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

[Uncle Gump]

 

[Blmpkn]

Took it to work and back again. Probably put 150 miles or so on it since I got it going again last weekend.

Things too GD loud to drive though lol.. probably puttin' it up until I get another muffler. The amount of noise doesn't bother me... tickets do

Had a REAL nice week scooting around in it though! It was good for the soul that's for sure. I love that shitbox just about as much as my bronco... MFFR!

...and seriously.. the wail of that header compared to a stock one.. *chefs kiss*

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Chipped away at getting the green Ranger back up. Supposedly will have some help tomorrow. Didn’t get the bumper fitted today, decided to try for having help to do it. Just be less awkward that way. Oddly enough, I don’t think it weighs more or much more than a stock bumper and class 3 hitch, even though it’s rather beefy. I can carry it with one hand.

Anyway, went to put the traction bars on and the holes don’t perfectly line up. Not sure if I should try to force them to line up or try to move one or both of the mounts.

Worked more on getting the electrical squared away. A couple things with the electrical won’t be finished but that’s ok, I don’t need it all finished yet. The last of my old wiring mess came out today. Couple new harness bits still need terminals on one end and I need to make up the jumpers from my main power and ground wires that I ran to the back from the battery to the harness bits. That will probably make more sense when I get it done and snap a pic. Also remembered that if I tow, I’ll need an overdrive cancel switch rigged up because mine is shorted in the steering column somewhere, so I rigged up a switch and some wire and just need to finish getting it in and hooked up.

It was stupid hot and humid today. Miserable to be outside. Plus I got brought to an early halt in the project by a thunderstorm. With some help tomorrow I’m still hoping to have the bed set back in place Sunday. Then hopefully Monday/Tuesday I’ll knock out the axles on the Choptop and Wednesday will be packing.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Got off a little early tonight so stopped by the local discount building materials place to look for some stuff for the lean to for the boat and used the Ranger for some work, 2 8' treated 4x4's and 8 8' 2x4's and 3 pounds of roofing screws. Would have gotten more if the Ranger was longer or if I had the Explorer for the roof rack... That's where the F350 with 18' deck trailer comes in so I went to Lowes and got 7 12' 4x6's, 3 10' 4x6's, 7 16' 2x4's and 12 12' 2x6's. So far I have $600 into this lean to project, only thing left to buy is 6 bags of concrete and some brackets, possibly some lag bolts for the brackets (T's and L's to hold the 4x6's together)

 

[Rick W]

Chipped away at getting the green Ranger back up. Supposedly will have some help tomorrow. Didn’t get the bumper fitted today, decided to try for having help to do it. Just be less awkward that way. Oddly enough, I don’t think it weighs more or much more than a stock bumper and class 3 hitch, even though it’s rather beefy. I can carry it with one hand.

Anyway, went to put the traction bars on and the holes don’t perfectly line up. Not sure if I should try to force them to line up or try to move one or both of the mounts.

Worked more on getting the electrical squared away. A couple things with the electrical won’t be finished but that’s ok, I don’t need it all finished yet. The last of my old wiring mess came out today. Couple new harness bits still need terminals on one end and I need to make up the jumpers from my main power and ground wires that I ran to the back from the battery to the harness bits. That will probably make more sense when I get it done and snap a pic. Also remembered that if I tow, I’ll need an overdrive cancel switch rigged up because mine is shorted in the steering column somewhere, so I rigged up a switch and some wire and just need to finish getting it in and hooked up.

It was stupid hot and humid today. Miserable to be outside. Plus I got brought to an early halt in the project by a thunderstorm. With some help tomorrow I’m still hoping to have the bed set back in place Sunday. Then hopefully Monday/Tuesday I’ll knock out the axles on the Choptop and Wednesday will be packing.

Two thoughts. Whenever I pass a Goodwill or a garage sale I always take a peek for a quality portable fan (110v). I must have 10 of them. When I’m working out in the heat, the first thing I do is set one or two of them up so they will be blowing on me wherever I am working. It is literally the difference between being able to work or not being able to work. I don’t think I ever paid more than five or $10 for any of them, I must have a dozen.

That and A big gulp full of water with a splash of orange juice or lemonade in it. I actually set the timer on my phone so I drink the whole thing down every hour and a half.

Oh, and of course Lincoln for moral support. There’s nothing like laying under a truck, with tools on your chest, a couple of bolts or wires or crimps in your mouth, sweat boring in your eyes, and Lincoln comes by and starts licking your nose to help

 

[scotts90ranger]

Two thoughts. When I have I pass a Goodwill or a garage sale I always take a peek for a quality portable fan. I must have 10 of them. When I’m working out in the heat, the first thing I do is set one or two of them up so they will be blowing on me wherever I am working. It is literally the difference between being able to work or not being able to work. I don’t think I ever paid more than five or $10 for any of them, I must have a dozen.

That and A big golf full of water with a splash of orange juice or lemonade in it. I actually set the timer on my phone so I drink the whole thing down every hour and a half.

Oh, and of course Lincoln for moral support. There’s nothing like laying under a truck, with tools on your chest, a couple of bolts are wires or crimps in your mouth, sweat boring in your eyes, and Lincoln comes by and starts, licking your nose to help

If I remember right you have the Bauer 20V stuff, they have a cordless fan that is very nice for that kind of thing, with the 5ah batteries on low that thing will last all day... It was under $30 but is handy in certain conditions being cordless (it can plug in too, but don't use that much) as when I'm doing something dusty or welding galvanized metal in the shop I'll have it blowing out the door to keep air moving...

 

[Rick W]

If I remember right you have the Bauer 20V stuff, they have a cordless fan that is very nice for that kind of thing, with the 5ah batteries on low that thing will last all day... It was under $30 but is handy in certain conditions being cordless (it can plug in too, but don't use that much) as when I'm doing something dusty or welding galvanized metal in the shop I'll have it blowing out the door to keep air moving...

I was talking about 110v table fans. I have the Hyper Tough (Walmart) 20v tools. The only thing I’ve ever worn out is the drill, I’m on my third, but I really beat the crap out of it. I’m not sure if they sell a fan, but I’ll have to look into that.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Two thoughts. Whenever I pass a Goodwill or a garage sale I always take a peek for a quality portable fan (110v). I must have 10 of them. When I’m working out in the heat, the first thing I do is set one or two of them up so they will be blowing on me wherever I am working. It is literally the difference between being able to work or not being able to work. I don’t think I ever paid more than five or $10 for any of them, I must have a dozen.

That and A big gulp full of water with a splash of orange juice or lemonade in it. I actually set the timer on my phone so I drink the whole thing down every hour and a half.

Oh, and of course Lincoln for moral support. There’s nothing like laying under a truck, with tools on your chest, a couple of bolts or wires or crimps in your mouth, sweat boring in your eyes, and Lincoln comes by and starts licking your nose to help

Most of the time where I end up working on my stuff at home is roughly 200’ from the house. The big thing is keeping the sun off me. I have a pair of 10x10 pop up canopies but they’re not super easy to set up and take down with one person and leaving them up in a thunderstorm or snow is no good for them. I really need may garage up on my property to work in. I’ve even thought of buying one of those metal roofed, open sided carports to use here to work under until I can get the garage up. Really was hoping not to keep working on stuff outside still, but things happened and here we are.

My buddy Paul’s place, well, space is a premium there right now. He does have a pair of industrial fans, but no place to put them to help us when we’re working. We have a plan to resolve all of that, we just need life to give us a bit of breathing room so we can get it done.

I’m forever drinking water. I drink it by the gallon on hot days. Used to drink Gatorade with the water but now I’m finding out that most of those “sports” drinks have stuff in them that’s not so good for you. Vitamin Water is the only one I’ve found so far that’s good. So I have some of that around, sometimes lemonade. Sometimes I’ll put some lemon or lime juice in my water. Hydration is more important than a lot of people realize. I’d rather have to pee a few times during the day than end up at the hospital dehydrated (I have).

We have an outside cat here, but he’s not too interested in “helping” with anything. Really pretty lazy.

 

[pjtoledo]

Two thoughts. Whenever I pass a Goodwill or a garage sale I always take a peek for a quality portable fan (110v). I must have 10 of them. When I’m working out in the heat, the first thing I do is set one or two of them up so they will be blowing on me wherever I am working. It is literally the difference between being able to work or not being able to work. I don’t think I ever paid more than five or $10 for any of them, I must have a dozen.

That and A big gulp full of water with a splash of orange juice or lemonade in it. I actually set the timer on my phone so I drink the whole thing down every hour and a half.

Oh, and of course Lincoln for moral support. There’s nothing like laying under a truck, with tools on your chest, a couple of bolts or wires or crimps in your mouth, sweat boring in your eyes, and Lincoln comes by and starts licking your nose to help

I got one up on you there,,,

years ago when we still had Brutus, whenever I was bleeding brakes at the point I was bent over a wheel started calling out PUSH RELEASE he would jump on me.
something about my authoritative voice made him decide to show who the top dog was.

 

[Maritime Drag Racing]

Still riding the "Struggle Bus" today - stopped a hesitation on launch but now we're spinning the tires. Major shock settings adjustment first thing in the morning...

 

[Maritime Drag Racing]

 

[MT_PLS]

Finished my piston soak (3 days of soaking with a total of 3 cans of Berrymans B12), refilled the crankcase, and went for a spirited drive up one of the mountain passes near me. The smoke show was not as severe as I thought it would be.
When I got back from my drive, I immediately changed the oil and filter using Valvoline high mileage 5w30 and new MicroGard Select filter.
I then replaced all 8 spark plugs and the PCV valve. The engine purrs so quietly now! I am excited to see if the oil consumption goes away or at least get less.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

In between the raindrops I got some more work done on the electrical on the green Ranger. It’s just about all ready to plug and play. Just a few more wires to terminate. Also ran a wire for a CB. Not quite sure where my mounts for the antenna went.

Supposed to be dry tomorrow and I’m supposed to have a bunch of help. Should be able to knock out the bumper and bed I’m thinking.

 

[Blmpkn]

View attachment 116424

I thought I remembered your truck running qa1 adjustables..

 

[Blmpkn]

Took step #1 in restoring ride quality in the ranger.. ordered a new drivers side rear cab mount.

Looking in the side view mirror going down the road.. LOTS of wiggle in the cab lol. Since the Mirror is obviously mounted to the cab all the bouncing makes it so it looks like the bed is about to flop off the frame

Step 2 will be 4 new shocks.. id really like to go with bilstiens.. but I might end up doing an axle flip, making the rears too long. Perhaps some custom shock mounts will be in order? Someone makes u-bolt plates with eyes on them to convert to an outboard mounted shock setup.. which would improve handling.. hmmmmm