Back to the 2020 FX4 Salvage Rebuild

[XionUAV]

Update - Well I do not have a detailed exploded view like I thought, it's just a generic and the same as the dealers IPCs, so it is of no help in showing the internals of c-clips etc..

Would you be kind enough to check your wiring diagrams to see if your version is different than mine? Mine shows a brown wire for both left and right positive fog light wires. My wiring has one brown and one yellow/pink for positive. Both black/yellow, black/gray are ground as shown. Obviously one pair is supposed to be left and one right.

Since both black wires are ground, it doesn't really matter which positives are which. But me being me, I'd like to wire them correctly with the left pair on the left side and right pair on the right side. Thanks.

Sponsored

 

[RangerBill]

Would you be kind enough to check your wiring diagrams to see if your version is different than mine? Mine shows a brown wire for both left and right positive fog light wires. My wiring has one brown and one yellow/pink for positive. Both black/yellow, black/gray are ground as shown. Obviously one pair is supposed to be left and one right.

Since both black wires are ground, it doesn't really matter which positives are which. But me being me, I'd like to wire them correctly with the left pair on the left side and right pair on the right side. Thanks.

The 2019 wiring diagram shows:
Left + BRN
Left gnd BK-YE
Right + YE-OG
Right gnd BK-GY

 

[airline tech]

Would you be kind enough to check your wiring diagrams to see if your version is different than mine? Mine shows a brown wire for both left and right positive fog light wires. My wiring has one brown and one yellow/pink for positive. Both black/yellow, black/gray are ground as shown. Obviously one pair is supposed to be left and one right.

Since both black wires are ground, it doesn't really matter which positives are which. But me being me, I'd like to wire them correctly with the left pair on the left side and right pair on the right side. Thanks.

LF - Fog
Pwr = Brown
Grd = Black / Yellow

RF - Fog
Pwr = Yellow / Orange
Grd = Black / Grey

 

[XionUAV]

LF - Fog
Pwr = Brown
Grd = Black / Yellow

RF - Fog
Pwr = Yellow / Orange
Grd = Black / Grey

The 2019 wiring diagram shows:
Left + BRN
Left gnd BK-YE
Right + YE-OG
Right gnd BK-GY

Perfect. Thank you, guys.

But where did you get the correct wiring diagram? My manual is supposedly a Ford manual but you can clearly see in the wiring diagram I posted that it shows both left and right positive wires to be brown, which is obviously only half right.

 

[RangerBill]

Perfect. Thank you, guys.

But where did you get the correct wiring diagram? My manual is supposedly a Ford manual but you can clearly see in the wiring diagram I posted that it shows both left and right positive wires to be brown, which is obviously only half right.

I have the 2019 Ranger shop manual with wiring diagrams on a CD from Helm as well as the printed wiring diagram from Helm.

 

[Big Blue]

Perfect. Thank you, guys.

But where did you get the correct wiring diagram? My manual is supposedly a Ford manual but you can clearly see in the wiring diagram I posted that it shows both left and right positive wires to be brown, which is obviously only half right.

Wonder if your manual is for Euro spec Rangers? As it is showing connections for a rear fog light. Not something we have in NA.

 

[airline tech]

Wonder if your manual is for Euro spec Rangers? As it is showing connections for a rear fog light. Not something we have in NA.

That is the difference (ROW) Ranger diagram, as that is something highly useful for our ROW Ranger members as the wiring and pinouts are different, same basic operation just different colors and connector pinouts (mostly)

 

[Ranger Hulk]

Got both of the 5100's and upper control arms installed. Not all warm and fuzzy about them though. Height clip is in #5, or the top groove for 2.5" lift. With the jack stands under the frame rails, and a bottle jack next to the lower ball joint, so it's only an inch or so from the face of the rotor, the frame lifts off the jack stands with less than a quarter inch of lift at the jack.

This is NOT good. What it means is the shocks will be riding very close to the top end of shock travel under load. That means on the road any time the suspension is unloaded, even slightly, the shocks are going to hit the top of their travel.

You want at least a few inches of sag so the shocks will have enough travel in normal driving conditions as to not hit their end limits. I can see this setup hitting the top travel limit constantly.

The new 5100's are basically the same length as the OEM Fox shocks. So creating lift by moving the bottom spring mount higher just pushes the piston farther up the cartridge substantially reducing unload travel.

I just assumed that a company like Bilstein would have accounted for this. Apparently not. In order to lift the front end and keep enough travel both directions as to not hit the end limits, you need to move the center range of piston travel a length equal to the amount of lift in order to maintain full, equal piston travel. So if you don't have physically longer shocks, then a spacer is the only proper option to lift the front end and maintain proper shock travel.

I bought these from Stage-3 and will contact them to see what they say. But the only logical solution at this point to use them and still lift the front end is to move the lower spring seat clip down to the #1 groove, which is 0.0" lift, and install a spacer.

Removing the shocks, compressing the springs, changing configurations and reinstalling them is not a simple or easy job. I fought with the individual spring compressors because I figured this was a one time job. Just another smack in the face for the Salvage Ranger rebuild. I'm going to blow another $200 and get a professional spring compressor stand this time. After all, it's only money, blood, labor and time.

But wait, there's more.

The new recommended OBDLinkEX adapter for FORscan worked once and now isn't recognized by anything. I tried 3 different laptops. "Adapter Not Found." I was all set to scan the coding in the steering module so I can swap out the steering rack. AHAHAHAHAHaaa. Right. It's going back for a refund and I need to order a different one. Might try a Bluetooth version. Have had good luck with simpler versions of those for standard code and status scanning.

Seriously. I'm just done.

I had the same issue with forscan earlier this week. There is a software update, download the new version and reboot. Worked fine after that for me.

 

[XionUAV]

I have the 2019 Ranger shop manual with wiring diagrams on a CD from Helm as well as the printed wiring diagram from Helm.

I'll look into that. It is possible I downloaded a Euro version.

 

[XionUAV]

I had the same issue with forscan earlier this week. There is a software update, download the new version and reboot. Worked fine after that for me.

In my case I'm about 98% sure it was a failed adapter. It worked once and then not again on any laptop with the software. FORscan had been downloaded only a week or so prior. New adapter worked perfectly on the original laptop and download pretty much proving the first adapter was defective.

Good to know an update worked for you in your situation, though.

 

[XionUAV]

Got the wiring and connectors sorted for each fog light then hung the bumper. As soon as I backed up a little it was obvious that the new frame rail on the driver side is lower than the passenger side by close to a half inch. More incompetent work by the body shop. The problem is pretty obvious in the close up picture.

To keep the pretty new red tow hooks aligned with the bumper, as well as the skid plate, I'd have to put a spacer in the hook mount on the passenger side. Just seriously pi$$es me off the unbelievably unprofessional work that I ended up paying $5,500 for. That was labor and paint only. I had supplied all the replacement parts.

Going to talk to another body shop that I know is professional and see if they think the driver side rail at the front can be tweaked up slightly. Might need to split the difference and tweak the driver side up a quarter inch and the passenger side down a quarter to level them. I'd rather do that than put a spacer in the hook. But we'll see what they say.

Cut, painted and fit expanded steel screen in the bumper center opening. The new lower OEM air deflector is obviously intended for use with the stock bumper so I'll have to modify that to work with the Rough Country bumper. Mainly the front of the stock air deflector ends up above the bottom of the center opening in the bumper. The bumper also has two vent openings near the bottom which would otherwise be completely below the air deflector. Minor stuff to figure out after the bigger stuff is sorted.

The driving light on the driver side is the original set I've had for a while and was mocked up to see if I wanted to use them. The one on the passenger side has a flood pattern, so not a true fog light. Still looking at options here but am leaning toward finding some true fog lights with a vertical cutoff so they can be used on the roadway when desired without blinding other drivers. Fog light options for an F150 look really good but I'd have to make custom mounts to use those. Doable but meh.

I don't drive off-road at night on purpose so I have no desire to light up the dark side of the moon with a bunch of LED lights on this Ranger. The LED Sealight bulbs I got for the main headlights should light up everything sufficiently. Proper fogs are just nice for lighting up the near sides of the road sometimes.

 

[XionUAV]

Picked up another monster 4x4 Ranger to go with the "wightemare" Ranger that continues to bleed money like a beet press. This new one was free, if you don't count the fuel to get to where it was located. Only required a wash and detail after being found in the middle of a trail at the top of Skyline Drive southeast of Spanish Fork at around 9,000 ft. Did need some very minor tweaking of an ever so slightly bent rear axle and it's good to go.

Had the bad judgement Ranger hauled to a local repair shop to have the front differential removed and the used steering rack installed. Excellent shop to work with so far. Labor was estimated at up to $1,800. Since I'm already so far into the weeds with this thing that I've lost sensibilities, I'm having them install the new Eibach loaded shocks while everything is torn apart. Makes no sense to have them tidy up everything then me tear it apart again.

I've also asked them to charge the AC system. Probably $3,500 or so to go to get it completely finished. Flares to paint, replace windshield, level the front frame rails, spray-in bed liner, clear bra... But hey, it's only money.

I will say this. Told my wife that if the new/used steering rack has problems and won't work properly, the thing is going up for sale and I won't look back.

 

[XionUAV]

Update.

Here's a shot of the Ranger I took today with the front diff out. Just got a call that it should be done tonight.

They won't be installing the new shocks or charging the AC though. I was quoted $540 to charge the AC because the R-1234YF refrigerant 'is so expensive.' Did some research and while it is expensive, couldn't see $540 worth for this job. Specs show the system takes 1.49 lbs. of refrigerant. That's just shy of 24 oz. Found a refrigerant distribution company that sells a pack of four 8 oz. cans of genuine Honeywell-branded R-1234YF refrigerant for $105 plus tax free shipping. Also just ordered an R-1234YF compatible recharge kit with gauges, connectors and vacuum pump for about $140 with tax and shipping.

I had been contemplating getting a gauge kit and vacuum pump for years but never really needed one before now. Pretty much all my AC work on anything to this point has just been to top-off a low system.

For anyone who might not know but care, genuine R-1234YF cans have a left-hand thread to distinguish them from R-134A cans with a right-hand thread. Apparently there are people out there selling R-134A cans with stuck-on labels stating that it's R-1234YF, which it isn't. So there you go.

Even though the shock is totally exposed and would literally take 10 minutes each side to replace as it would be a piece of cake with the spindle out, the mechanic quoted an hour labor. I told the owner that it would take maybe a half hour if they were slow, but the owner said they had to treat it as a separate job with a 1-hour minimum at $150 an hour regardless how much less than that it might take.

This is the best rated shop in the area and I trust the mechanic's work but I just couldn't justify spending another $150 for something I could do reasonably for free. That and I need to do more work on the suspension anyway. At least installing them myself I can make sure the top-hat bolts get thread-lock.

It kind of reminded me of an incident at a shop years ago where I had some emissions work done on a Ford Explorer. It also needed a new serpentine belt, which I had purchased, so I asked them to install it with the other work. Then I had a feeling I better ask how much they would charge to do that. The shop manager looked it up on his computer and said it showed a half hour labor, so about $60 at the time.

I told him that was ridiculous. It was maybe a 5-minute job at the most. He argued that he had to go by what the rate showed. I told him to forget it then and I'd change it myself. The guy yelled back at the mechanic to not install the belt. But in the few minutes we had been discussing the price, the mechanic had already changed it out. The even more absurdly stupid thing was the manager had him remove the new belt and put the old one back on. Seriously.

This was the same shop that incorrectly bled the brakes on our Chrysler Town & Country when flushing the brake system. Ended up with no brakes and went through a stop sign into an intersection. Needless to say that shop went on my blacklist.

They certainly aren't the only local shop on that list either for similar reasons. It's one reason why those of us who have the ability to maintain our own vehicles maintain our own vehicles, within reason, of course.

 

[XionUAV]

Tow truck just dropped it off. The young man said, "Didn't we pick this up last year? The whole front end was missing?" I told him they had and that hopefully he wouldn't see it again, not on the back of one of his company's tow trucks at least.

The rated price for the diff job was $1,800. The owner charged $1,400 plus tax in part because I paid cash from my rapidly dwindling supply, and the job didn't take quite as long and was slightly less involved than it would have been otherwise because the mechanic didn't have to remove and replace some things or program the new rack, although I'm not sure programming was part of the rack replacement rate anyway.

On the way out I stopped and talked to the mechanic briefly, who was working on another vehicle. Asked him if it seemed to steer ok. He said as far as he could tell, it did. That's a start. Now it's time to connect FORscan again and see what I'm up against to match the original programming. If the donor vehicle was also a mid-level trim model then the programming might be the same. Not holding my breath on that one.

 

[Mighty Little Blue]

PM’d you the photos good luck.

Sponsored