Merkle's Truck Talk & other Musings.

[D Griff]

Nothing will ever sound as good as 8 cylinders of pumping fury. I'm actually surprised how decent my car sounds stock. Adding the Ti mufflers and longtubes should make it pretty silly. Love dem V8s.

:word:

I'm happy with it for now stock. An exhaust will come eventually though.

Alan, I almost bought an FX4 Ranger yesterday.

Saw it in person and the trans was totally shot. So close.

I'm sure a nice one will come around eventually, many Rangers in the world.

 

[grambles423]

I'm sure a nice one will come around eventually, many Rangers in the world.

Truth. But finding a good MT with low milage.....das unicorn.

 

[D Griff]

There's probably ten autos per one manual... that's why Merk was searching so long I think.

 

[mk6medic]

Yeah. Rangers are sweet if you don't need to tow anything heavy. They last for fucking ever. Unreal. Honestly, I think that period of vehicles from Ferd were surprisingly well built. One of the reasons I went with the Cobra I did.

 

[johnny_p]

Eh, Rangers are so-so on durability. They're just cheap as hell to fix.

 

[Tk_mkv1]

Truth. But finding a good MT with low milage.....das unicorn.

you could possibly find a manual off a totaled one and swap it :iono:

 

[PetrolHead]

Manual trucks are hard to find. I never want to let mine go.


Dumptrolling via fapatalk

 

[Merkle]

Alan, I almost bought an FX4 Ranger yesterday.

Saw it in person and the trans was totally shot. So close.

Truth. But finding a good MT with low milage.....das unicorn.

I'd avoid the 4.0L with a manual trans, the "heavy duty" 5-speed was garbage, and they didn't make many with that combo either. Mine was on its third trans by 45k miles.

If you want a reliable Ranger, 2.3L or 3.0L with a manual, treat it right and you'll get over 200k easily.

There's probably ten autos per one manual... that's why Merk was searching so long I think.

Mainly securing financing, I was planning on buying a 6k Chevy, then the Dogekota came up for sale.

Manual trucks are hard to find. I never want to let mine go.


Dumptrolling via fapatalk

:word:


Well, I got a good A/c compressor clutch from the junkyard, and the power steering stuff is out and the new pump and lines are ready to go in.

That exhaust doe... While trying to remove the old y-pipe, the fucking muffler fell apart from rust... Fuck, new muffler and tail pipe in the mail.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get the power steering back together and the headliner installed and the interior back together and it will be a little more superior.

 

[snobrdrdan]

Truth. But finding a good MT with low milage.....das unicorn.

What year(s)?

 

[grambles423]

Post 2004.

I had an old 2.3L Duratec 5speed XLT Reg can. That thing was a beast with 3.73 stock gears on the 7.5" axle. Nothing special, but it got 28mpg driving like hell.

I put almost 150K on that thing with zero problems except a wheel bearing.

I miss it.

 

[PetrolHead]

Mainly securing financing, I was planning on buying a 6k Chevy, then the Dogekota came up for sale.

Damn! Missed opportunity.

Well, I got a good A/c compressor clutch from the junkyard, and the power steering stuff is out and the new pump and lines are ready to go in.

That exhaust doe... While trying to remove the old y-pipe, the fucking muffler fell apart from rust... Fuck, new muffler and tail pipe in the mail.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get the power steering back together and the headliner installed and the interior back together and it will be a little more superior.

Damn, you doing some WORK on that thing.

 

[Merkle]

Dakota is still coming out ahead on the price doe. All in, I'm at about $3,750, that's price of truck, TT&L, and all the parts I've bought so far.

That would get me a beat up 1990 Chevrolet, that's in worse condition than the Dakota. Trust me I've looked. people in the north seem to take better care of their cars. Here, once a car gets to a certain price point they're bought by people who don't maintain them. As much as I hate on GM, they can make a decent truck, and the 4.3L is a strong V6.

I good '01-'03ish truck was ~$5k Plus buying the Dakota helped out a friend, and the road trip was an epic adventure, so there's that too.

 

[D Griff]

Your Dakota might need a bit of work, but that thing is a clean truck. I'd say it was a good buy.

Plus you got to drive a C5 and sleep in my roommate's giz/cologne covered bed.

 

[Merkle]

New headliner installed:

Got the new power steering pump and lines installed, no leaks so far. Put on the a/c compressor clutch, installed the belt. Fired it up to check everything out, and she runs! A/c blows cold, so I installed the right amount of shims, I just guessed.

Just needs the rest of the exhaust and she'll be drivable again.

 

[D Griff]

^ dat inferior interior doe.