What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Did an oil change late yesterday afternoon, keeping a sample, and today sent off to Blackstone for an oil analysis kit. We'll see how the 4.0 is holding up at just under 124,000 miles, the last 18,000 of them on synthetic oil. The Ranger is (knock on wood) running smoothly and quietly.

Anyone here interested in the oil analysis results? If any of you are, I'll post them in a separate thread.

Yes, please.

 

[racsan]

Hit the road for a trip to the tire store for the escape & the lumber yard for more chicken house building supplies. Finally have a good set of “not-winter” tires for the escape, bought rims for it a year ago and just now got tires put on, went with coopers. Tire shop tried to charge me for disposal fee (dispose what? these are brand new rims) and new valve stems (I had. bought my own last summer & installed them myself) gotta watch these places! Lowes load doesnt look like much but was a fair amount of weight. 3- 4x8 sheets plywood, 2- 16’ 2x6’s and 12 8’ 2x4’s, all of it treated. Guess tomorrow I will swap out escape tires, its looking like another on & off day of rain here.

 

[sgtsandman]

Hit the road for a trip to the tire store for the escape & the lumber yard for more chicken house building supplies. Finally have a good set of “not-winter” tires for the escape, bought rims for it a year ago and just now got tires put on, went with coopers. Tire shop tried to charge me for disposal fee (dispose what? these are brand new rims) and new valve stems (I had. bought my own last summer & installed them myself) gotta watch these places! Lowes load doesnt look like much but was a fair amount of weight. 3- 4x8 sheets plywood, 2- 16’ 2x6’s and 12 8’ 2x4’s, all of it treated. Guess tomorrow I will swap out escape tires, its looking like another on & off day of rain here.
View attachment 91528View attachment 91529

New pressure treated wood is still pretty much sopping wet and heavy. It gets better after it dries out but still is heavier than the same dimensional lumber that is untreated. That is part of the reason my utility trailer got so heavy after the rebuild.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Got the battery cable fixed on the '90, decided on the brass post adapter and copper ring terminals since I don't like the current cable end options... after crimping with the hammer crimper I soldered then heat shrinked the terminal, after, I had what I needed before Amazon but the Amazon stuff came after I was done, got enough stuff to fix the other rigs that have those temporary connectors... oh, and I got a big spray can of protectant so I sprayed the repair to hopefully keep it good for a while... I need to get a few more sets of those brass adapters, they're nicer than the zinc ones I have on hand...

 

[txsleds]

Did an oil change late yesterday afternoon, keeping a sample, and today sent off to Blackstone for an oil analysis kit. We'll see how the 4.0 is holding up at just under 124,000 miles, the last 18,000 of them on synthetic oil. The Ranger is (knock on wood) running smoothly and quietly.

Anyone here interested in the oil analysis results? If any of you are, I'll post them in a separate thread.

Thanks for the tip about BLACKSTONE LABORATORIES. Here's their website: Blackstone Laboratories Blackstone Laboratories (blackstone-labs.com)

Did an oil change late yesterday afternoon, keeping a sample, and today sent off to Blackstone for an oil analysis kit. We'll see how the 4.0 is holding up at just under 124,000 miles, the last 18,000 of them on synthetic oil. The Ranger is (knock on wood) running smoothly and quietly.

Anyone here interested in the oil analysis results? If any of you are, I'll post them in a separate thread.

 

[txsleds]

Hit the road for a trip to the tire store for the escape & the lumber yard for more chicken house building supplies. Finally have a good set of “not-winter” tires for the escape, bought rims for it a year ago and just now got tires put on, went with coopers. Tire shop tried to charge me for disposal fee (dispose what? these are brand new rims) and new valve stems (I had. bought my own last summer & installed them myself) gotta watch these places! Lowes load doesnt look like much but was a fair amount of weight. 3- 4x8 sheets plywood, 2- 16’ 2x6’s and 12 8’ 2x4’s, all of it treated. Guess tomorrow I will swap out escape tires, its looking like another on & off day of rain here.
View attachment 91528View attachment 91529

 

[JoshT]

I don't have @Rick W level skills for bargain hunting, and pick-n-pull shopping, but I feel I did pretty good today.

Yesterday I picked up a set of 18" Explorer wheels to eventually go on my '99 Ranger. About a 3 hour drive around trip, but couldn't beat the price at $50 a wheel and they're practically new. Person I bought them from had bought from the original owner of the Explorer to put on his late 90s F-150 (sould have checked lug patterns first dude), apparently the original owner installed aftermarket wheels at about 1k miles on the odometer. They appear to have some brake dust on them, but otherwise new.

Late last night I spotted a set of 245/60R18 tires on Facebook for free. Well worn, nearly to the bar, and taking up space in the guy's garage. Hence free. I'm torn between a 29" tire and a 30" tire to go on the Ranger, these split the difference. I was hesitant to buy new tires before getting the truck aligned, but I also wanted closer to the right size tire before dropping the suspension and getting it aligned. These will let me dial in the ride height and get an alignment prior to buying new tires.

I'll might end up paying a few bucks for mounting, but that's about all the tires will cost me. When I get new tires there will be a tire disposal fee, but past experience shows that GA requires that fee be paid whether you have old tires or not. If I bought brand new wheel and tire set and kept my old ones, I'd still have to pay the fee, so I'd have been paying it anyway. So I'm not really out anything, and the other guy doesn't have to figure out how to dsispose of them.

 

[Bill]

I washed it, then noticed water in the tail light assembly. So, I took it off and drained the water out.

It's cracked. Has anyone bought replacements? Rockauto has TYC lens for $41 a set. Just wondering about the quality.

 

[JoshT]

Has anyone bought replacements? Rockauto has TYC lens for $41 a set. Just wondering about the quality.

Not on the Ranger, but I used that brand on my F-250 in 2021. Look better than old used stockers that were literally falling apart and best I can tell they are holding up well.

Was the $41 with or without shipping? If without, you might want to check the local auto parts store too. Back then I bought both for the F250 for about $50 with in-store pickup the next day. I don't recall if I even checked RA, I wanted/needed them then, not a week later when they would have arrived from RA.

 

[Curious Hound]

I washed it, then noticed water in the tail light assembly. So, I took it off and drained the water out.

It's cracked. Has anyone bought replacements? Rockauto has TYC lens for $41 a set. Just wondering about the quality.

Could just drill a weep hole near the bottom and ride on.

 

[racsan]

Could just drill a weep hole near the bottom and ride on.

I did that with one of the headlights on a ‘93 taurus, not sure how water was getting in but I gave it a way to get out.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’ve put small weep holes in a number of lights over the years, usually in lights that I had no idea how the water was even getting in. Oddly enough, one of my f-150 taillights has a big slag burn in it but otherwise is perfect and doesn’t collect water.

 

[Rick W]

I don't have @Rick W level skills for bargain hunting, and pick-n-pull shopping, but I feel I did pretty good today.

Yesterday I picked up a set of 18" Explorer wheels to eventually go on my '99 Ranger. About a 3 hour drive around trip, but couldn't beat the price at $50 a wheel and they're practically new. Person I bought them from had bought from the original owner of the Explorer to put on his late 90s F-150 (sould have checked lug patterns first dude), apparently the original owner installed aftermarket wheels at about 1k miles on the odometer. They appear to have some brake dust on them, but otherwise new.

Late last night I spotted a set of 245/60R18 tires on Facebook for free. Well worn, nearly to the bar, and taking up space in the guy's garage. Hence free. I'm torn between a 29" tire and a 30" tire to go on the Ranger, these split the difference. I was hesitant to buy new tires before getting the truck aligned, but I also wanted closer to the right size tire before dropping the suspension and getting it aligned. These will let me dial in the ride height and get an alignment prior to buying new tires.

I'll might end up paying a few bucks for mounting, but that's about all the tires will cost me. When I get new tires there will be a tire disposal fee, but past experience shows that GA requires that fee be paid whether you have old tires or not. If I bought brand new wheel and tire set and kept my old ones, I'd still have to pay the fee, so I'd have been paying it anyway. So I'm not really out anything, and the other guy doesn't have to figure out how to dsispose of them.

Bless you my son. Ye shall earn and know the ways of the cheapskate! Walk with Him and ye shall prosper. They who go forth with bald tires shall be first in His domain.

(Or something like that)

 

[Rick W]

I washed it, then noticed water in the tail light assembly. So, I took it off and drained the water out.

It's cracked. Has anyone bought replacements? Rockauto has TYC lens for $41 a set. Just wondering about the quality.

Dollar store super glue gel and a q-tip taped to a twig from the backside. Less is more.

Or try eBay, low price plus shipping

 

[JoshT]

They who go forth with bald tires shall be first in His domain.

I hear the other message there. "Don;t be stupid." I normally wouldn't even buy good used tires. In most all cases it isn't worth it to me, I'd rather buy new. There are few situations where it can be worth it to me.

1) Tires that hold air on spare rims to roll something around in the yard. Have bought one set for this. Might need to buy another.

2) Mockup. Setting

3) Ferry flight. In aviation a ferry flight is a flight authorized via Special Flight Permits on an unairworth aircraft. Normally used to transport an aircraft from current location to location where it will get repaired. In the case of a car/truck, transporting the vehicle to where it can get the necessary repairs done.

in this case its a combination of 2 and 3. I don;t know if I cen get the truck lowered enough for a 29 to fit the way I want, so they are the right diameter for mocking up my suspension alterations. I can lower it enough then they have good enough tread left to drive from the house to the alignment shop, then from the alignment shop to the tire shop. If I can;t lower it enough then they'll be sacrificial for transporting to the alignment shop without destroying my good tires, then the good tires will be reinstalled afterwards. No detours planned or authorized in between, except a possible layover at home if both can't be done in the same day.