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

[Lefty]

I charged up the AC and cleaned the vents out. Summer's not over. I will need to cool down after Saturday's trip to the boneyard.

 

[Rick W]

Take pictures of it.

Heaven’s no! What if Sweet Pea sees it!

 

[Rick W]

Wheels are from a 2018 Mustang Ecoboost. It’s perfect because Ecoboost owners are dying to get rid of their wheels and tires. I picked them up basically new 400$ on fb marketplace, sold my old tires for $550. They fit with a 1” spacer, no lug stud trimming needed.. I got the inspiration from another forum member.

Looks great!

 

[Rick W]

Mud is part of your storyboard. You must keep some of it. Otherwise, Supercab and SnoRanger nailed it. Congratulations.

So I should put some in a baggie in the glovebox?

 

[Curious Hound]

So I should put some in a baggie in the glovebox?

No, no,no. It must be firmly attached to the exterior if the vehicle.

 

[Rick W]

No, no,no. It must be firmly attached to the exterior if the vehicle.

Won’t the baggie look funny on the outside?

 

[scotts90ranger]

Mounted the new tires for the '97 on the wheels I just redid, got a couple nicks on a couple wheels, whatever, I'll probably grab another can of clearcoat at some point soon for touchup... They're in the bed so I can drop them off at a tire shop tomorrow at lunch to hopefully pick up on the way home...

While I was working on it I went ahead and lengthened the passenger side tie rod end sleeve a half turn since it's been toed in a slight bit, that side because the steering wheel was a touch off too

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So, it’s been a week so far…

That said, I got two tires for the Choptop on Wednesday. Yesterday I got the air leaks mostly fixed on the tire machine (I got tired of trying to solve all the problems with no room to work really and being baked in the heat so when I got it down to a barely audible slight leak, I said good enough, time to do tires). Found out that 35’s are pretty close to the max for this machine, might be able to sneak up to 37’s on it, but 35’s were about an inch and a half from hitting the tilt arm.

At any rate, other than fighting no room to work on anything (hopefully after August we can do something about that problem finally), the tire machine worked great. Had to do a little juggling tires on the Choptop to get things where they needed to be, but now the two badly dry rotted tires that were on the front are gone, the back tires that are in ok condition are on the front, the new tires are on the back, quick spritz of some new paint (Home Depot is out of stock of every color I wanted but I had a couple cans of one color that I bought a couple years ago), and I got newly used tires mounted up for the little trailer.

 

[Rick W]

So, it’s been a week so far…

That said, I got two tires for the Choptop on Wednesday. Yesterday I got the air leaks mostly fixed on the tire machine (I got tired of trying to solve all the problems with no room to work really and being baked in the heat so when I got it down to a barely audible slight leak, I said good enough, time to do tires). Found out that 35’s are pretty close to the max for this machine, might be able to sneak up to 37’s on it, but 35’s were about an inch and a half from hitting the tilt arm.

At any rate, other than fighting no room to work on anything (hopefully after August we can do something about that problem finally), the tire machine worked great. Had to do a little juggling tires on the Choptop to get things where they needed to be, but now the two badly dry rotted tires that were on the front are gone, the back tires that are in ok condition are on the front, the new tires are on the back, quick spritz of some new paint (Home Depot is out of stock of every color I wanted but I had a couple cans of one color that I bought a couple years ago), and I got newly used tires mounted up for the little trailer.

View attachment 95978

Looks like you’re going to need a bigger truck to carry the spare tire for this one

 

[Rick W]

Take pictures of it.

I should’ve taken it home and done that. I didn’t have my phone at the time, and there was one of those pressure washer-type car wash’s on the way home.

Bad move on my part. But I’ll bet a couple of you guys, if you really stretch your thinking, could visualize a Ranger with some mud on it.

 

[Curious Hound]

I should’ve taken it home and done that. I didn’t have my phone at the time, and there was one of those pressure washer-type car wash’s on the way home.

Bad move on my part. But I’ll bet a couple of you guys, if you really stretch your thinking, could visualize a Ranger with some mud on it.

Nope. Never seen that before.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Looks like you’re going to need a bigger truck to carry the spare tire for this one

I had a spare hanging off the factory spare tire mount for a few years, had to add 1” aluminum spacers and longer bolts to shift the mount out just enough to get a 35 on there, but it was too heavy for the body and started to break the body so until I build/buy a new rear bumper with a tire carrier, I either have to leave the spare at home or throw it in the back. Right now, that’s low on the priority list. Now that the Choptop is somewhat functional again, I need to get back after the green Ranger.

 

[Rick W]

Nope. Never seen that before.View attachment 95979

View attachment 95980

View attachment 95981

Yeah, that won’t fit in a baggie…

 

[Blmpkn]

Might fit in this one..

 

[tw205]

So, it’s been a week so far…

That said, I got two tires for the Choptop on Wednesday. Yesterday I got the air leaks mostly fixed on the tire machine (I got tired of trying to solve all the problems with no room to work really and being baked in the heat so when I got it down to a barely audible slight leak, I said good enough, time to do tires). Found out that 35’s are pretty close to the max for this machine, might be able to sneak up to 37’s on it, but 35’s were about an inch and a half from hitting the tilt arm.

At any rate, other than fighting no room to work on anything (hopefully after August we can do something about that problem finally), the tire machine worked great. Had to do a little juggling tires on the Choptop to get things where they needed to be, but now the two badly dry rotted tires that were on the front are gone, the back tires that are in ok condition are on the front, the new tires are on the back, quick spritz of some new paint (Home Depot is out of stock of every color I wanted but I had a couple cans of one color that I bought a couple years ago), and I got newly used tires mounted up for the little trailer.

View attachment 95978

I’m trying to resurrect a chop top given to my brother. It was never finished and has many mechanical issues. 85 base model with a 6” lift.
What do you have as a tailgate? The old hatch cut down or converted to a ranger tailgate. I’m looking for ideas. I contemplated no tailgate but a fake roll bar welded as caps on the rear pillar.