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


Considering the condition of the rest of the "repairs" to this truck, it's likely the case. I thought about having another set made, but if the camber bolts do wjat they need to, I guess I won't. This is my first time dealing with such a situation.
Yeah, the aftermarket adjustable camber bolts don’t use those plates, the rounded washer keyed on them replaces those fixed degree plates.
 
Considering the condition of the rest of the "repairs" to this truck, it's likely the case. I thought about having another set made, but if the camber bolts do what they need to, I guess I won't. This is my first time dealing with such a situation.
Check out ChrisFix how to install camber bolts UT vid. He covers this very well.
 
Check out ChrisFix how to install camber bolts UT vid. He covers this very well.
Thanks! I'll go take a look!

Found it!

Oh. I need them for both sides. I must've misread something here. Gotta order another set. 😅
 
Last edited:
Replaced the camshaft synchronizer in my 2002 Ranger XLT 3.0L

I had replaced the original with a Motorcraft unit in 2017 at 121,952 miles. This Motorcraft synchronizer was giving all the warning signs - intermittent cylinder #4 misfire at idle, rough idle, and lately a chirping noise. The truck now has 165,660 miles on it so thats only 9 years and 43,700 miles.

I installed a pricey NAPA Eglin unit which comes as a kit with replacement cover and alignment tool. I did notice with installation and alignment that the Eglin unit tab sets at about 10 degrees counterclockwise off the window center, unlike the Motorcraft unit.

Naturally I dropped and lost the lock down retainer bolt and washer during installation and could not find the *(*&&^& thing. So off to the store for an 8 mm bolt which turned out to be too large. Then back to the store for 6 mm bolt with turned out to be too small. So I don't know what size the (*&^(% bolt is.

However, having run completely out of epithets, I spotted the original retainer bolt and washer and was able to retrieve these with a magnetic reach tool.

All runs well and idles smooth with the new synchronizer. Fortunately I love this truck. The blood sacrifice was small this round. Only the frustration level was high though now 9 years older I am likely to pay tonight for crawling in and out of that engine compartment all afternoon.
 
I abused both the '97 Ranger and the '00 Explorer... was at an auction today and drug home a trailer for a friend of mine that's a 28' long by 8' wide deck with at least 1000lb of metal roofing on it with the Explorer... said roofing went from that trailer to the back of the Ranger after we got to my house (didn't want to drag it through downtown McMinnville) then put the metal in the back of the Ranger, downside is it is 11' long and there were like 68 sheets! But only like 15 miles... It did it, steering was odd though. Once we got to my house realized we didn't look at the trailer tires and one was pretty flat and hot, oops.
 
I pulled the dash apart on my truck to hopefully fix a bouncing speedometer needle at low speeds. It's not a serious problem and goes away above about 15mph but I have low tolerance for stuff that doesn't work right.There seems to be a stiff spot in the cable and I'm hoping some white lube will help. It's the original 93 cable with the transmission adapter from a Mustang II cable in grafted on place of the speed sensor so I can't just buy a cable. The truck doesn't have EEC IV anymore and a speed sensor wont's clear my 2 1/2" exhaust. The Alpine stereo and mechanical oil pressure gauge both need to be disconnected and removed to get the instrument bezel off, I built it so I can't complain about it being a pain in the ass to work on.
 
Removed cap to visualize the carnage.

What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)
What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)
 
Looks odd without a cap.

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

Pretty dirty back there.
 
Radio speaker update: Success!! Well, sort of…

So last time I said I bought two cheap speakers of the right dimensions so I could adapt them into the dashboard of the 87 Missing Linc. I didn’t lie, I did buy 2. Since one of them actually arrived, I could verify it would fit in there. Now I’m in a battle with the Chinaman to get the second because I ordered a quantity of “one,” and the ad said speakers”s” and “pair” 100 times. I ordered a quantity of one pair Anyway, I proceeded with the one I got for the one that that’s dead in front of the driver.

You guys know how long winded I can be, I’ll try to spare you. Couldn’t get the new speaker to work, checked the wires, tapped into the OEM wires behind the radio plug, pulled new wires, and eventually cut the OEM wires an inch behind the plug and connected them there. And more. No joy. All my left right forward back balance and fade, etc. are all working properly.

Finally, I pulled that eight pin plug out of the back of the radio. The plug is the female and behind the radio is male - they’re tiny spades. I modified a couple of spade connectors to work on something that small, and I connected that one speaker directly to the back of the radio.

IMG_5093.jpeg


Yeah, a one speaker Radio!

I debated if I should put grab handles on the side of the truck before I tried it so it would be easier to grab the whole thing and throw it over the fence. As daylight faded, I turned on the radio and heard it from that one speaker. Praise God in heaven, and eternal thanks for His glory across the Earth, and in particular my radio one speaker!

I say success, because I isolated the problem to that eight pin plug, but now, how in the heck do I fix that? I locked up the truck with all my tools in it and came inside, and shortly thereafter just went to bed exhausted. My current thought is to drill a couple tiny holes through that plug so I can feed a wire and fan it out across and fold it over the female plug connection. Somehow, I have to straddle that plug when I figure out which of the two wires is the bad one. I already looked, a plug online would cost more than the whole radio, AND it only pulls forward enough to be perhaps 1 inch past the plane of the dashboard, so very hard to work on in the opening.

But brothers, I tell you seriously today, as long as there is air in my lungs and a beat in my heart, that radio will work, and the shed of miracles will be clean!

(you can contact the cute little brunette for the funeral arrangements. Initial thoughts are I will be in the back of the truck with the one speaker going, and then my ashes will be spread over the piles in the shed of miracles.)
 
Radio speaker update: Success!! Well, sort of…

So last time I said I bought two cheap speakers of the right dimensions so I could adapt them into the dashboard of the 87 Missing Linc. I didn’t lie, I did buy 2. Since one of them actually arrived, I could verify it would fit in there. Now I’m in a battle with the Chinaman to get the second because I ordered a quantity of “one,” and the ad said speakers”s” and “pair” 100 times. I ordered a quantity of one pair Anyway, I proceeded with the one I got for the one that that’s dead in front of the driver.

You guys know how long winded I can be, I’ll try to spare you. Couldn’t get the new speaker to work, checked the wires, tapped into the OEM wires behind the radio plug, pulled new wires, and eventually cut the OEM wires an inch behind the plug and connected them there. And more. No joy. All my left right forward back balance and fade, etc. are all working properly.

Finally, I pulled that eight pin plug out of the back of the radio. The plug is the female and behind the radio is male - they’re tiny spades. I modified a couple of spade connectors to work on something that small, and I connected that one speaker directly to the back of the radio.

View attachment 141447

Yeah, a one speaker Radio!

I debated if I should put grab handles on the side of the truck before I tried it so it would be easier to grab the whole thing and throw it over the fence. As daylight faded, I turned on the radio and heard it from that one speaker. Praise God in heaven, and eternal thanks for His glory across the Earth, and in particular my radio one speaker!

I say success, because I isolated the problem to that eight pin plug, but now, how in the heck do I fix that? I locked up the truck with all my tools in it and came inside, and shortly thereafter just went to bed exhausted. My current thought is to drill a couple tiny holes through that plug so I can feed a wire and fan it out across and fold it over the female plug connection. Somehow, I have to straddle that plug when I figure out which of the two wires is the bad one. I already looked, a plug online would cost more than the whole radio, AND it only pulls forward enough to be perhaps 1 inch past the plane of the dashboard, so very hard to work on in the opening.

But brothers, I tell you seriously today, as long as there is air in my lungs and a beat in my heart, that radio will work, and the shed of miracles will be clean!

(you can contact the cute little brunette for the funeral arrangements. Initial thoughts are I will be in the back of the truck with the one speaker going, and then my ashes will be spread over the piles in the shed of miracles.)

Hopefully the last radio update for a while….

Again, I isolated the speaker problem to the eight pin connector on the back of the radio. Coming out of the radio are flat blades, and the connector has an unusual two sided “pinch” female that slides over those blades. It’s actually pretty exotic. It is folded over to make a square tube, smaller than an old-fashioned ballpoint pen cartridge, with the ends folded in and curving inward and then back outward to kind of act like two fingertips that would pinch the blade. The top of that connector is bent 90° so the wires run along the back of the radio and not straight out.

Fortunately, I had two of the plugs from the Lincoln radios that wouldn’t work. The plug actually has a cap on the backside that came off fairly easily so you can access those terminals. Then it took me like forever to figure out how those female connectors come out of the plug itself, but I did figure it out. I used two of the Lincoln connectors to replace the two connectors that fed the driver side speaker. I took a strip of 120 grit sandpaper, and I pulled it through those pinch fingers, from one side and then from the other side, to make sure they were clean. Then I used a straight pick to bend those fingers inward. I believe the problem all along was that one of those pitch connectors was making a poor contact and got carbon up so it worked intermittently.

Although I had rewired that speaker already, I spliced those connectors onto brand new 18 gauge wires, similar in color to the originals, and snaked it through the dashboard again. When I plugged in the old speaker, miraculously, it worked, but it had a buzz. So I took one of the new 5 inch speakers I bought online, and I folded up one of the four ears, which let it drop down into the hole.

I used a little grinder on my Dremel to grind out the rivet that holds the connector board to the old speaker. I cleaned it up, and then I soldered that connector board to the two blades coming off the new speaker, so I could use the original wire connector. Of course the little spring catch broke off that connector the last time I put it on the speaker, so I had to assist with a little tiny zip tie.

If I twisted that speaker in the right direction, I could put one of the three speaker screws through one of the 4 holes. For the other two original screws, I cut a cable tv wire hold down clip, to make it into a hook, that would hook over the edge of the speaker and hold it down in the other two locations. Amazingly, the metal screen that covers it, that you see when you look at the dashboard, still had the foam to press against the speaker, and I inserted that. I don’t know if I mentioned before, but I took a dime store Phillips screwdriver and bent the end over about a half inch off the point, and that’s how I was able to get the screws in and out.

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


When I was analyzing the whole thing, I realized the wires to the two speakers behind the seats were reversed, that was an easy fix, and now it balances and fades correctly. I haven’t spent any time on the road to test the final results, but I’m confident that solve the problem.

Next step will be to get much better speakers to get some better sound, but that may happen in my next lifetime since I have bigger fish to fry
 

Sponsored Ad

TRS Events & Gatherings

Latest posts

Featured Rangers

Want to see your truck here? Share your photos and details in the forum.

TRS Latest Video

Official TRS Merchandise

Follow TRS On Instagram

TRS Ranger Sponsors


Product Suggestions

Back
Top