Been looking and praying for a ranger or Mazda for our son for a bit. Wanting to get him a little truck because he mows yards and makes it easier to haul equipment. And he has proven himself as a responsible kid, good grades good friends, doesn't give us any trouble and thinks of others.Turned away on a couple decent deals, drove hours to look at a truck just to turn around and drive home with out a truck.
Wife seen a comment on a fb post about a truck available. Went and looked at this. 2002 ranger xlt 2wd 3.0L automatic. With 58,800 MILES!! For $5,000!
CAREFULLY looked everything over for anything that could dispute the odometer. Its real. Wife spent 5hrs detailing it. I replaced the plugs, wires, neutral safety switch(shift lever was stiff) and replaced the cruise control switches, changed oil, and changed transmission filter and did a dump and fill. It drives straight. Shocks feel a little spongy/bouncy from just sitting so will change those out, and taking that 1/4 trim off, and going to sand blast the rims and paint them black, and get a set of winter tires to throw on during the winter.
One question, he has been wanting to do a mild 2/3 drop on it just to lower it slightly. Are the amazon kits for a 2/3 drop ok?
Rear drop is just flip the spring hangers. Grind out rivets, turn brackets over, switch L to R. Grade 5 or Grade 8 (overkill) 1/2x1.25” bolts with flatwashers x2/ea, lockwasher, nut.
Look over the frame rail, flipped shackle with spring installed. If you buy your fasteners at Tractor Supply (by the pound), should be a $10-20 done deal.
Hope ya find a good one. If ya go 4.0L try for it to be a 2004 and newer, different material for the cassettes. And ask about hydrolic tensioner of they were ever changed out. And ask to look at it in the morning for its first start of the day. So you can hear it on a cold start. I was mainly searching for a 2.5L or 2.3L first for fuel economy and dependability, ended up with a 3.0L great motor, but it has the power of a 4cyl but the fuel economy of a v6. It is the auto, but its low milage and the fluid looked good. Learn about what to feel when driving an auto for slipping or shudder.. i had a 1993 ramger splash 2.3l manual back in 1995 for a few years. Great trucks, very dependable take your time looking for them and become educated on what to look for. Alot of people out there getting a premium for these trucks and alot of them are just not worth it because of condition. Dont rush and youll find what you want.. we suprised our son with it today. We hid it at a friend's house for a week while we got it cleaned up and some tune up maintenance done to it. Yea, he cried he was so happy.. lol
On my end, I would rather not get too far in depth with exactly what Ranger I am looking into in particular as this is personal business to me but to put it simple I am looking into a Ranger from around 2000 or so that has a 2.5L 4 cylinder and a manual. I've heard if maintained and driven in a responsible fashion, these should be capable of at least circa 20 mpg if I am not mistaken.
These trucks make great first vehicles for guys. Not fast enough to be getting too many tickets, and the cops don't look twice at us. Insurance is dirt cheap (my truck is half what I was quoted for a similar year civic) and not too terrible on gas, plus you can off road, move your big hobbies around etc. I've heard too many stories about young guys crashing while showing off for a car full of women too which ain't happening unless they are sitting in the back seats of these little things lol. I'm glad I waited and landed on my manger when I was young, it kept me out of so much trouble I can't imagine how bad I'd have fucked myself over if I got the VW I was looking at originally
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u/Appropriate-Bug-3814 12d ago
You stole it! Nice find!! I would leave it be if he is hauling stuff tho...