92 Ranger build

[Jimmeh]

So this isn't going to be an expedition vehicle by any means. For one, I don't trust it to make it far on it's own power and it's just too dang small for what I want out of a expedition rig. I haven't really decided what I want out of it, so this build thread is more of a show off what I do to it kind of thing.

Background story: I bought the truck just before winter of 2007 from a used car lot I had been dealing with on other vehicles. The guy was (notice the past tense as it comes up later in the story) a friend of the families who had always done us right, and when I was looking at the truck I was told first that it was a brand new motor with about 20K on the clock. The engine bay was clean enough to eat off of from the top, so I didn't really bother looking underneath (dumb kid syndrome) and bought it there for $3500. I drove it for about 10K miles when first the power steering pump went out. Seemed a little premature for a brand new motor, so I called Tony and asked him some questions. He changed the story to it being a rebuilt junk yard motor. No biggy other than being lied to, so I fixed that. Another 10K, and I decided to take a trip to WA to visit family and attend a Ranger web forum meet. Heading up bluet pass, an exhaust valve got stuck and the piston came up and smashed into it. I limped it to Levanworth, where I stayed the night and my parents came and towed me home. Dad and I tore the engine apart to find factory gaskets from 92, and some pretty well worn heads (187,000 miles worth of wear). Hard to believe the engine was ever rebuilt. Another call to Tony to which he replied that he never said that. Unfortunately for him, I kept the ad that I found the truck in where it stated the engine was brand new. I have yet to do any legal action mainly because I didn't really check the truck out before buying.

All of this happened in 2008, where after that the truck sat for about 3 years until last summer when I decided to do a proper rebuild. Had the heads resurfaced with a new valve on the drivers side, new push rods and lifters, new gaskets (though I would not suggest Felpro gaskets) and some other things I may be forgetting. After driving it about 200 miles, I found the truck had dumped all of it's oil in my friends driveway. Luckily, he lives not far away from a parts store, so I topped it off and ran it back to my dads house where I left it until this weekend. Brought it up to the shop and put a new intake manifold gasket in as well as fixed a rubbed out tranny line which was another leaky situation. Then I put in a couple coats of bed liner (tan on a green truck.....yuck!) and am now going to work on a wiring issue with my tail light on the passenger side.

Anyway, I haven't taken any recent pictures, so here's just a couple from it's "glory" days:

Very clean interior for it's age. Exterior looks clean from a distance, but has some rust here and there.

I've done a little wheeling in it, but nothing like I plan:

And a picture in Levanworth WA where my dad came to rescue me:

Plans are to fit 33's under it and make it my wheeler/drive it now and then to work rig. I plan on a 6" suspension lift (sounds hypocritical to say since I have one on the Chevy, but I really don't like body lifts) with a set of 33" Cooper Discoverer AT3's (really love them on my Chevy), do a bumper on the front for a winch and some deer protection, and maybe just a headache rack with some sort of way to attach some side panels for hauling firewood or something...who knows? All of this will happen when I finish a couple of things on the Chevy. I will be sure to post some progress pics of anything I do, and any suggestions would be helpful if you have any!

 

[4x4junkie]

Wow, that's certainly a bummer to hear. At least it seems you've learned your lessen though... never ever ever trust the word of a used-car salesman, even one you've had dealings with before, always check things out for yourself (or have a trusted mechanic look at it).

Rangers are great sturdy trucks though. I think once you get the bugs worked out, you'll have a pretty reliable truck for sure (yours is certainly one of the cleaner ones I've seen). One thing I would strongly suggest you do is add an external transmission cooler on it, the one built into the radiator just isn't enough to keep the A4LD trans cool if you start pushing it real hard (towing and/or low-speed wheeling). Really that's about their only weak spot though (well, and the auto-locking 4WD hubs, which are dirt-simple to swap for manuals).

I'm not sure, maybe I've seen your rig over on TRS, but if not, you might want to check in over there. There's so much you can do with those rigs that most people would never realize, the amount of info & mods to be found there is almost literally endless.

Good luck with it, and for sure keep us updated. :safari-rig:

 

[AA1PR]

That chevy plate caused your misfortune

 

[Jimmeh]

Wow, that's certainly a bummer to hear. At least it seems you've learned your lessen though... never ever ever trust the word of a used-car salesman, even one you've had dealings with before, always check things out for yourself (or have a trusted mechanic look at it).

Rangers are great sturdy trucks though. I think once you get the bugs worked out, you'll have a pretty reliable truck for sure (yours is certainly one of the cleaner ones I've seen). One thing I would strongly suggest you do is add an external transmission cooler on it, the one built into the radiator just isn't enough to keep the A4LD trans cool if you start pushing it real hard (towing and/or low-speed wheeling). Really that's about their only weak spot though (well, and the auto-locking 4WD hubs, which are dirt-simple to swap for manuals).

I'm not sure, maybe I've seen your rig over on TRS, but if not, you might want to check in over there. There's so much you can do with those rigs that most people would never realize, the amount of info & mods to be found there is almost literally endless.

Good luck with it, and for sure keep us updated. :safari-rig:

The A4LD is pretty much the most useless transmission I have ever been around. It can be reliable as heck, but the one in my Ranger is already starting to slip and it's a little late for me to be thinking of putting money into it. So, I think I may just do a 5 speed swap and be done with it. There is a junk yard here that specializes in Fords and has a TON of B2's, Explorers and Rangers (as well as Aerostars), so I may just have to go do a little digging in one to find the parts I need. As for the rest of the truck, it was a lot cleaner when I first got it, but the rust bug is starting to get to it. I may fix it later on and I may not. As of now it's not priority. And the manual hubs was the first thing to be changed when I purchased it. Sure wish I could find a cheap kit for my Chevy.

I am a member on TRS and use the crap out of the tech section, but haven't posted much over there, especially since I haven't driven the thing in 3 years. I'm actually a member on most of the Ranger forums out there, but I just don't like them that much, and never have enough time to weed through all the BS to find the stuff I need, so I stick to TRS.

That chevy plate caused your misfortune

The day I brought the Chevy home was the day that plate came off the Ranger