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The Orange Crusher


JunkCollector

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2017
Messages
79
City
VA
Vehicle Year
'85, '88, '91
My credo
Local RBV "expert"
So the story goes, my dad bought this "Bright Bittersweet" orange Ranger new in 1984. He threw on a black frame-mount brush guard that saved it from being totaled at least once, had some American Racing Outlaws installed, and named it. Sold it in 2004 when I was 5 years old. Years passed, now I'm 18, and the truck came back up for sale for $450 with an engine from a '84-'85 Bronco II. Of course, I bought it back. Sadly, those good looking wheels were replaced with these ugly Cheep wheels. At least the tires are good. Would be more enthused if they were jeep turbine's from the 80s.

Toyo Kyogo 4-speed, manual everything, no A/C, and a hole cut in the dash for a radio. "New clutch" that apparently isn't installed right, no slave cylinder, and you can move the clutch fork back and forth by hand with no resistance by reaching in the bell housing. Possibly no spark, and only cranked if you jumped the relay, then stopped all together. Wired past the clutch switch and got a clicking relay, and a new starter didn't fix it, so I'm throwing all new positive battery cables at it, and a used relay from a buddies wrecked truck. If that doesn't fix it I have no idea. Also trying to slowly de-smog it, since it was halfway ripped out already. It's why I've been making all these help threads since I joined. Only have one picture, with my daily driver '78 Power Wagon, known as Creeper by the previous owner. 360/4-speed... :icon_thumby: More to come.
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Since I've introduced the Creeper and the Crusher, I might as well introduce my show truck, my 54,000 mile '88 Bronco II
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Needs a dimmer switch at the moment and I'll be damned if I can get it out without breaking the connectors. Could use tips on that first. Had to break the ones at the junkyard. Hate throwing used parts at my nice truck but I ain't paying $60 for a new one!

The top two aren't mommy and daddy sponsored. I'll admit the bottom one is, and I daily drove it for a year before deciding to try to preserve it. Now 10mpg isn't treating me too well with the V8 so now I got this lil orange crapbox that needs twice as much put in to it as what I paid for it. No regrets.
 
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Screw $60 for a new dimmer. Spend $15 and change it over to a floor switch.

Nice looking fleet though.
 
Thanks! I want to keep it as original as possible, $20 at the junkyard. :D
 
Got the truck running today! Positive battery cable solved all its issues. Can be driven around and started in gear, still needs the clutch fixed. That'll be next. Then exhaust. Then all the little things.
 
Couple pictures for those who enjoy em.
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I like the BII...very nice...:icon_thumby:

Ranger looks like a long box and those rims are actually Jeep rims from what I see...I had a set on the back of my first Ranger and they were good solid rims...they look better with a bit of sanding and some paint or clear coat...with good rubber and a bit of weight in the back I never got stuck in snow...

I eventually swapped in the 10 hole 15" aluminum rims and rode on them for another 12 years...only problem with aluminum is they don't take much to throw them out of round if the tire goes flat...
 
Its a longbed, I figured they were Jeep wheels, I wanna find Cherokee turbine wheels for it. Could I fit 33x10.50s under a james duff 3" stage 1? I know I have to trim fenders, I want to...remedy the rust issue. How much I have to trim is the question. Can't find much info. I've seen it on Bronco IIs, want to keep the low stance and flex decently.
 
Those wheels look an awful lot like dodge 1/2 ton mid '80's. Some were 5x4.5"x15" bolt pattern.
 
So, bad news. Got under it and pushed the clutch fork forward with a piece of metal I had, and you can shove it forward and it doesn't return. Pushed on it pretty hard because I felt like I didn't have it forward enough, but it was bottomed out. Have to pull it back by hand. I have a feeling my clutch was installed backwards. Any thoughts?
New slave cylinder is on the way.

Edit: Tad late, but turns out these wheels are off a Ranger. 90's third-gen 5-spoke's. Supposed to be chrome covered. Who knew?
Seen here:
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Dunno anything about the truck just found it on google
 
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Started dropping the trans yesterday and today. Can't get to any of the bell housing bolts except for one and whoever put it in last impacted them in. Got the driveshafts off and am still considering letting a shop fix this clutch but I have to learn at some point.
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Why do these trucks gotta be so darn tiny?! I got a love/hate with it cus it fits in so many places, but it sucks to work on it! Too used to my Dodge :p
 
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I cut holes in the trans tunnel to get to the top bolts ��
 
I don't particularly want to do that, I think I can get to em but I gotta wait until I got a day off to find out. If I cant, a buddy probably can. I'm definitely gonna need help figuring out whats missing and whats wrong when we drop this thing.
 

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