I’m often amused by the little unexpected twists and turns that life can throw at us. Sometimes they are good, and sometimes not so good. Regardless we (I anyway) usually don’t see them coming.
Case in point. I just became the proud owner of a pickup truck. I didn't particularly want or need one, it just sort of “showed up” a couple of weeks ago.
Now, I’m not really a “truck guy”. Nothing against them. I’ve owned a few over the years. Probably the best and most reliable vehicle I ever owned was a Nissan pickup that I bought brand-new in 1990. I loved that thing, it was a tank. No matter how hard I beat on it, it just kept on (slowly) doing its thing. Not a single mechanical problem in 160K miles. Also, I grew up in rural Kentucky, I’m a “farm kid”, so trucks are nothing new. I’ve often thought that it would be handy to have a truck, but not handy enough to justify having one as my daily driver, and I have zero interest in those monstrous, Titanic-sized things that today’s “full size” trucks have metastasized into.
None of that matters. A couple of weeks ago, my son presented me with a deal that was simply too good to pass up. A red, 1999 Ford Ranger XLT Extended Cab 2-wheel drive with the 3.0 V6 and automatic transmission and just over 94K on the odometer. The price? $0, absolutely free. Even I can’t say no to that. It was his girlfriend’s truck and after a couple of minor accidents and a few mechanical issues, her dad bought her another set of wheels. My son, Jonah, was apparently worried that I didn't have enough to do, so he bought the truck from his girlfriend’s dad for (I think) $300 and gave it to me as an early Christmas present. I have to admit, as a dad, that gives me a “warm fuzzy” feeling.
So, I can hear you asking, “what’s the catch”??? I know I asked myself that question. Honestly, I don’t think there is one. The truck had been sitting for a few months. My son said it was a bad battery or alternator and had a flat right-rear-tire. When I first laid eyes on it, I was pleasantly surprised. It was much better than I expected, apart from the obvious body damage from a couple of low-speed accidents, it looked pretty good. The rear tire had a screw in it, so I plugged that and aired it up. The battery was completely flat. 0V even when disconnected. Swapping in a temporary spare battery revealed that the alternator was also bad.
A new battery was acquired ($89), and a quick trip to a local pull-a-part for an alternator ($24) and I drove it the 8 miles or so home.
With it in my driveway, I started to give the truck a good looking-over so that I could get some idea of what I was in for. I have to say, I am pretty darn happy with most of what I have discovered so far. Some research was needed, because despite actually owning a very similar Ranger many years ago, I really don't know anything about them.
Here’s what I have found (so far)
The Good:
- Despite sitting for months, as soon as I put a battery in it, it fired right up. I’m not sure the crankshaft even made a complete rotation on the starter before it was running.
- It drives, well, better than one would expect for a free 19 year old truck. Which is to say, not great, but it doesn't feel unsafe and there was nothing that was alarming.
- Fluids: Levels were OK except for the coolant. It was low enough that there was none at all in the overflow tank. Topped that up and will keep an eye on it. Brake fluid is darker than my ex-wife’s heart, so that’ll need changing but it’s not urgent.
- Interior, not bad, no rips or tears, in need of a good deep-cleaning, some stains but nothing that won’t come out……probably. It even smells nice inside.
- So far, as far as I can tell, most everything on this little truck works! Even things that you would expect might not, given it’s age. The AC is ice cold, radio works, AM and FM anyway, I don’t have any tapes to test the cassette player with. Speedo, Tach, gauges, dome light, even the cruise control ….. it all works. There are a few things that don’t but that’ll be in the next section.
- Engine runs well, it does surge slightly at idle, but just barely. The engine bay is dusty and needs a cleaning, but I have not found any signs of significant oil or coolant leaks.
- Body. It has unrepaired damage from 2 accidents. I’ll get to that. This section is about the good parts. The undamaged sheet metal is pretty straight. A few dings here and there but nothing serious. The paint is not great. The clearcoat is coming off in places and there is a lot of fading. It even has a very nice aluminum diamond-plate toolbox and diamond-plate bedrail caps.
- Chassis. I got it up on jack stands and had a good root around (as the brits say) and everything looks good. I was concerned about possible frame damage from one of the accidents, but I couldn’t see any evidence of that.
- I saved the best part for last. This truck has NO RUST AT ALL. None. A little minor surface rust in places you’d expect it underneath, but other than that it is solid. Cab corners, rocker panels, the bottom of the doors, wheel arches, everywhere you normally expect to find rust is rock-solid. I love living in the south!!!!
The not-so-good:
- The truck has been in (at least) 2 accidents. I see no evidence of more than 2.
- It was hit in the front, or more likely it rear-ended someone. The damage here is actually worse than I thought when I first laid eyes on it. Grille and bumper are gone. Bumper-mounting flanges are all bent up. The frame horns themselves look straight though. The header panel behind the grille is busted up, so the right side headlight is cockeyed and the radiator support is pushed back about ¾” or so on the right side. The radiator support is the worst of it though. Everything else is bolt-on stuff.
- It was hit pretty hard on the left side at some point, right between the back of the cab and the front of the rear wheel arch. It’s caved in almost all the way to the frame. Luckily, the gas filler door and filler tube are still in place, accessible and not leaking.
- The rear half-doors that Ford put on these Rangers are stuck closed and will not open with the latch. Apparently, this is pretty common on these trucks.
- The electronic door locks don’t work reliably. The driver’s door will unlock fine with the button, but won’t lock with it. The passenger side won’t do either. It’s not the switches, In both cases you can hear the solenoid trying and see the lock button on the door try to move.
- The suspension needs work. It creaks, it groans. A lot. No metal-to metal sounds. Tons of body roll when cornering, even for a truck.
- The brakes are….not great. Not terrible, but they need some attention. It stops, but it should stop more quickly.
- This truck is SLOW!!! I didn’t expect it to be fast, not with that automatic transmission sucking up what little power the 3.0 puts out, but damn!!! This thing makes my 2015 Honda Fit feel like an Ariel Atom.
So what am I going to do with my new truck? I’m not 100% sure. As much as I’d like to get crazy and do something “Roadkill” with it, it’s actually just too nice a vehicle for that. I’m thinking that a little love and attention can make this into a pretty nice little truck. I’m a fairly competent wrench for most things, I’ve rebuilt and engine or three in my time, electrics don’t scare me, in fact I have experience with almost every kind of work that this truck is likely to need……..except body-work. I have almost no experience with that.
Since body work constitutes the majority of what this truck needs, I think I am going to use it as my classroom, a tool to learn some new skills. I’m not even going to try to fix that smashed in bed. I can get a complete bed from a junkyard that’s in much better shape for less than $200. That makes much more sense, particularly since, much to my surprise, aftermarket replacement bedsides are not available for these trucks. I don’t own a welder anyway. So I’ll replace the bed, then tackle the front damage. Right now I’m putting together the list of parts I’ll need, and scouring the local junkyards.
Once that is done, it’ll need to be painted. I REALLY want to try painting it myself. I’m in the process of wiring a 220V circuit in my garage for a 60gal compressor. I’m just waiting for cooler weather before climbing into the attic to pull the wire. We’ll see. It’s an intimidating prospect, and I’d have to do it at the right time of the year, the humidity here during the warmer months would probably be a disaster for painting. Perhaps I’ll just find someone else to paint it, providing I can get it done on the cheap.
None of this is going to happen fast. There is no need to do it quickly. Money is very tight just now so what little budget I have for this will have to be spaced out over a longer time period than I’d like.
So here I go! If anyone here has knowledge and experience with these little trucks I’m happy to take all the advice and knowledge I can get!!
Once it’s done? I can’t lie. It’ll be handy from time to time to have a little truck around for when I need to do “truck things”, but I expect I’ll probably sell it, or trade it for something I really want……like a Miata…..