My new to me firewood hauler project !

[Pallet Pete]

A good friend of mine offered to trade me a 99 jimmy that I had as a restore project for his 95 Ranger. I figured what the heck got to restore it either way ! This truck runs really well with a 4.0 6cyl and has 4*4 so that was a no brainer. My little old s10 is just too warn out to repair. The ranger has taken a beating off road but is still in good overall shape and much easier to repair than the s10. The green on the hood was a slap and see how it looks thing lol. My wife wants it to be green so there are actually to splats on there now. To my surprise the john deer green from magic paints is really nice ( not whats in this picture ) and unbelievably tough too. I could not scrap it off the test spot or scratch it plus it had uv blockers in it. The wheel wells and bottom all the way around will be getting truck bed liner for protection as well as the bed. I will try to keep pictures of the progress for anybody who wants to do something like this then they can tell there wife or husband it is my fault O ya and too show off a lot

Pete

 

[lukem]

I love Rangers. I had a '95 4cyl 2WD that I ran the b@!!$ off of...and it still ran like a top the day I sold it. It had 202,000 miles. The only thing I ever did to it was replace the front breaks, t-belt (before it broke), S-belt, and change fluids. That truck didn't owe me a dime....looking back I should have kept it.

If you planning on hauling much with a Ranger you should look into a set of helper springs to keep the bumper off the pavement. Yes, I know it doesn't make them haul more, and no you shouldn't overload, but they squat down pretty hard with no much in the bed.

The only bad thing I can say about that truck is it had some quirky interior electrical stuff...mostly with the door chime sounding and dome light staying on when the door was tightly shut...some WD-40 on the latch every so often cured it for me.

Good luck with the new project.

 

[Pallet Pete]

Thanks lukem I currently have a s10 that I have ran the snot out of lol It has served me well but t is time to retire the little guy 211000 miles on a 2.2 L 4cyl ! The motor still runs well but the frame is gone to crap from the michigan winters and salt. Restoring cars is something I enjoy so naturally I can't wait to get started on the beast. It has air ride on the front so I am gonna put air shocks on the back. My s10 has a set of 60 dollar air shocks on the back and what a difference they made I can put 1000 pounds pump the shocks and not even feel it back there.

Pete

 

[begreen]

I love my 1994 Ranger too. 2.5L 4cyl and 5speed, it has only 56K on it. Runs great and gets nice good mileage. I put on Timbrens and Bilstein shocks to handle loads better. They made a nice improvement.

 

[nate379]

I'd consider adding some springs to the rear to beef it up a bit. My Dad had a 96 he ran for many years. Was fine for a daily driver, but didn't do that well with much weight in the back.. Would squat right down with just a 400-500lbs... super easy to hit that mark with firewood!

 

[certified106]

That's a sweet firewood getter!

 

[Pallet Pete]

Thanks Guys today I pulled the seats out and took the hood off for repairs. The floor boards look really good except one spot sooo a little patch and some paint it will be like new.


Pete

 

[Pallet Pete]

Here are some of the days pics

 

[Eatonpcat]

Nice...Should be haulin' wood by the end of the week!

 

[begreen]

We just hauled a full load of free wood last weekend. She was sitting down on the Timbrens and must have been about 1200#. I took it easy, but the truck did just fine.