What did you do to your Ranger today?

[JACKSMYDOG]

I've had my Ranger 857 days, and today it finally got a full hand wash, lol. I'm off-road pretty often and live rural lake side, so it gets dirt and bugs in every crack and crevice, which takes forever to get it all proper clean. I have a few projects this week which require 3M tape applications, so a good cleaning was in order before those.... unfortunately.

First was a complete hand wash with Chem guys Bug & Tar, including a moderate job on the wheels, then a complete foam cannon job with the Sticky Snowball.

The black paint still has a nice shine when it's exposed.

Although I say it was a complete wash, and done twice, it was still far from perfection. There are a few spots on the outside I noticed could have been better, some corners in the wheels for example. Also seen here are my new McGard lug nuts and Advance wheel locks.

Also in the "not done today, but recently category" are the finish install and wiring of my Rigid Radiance Scene flush mount reverse lights, and trailer hitch Amazon cheap brake light. The blue wire is for one of the upcoming projects this week. I did the solder connection yesterday and tucked it in the tailgate until it gets connected maybe tomorrow.

Also over the last bit I finished the wiring harness for the Blade tailgate light bar, which I moved to my roof rack. I re-wired their harness and used the 4 wire trailer bundle to run up to the roof rack. That wire is tucked under the edge of the windshield (so much room there with no outter trim piece) then also ran another pair of 14 gauge wires from my sPod controller and used this black rubber wire routing trim.

I installed a 2nd set of Baja Designs S2 Pro lights in clear driving pattern. They are set on the same angle as the bumper taper, to get more of the ditch line and hopefully see deer or other animals a little earlier. I got my antenna wiring complete and installed a 4' Firestick, which I had to make a bracket to fit the bumper. It's just a flat plate, cut to fit around the opening, but because of the way they cut and welded the bumper, it has a 5 degree forward lean to it.

The exterior work is complete for most of my light installs including the wiring to my sPod controller. All of the wiring through the firewall is also complete, but none of the interior work is done yet. This week's projects are Rockscale Design's Builtright Industries' dash tray with sPod controller touch screen, 2 new camera screens, 4 exterior cameras, CB base unit, OPT7 running board lights, and AD Designs fender flares. The last 2 are both 3M tape jobs, that promoted me washing the truck today.

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[AzScorpion]

I've had my Ranger 857 days, and today it finally got a full hand wash, lol. I'm off-road pretty often and live rural lake side, so it gets dirt and bugs in every crack and crevice, which takes forever to get it all proper clean. I have a few projects this week which require 3M tape applications, so a good cleaning was in order before those.... unfortunately.

First was a complete hand wash with Chem guys Bug & Tar, including a moderate job on the wheels, then a complete foam cannon job with the Sticky Snowball.

The black paint still has a nice shine when it's exposed.

Although I say it was a complete wash, and done twice, it was still far from perfection. There are a few spots on the outside I noticed could have been better, some corners in the wheels for example. Also seen here are my new McGard lug nuts and Advance wheel locks.

I guess it looks pretty good for a non 303 Graphene job.

But next time......?

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

I guess it looks pretty good for a non 303 Graphene job.

But next time......?

Oh ya, I forgot to mention that part. I have the 303 which I bought Aug 2021 (when I first planned to hand wash my truck ). I decided not to do it today, because I knew it wouldn't be fully clean after this session. I was mainly doing the outside today prepping for 3M tape works. The door/hood/tailgate jams didn't get done yet either. I need to get my 2 spares off the tonneau so I can do the back half better. I have to finish the dash installs then give the interior a full vacuum and carpet cleaning before doing the door jams also. My plan is to finish the interior work, and get the last few pieces installed on the exterior, then give it a full interior/exterior detailing including 303.

Also I noticed a few gummy or oily spots on the outside when drying it, that I need to get cleaned off better. I may even do a clay bar treatment before the next wash/303 work.

 

[deleriumtremor]

I had my one year anniversary of ownership on my 2022 XLT FX4 not long ago, so I thought I would check in and say that I enjoy it more every day.

I did my second oil change today and am pretty sure the Ranger will be a long term keeper for me.

I had also planned to install the AMP Research power steps I bought for it from Stage3Motorsport last week, but when I got under the truck to start with the linkage install, the holes in the rocker panels that mount them were completely covered with thick caked on mud. The truck is off road about half the time, so I guess I better start power washing the rockers a little more regularly. I am planning a level kit with the Ford Performance Fox Shocks kit, so thought time was right for some steps.

After finding all the caked on mud underneath I decided I would just do the oil and filter change (I had changed the air filter and cabin filter last week) and maybe do the power step install sometime next week after I get all that mud off.

I did have a funny experience when pouring the oil out of the drain pan into the gas can I use to store recycle oil. When the pan emptied, I looked down to my horror to see all sorts of gravel and sand! My first reaction was "what the hell is going on, how did all the gravel and sand get into my crankcase?!?!".

It took me a minute before it dawned on me that all the crap came from the oil filter drain channel from the oil draining out of the filter as it was being removed. Obviously, a lot of crap got thrown up into the channel. Phew.

Anyway, just thought I would check in say hi. I hope all is well with everyone here.

 

[AzScorpion]

I had my one year anniversary of ownership on my 2022 XLT FX4 not long ago, so I thought I would check in and say that I enjoy it more every day.

I did my second oil change today and am pretty sure the Ranger will be a long term keeper for me.

I had also planned to install the AMP Research power steps I bought for it from Stage3Motorsport last week, but when I got under the truck to start with the linkage install, the holes in the rocker panels that mount them were completely covered with thick caked on mud. The truck is off road about half the time, so I guess I better start power washing the rockers a little more regularly. I am planning a level kit with the Ford Performance Fox Shocks kit, so thought time was right for some steps.

After finding all the caked on mud underneath I decided I would just do the oil and filter change (I had changed the air filter and cabin filter last week) and maybe do the power step install sometime next week after I get all that mud off.

I did have a funny experience when pouring the oil out of the drain pan into the gas can I use to store recycle oil. When the pan emptied, I looked down to my horror to see all sorts of gravel and sand! My first reaction was "what the hell is going on, how did all the gravel and sand get into my crankcase?!?!".

It took me a minute before it dawned on me that all the crap came from the oil filter drain channel from the oil draining out of the filter as it was being removed. Obviously, a lot of crap got thrown up into the channel. Phew.

Anyway, just thought I would check in say hi. I hope all is well with everyone here.

Good to hear from you Bill! You haven't been on here in a while and already forgot how to wash your Ranger. I hope the hip is still doing well and the boss (Mary) is keeping you in line still.? Don't be a stranger and check your text more often. lol

 

[deleriumtremor]

Good to hear from you Bill! You haven't been on here in a while and already forgot how to wash your Ranger. I hope the hip is still doing well and the boss (Mary) is keeping you in line still.? Don't be a stranger and check your text more often. lol

Thanks Dave, it has been too long. The hip is doing great, we hike 6-7 miles most days up on Front Range trails, with the occasional 10-12 miler for good measure.

I actually thought I was doing pretty well keeping the Ranger fairly clean, although we are on a dusty dirt road/logging trail most days, so there are limits.

10-4 on the texting, it has happened to me more than once since, old guy stuff.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

I finally did it after a year of back and forth. My big motivation is that part of me secretly desires to be Mad Maxy like @DukeCanBuildit and part of me is for self-reliance. Even though I don't plan of ever 4-wheeling with my 2WD Soupie, I still like the possibility of pulling myself out of a jam with a come-along.

So I installed those Rough Country tow hook shackle dealios. First off, and I'll ask them about it on Monday, one of the two hooks was nicely made and the other must have been welded by someone with a bad hangover. That one is total crap - poor welds and it took me 10 minutes with a dremel to fix the piss poor alignment to allow the shackle pin to go all the way through. "Powder coating" isn't of much use once it's ground away.

Anyway, enough moaning and I did plenty of cussing installing these things.

First off, I have an XL 2-WD so no tow hooks on the front and that lower valance isn't cut out.

• I ordered the hook/shackle things:
  https://www.roughcountry.com/ford-tow-hook-shackle-conversion-kit-rs144c.html
• The proper cut-out valance:
  https://parts.levittownfordparts.com/oem-parts/ford-valance-lb3z17626captm
• The 4 OEM hook bolts:
  https://parts.levittownfordparts.com/oem-parts/ford-tow-hook-bolt-w720626s900
• The 2 rubber air dams, left and right (hope @DukeCanBuildit gives me a hint at how he cut his to fit):
  https://parts.levittownfordparts.com/oem-parts/ford-ranger-hook-bezel-kb3z2101927b
  https://parts.levittownfordparts.com/oem-parts/ford-ranger-hook-bezel-kb3z2101926b

Popping off the lower valence wasn't as hard as I thought (I'm a total newb with plastic fasteners). There are five 10 mm bolts on the bottom that are easy to reach.

BUT ... there are two Torx25 screws on the top outside edges that I broke the anchor points off. It didn't matter because those were part of the old valance.

Then there are 5 plastic tabs. A plastic trim tool helped a little but just firmly pulling did the trick. There are also "hooked tabs" that slip into slots in the grill opening where the Putco grill and license plate bracket attach. If I were to do this again, I'd probably take that off with the valance as one unit. That darn hindsight! =)

Once off, I saw that the air dam needed to be trimmed for the Rough Country parts to mount. Standard OEM tow hooks would not need that to be done.

So off I went to Lowe's to get a Dremel and rotary cut bit (not sure what that's called, kind of like a milling bit). I then mutilated precisely trimmed the air dam. =p

After getting ABS shavings all over myself, I continued working with a smile on my face (read: I was ready to throw my torque wrench at the next passing car!). =D

It wasn't bad bolting them into place and I thought I was home free ...

Well, like I said, me and plastic fasteners is a tougher puzzle than any Indiana Jones ever faced! =p

I finally realized that you're supposed to reshape those metal clips and place them on the tab and not in the hole. Yes, I put them in the hole and they promptly got shot back behind the bumper. That was really relaxing, craning my hand behind the bumper trying to feel for those clips. And not just once, but probably 5 times! I'm a slow learner ...

Thank God for knee pads and a rubber mat, it was murder getting my fat @$$ up, down, and under the truck a zillion times. =(

Two hours later (!!!), it was done, including "fixing" the one crappy Rough Country tow hook/shackle thing.

old valance off and the indispensable knee pads & kneeling mat

when I was 15, I worked in a butcher shop and those skills show here!

just admire that precision, and be envious if you must =p

eesh, quite the weld glob, makes you want to grab a file

what craptacular QA at Rough Country, what a glob of a bead!

should have dry fitted the shackle, it would not go past this alignment sh!t show!

should have tried it first, but it wasn't ever gonna get through that!

finally, after 10 minutes of Dremel grinding ...

they should work for my mellow needs (probably never get used)

Soupie's nipple rings! More HP but less payload!

I'm happy with them, for what they are, I hope Rough Country sends me one replacement

five 10mm bolts, five plastic clips, and a bunch of "tabs" at the top

leftover parts - when I figured out that the clips needed to be placed on the tabs, it was too late, the valance was back on (I learned how the clips work on the part that stayed on the truck that I had partially pried off and that's where the two T25 screws go too). But it seems to be on there pretty solid ...

Oh wow David, what an ordeal - thanks for the play by play - RC has a lot to learn about QA but you managed to overcome their shortcomings. Nice!

You even earn extra bonus points for having leftover parts that didn’t get installed.

The pierced nipples look great on your red truck - a total porn star and 100% Mad Max material. Soupie will be the envy of the landfill.

 

[AzScorpion]

Thanks Dave, it has been too long. The hip is doing great, we hike 6-7 miles most days up on Front Range trails, with the occasional 10-12 miler for good measure.

I actually thought I was doing pretty well keeping the Ranger fairly clean, although we are on a dusty dirt road/logging trail most days, so there are limits.

10-4 on the texting, it has happened to me more than once since, old guy stuff.

Glad to hear you're better. 10-12 miles that's better than me with a good hip.

 

[VoodooRanger]

Got around to mounting my OVS 4.5’ Awning and Shower Awning on the Prinsu rack using their low profile brackets. Next will be the light bar when the brackets arrive.

 

[20XLRangerFraptor]

Got 35s installed and went out to test them! 35x12.50r17 Milestar Patagonia X/T

 

[Colo_Ranger]

Clearance issues?

 

[Bionic]

I installed a FRL 3” leveling kit today, absolutely love it.

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

Got 35s installed and went out to test them! 35x12.50r17 Milestar Patagonia X/T

Looks beastly!

What lift/changes have you done to your suspension? Any fitment issues?

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

Started my AD Superbolt install today. Did the rears first, because the snorkel fitting is going to be a fkr. I got to the front left, and realized they won't install with my sliders on, so the sliders had to come off. I only have my 3/8" & 1/4" ratchet sets here in the rental, and I couldn't budge a few of the bolts with it. I hammered them all with THRUST, then drove home to get my 1/2" drive set & 18" bar. Back here got them all off, but 6 of the 12 bolts are fkrd. I got the 3rd flare on, and called it a day.

Tomorrow morning taking a drive into the big city to get some new hardware for my sliders and skid plates. Afterward coming back to install the 4th flare, then remove it and re-install my snorkel, then start cutting away at the flare until it fits back on around the snorkel. I'm sure I'll be horse from cussing before I'm done with the project, lol.

Crappy picture, but...

 

[20XLRangerFraptor]

Looks beastly!

What lift/changes have you done to your suspension? Any fitment issues?

just icon 2.5” ext travel coilovers with their tubular upper arms. I swapped the springs that come with them for 14” Eibach 700 pound springs. Adjusted the preload to get me sitting around 3.5” lift up front. The rear is deaver leaf springs with a bad 1” shackle. I trimmed the lower back part of the front fenders and cut off the crash bar bracket in the rear. For the front crash bar brackets I trimmed them to follow the angle of the gusset that’s on the rear part of those brackets. I can get some pics if you like. The front don’t rub but while off-roading and bottoming out the front they do rub the inner fender liners. I ended up ripping off the passenger rear flare as you can see in the pic. I believe maybe the rear wheel shifted forward a little bit and made contact pulling the flare off. I’ve been toying with the idea of just cutting out the whole flare front and rear but idk yet.

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