What is this?

[spatula]

Hello, I have a newbie question for you. I'm still in my first week of Ranger ownership... When I prop the hood open, there is what looks like a second hood prop behind it, but it's not hinged, it's removable and runs the full width of the front end, then has a 90°bend and goes down in front of the battery and has another 90° bend. What is this for?

 

[sheep herder]

Jack handle?

 

[Uncle Gump]

Yep... jack hande

 

[wildbill23c]

Jack handle, throw it away, nobody uses that stuff anymore they just call a tow truck....heck many new cars don't even have a spare tire, there's no room for one LOL. Been trying to find a jack handle like that for my 87 Ranger, the jack is behind the seat but the handle is gone of all things LOL. Haven't been to any of the pick a part yards for several months due to all this virus crap so I'm sure I've missed out on a lot of good stuff.

I think most people use their own jack and lug wrench so I guess a lot of the factory stuff just gets tossed out over the years, surprised that one is still in there.

 

[1986RangerXL]

I think most people use their own jack and lug wrench so I guess a lot of the factory stuff just gets tossed out over the years, surprised that one is still in there.

I still have the original jack, lug wrench, bracket and handle under the hood. But looking at the factory jack, I'm not using that thing unless I absolutely have to lol

 

[wildbill23c]

I still have the original jack, lug wrench, bracket and handle under the hood. But looking at the factory jack, I'm not using that thing unless I absolutely have to lol

That's my thoughts as well, I just like to have all the original stuff with the vehicle...I've ran into issues though using an aftermarket jack, once the tire is flat, you aren't getting many jacks under the vehicle to jack it up so my fix was to carry a scissor jack too with its low profile you can typically squeeze one of them in somewhere to at least lift the vehicle enough to get a better jack under it.

Those factory jacks never have appealed to me as anything I'd want to trust holding my vehicle up LOL...the one in my Bronco 2 looks like its had fluid leaking out of it so it probably wouldn't even work.

 

[Curious Hound]

On some trucks, it's also the crank to get the spare tire down. I'd keep it right there unless you take the spare out of its hiding place and keep it somewhere else.

 

[spatula]

Wow... It's so long!

Thanks for the replies. That makes sense. I think I'll pull out the jack and test everything this weekend and give her a thorough wash down. I just vacuumed inside and pulled out hardware store receipts from 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010 from under the seats, plus about $2 in change! Win!

 

[19Walt93]

I always carry a jack, lug wrench and spare tire rather than need them and not have them.

 

[cbxer55]

I have a bed cover, so keep the spare in the bed. I have a different jack and jack handle. I use an 18 inch breaker bar with the appropriate socket for a lug wrench. I keep a can of Fix-A-Flat in each of my vehicles. Also one of them small electric air pumps, a tubeless tire repair kit and a pair of jumper cables. I've never used a spare, and I've been driving since 1976.

Neither my Ranger or my Lightning came with that rod under the hood for lowering the spare. I got one from a junk yard to get the spares down from both trucks and put the spares in the bed under a cover.

 

[racsan]

I carry a small floor jack, 4-way lug wrench and the spare in the bed. on the escape I moved the spare to the inside and made a shelf over top of it, the crank-down for the escape is junk .

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Jack handle, throw it away, nobody uses that stuff anymore they just call a tow truck....heck many new cars don't even have a spare tire, there's no room for one LOL. Been trying to find a jack handle like that for my 87 Ranger, the jack is behind the seat but the handle is gone of all things LOL. Haven't been to any of the pick a part yards for several months due to all this virus crap so I'm sure I've missed out on a lot of good stuff.

I think most people use their own jack and lug wrench so I guess a lot of the factory stuff just gets tossed out over the years, surprised that one is still in there.

First gens are tricky too. If you don't have the handle sitting just right the rattle will drive you nuts. Rather than have them correctly secured in the hole in the inner fender behind in front of the battery most have them backwards with the handle resting on the overflow/windshield reservoir. Looks like crap but no rattle.

And yes, they are few and far between to boot.

Factory jacks are a screw mechanism, not hydraulic. They don't work too bad, I use that style of jack quite a bit in junkyards.

 

[cbxer55]

First gens are tricky too. If you don't have the handle sitting just right the rattle will drive you nuts. Rather than have them correctly secured in the hole in the inner fender behind in front of the battery most have them backwards with the handle resting on the overflow/windshield reservoir. Looks like crap but no rattle.

And yes, they are few and far between to boot.

Factory jacks are a screw mechanism, not hydraulic. They don't work too bad, I use that style of jack quite a bit in junkyards.

The two jacks I have are both screw mechanisms. Prefer them over hydraulics.

 

[sgtsandman]

I've yet to see a screw style jack fail as long as it's on a good base. Scissor style on the other hand... I've seen them fail at the hinge points. I've kept my OEM jack but I do also have a hydraulic bottle jack in the 2011.

I need to build a platform with a drawer system in the bed of the 2019 if I'm going to put anymore gear in it. All the cubby holes and empty spaces are filled. Come to think of it, I forget what style jack the 2019 has. It might be a scissor style. I only messed with it once to lube it and I think it was a scissor jack.

 

[wildbill23c]

First gens are tricky too. If you don't have the handle sitting just right the rattle will drive you nuts. Rather than have them correctly secured in the hole in the inner fender behind in front of the battery most have them backwards with the handle resting on the overflow/windshield reservoir. Looks like crap but no rattle.

And yes, they are few and far between to boot.

Factory jacks are a screw mechanism, not hydraulic. They don't work too bad, I use that style of jack quite a bit in junkyards.

Hmm, I didn't know that about those jacks, I always thought they were hydraulic...always learnin' something here.

I need to get a jack handle for the Ranger, the jack isn't very useful without it LOL. I'm in the process of repainting the lower blue section on my Ranger so I pulled the spare tire down since I had the bumpers off what a PITA that was, the spare hadn't been taken down for a long time obviously had to take a can of penetrating oil to the I-Bolt to get it loosened up, but its all freely moving now. Anything I can put on that stuff to keep it all from sticking in the future? I thought anti-seize but wouldn't that attract road grime?