Salutations and Greetings - Stock First Gen XLT

[1qaz]

I currently own a 1987 Ranger XLT, 2.3L, standard cab. She's a survivor rescued from Tucson, AZ about a year ago...rust free with only 81k miles on her but in rough mechanical shape. Have replaced the timing belt, water pump, power steering, brakes, shocks, wheels, tires, plugs, wires, valve cover gasket, rotor, cap, exhaust from the catalytic converter back, heater core, and a ton of exterior (original paint) and trim work. Up next is the suspension as she has more creaks than an offstrip Vegas motel bed. I've never tackled a suspension so looking forward to exploiting all the info here and the contributors who posted it. Here's a pic of her when I bought her and one as she sits today.

Before (Jul 14):



Now (Jun 15):

 

[Mark_88]

Welcome to TRS~!

Very clean looking body and nice upgrades on the wheels. The under hood work you did should keep it going strong for a while...oil change and transmission fluids OK?

Suspension is one of my next projects also...at least the spring mounts on the driver side replacement anyway...they are trouble spots on all years so good to keep an eye on them...

Just curious as to how often you visit those Vegas motels though...must be nice to have some spare cash for the essentials... Maybe find a place with waterbeds though...that keeps the noise down if you don't get sea sick...always good to wear something rubber as a prevention of things like Moby Dick...those whales are very promiscuous ...

Anyway...hope you find what you need here or maybe win the mini truck of the month/year for a good looking original equipment vehicle...

 

[det107]

....maybe win the mini truck of the month/year for a good looking original equipment vehicle...

This truck is definitely a Winner-

 

[1qaz]

Thanks Mark! I've been fortunate to get most of the exterior parts from the Pull a Part and U Pick a Part yards. The wheels were thrashed but I only paid $20 a piece...then spent about 10 hrs each trying to clean them up...ended up completely stripping the clearcoat then polished like hell. Big heavy springs under tension scare the begeebies out of me so have tried to blame everything but them. When I finally trust my abilities to tackle them I figure I'll just go through the whole front end...though the ball joints and tie rod ends seem ok with no play in the wheels. The bushings seem ok, too, but 27 years in AZ has to have certainly had some affect.

Great Vegas advice!!

 

[1qaz]

det107, Thank you! I'm looking forward to exploiting the talent here to get her back to her 1987 glory.

 

[xcross]

Hello and welcome... Very nice restoration work you did there!

 

[SenorNoob]

If you jack it up and put the stands under the frame, you can get all of the tension off the springs..

 

[1qaz]

Thanks SN. I have both the Haynes and Chilton repair manuals. For removing the coil spring, the Haynes says "Warning: As a safety precaution, use a length of heavy chain through one or two coils and then secured to a vehicle frame member". To me, that's like saying "Hold my beer. Watch this!".

 

[SenorNoob]

ROFL, don't take those manuals too seriously I guess. That's really bad..