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

[Rick W]

I took the dashboard driver side speaker out of the 87 Missing Linc.

I have three complete stereo systems brand new in the box, I have eight or nine pairs of speakers, some new in the box, some just new, and some very good used, and I must have eight or nine individual speakers in the shed of miracles

Yep, I had to order a pair of speakers today to work in the Ford design….

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Well, the Choptop got new rear shocks. Again. Yeah, I put brand new KYBs in a couple months ago but after putting a set of Rough Country N3 shocks in the front and feeling how great that made the truck ride, well, I got a set of Rough Country N3 shocks for the rear. If that doesn’t tame down what the LockRight locker is doing in the rear, I’m gonna have to pull the locker. I’ll keep the shocks. I’m amazed at the ride quality.

 

[SenorNoob]

I took the dashboard driver side speaker out of the 87 Missing Linc.

I have three complete stereo systems brand new in the box, I have eight or nine pairs of speakers, some new in the box, some just new, and some very good used, and I must have eight or nine individual speakers in the shed of miracles

Yep, I had to order a pair of speakers today to work in the Ford design….

Where did you find something that fit the dash of the 87? I had to make adapters.

 

[Rick W]

Where did you find something that fit the dash of the 87? I had to make adapters.

That’s my plan. I found some OEM speakers, but they wanted $100 for two. I checked all the dimensions, and I bought these cheap on eBay. I’ve got to take a little piece of aluminum or masonite and make a little adapter. That just gets me some music coming out of the dashboard.

I’m happy with the stock cassette radio. I joke a lot about the design of this or design of that, but that short cab 87 was not well thought out. You can only hear the speaker in front of you, you can’t really get a “stereo“ experience. The speakers behind the seats are pushed into the back of the seats if you’re a big guy like me, so you can’t hear them at all either. And if you want to do aftermarket, where the hell do you put those speakers?

I’m pretty happy just listening to the radio and a cassette tape if I could get a little bit better speaker set up. I have several complete stereo systems new in the box. I’m going to get this working by simply putting in those cheap speakers, but the plan is probably put in some door speakers, and maybe make a center console/sound box with some decent speakers that would point out to each side. Maybe under the seats. Or I may put something behind the tops of the seats on the outside.

For right now, I’ll get these speakers in, and in all honestly, that’s probably as far as I’ll get on that truck. Too many bigger fish to fry.

 

[SenorNoob]

Door speakers like the 89-92 was to go to there. Though most people around here butchered the door when putting them in. Pretty sure every one I saw in the junkyard had the door cut with an axe. LOL

I always thought these were cool.

Highliner with Built-In Speakers ​

Could you imagine a regular cab with that, dash speakers, door speakers, and a pair of 10in power sub boxes under the seats?

 

[Rick W]

Door speakers like the 89-92 was to go to there. Though most people around here butchered the door when putting them in. Pretty sure every one I saw in the junkyard had the door cut with an axe. LOL

I always thought these were cool.

Highliner with Built-In Speakers ​

Could you imagine a regular cab with that, dash speakers, door speakers, and a pair of 10in power sub boxes under the seats?

I actually thought about doing that. What I like about that is you put a left and right speaker over each seat, so both people have stereo. That’s kind of my idea if I build a center sound box.

I have a Sony Xplode system. It has the 6 x 9 speakers, 2 like 5 inch round speakers (all the speakers have the tri-range cones), the head/stereo, and then it has a 100 amp amplifier about the size of a phonebook. I thought of putting that amplifier right in the middle of the ceiling, and then using door speakers and speakers in the center, but it just seems wasted on that little truck. Of course it’s been sitting in the box in the shed of miracles for like 25 or 30 years. I’ve gotten a whole lot out of that, huh?

The red and black colors would go with the truck paint. Again, pretty low on the list once I just get the radio working where I can listen to it.

And that Sony Xplode system would make a lot more sense in my 78 Mark V to replace the eight track…

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I actually thought about doing that. What I like about that is you put a left and right speaker over each seat, so both people have stereo. That’s kind of my idea if I build a center sound box.

I have a Sony Xplode system. It has the 6 x 9 speakers, 2 like 5 inch round speakers (all the speakers have the tri-range cones), the head/stereo, and then it has a 100 amp amplifier about the size of a phonebook. I thought of putting that amplifier right in the middle of the ceiling, and then using door speakers and speakers in the center, but it just seems wasted on that little truck. Of course it’s been sitting in the box in the shed of miracles for like 25 or 30 years. I’ve gotten a whole lot out of that, huh?

The red and black colors would go with the truck paint. Again, pretty low on the list once I just get the radio working where I can listen to it.

And that Sony Xplode system would make a lot more sense in my 78 Mark V to replace the eight track…

The one thing about the Sony Xplode stuff was it was notorious for living up to its name and exploding at some point. Amps blowing capacitors and speakers blowing or burning voice coils even when not pushed to their limits. I’d probably pop the cover on the amp and take a good look at the guts before putting it in. Maybe replace the caps. But basically, be prepared that it may fail at some point.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

A number of Fords and Mazdas, and hardly anything else made outside those companies, used 5" x 7" speakers in certain spots. Sometimes a 6" x 8" speaker can fit, but might still require modification to the area, door panel, etc. If you're going to keep a few extra speakers around for tinkering, you might as well start with 5" x 7".

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

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[Things2do]

I finally found a Bluetooth radio that still had its faceplate in the Junkyard yesterday, so I swapped the kinda junky 2009ish AM/FM/CD with a bad CD player that came with my 1994 for a 2019 Pioneer AM/FM/CD/Aux/USB/Bluetooth last night. And then I proceeded to blow out my driver's door speaker while testing it.

There's a special place in hell for anyone who installs a stereo without a physical volume knob.

It doesn't have a knob. Well, it should, but it was gone when I got there and I couldn't find it among the glass and gravel in the rolled ~2005 Explorer that I pulled it out of.

I also picked up some seat bolts and some other odds and ends. Now that I'm back from driving it about 800 miles and doing some pretty rough trails, I can connect my phone to the radio and my seats will stop moving around. That old radio wouldn't even pick up any good stations in some of the places that we went.

While I was doing the radio I took my dash off and cleaned behind there good. Hopefully I'm now about out of places where I'm going to keep finding cigarette ashes.

And I have determined that my front differential only leaks when it's warmed up from use. I noticed a puddle of gear oil when we stopped in Moab after running Sevenmile Rim and then driving back down the highway to town with the hubs locked in. I whacked it on several rocks on that trail, but I don't think the beam is bent. We camped off of Chicken Corners that night, so I ran that trail in 2 wheel with the hubs unlocked except for playing in the sand near where we camped. It barely dripped that night. Then I came back out that trail in 4 high and left a puddle when I got back to town. That was our last trail, and it hasn't dripped since then. So now I have to decide whether the appropriate fix is to strip my front axle to reseal where the pumpkin meets the beam or whether I'm just going to buy a bottle of gear oil and top it off as needed.

I'll probably make a thread somewhere more appropriate with pictures and stuff from that trip, but I will say that for a worn out and slightly worse than stock vehicle that I bought hours before it was to be sent for scrap I was very impressed with its performance. And I'm glad that the factory crossmembers and skid plates held up to what I did to them.

 

[superj]

Did i tell you guys i test drove a ranger raptor the other day? The suspension was not as smooth my leaf sprung suspension and the electronic shocks are set stiffer thsn whatever my old school stock shocks work at so the ride was not cadillac smooth like the f150 raptor.

The engine though, wow! Talk about fun

 

[superj]

 

[mtnrgr]

Drove to the lake for awhile.

Had some quiet time and really liking the way my 97 looks without that pinstripes.