TRS needs direction. Suggestions?

[rickster]

New guys tell us what you think.

Well, you asked. You guys sure have a lot of seperate catagories to post in. I know if you have a 3.0L issue it makes it easier to find specific info but don't you lose the knowledge base of the rest of the guys who don't have a 3.0L and have no reason to stop into that forum? Now I know I wasn't around when you broke everything up like it is AND you asked, so don't flame my ass too much for this... but if catagories were a bit more generalized wouldn't it give everyones posts more views by guys who can help out?

 

[Jim Oaks]

Jim you know I have tonnes of info on my build and lots of stuff I have changed over the years. Articles are not a problem for some, but the lack of incentive may prevent some users from submitting articles.

I know it would be hard and I realize you like running a tight ship on the site. But maybe getting some people to help make decisions may get things rolling better. Could open up more doors for you to concentrate on other things.

My second post in this thread:

One of the things The Ranger Station needs is people. If I had to handle everything I wouldn't be able to do it. I'd like to see someone that did nothing but handle product reviews. Moderators being responsible for maintaining an updated FAQ's thread for specific forums.

I can't do everything. We need people to help make some of these ideas possible. I have no problem appointing people to be in charge of certain tasks. The staff members can communicate in the staff forum when they're trying to make a decision on something.

 

[mjonesjr]

Well, you asked. You guys sure have a lot of seperate catagories to post in. I know if you have a 3.0L issue it makes it easier to find specific info but don't you lose the knowledge base of the rest of the guys who don't have a 3.0L and have no reason to stop into that forum? Now I know I wasn't around when you broke everything up like it is AND you asked, so don't flame my ass too much for this... but if catagories were a bit more generalized wouldn't it give everyones posts more views by guys who can help out?

That is why people should hit "New Posts" at the top when they log into the forum. It will give them all the new posts since they last logged in.

 

[CopyKat]

My second post in this thread:

One of the things The Ranger Station needs is people. If I had to handle everything I wouldn't be able to do it. I'd like to see someone that did nothing but handle product reviews. Moderators being responsible for maintaining an updated FAQ's thread for specific forums.

I can't do everything. We need people to help make some of these ideas possible. I have no problem appointing people to be in charge of certain tasks. The staff members can communicate in the staff forum when they're trying to make a decision on something.

Offer a Decal, 6 month Premium membership, Tech contributer title. etc etc.

For every 5 or so articles send a shirt. Your the big Cheese here.

I'd have no problems comming back as staff but I still have Beefs with some of the staff members and it could get ugly so I'll keep it the way it is right now. Everyone is content.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Ahhh......I see. Good ideas.

Damn that reminds me, I have to go make a license plate and decal for the TOTY.

 

[oldgreen]

Actually, I told my wife last night that I'd love to be able to sit down with Jim (RGR Marketing guy) and get some input from him. After having the access I have to your site and seeing his posts, I have come to the opinion that your team is blessed to have him.

At some point I'd like to see TRS be one of Rumble Goats sponsors.

That is a very nice thing for you to say. We'll talk in Primm and probably before. The more people viewing your site, the better for everyone.

 

[4x4junkie]

It's been close to 12 years since a TTB RBV was built. They weren't that popular for serious offroading when they were being made. I used to be able to get axle shafts and things that are getting harder to scrounge now. I put my truck back together with worn out parts--go through the pile and find the least ugly spindle. Makes it hard to think developing these is a good idea. I think the ship has sailed on them. If we can start getting new parts, it's a different story.

I think we should expand our focus onto newer Rangers. We're going to have 10 years of SOHC 4.0s by the time it's said and done. We already have 12 years if SLA Rangers we've been badmouthing. How many people have we sent somewhere else because we claimed the SLA was a turd for an offroad truck? It's what we have now. I don't think putting Dana 60s into a 20 year-old Ranger is cutting edge. I think we need a modern, forward looking website. We need to get excited about the new Ranger, whatever it is--we need to be the first to get those things modified.

I'm not sure I can fully agree with that.
I do agree we should not be leaving out the newer trucks, but TRS over the years has become very heavily biased toward the offroad end of things, and it's a simple fact the newer trucks are just not all that great for that compared to the older trucks.
Just because the truck is older and hasn't been made in awhile does not at all mean it isn't popular (look at Toyotas... people are clambering all over those that are 24 or more years old now! We have desirable models that are only 12 years old (with fairly strong V6s even). Over and over you always see the recommendation that if someone wants to build an offroad toy they should get a '97 or older truck.

I certainly don't expect RBVs to be as popular as Jeeps, but those old Toyotas have been getting harder to find for awhile now (forget about finding an old box Bronco that the guy doesn't want an arm & a leg for). I think the RBV has a great chance at being the next "plentiful" vehicle offroaders will be flocking to, but only if it gets some better recognition by the aftermarket manufacturers.


...
And I also like the user reviews ideas some have mentioned too.
There are numerous other sites out there that give people the opportunity to comment on the products being sold (the biggest example probably being amazon.com), I think something like this on TRS Fab for RBV products could be helpful.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

I'd love to see a kit for the 98 plus rangers like the trail gear IFS eliminator kit that is made for the toyotas. $1300 bucks and you supply a front axle and you've got a wicked 4x4 out of the box in a weekend. Now that would be sweet.

 

[igiveup]

Hello

This site has helped me a lot with different problems. It was the first RBV base site I found and it got me fixing or breaking my B2. This site needs more on A4LD and newer trannys.

Thankyou to everyone on this site. With you it keeps the rest of us going.

igiveup

 

[Shran]

I tend to agree with Will about supporting new trucks, however, the aftermarket support HAS to be there. Honestly when someone asks me "Why not IFS?" I have to show them how they'll only get 2 inches of flex in the front while when I let it droop the coil spring pops out and the only thing left holding it together is my brake line. (dramatization)

That's not to say that TTB is great, I think honestly it's far from it. So as far as offroad use is concerned, I think there needs to be a lot more how-to as far as SAS on 98+. So the biggest thing in my view is modding new trucks, contributions from members, and aftermarket support.

Second thing I would work on would be the tech section as far as organizing it differently. I honestly don't really know what to suggest though. There is just SO much information, sometimes it's hard to find things, or things aren't where you'd first expect them. The tech section is great, though, and I have used it a lot over the last 5 or so years that I lurked here. Maybe a search feature or something would be cool.

Lastly I think we need some kind of land-use section. Could be a section about current & proposed laws regarding land use, problems, concerns, compliments, whatever. Lets face it, TRS is mostly offroad and we need to guard the little land we have left to wheel on closely. Another positive note of this would be that we are 100% stronger as a group when it comes to getting the word out about our sport.

That last bit is of course not intended to push out the street truck guys but since I do not fall into that category, I don't really know what to suggest as far as that goes. Hopefully my rambling here made some sense as I skipped over a couple pages.

 

[Chance]

I'd love to see a kit for the 98 plus rangers like the trail gear IFS eliminator kit that is made for the toyotas. $1300 bucks and you supply a front axle and you've got a wicked 4x4 out of the box in a weekend. Now that would be sweet.

I'm all for something like this... Maybe the 98+ people who have done a SAS could collaborate and you could offer a kit through TRS Fab & Off Road, or maybe a member could become a vendor for this.

 

[Capt Jay]

I think we need a place to post upcoming events. There are a lot of runs, both organized and make shift, around the country. If there was some sort of calender of events that people could fill. That way people looking to take out their trucks and aren't sure of places to run them would have access to more land. Or a forum for people to post land that is open to trucks. I know that I'm a member of an off road club here in MN and we have many organized runs. We host a huge event over Memorial weekend every year. There is also an off road park in northern MN that's open 12 months a year. People could then review terrain parks or events that they have attended. Hope this helps.

 

[klogtruck]

don't know what to add to what's been said. but if i can help in any way, i'm here for TRS. thanks to all you guys. and thank you jim for making ( therangerstation )

 

[OilPatch197]

The Ranger stations should stay true to the Ranger. There is definately a fanbase for Rangers.

-I would like to see this forum more "fair and balanced" and more emphasis on street and (street legal) Rangers. This site is WAY biased to the 4x4 crowd and emission hacking mods(which are illegal for on road use)

-I would like to see MORE support for the street/dropped Ranger crowd.

-More information on maintianing our "old" rides and restoration articles. (after all the older Rangers qualify for antique plates)

-Also would like a supplier list and recomendations of the best places to get OEM/aftermarket and Aftermarket/racing parts. (chains, stores, internet,etc)

- a forum for the Ford Courier.

 

[rboyer]

Now this is just something stupid that was floating in the back of my mind. Sometimes I log onto the forum from my Blackberry if i'm away from home for a while. I constantly have to zoom in and out on the full sized page because it's not mobile content. I have seen other forums out there that have a mirrored mobile website and know it's possible to do but have never messed with that stuff before. If there are a decent number of members out there that have cell phones with data plans then maybe it would be worth looking into setting something up.