(Part 2) Best products from r/fordranger

This question makes me think a lot of things.

As a smaller truck, if you find a camper shell with any "features" beyond places to sit and sleep (such as a stove, a sink, a furnace), these will take up so much room inside as to make it a very cramped experience.

Not only that, but I think it would hamper handling, acceleration, and maneuverability in ways you might not like.

If you found one for under $500 at all, it would very likely have been used and worn out well past its serviceable lifespan. Decently livable campers are a fairly hot commodity.

I would recommend something more like this, which gets you off the ground and will sleep one comfortably or two if you like to snuggle. Plus the fact that you'd be buying a new item and not someone else's old stuff, you'll have fewer worries as far as leaks or other failure points are concerned.

I don't know if you prefer to pack light or fill the truck bed with gear (I'm of the latter variety), but one of these would complement that arrangement really nicely. The ones they sell at Wal-Mart are less expensive and exactly the same item.

One of those would give you a place to sit, cook, and enjoy the great outdoors in comfort without bringing a truly unreasonable amount of gear along with.

When I did the speakers in my '01 XLT it was pretty simple. Take the door panels off, remove the old speakers and put the new ones in. Just two wires to worry about (pos/neg, just have to crimp them).

The one's I went with were Sony Xplods. As long as their 6x8 though they should work. I love those speakers though, for like $150 I got a new head unit + those speakers, best upgrade I've done to my truck by far and pretty easy too only took a few hours to do. (had my dad help me because I was a newbie too, made it go a bit faster)

Help, please!

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So, there I was, acting in haste, and I backed into a tree and broke the taillight housing and dimpled the bodywork right around it. The paint seems ok, so now I need to bent the metal back.

I have a new housing, but it won't fit with the panel warped like that. I know that using a set of rods like these can push out a dent from the inside without marring the paint, but is this dent too large for that? There should be plenty of room to get the rod in there, it doesn't need to go too far. Any advice is appreciated, thank you!

On amazon there are center consoles that will fit between perfectly that come with two cup holders, a storage compartment, and comfy armrest. Worth looking into.
https://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Automotive-124809-Contractor-Organizer/dp/B007KXJG6Y/ref=mp_s_a_1_19?keywords=vehicle+center+console&qid=1569202183&s=gateway&sprefix=vehicle+center+&sr=8-19

This one fit my 97 perfectly

A Weekender ladder rack should do the trick. I had one on my Sonoma many years ago, and it was great. Nice thing is the rack uprights slide out of the base so you can store them in the garage when you don't need the rack. The horizontal bar extends out pretty wide too, so you should not have a problem with a wider kayak. The 1450 is a straight horizontal bar, and the 1475 is angled. See the link below for what the 1450 looks like.


https://www.amazon.com/Knaack-1450-Weather-Weekender-Ladder/dp/B000022690

I got a 90. Change your brakes, rotors, bearings, calipers. Definitely worth the $200 for the braking power. Replace the back brakes too, probably discs. Make sure the front end is good. Specially the ball joints and control arms. Rebuild if needed. The AC I'm stuck too, I'll probably take some tax return money to fix it, but not soon. Get some Sylvania headlights 9004 currently about $30 on Amazon. They'll do you right with a cleaning of the panels. Good luck man !

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000M5UD1E/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3DL5LLVLWRT0V&coliid=I2ILBM07AFUFUE&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FLVE9DQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's a hair too big but it's flexible so I made it work. Just nice to have stuff in the pickup but keep it looking clean. Also put it behind passenger side, lol.

They are okay head lights. The bulbs that come preinstalled suck and I recommend buying just about any H1 bulb to replace it. Easy to install and look fantastic. They also have a great beam. Mine came in a Spyder box just so you know. They are Spyder clones basically.

The reason I mention paste is that it deals with the temps, which I don't think JB weld would do. I've used something like this before with good success: Muffler Paste

It goes on like a paste, and cooks on there. Probably two years and counting for me. Notice JB weld makes a similar product at the bottom of the page too.

Wow three inches! My shocks have 90k on them I probably wouldn't see that much haha. I'm not really after suspension lift in the rear, I've been thinking I would level it with a t-bar crank and then get a body lift later on. I like the idea of more load support. How is the ride?

Are these the ones you got?

http://www.amazon.com/Monroe-58617-Sensa-Trac-Adjusting-Absorber/dp/B000C53RXK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008G2FQ2Q

Follow this guide. Very easy. Maybe an hour total (taking off the door panels just takes some time).
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113290

I used those mirrors with that guide on my 1993 Ranger. Works great, looks better, and gives me larger mirrors for visibility.

I have these and I think they are the best. They've held up perfectly for going on 3 years now. I found them on ebay being sold by a Ford dealer in ohio that had back stock. Amazon has them sometimes too.

https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Ford-6L5Z-1313300-A-Floor-Mat/dp/B000LPPXTC

Ya I just used the bumper bracket hole that was almost directly above the hole for the 4.5" light. Its not perfectly centered so you have to drill the hole slightly to one side but standard angle metal will fit. The flood lights I got are top mounted so I drilled a hole on one side of the angle for the bracket bolt and one on the other side for the light. If you use aluminum angle you will get galvanic corrosion from the steel touching it so you need a rubber gasket.

Also, I got a generic wiring harness from O'Reilly's and snuck it through the fender and dash trim so I could velcro the switch to my steering column. I soldered the wires for the lights and if you have a soldering iron it's not hard. Worst case you use crimp fittings.

I got something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V52K41R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ovGWDb718KQ88

I got this replacement PCV elbow and a replacement grommet earlier this year. Install was pretty quick, but there's not a lot of clearance by the firewall, so I had to bend the new tube to get it into place.

It's not a whole lot cheaper than your dealer, but I hope it helps!

Ford Ranger 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 - 11 Tail Gate Door Handle 1L5Z 9943400 Aaa https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008L5J5G6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_SCLxzbBAPKQ7Q

This one is a metal one I bought when my 2008 handle broke. It's slightly smaller than oem but was a perfect fit replacement. Completely made of metal.

Goodyear Wrangler Radial Tire - 235/75R15 105S https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QL66XO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_1TAQzb11165HQ

Tires ^

Pro Comp Steel Wheels Series 51 Wheel with Gloss Black Finish (15x8"/5x4.5") https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DJ64ZOO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_PUAQzbCEXF0XZ

Wheels^

Rides great and gives the truck a mini lift from the stock wheels

The speakers you have now are going to shock you by how cheap they are. That added to the fact that we have come a long way in 19 years any set you get will sound great. Hears 4 from kicker for $100 https://www.amazon.com/Kicker-41DSC684-2-Way-Coaxial-Speakers/dp/B00R3I82T8/ref=sr_1_7?crid=VU7BZEB4JS09&keywords=6x8+speakers&qid=1555365681&s=gateway&sprefix=6x8+%2Caps%2C238&sr=8-7

All bought on Amazon!

• Rims: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DJ64ZOO
  
• Tires: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QL66XO
  
• Lugnuts: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H1I639Q/
  
• Valve stems: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0046JGMIU/
  
• Center caps: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JYEK0DA

Here's some mirrors on Amazon, but you might prefer a different style, or find them cheaper somewhere else.

There are bolts on the inside of the tailgate you remove to open up the inside panel of the tailgate to get access to the latch mechanism.

If you can't drop the tailgate without the latch try to get in through the latch hole with a pair of pliers and pull on the rod that the latch ordinarily would.

If you need a new latch I used this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008L5J5G6

Metal instead of plastic, and $7.

Replacing it took about 15 minutes because I was taking my time and had to wander around to find the right torx bits.

Non-mobile: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008G2FQ2Q

^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?