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

[GrandpaSquid]

Installed a ladder rack.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Good luck actually getting that product. Warn stopped making hubs for the ford d35 axles and all the small guys haven't updated their websites yet. I tried three places including Summit and they all gave me my money back.

Once I verify my auto hubs are good working I'll do a writeup on how to give them a tune up.

That was my fear, I’ll give them a call Monday I guess and see what they say.

What hubs did you end up using?

 

[Dantheman1540]

View attachment 99902
Installed a ladder rack.

That looks good, I’ve been eyeing those as a way to transport my 12’ paddle board without it sticking way out the back. How do you like it overall?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’ve kicked around the idea of building a ladder rack for a Ranger but haven’t done it. I have an aluminum cap with a rack on it and I have the F-150 with a rack, and as soon as I get it fixed, a dump truck with a rack. So, a rack may not happen on one of my rangers. At least for now.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I don't have the patience for the rust you guys deal with, conveniently I normally just have to use my fabrication tools for fabrication... not repairs that shouldn't have to happen...

Yeah, rust really sucks. I love living here other than having to deal with serious rust problems. And the stupid government, but that’s it’s whole own issue….

 

[Roert42]

I’ve used cheap grinding wheels and I’ve used expensive ones.
Just like most things, the more expensive ones are worth the price. They chew the metal up faster and last longer.

I use a company called extreme performance abrasives, https://xpabrasives.com/ , and buy Their house brands. It’s all made in USA or Europe and their office and ware house are fairly close to me. The prices are good too, cheaper the. Buying the stuff at the box stores. I even order a lot of my supplies form work from them.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Installed new front rotors, bearings, and brake pads. One of the old outer bearings was just starting to show signs of future failure after only about 25K miles (fine scratches on all the rollers), and I had been hearing faint bearing noise. The other outer looked all right.

Used NAPA parts and Red Line synthetic + moly grease. Made makeshift bearing packers using small containers, the aluminum discs from a bearing press set, and a C-clamp to force grease between the rollers.

Noticeably quieter when it was done. I wanted to take care of this before springing for a set of new tires and an alignment in the near future.

The old bearings had been very slightly loose after I installed them, and I had adjusted that after catching it several thousand miles later. This might have been the source of the problem, along with packing grease into them by hand the old-fashioned way. Live and learn. I did not pop off the old seals to look at the inner bearings.

Did have enough rust on the old passenger-side rotor to force use of a 3–pound maul on the inside of the tires to tap the wheel loose. The rust was on the hub portion, not behind the wheel.

Also checked the differential lube using the fill hole. All was well and it wouldn't take any.

 

[ben_2_go]

Ran the rest of the gas out of the Strangler. Next week, I hope to finish the work I started earlier in the year. It sucks have to do so much work on my daily rider. If I F something up, I walk or borrow a car.

 

[Curious Hound]

Ran the rest of the gas out of the Strangler. Next week, I hope to finish the work I started earlier in the year. It sucks have to do so much work on my daily rider. If I F something up, I walk or borrow a car.

I get nervous when I'm down to one running vehicle and it needs attention.

 

[ben_2_go]

I get nervous when I'm down to one running vehicle and it needs attention.

I have 7 and only my daily is running and barely running at that. I just can't afford all the extra vehicles. I'm going to start fixing and selling next year. I need money for a project I may be picking up over the next couple of weeks.

 

[Rick W]

I got a lot of little jobs done on the Road Ranger trailer that I wrote up in that post.

A week after I got back from the 40th I realized one of the trailer tires had gone flat. If I pressured it to 35 pounds, it took four or five days to go flat. When I checked them all, they were all OK except the one (all cheap used scavenged stuff).

The one had a tiny leak on the bead by a wheel weight. I used a chemical engineering trick, actually, probably more from shade tree work, and got it fixed, and I thought I’d share it.

I pressured the tire after I took it off the truck and used soapy water to identify every place on the bead that it was leaking. Three spots, and they were tiny. So I decided to try the home cure instead of spending the 15 bucks to break it down, clean it, re-seat it, and re-balance it.

I let the air out, and then I used an 18 inch pry bar to pull the bead down a little bit, not really break it loose, where I was getting the bubbles. It looked pretty clean, so I moved to the next step.

Here are the tricks: with it pried down, I sprayed the areas with a tiny bit of brake cleaner. The brake cleaner will soften the tire rubber on the surface just a tiny little bit before it evaporates.
I took about 2 tablespoons of wet patch roof tar and mixed it with about 2 tablespoons of my gas/diesel salvage, and mixed it up to where it’s about the consistency of toothpaste.

I took a dollar store paint brush and cut off half the length of the bristles, and then used that to take my “toothpaste” and work it in, while I had the bead pried down with the pry bar.

When you air up the tire, it squeezes 99% of the “toothpaste“ back out, but no more leaks. I’ll double check it again tomorrow. The whole process took about 20 minutes.

Morning after thoughts, edit: the brake cleaner softens the rubber a little bit, and when you put pressure back on the tire, it not only squeezes the “toothpaste“ out, it squeezes it into every conceivable, teeny nook and cranny. I’m not sure which one seals the tire but it works every time. I wouldn’t try it if there was actual damage on the tire or on the rim.

Hope it helps….

 

[sgtsandman]

Installed new front rotors, bearings, and brake pads. One of the old outer bearings was just starting to show signs of future failure after only about 25K miles (fine scratches on all the rollers), and I had been hearing faint bearing noise. The other outer looked all right.

Used NAPA parts and Red Line synthetic + moly grease. Made makeshift bearing packers using small containers, the aluminum discs from a bearing press set, and a C-clamp to force grease between the rollers.

Noticeably quieter when it was done. I wanted to take care of this before springing for a set of new tires and an alignment in the near future.

The old bearings had been very slightly loose after I installed them, and I had adjusted that after catching it several thousand miles later. This might have been the source of the problem, along with packing grease into them by hand the old-fashioned way. Live and learn. I did not pop off the old seals to look at the inner bearings.

Did have enough rust on the old passenger-side rotor to force use of a 3–pound maul on the inside of the tires to tap the wheel loose. The rust was on the hub portion, not behind the wheel.

Also checked the differential lube using the fill hole. All was well and it wouldn't take any.

One trick I learned that has worked reliably for making sure the wheel does not stick to the hub, or for the drum/rotor to the hub on vehicles that don’t have the hub integrated into the rotor, is to spray the hub face with fluid film. I’ve never had a problem with the wheel sticking after I started doing that and most times, there is enough left that reapplication isn’t needed.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

One trick I learned that has worked reliably for making sure the wheel does not stick to the hub, or for the drum/rotor to the hub on vehicles that don’t have the hub integrated into the rotor, is to spray the hub face with fluid film. I’ve never had a problem with the wheel sticking after I started doing that and most times, there is enough left that reapplication isn’t needed.

I have a cool whip container that I mix general purpose grease and used motor oil to a paintable mix with a 1” brush that I use much the same. I’ve had to use multiple hits on the tire with a 16# sledge before to get a tire loose (only hit the tire, smashing on the rim will damage it)

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I have 7 and only my daily is running and barely running at that. I just can't afford all the extra vehicles. I'm going to start fixing and selling next year. I need money for a project I may be picking up over the next couple of weeks.

I was in that boat not too long ago, due to a long series of unfortunate events. Not completely out of the woods yet, but I now have three that run and drive. Still have to squash a bunch of bugs with the one (green Ranger), but it does what it’s supposed to and all the important stuff is new. Choptop still needs the gas tank replaced (I have a new one already) and the front axle needs some issues resolved, but it now runs and drives. F-150 is what I was down to and it needs a major overhaul badly, but now that I’m not using it as a DD, I should be able to limp it along a bit. It’s been behaving much better since it’s been pulled from DD use. I’m getting a newly used frame and cab for it in a few weeks, but probably won’t start on that till next year.

Next project is to get the dump truck fixed, which will help by the fact that a dump truck is quite handy especially with cleaning up and fixing up property and that it will give me another big truck around which will allow me to take the F-150 out of service long enough to overhaul. Also need to finish the resto-mod I started on my 88 B2. That all should keep me busy for the next year. I’ll figure out the rest as I go along.

 

[Lefty]

I put fog lights on the truck today.