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

[bobbywalter]

This is how you end up two more cars then days of the week to drive them. Ask my wife.

that is poppycock..... i drive many vehicles per day....

 

[superj]

Drove some more

 

[01WHTRNGR]

New brake pads on the drivers side to match the passenger side. Still going to the left when braking but not as bad

 

[pjtoledo]

that is poppycock..... i drive many vehicles per day....

"poppycock" ????

did you get convicted of something and wound up in sensitivity therapy?

 

[ben_2_go]

New brake pads on the drivers side to match the passenger side. Still going to the left when braking but not as bad

I don't remember reading it in your posts, but have you changed the rubber lines going to your calipers? They will swell over time from the corrosive brake fluid and restrict fluid flow which will cause low pressure in the caliper, passenger side if it pulls left. Left seems to be doing all the braking. The only other idea I have is possibly trapped air on the passenger side. Gotta bleed the crap out them. Sticky caliper piston not coming all the way out on the passenger side. Even these new, and reman, calipers can be off and cause problems.

 

[Rick W]

I don't remember reading it in your posts, but have you changed the rubber lines going to your calipers? They will swell over time from the corrosive brake fluid and restrict fluid flow which will cause low pressure in the caliper, passenger side if it pulls left. Left seems to be doing all the braking. The only other idea I have is possibly trapped air on the passenger side. Gotta bleed the crap out them. Sticky caliper piston not coming all the way out on the passenger side. Even these new, and reman, calipers can be off and cause problems.

I always thought the collapsing flexible lines to the calipers was an old wives tale until it happened to me. My issue was a hair different, the brakes wouldn’t release, so I’d have a dragging caliper. The collapsed lines were acting almost like a check valve. Relatively cheap thing to swap and see if that’s the problem.

 

[01WHTRNGR]

I don't remember reading it in your posts, but have you changed the rubber lines going to your calipers? They will swell over time from the corrosive brake fluid and restrict fluid flow which will cause low pressure in the caliper, passenger side if it pulls left. Left seems to be doing all the braking. The only other idea I have is possibly trapped air on the passenger side. Gotta bleed the crap out them. Sticky caliper piston not coming all the way out on the passenger side. Even these new, and reman, calipers can be off and cause problems.

I have not. Brakes worked just fine before my cv axle and hub went out on the passenger side. Replaced the caliper and pads the other day and bled the lines in that side

 

[ben_2_go]

I always thought the collapsing flexible lines to the calipers was an old wives tale until it happened to me. My issue was a hair different, the brakes wouldn’t release, so I’d have a dragging caliper. The collapsed lines were acting almost like a check valve. Relatively cheap thing to swap and see if that’s the problem.

I've ran into the same issue too.

I have not. Brakes worked just fine before my cv axle and hub went out on the passenger side. Replaced the caliper and pads the other day and bled the lines in that side

All that carnage may have flexed the soft line wrong and caused damage to it. Also, check your hard lines for pinches or crimps.

 

[Roert42]

I’ve had it where I dropped a caliper during a pad swap and it damaged the soft lines needing new soft lines. Same problem, hose collapses acting like a check valve.

 

[Rick W]

Oh wise ones….

Charging question. Actually, a trickle charging question.

Road Ranger has two batteries, an older 65 size under the hood, and a pretty good size pretty new marine battery in the toolbox. They are wired together in parallel with a disconnect switch to the one in the box. I only disconnect it when I use the strobe lights and such if I have to stop and shut the truck off. 99% of the time they are connected. Point is they both charge together.

I have more vehicles than I can drive, so I’ll leave them on trickle chargers for the most part. As you might imagine, I don’t drive the Road Ranger as much as the others. When I leave this battery combo on a trickle charger, it does not maintain charge. It will drop to about 65% over a couple weeks. BTW, truck will still start, but it cranks slowly.

I initially assumed it was my cheap Chinese trickle charger, but then I tried a Battery Changer Jr., and most recently I had it on a very good diehard smart charger/maintainer;

Same result, it will drop to about 65% over a week or two.

I am assuming my problem is simply that the main battery under the hood is an old battery, but when I charge it by itself, it will go to a 95% charge. I haven’t tried trickle maintaining it separately. It’s when I have the two batteries together that the voltage drops over time.

Do you think my problem is an old battery under the hood? Or is my problem that the batteries are different? Note, I don’t have this problem on my 96 7.3 F250, but they are identical batteries that were installed at the same time.

I already ordered a new battery, but I’m wondering if I’m going to have the same problem. I could set it up so I have two trickle chargers and I switch the batteries apart when I’m not using it, but I don’t see why they shouldn’t charge together.

?????

EDIT: more info. When I check it with this thing, the marine battery comes up #2 “fair” and the battery under the hood comes up #1 “poor.”

 

[ben_2_go]

A battery combiner will prevent this. The trickle charger can only keep up with one battery at a time. You could also have some parasitic draw from some electronics or a module in the truck.

With this, the second battery is auto disconnected until the engine battery is topped off. Then the charge goes to the secondary battery. If your engine battery happens to have a problem, and can't take a top off charge, the second battery won't take the hit, and be drained down with it. That link works. I don't know why it simply says amazon.com.

Amazon.com

 

[Rick W]

A battery combiner will prevent this. The trickle charger can only keep up with one battery at a time. You could also have some parasitic draw from some electronics or a module in the truck.

With this, the second battery is auto disconnected until the engine battery is topped off. Then the charge goes to the secondary battery. If your engine battery happens to have a problem, and can't take a top off charge, the second battery won't take the hit, and be drained down with it. That link works. I don't know why it simply says amazon.com.

Amazon.com

THANK YOU!!!

I will read up on this, but a quick question. Will this replace my disconnect switch or be in addition to the disconnect switch? I need to be able to disconnect the second battery manually.

 

[captainkirk]

I discovered that this nifty cam from BestBuy will fit, under my all-metal tailgate latch, and right next to the Pop-n-Lock tailgate lock!

iBeam, Vehicle Safety Systems |

ibeamusa.com

 

[scotts90ranger]

Over the last 11 years I've fought with batteries on my '97 F350 like yours, it's not driven all the time and over a month or two it would be to the point I'd have to charge it or jump it which isn't fun with the glow plug relay... turns out when there's mixmatched batteries they'll fight eachother and pull both down... I ran two red top optimas for a while and one was in worse shape than the other apparently even though off the same pallet, couple years later I warrantied one and it worked for another couple years until it was doing the same thing and I got a new pair of regular batteries...

 

[rubydist]

When I was much younger, we had a tractor that used a pair of 12V batteries, 24V for the starting system but 12V for all the instrumentation. We discovered that if one of the batteries was in poor condition, the system would overcharge one battery and not charge the 2nd. Since your one battery tests as "poor" I would replace that and things may again work like they should.