'95 xl reg cab 4x4 5 speed 2.3l

[cybergasm]

So you got what 3 or 4 years outta that HF Jack then ?

 

[Tbars4]

..:scratch:...Sounds about right...

..Truth be told, it probably wore out early from all the use it got on RJ's and Maniak's trucks at Truckhaven..:

 

[Scott B.]

I have a set of slightly used drum brake assemblies if you are interested...

 

[Maniak]

..:scratch:...Sounds about right...

..Truth be told, it probably wore out early from all the use it got on RJ's and Maniak's trucks at Truckhaven..:

I've only had to use it once.. and it was for a loose bearing issue that our truck contracted from Teds truck ...

~Mark

 

[Tbars4]

..Haha..Just bustin your chops..

...Actually, this was the first time I was going to use the jack since that Truckhaven trip..Although the aluminum racing jacks don't reach as high as my old jack, I'm hoping it will prove to be as useful and live as long as the other one..

..I hoping to have one that I found a coupon for $69 at HF in the Socal AAA magazine by the time start the rear end work on the Ranger...

 

[Tbars4]

...A couple quick updates...

...About got the 8.8 Drum to Disc swap done, all except the time for installing the Lokar brake cables and fabricating the plates to mount the hoses to..
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=321394

...When we were bleeding my brakes last week and when it came to pumping them with the motor running to check for any fade, I noticed a bit of an idle change and partial spudder while doing this..I knew then my booster grommet would need to be addressed soon..

...Needless to say it's gotten hotter then Hades this week so when the A/C is running I started to notice the huge loss of power and idle fluctuation..So off I went shopping for a new Grommet..

...Used to be able to get one from the "Help" section but now the only ones the offer don't fit..

From all the major chains by me they only sold these Dorman generic parts and all the grommets were wrong..

P/N's

80189
80190
80191

...Ran by NAPA and they had one that's a perfect fit

Napa power brake booster check valve w/grommet P/N 89000

...To be continued in the "Project X" thread..

 

[Tbars4]

...Ok...Since I installed the booster check valve and grommet, my maintenance plans for this summer was to start replacing all the grommets and vacuum hoses as preventative maintenance..

..The heat in the Southwest coupled by the trail dirt etc. drys, shrinks, and cracks everything rubber or plastic..

..This weekend's plan was to get a new PCV valve and grommet and do some work to complete the rear end..Little did I know, the Ranger had other ideas..

..I pull into the dealership Friday afternoon to get a grommet and as I do my check engine light comes on....So I think to myself it's probably that old 02 sensor coming back to haunt me..I pull out my scanner and got a surprise, P0401..

..How to thread includes P0401 and PCV replacement..
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323052

..I did however also pick up an item I wanted to add to the rear end...2 degree shims and they were ten bucks by superior..They also have a 4 degree set but they are made by Mr. Gasket under the name of "Lakeside" for $30....2 degree will be much better for me at this time..

..For part number only..P/N 13-1250 ..

..Also shown in the first picture are 2.3L parts..

Napa PCV valve - P/N - 2-9512 = $8.24

Ford PCV Grommet - P/N - E7AZ6A892A = $5

 

[Tbars4]

..It's official...My trucks are messin with me..

..I had some free time yesterday and I just noticed an exhaust leak..I run over to the muffler shop and he is swamped but I set up an appointment for today...

..I then run over to my buddies shop and knowing I no longer have any problems with the Ranger, I wanted him to give me a readout of my o2 sensor values while the truck is running so I can verify my fix of the upstream sensor was good...

..He plugs into the truck and we watch the upstream sensor working like a champ then he says "uh-oh"...My down stream sensor reads from 0-2..

..So I jump under the truck and check it out to find everything is how it should be..While I'm down there I look for the exhaust leak and I find carbon deposits on a couple pipe welds and wipe the larger one with my hand...

..I drive off and now the exhaust leak is getting louder and a couple hours later the truck starts running rough so I park her...This morning I head over to the muffler shop and the muffler cracks open around the exhaust pipe...

...Luckily it was weldable for now but I have been going thru 1 muffler a year from various shops but he says the new one I will get will last way longer so he will get to do the next one...Hopefully after I round up a couple o2 sensors first to to swap them out at the same time...

...In the past 2-3 weeks the X and the Ranger have both been throwing some weird stuff at me...I've pampered them..I've taken them all over...Just wait till they are both in good shape...I'm going back to beating on them..

Edit: I forgot to add, when they pulled my Ranger up on the rack at the muffler shop, 4 of the LED's of the third brake light on the shell have gone dead...

 

[Tbars4]

...Today I had to travel south to RSF in San Diego...Before I left I wanted to get some things replaced before I wound up broke down away from home..

...So, I got some goodies installed today...

..First thing this a.m. I replaced both o2 sensors..Upstream and downstream but on the 2.3l they are known as Bank1 and Bank2...

..I replaced them with Denso parts and the leads on them were about 3" longer then he ones I removed..

This made me zip tie the down-stream's lead into a loop and i would like to tie the upstream lead off to keep it away from the exhaust but I might have to drill some type of an anchor to the firewall..

...Then I headed over to the muffler shop...It's a first for me but I now own a Magnaflow muffler..

..I got a 14" Stainless, flow thru, Magnaflow muffler installed and any possible exhaust leaks fixed..:biggthump

...Seems that my previous flow thru that was waranteed and replaced under warranty, was replaced with a chambered muffler by a previous shop...I believe this is why this one prematurely failed as I use the back pressure to decelerate a lot in this truck..

..Since I didn't reset the computer when I added the new o2's and just got the muffler installed, the Ranger was all of a sudden quick as a whip and the exhaust would get obnoxious with fast acceleration..

...I ran over to my buddies shop to verify the o2 readings and now the downstream runs about 1/2 of the upstream sensor..For example, upstream = 750 and downstream will read about = 450 and both raise and lower with the rpms as they should...

..I believe even though the upstream controls fuel trim, the downstream was keeping the motor running lean..

...By this afternoon the computer took over and everything went back to pretty much normal....I did however run down to RSF with the truck completely loaded and the truck did have a bit more power and I might have gotten a little better fuel mileage..:scratch:

..I'm waiting for the day I can empty the Ranger out again and see if this was a big improvement...

 

[Tbars4]

...Not much new happening yet..

..I ordered some in stock parts which I verified before ordering and was told today that they should be here by the first of the month..Thats a little over 2 months after I ordered them..

...Scored some stuff I need to mod at the JY off a 93 Ranger and also found a set of hubs there for $18 bucks..I couldn't believe it..

..Will try and update "The Squirrel goes under the knife" thread before Truckhaven ..

 

[Tbars4]

..Still gathering parts..

..In other news, a year or so ago Harley and I went off road geocahing..They made a video of that trip for promotional and information of "What is off road Geocahing" purposes at that time (original portion can be seen here)..
http://vimeo.com/12687424

..The official 2 disc DVD set was released today and the Ranger made the cut..It even made a (small) part of the cover too..:biggthump
http://landops.com/donation_dvd_gift.htm




...anyone have any 4.88 gears for sale cheap?..:shifty_ey

 

[RangerX]

...anyone have any 4.88 gears for sale cheap?..:shifty_ey

umm HELLOO :wavey:

 

[Tbars4]

...Crap...I forgot all about them..

..pm me what you need for them and I'll see if I can do it before the ship sales..

 

[Tbars4]

...Today was unique in it's own way...

..I wound up being towed 50 miles home from Moreno Valley..:thumbdwn:

..I was on the way home, got to where the 215/60 merge where all the truck accidents happen and hit a huge pothole which swallowed my drivers front tire and jarred the snout out of the truck..

..Next thing I knew I had no acceleration but all gauges and everything appeared fine..This led me to park the truck in the nearest assessable area which turned out to be on the right shoulder... Well, the right shoulder of the left merging freeway which put me in the painted stripe between the 2 freeways..CRAP....lol

..I could barely hear AAA with my windows rolled up..After an hour or so and hoping CHP would at least come push me off the Highway, one of the tow trucks stopped by and offered to push me on off the Freeway till the flatbed showed up...

..This allowed me to actually get out of the truck and hear if the fuel pump was priming or not..It wasn't..Turned out I jarred loose a number of fuses and relays on that impact (Like half way out) and got the truck running again just before the flatbed showed up...

A couple minutes later I was about to wave off the flatbed ride home and the Ranger stalled on it's own...Just to be safe I opted for the ride home since my account was going to be charged (just to push me off the highway) anyway and If I broke down again it would be 2 charges...

..I got her home and after playing with all the relays again and driving her for a couple hours locally trying to hit every bump I could find and all seems well..

 

[Tbars4]

...A quick update on that failure...

...Turns out I broke one of those large relay fuses for the fuel system..Yeppers...Broke it right where they would normally burn in two..No burn marks what so ever and the plastic housing cracked to..

..Even after pulling it out it looked fully intact...That is until I started looking deeper into why that was the only item affected...

..These now sell each for $4 new out here but a quick trip to the jy and I scored a dozen for .50 cents each..

 

[Tbars4]

..First....I've been hangin' around Scott B. to much..:shifty_ey.. I now have a clean Girdle.....But I refuse to clean the dust covering my dash or guages and I'm found of not seeing the floorboards..:

..In other news...

...Just before Thanksgiving I installed both upper and lower passenger ball joints...As soon as that side was fixed the drivers side decided they needed fixin' too so I did those just before Xmas...

..I parked the Ranger for about a week or so as I was enjoying driving around in the X for a change...The day after Xmas I started driving the Ranger again and all of a sudden I now have a rear pinion seal leak..

...It seemed to quit leaking so much since I am driving it regular again but I have used about a quart since Xmas as I filled her up today (about 1000 miles)..It seems to only leak while driving (apparent as per spray pattern against fuel tank) and it does not drip or leak while parked...

...This should speed things up for me to get the master kit bought and the 4.88's in the rear of the Ranger ASAP..:biggthump

...I did happen to snap a picture of the Ranger up in Hidden Valley along a little trail above Westlake Village though..

 

[Scott B.]

Do I see an In-N-Out wrapper in that picture??????

 

[Tbars4]

Do I see an In-N-Out wrapper in that picture??????

...I'm not sure I understand your question but you must be mistaken..
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2877523&postcount=62

 

[mounty71]

Dammit now I want In-n-out! I think I'm gonna drive down the street and get some.

And 4.88s...does that mean 35s in the future?

 

[Tbars4]

..Naw...Keeping the 2.3L even if I blow her up so next will be 33's and eventually when the truck is less recognizable as a stock ride, it will get 5.13's and 35's...