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- Joined
- Sep 18, 2010
- Messages
- 631
- Reaction score
- 19
- Points
- 18
- Location
- Raleigh, NC
- Vehicle Year
- 1996
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Type
- 2.3 (4 Cylinder)
- Transmission
- Manual
- 2WD / 4WD
- 2WD
Hey guys I'm here from Motor Trend Forums and Car Fanatics. This is what I posted there.
It was Christmas of 2009, happily spending my days here in NC celebrating such a great day. I was showered with gifts just like all Christmases, but I thought, why not get a gift for myself? It was at this point in time when my dad and I had the little dark blue 1990 Toyota Pickup Deluxe trim with the 22R and an upgraded 5spd manual. This was the truck I learned to drive stick on and learn how to do various other things on like oil changes, shock replacements, and other small stuff. But I couldn't keep it. It just didn't sit right with me. Don't get me wrong, I loved that golf cart to death, but I wanted something bigger, safer, and overall more solid. Now I did want something bigger, but not too much bigger. I still wanted a compact truck. The inner Ford guy inside me said the obvious, get a Ford.
But a F-150 was to big and inefficient for me and my high school budget. Then I started to look into these little buggers named Rangers. It turns out they were capable, efficient, and reliable little trucks with very cheap parts whenever the rare problem did arise. I had a feeling gas was going to go nowhere but up (and boy was I right) so I wanted the most fuel-efficent Ranger I could find. A 2WD, 4cyl, 5spd manual Ranger was the one for me. So I started to look at dealers, and I found nothing in my price range. I turned to Cars.com and Auto Trader... nothing but garbage. Then came the almighty Craigslist. There were plenty of Rangers available, but most did not fit my criteria. Almost all were 4WD or automatic gas-sucking 6cyls. I finally narrowed it down to two choices. A silver 2004 Ranger XL with 210K miles but no factory A/C. And a red 1996 Ranger XLT with 179K, a brand new clutch, new tires, new brakes, and a new rear main seal. In pictures this thing was damn near perfect. In real life, NOPE. The rear bumper was dented in, two of the three mirrors needed replacing, the carpet and headliner needed replacing, there were dents everywhere, the sway bar was shot, there was a hole in the dash where the radio used to be, the seat felt like a toilet in a public restroom, the smell literally made me and my dad sick whenever we drove it, the center armrest was broken, there was no spare tire, the seat belt was broken, and there were cigarette burns in the dash. It was a mess. But my dad sold the Toyota and scraped up some change around the house just throw me a curve ball and bought that little dog of a Ranger that had nothing going for it if it weren't for the brand new clutch. I was shocked, to say the least. When he dragged that thing home it felt like Christmas all over again, even though by that time it had happened a month ago. Despite all of its, er, blemishes, I loved the thing to death. Everything about this little truck was superior to the Toyota! Ride, fuel economy, power, looks... everything!
Here it was on the first day:
I knew it needed work, and boy did I work. I replaced almost all of what was wrong with it from stuff I found at the salvage yard (you have no idea how hard it is to find a Ranger at LKQ that ISN'T totaled). New seat, mirror, steering wheel, the works.
But by the time everything was fixed, I felt like I needed a new challenge. One of the first things I did was go to Best Buy and let that teenager in the back wire up a new Sony head unit. But the stock speakers just weren't performing like I wanted them to. So I used the money from the job I, at this time, just recently got to buy brand new speakers in all four corners. I saved a bunch of money going on the internet and installing them myself, and hey, it still sounds just as good as if a pro did it!!! But the particular speakers I bought seemed to be lacking something. Bass. This is when I sprung the money for a brand new 10" Kicker sub, mounted right behind my butt.
It wasn't too long after that when I was going off campus for lunch when I hit the big two-double-oh...
But then I was still not done. Like I said, I wanted my next truck to be bigger. Well, this was my next truck. Why isn't it getting any bigger? So I decide to put a 2" leveling kit on up front with some brand-new, fully-adjustable, nitrogen-filled Rancho shocks. And this was the result...
I installed the kit myself, and I'm pretty damn proud of it if I do say so myself.
I was nice and satisfied with the results. I felt like a million bucks rolling down the road. DeLone was perfect, she ran great and I felt like I'm in a truly bigger truck. Life couldn't get any better!!!
But then I ran to my biggest problem yet.
The wimpy little wheels looked waaaaaaayyyyy too small for those now towering wheel wells.
So here is the solution.
Ladies and gents, I present to you the all-new DeLone!!!
Congrats DeLone!!! I LOVE YA!
It was Christmas of 2009, happily spending my days here in NC celebrating such a great day. I was showered with gifts just like all Christmases, but I thought, why not get a gift for myself? It was at this point in time when my dad and I had the little dark blue 1990 Toyota Pickup Deluxe trim with the 22R and an upgraded 5spd manual. This was the truck I learned to drive stick on and learn how to do various other things on like oil changes, shock replacements, and other small stuff. But I couldn't keep it. It just didn't sit right with me. Don't get me wrong, I loved that golf cart to death, but I wanted something bigger, safer, and overall more solid. Now I did want something bigger, but not too much bigger. I still wanted a compact truck. The inner Ford guy inside me said the obvious, get a Ford.
But a F-150 was to big and inefficient for me and my high school budget. Then I started to look into these little buggers named Rangers. It turns out they were capable, efficient, and reliable little trucks with very cheap parts whenever the rare problem did arise. I had a feeling gas was going to go nowhere but up (and boy was I right) so I wanted the most fuel-efficent Ranger I could find. A 2WD, 4cyl, 5spd manual Ranger was the one for me. So I started to look at dealers, and I found nothing in my price range. I turned to Cars.com and Auto Trader... nothing but garbage. Then came the almighty Craigslist. There were plenty of Rangers available, but most did not fit my criteria. Almost all were 4WD or automatic gas-sucking 6cyls. I finally narrowed it down to two choices. A silver 2004 Ranger XL with 210K miles but no factory A/C. And a red 1996 Ranger XLT with 179K, a brand new clutch, new tires, new brakes, and a new rear main seal. In pictures this thing was damn near perfect. In real life, NOPE. The rear bumper was dented in, two of the three mirrors needed replacing, the carpet and headliner needed replacing, there were dents everywhere, the sway bar was shot, there was a hole in the dash where the radio used to be, the seat felt like a toilet in a public restroom, the smell literally made me and my dad sick whenever we drove it, the center armrest was broken, there was no spare tire, the seat belt was broken, and there were cigarette burns in the dash. It was a mess. But my dad sold the Toyota and scraped up some change around the house just throw me a curve ball and bought that little dog of a Ranger that had nothing going for it if it weren't for the brand new clutch. I was shocked, to say the least. When he dragged that thing home it felt like Christmas all over again, even though by that time it had happened a month ago. Despite all of its, er, blemishes, I loved the thing to death. Everything about this little truck was superior to the Toyota! Ride, fuel economy, power, looks... everything! Here it was on the first day:
I knew it needed work, and boy did I work. I replaced almost all of what was wrong with it from stuff I found at the salvage yard (you have no idea how hard it is to find a Ranger at LKQ that ISN'T totaled). New seat, mirror, steering wheel, the works.
But by the time everything was fixed, I felt like I needed a new challenge. One of the first things I did was go to Best Buy and let that teenager in the back wire up a new Sony head unit. But the stock speakers just weren't performing like I wanted them to. So I used the money from the job I, at this time, just recently got to buy brand new speakers in all four corners. I saved a bunch of money going on the internet and installing them myself, and hey, it still sounds just as good as if a pro did it!!! But the particular speakers I bought seemed to be lacking something. Bass. This is when I sprung the money for a brand new 10" Kicker sub, mounted right behind my butt.
It wasn't too long after that when I was going off campus for lunch when I hit the big two-double-oh...
But then I was still not done. Like I said, I wanted my next truck to be bigger. Well, this was my next truck. Why isn't it getting any bigger? So I decide to put a 2" leveling kit on up front with some brand-new, fully-adjustable, nitrogen-filled Rancho shocks. And this was the result...
I installed the kit myself, and I'm pretty damn proud of it if I do say so myself.
I was nice and satisfied with the results. I felt like a million bucks rolling down the road. DeLone was perfect, she ran great and I felt like I'm in a truly bigger truck. Life couldn't get any better!!!
But then I ran to my biggest problem yet.
The wimpy little wheels looked waaaaaaayyyyy too small for those now towering wheel wells.
So here is the solution.
Ladies and gents, I present to you the all-new DeLone!!!
Congrats DeLone!!! I LOVE YA!
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