’s a whopping 1/2” lift! Maybe it’s just me, but this seems like the “correct” size for this truck in stock form. That little bit of extra sidewall corrects the “roller skate” look of the stock tires. And to think some came with 195s.

The truck drives much better than on the petrified old T/A Radials (although I did save the best one to replace the even older and worse spare). It was raining today, so I learned how much better they are in the wet, too. Enough extra grip that axle hop is more noticeable. I don’t care what you drive, quality tires make all the difference.

(Side note: I work at a car dealership. When I went to work to pick up my tires, they were stacked with all the modern tires, mostly for SUVs. Nothing in there smaller than 19”, and mostly 21-22”. Our parts guy referred to mine as “your adorable little tires.” A**h*le.)

 

[Dan German]

Crucial repair job #1: no blower fan action. Considering the rainy climate I live in, having actual air move across the actual windshield is probably a good thing. It doesn’t work on any speed, so probably a power or ground problem.

Fuse: Yup, it’s good.
Power to the fan: Yup, it’s good.
Fan ground: Yup, it’s good.

I have not seen very many blower motors quit working in my life. I’ve had them squeal, or grind, or start shaking the fan wheel, but “just not working” has always been an external problem. Pulled it out, jumpered it to the battery… nothing. Hmmm… wait a minute, it just started working! And stopped. And started! I tapped on the housing while it was not working, and it started working. After a bit, it worked all the time. Put it back in, and… it works! But only on high, and it quit working at all in a few minutes. So the answer is, BOTH the blower motor and the resistor block were bad! Good thing those are cheap. $75 CDN later, I have all the speeds!

 

[Angie]

looking good. amazing how the paint shine is coming back.

 

[Dan German]

looking good. amazing how the paint shine is coming back.

There are a couple more visits from Mr. Rubbing Compound yet to go. But first Mr. Sander and Ms. Duplicolor have to pay a call. All I want is a 20/20 paint job. From 20 metres away, at 20 km/h, it will look good!