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

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Well, today was a rain day, so no work on the Ranger. Ran some errands today with mom then got to work on the welder. Pulled the wire out and it was a hard pull. Yanked the liner and found 4 minor kinks and one major. Figures. Pull out the new liner and something doesn’t look quite right. Call the weld shop and give them the information and they go, yup, that’s wrong. So another trip back there since I need the welder up soon. Got back and got it together. For the heck of it, I put the new 10# spool in and will keep the little spool as a spare when I run out. New wire fed real smooth through the new liner, so I’m betting it should run nice.

Also heard back from the seller of my headlights, offered free return or a partial refund which will be enough to pay for the new pigtails which are already on their way. So since I really like the headlights, they’re going in. At some point I’ll have to figure out how to make the daytime running lights work since I don’t think my truck has that feature.

 

[Saddle Tramp]

Put new shoes on it. Cooper Discoverer RTX. They're comparable to the OEM Wranglers with a hint of more aggressive tread.
They definitely feel more like a street tire compared to the BFG Terrains that were on before.

 

[Lefty]

Put new shoes on it. Cooper Discoverer RTX. They're comparable to the OEM Wranglers with a hint of more aggressive tread.
They definitely feel more like a street tire compared to the BFG Terrains that were on before.

Me too. Perhaps the best possible all around tires for our purposes.

 

[Lefty]

Me too. Perhaps the best possible all around tires for our purposes.

If you are looking for a decent tire which can also handle snow or occasional off road, this is a very good choice. They are not cheap, but they don't cost a fortune either.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Transmission is all unhooked from the engine and crossmember is unbolted but still supporting the transmission, clutch line didn't want to come undone at the slave for whatever reason (I have another hose, this one was a pain last time it came apart too...) so I pushed the roll pin at the master cylinder out since it's getting changed too... The transmission jack is under the trans but like an inch away maxed out so I'm going to have to let air out of the tires... stopped for lunch currently...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Well, tomorrow is a bust no matter how you slice it, we are supposed to have company and Lisa wants to come get me so I can fix her car. Can’t complain about that since I’ve been putting it off for months now, so I can’t really be mad about it or anything. Shouldn’t be all that bad to take care of.

Tried working on the green Ranger today some. Really windy. Ended up doing a bit of straightening up first. Tried to tweak the fenders but was having trouble getting anything meaningful. Think it’s close enough. Really should have made sure the lip where it bolts to the inner fender hadn’t accidentally gotten bent a little and straightened it before putting them on. Once they’re on, it’s hard to make those adjustments. I didn’t need much and I really didn’t want to take them back off since I had the fender liners and all attached.

Think I got it pretty close to where it’s gonna have to be. Header panel is still lower than I think it should be, but the fenders can’t come up more without having to raise the hood latch and I have that about maxed out. I have to make an adjustment to my center support for the header and I think the other brackets should have enough adjustment to work. Had to take my dead blow hammer and massage the bumper down in the middle a little but now the grill clears.

Tried putting the rear driveshaft in finally now that I have some nicer bolts and locktite (I still can’t find the bottle I had). Well, it’s about an inch too long. Suspension back there is probably a little beyond max droop, so as the springs flatten out that should get to be a little less, but still a problem. I’m not really sure I want to go through modifying the driveshaft and I’m not exactly sure why this is a problem. Interesting enough, looking at where the axle is located in the wheel arch, it looks like it really could stand to go back a little to get more centered. Thinking I might be able to drill another center pin hole in the spring perch and modify the U-bolt plate to let me shift it back an inch. Not sure if that’s really acceptable, but it seems to me to be a potential solution that gets the axle more centered in the arch and fix the driveshaft length issue.

Oh, and I charged the battery up and tried again to bleed the ABS with no results. Well, first I did something about the leaky fitting. Apparently I must have done something to that fitting at some point and never finished because it was loose. So that’s resolved. But I’m still getting a code of B1676 - Battery voltage out of range for the ABS. Not sure what to make of that. All the fuses seem to be good. ABS module is connected and the self-test it reports good.

Few other codes I’m seeing, in the RAP module B1845 - ignition tamper circuit failure (not sure what to make of that since the truck starts just fine and the fuel pump works) and B1485 - brake pedal input circuit short to battery. In the PCM I have a few complaints, but I also have no exhaust and no oxygen sensors yet. Getting a code for engine coolant temp sensor out of bounds, but now that I think about it, I didn’t run it up to operating temp yet so that makes sense since you’re supposed to check warm. Need to figure out these other complaints though. Oh, and I’m getting an intake temp sensor code but I have a fix for that.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Got the transmission out without issue, it was GROSS after the years of oil leaks so I put it in the garden/fiewood wagon (Gorilla cart with 13" tires, it's a great thing...) and pressure washed it, much better. Then I have forgotten how to get an M5OD apart so watched a video and I was going about it right but the output bearing needs a puller and I don't have one that will get between the reverse output gear and the bearing while being deep enough and I don't want to butcher my Craftsman puller... could care less about the HFT pullers but it would be a lot of grinding... I'll try to make something simple tomorrow or wait until Monday and borrow something from work... I have everything but the clutch parts from Summit, apparently they got to Vegas today so getting within a couple states...

All the racket in the transmission was the input/output shaft bearings, they're tapered and instead of having a little preload there was about 1/32" of play I think so that wouldn't make things happy...

 

[sgtsandman]

Well, tomorrow is a bust no matter how you slice it, we are supposed to have company and Lisa wants to come get me so I can fix her car. Can’t complain about that since I’ve been putting it off for months now, so I can’t really be mad about it or anything. Shouldn’t be all that bad to take care of.

Tried working on the green Ranger today some. Really windy. Ended up doing a bit of straightening up first. Tried to tweak the fenders but was having trouble getting anything meaningful. Think it’s close enough. Really should have made sure the lip where it bolts to the inner fender hadn’t accidentally gotten bent a little and straightened it before putting them on. Once they’re on, it’s hard to make those adjustments. I didn’t need much and I really didn’t want to take them back off since I had the fender liners and all attached.

Think I got it pretty close to where it’s gonna have to be. Header panel is still lower than I think it should be, but the fenders can’t come up more without having to raise the hood latch and I have that about maxed out. I have to make an adjustment to my center support for the header and I think the other brackets should have enough adjustment to work. Had to take my dead blow hammer and massage the bumper down in the middle a little but now the grill clears.

Tried putting the rear driveshaft in finally now that I have some nicer bolts and locktite (I still can’t find the bottle I had). Well, it’s about an inch too long. Suspension back there is probably a little beyond max droop, so as the springs flatten out that should get to be a little less, but still a problem. I’m not really sure I want to go through modifying the driveshaft and I’m not exactly sure why this is a problem. Interesting enough, looking at where the axle is located in the wheel arch, it looks like it really could stand to go back a little to get more centered. Thinking I might be able to drill another center pin hole in the spring perch and modify the U-bolt plate to let me shift it back an inch. Not sure if that’s really acceptable, but it seems to me to be a potential solution that gets the axle more centered in the arch and fix the driveshaft length issue.

Oh, and I charged the battery up and tried again to bleed the ABS with no results. Well, first I did something about the leaky fitting. Apparently I must have done something to that fitting at some point and never finished because it was loose. So that’s resolved. But I’m still getting a code of B1676 - Battery voltage out of range for the ABS. Not sure what to make of that. All the fuses seem to be good. ABS module is connected and the self-test it reports good.

Few other codes I’m seeing, in the RAP module B1845 - ignition tamper circuit failure (not sure what to make of that since the truck starts just fine and the fuel pump works) and B1485 - brake pedal input circuit short to battery. In the PCM I have a few complaints, but I also have no exhaust and no oxygen sensors yet. Getting a code for engine coolant temp sensor out of bounds, but now that I think about it, I didn’t run it up to operating temp yet so that makes sense since you’re supposed to check warm. Need to figure out these other complaints though. Oh, and I’m getting an intake temp sensor code but I have a fix for that.

Bear in mind that I’m visualizing the suspension geometry and movement during up and down travel in my head.

Based on what I remember from installing your brakes, the position wasn’t bad. With the shackle in the back, the axle should travel rearward as it travels up. I was concerned about the same thing with my trailer but the situation is similar. The spring is fixed in the front and slides for and aft during suspension travel. So tire contact with anything has never been a problem.


The driveshaft on the other hand, may be an issue if it is too long now. The only way to be sure is to check it when it’s on the ground and see if the rearward travel while the suspension is being compressed is enough to compensate.

You might need to get the driveshaft shortened.

Not sure what to suggest on the ABS since the battery is a full charge.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Bear in mind that I’m visualizing the suspension geometry and movement during up and down travel in my head.

Based on what I remember from installing your brakes, the position wasn’t bad. With the shackle in the back, the axle should travel rearward as it travels up. I was concerned about the same thing with my trailer but the situation is similar. The spring is fixed in the front and slides for and aft during suspension travel. So tire contact with anything has never been a problem.


The driveshaft on the other hand, may be an issue if it is too long now. The only way to be sure is to check it when it’s on the ground and see if the rearward travel while the suspension is being compressed is enough to compensate.

You might need to get the driveshaft shortened.

Not sure what to suggest on the ABS since the battery is a full charge.

No, the position doesn’t seem really bad. It definitely looks a little biased towards the front and measuring it is a good couple inches forward of center. Looking at the bump stops, it looks like it could stand to move back a little though. I was under the impression that spring and axle dimensions were the same and that driveshaft length wouldn’t be a problem. Really didn’t want to go through shortening a driveshaft and having to get it balanced if I could help it.

The more I think about it, if I get the leaf spring bolts changed I can put some weight on the rear axle and see if things look any better. I might be dealing with more droop than I should have, though I’m not sure that by itself that is enough to make up the difference. The other thought was to take apart the slip joint and see if I could give it a little more travel. Not sure if that’s really possible.

ABS I came across something someone else said and now I‘m wondering if I have two junk ABS units. If that’s going to be a problem I wonder if I can just eliminate the ABS and be done with it or if that’s going to cause other problems.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I forgot to mention last night that the clutch issue was definitely the slave, once I tipped the trans on it's side (quick connect up and hose still connected since I couldn't get it off) a bunch of brake fluid leaked out of the slave...

 

[scotts90ranger]

The other day I ordered a bunch of mouse traps on Amazon and made some new mouse trap boards that fit on the floorboards of Explorers... so each of the two Explorers now has 36 mouse traps in them, 18 per board on the front floorboards... My normal boards have 20 traps but that's one trap too wide to fit on the floorboards decent... With the amount of mouse crap on the floor of each I'm hoping it will catch a few of the bastages... I'm getting REAL tired of pulling the blower motors out, it takes an hour each time and last time on the green one I didn't even drive it between occupants... picture later, my phone was running the stereo and not in my pocket

 

[pjtoledo]

swapped 2 tires around on the '05 to isolate a vibration. haven't tested it yet.
new wiper blades on both Rangers this week.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Went hunting the other day, found out I’ve done some damage to the front end. Broke off one of the tabs on the DS RA bracket, popped the cap off the PS inner axle shaft. I installed a spring to delete the C-clip. Well the tack welds didn’t hold. That allowed the axle to slide out some and let gear oil leak out. That’s how I found out that I got water in the diff some how. So I need to do a lot of work to the front end.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Went hunting the other day, found out I’ve done some damage to the front end. Broke off one of the tabs on the DS RA bracket, popped the cap off the PS inner axle shaft. I installed a spring to delete the C-clip. Well the tack welds didn’t hold. That allowed the axle to slide out some and let gear oil leak out. That’s how I found out that I got water in the diff some how. So I need to do a lot of work to the front end.

I've heard of the cap coming out which is part of why I went with an external spring, plus it's stupid easy if you find the right spring... I just found a spring that fit around the splines, pushed against the center shaft and the hose clamps on the boot hold the spring in place, easy peasy...

I didn't get anywhere on the transmission today, here in a few minutes I'll go finish pulling the old master cylinder (just have the 3 bolts left...) then see about bleeding the new master cylinder with my spare hose... it turns out it was just the broken plastic clip deal on the old hose, I needed to push harder at the ends... the old hose had been wearing on the pinch weld on the cab anyway and I think it is about to the point of wearing through so good time to change it anyway, I need to change the body mount bushings, they're about shot so the gap between cab and frame is small... I'll protect that area this time though.

I put 3 of the tires from my spare set on the parts '92 so I could get it off the trailer, I pushed and the wife rode it down and braked , then tried to pull a stump with the F350 but it's too muddy... then we put the camper on the back so we can go camping next weekend.

Also made some pieces of angle iron to put a lift kit on the bottle area of my welding cart, but I decided the Ranger needs to be done first so I have more area to work...

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

I've heard of the cap coming out which is part of why I went with an external spring, plus it's stupid easy if you find the right spring... I just found a spring that fit around the splines, pushed against the center shaft and the hose clamps on the boot hold the spring in place, easy peasy...

I didn't get anywhere on the transmission today, here in a few minutes I'll go finish pulling the old master cylinder (just have the 3 bolts left...) then see about bleeding the new master cylinder with my spare hose... it turns out it was just the broken plastic clip deal on the old hose, I needed to push harder at the ends... the old hose had been wearing on the pinch weld on the cab anyway and I think it is about to the point of wearing through so good time to change it anyway, I need to change the body mount bushings, they're about shot so the gap between cab and frame is small... I'll protect that area this time though.

I put 3 of the tires from my spare set on the parts '92 so I could get it off the trailer, I pushed and the wife rode it down and braked , then tried to pull a stump with the F350 but it's too muddy... then we put the camper on the back so we can go camping next weekend.

Also made some pieces of angle iron to put a lift kit on the bottle area of my welding cart, but I decided the Ranger needs to be done first so I have more area to work...

It’s been a year since I did the front end. I think I used a drum brake spring, but I think I’ll look for an external spring now.