Hello all and thank you for taking the time to read this. I have a 1992 ford ranger XLT with 60k miles on it. The steering/suspension components are all rusted but not to the point where holes have formed and the metal is intact. Just pitted. Is it worth going over all that stuff and taking care of it now? I am thinking about even taking the bed off to access the frame to clean it up more. I am thinking of doing this since I am replacing all of the shock absorbers anyways. The trucks interior is in like really great shape, it has low mileage and it doesn't make any noises at all. But I keep getting feedback from a few people saying it's not worth it. Am I wrong for wanting to put in the work? I heard they can last 250-325k easily with the correct maintenance. I enjoy working on things and fixing them and people's opinions keep making me feel like I am dumb for wanting to do it. Thank you for any opinion you might have. (I live in a Rust Belt state).
If you have the 3.0 Vulcan V6, it may be worth saving if the rust isn't THAT bad. The 4-cylinders were also strong running engines. The 4.0s I've heard had some issues, but still decent. My 1999 Ranger 3.0 has 273k on it and I add almost 300 more a week. The transmission was on its last legs when I bought it at 250k, and I had the tranny rebuilt before I found Scotty and learned shop rebuild jobs aren't good. It drives better than it did. Can't ask much more than that for a beater. It has a bit of frame rust that I've been engineering some fixes for, but is still decent. The rear half of Rangers are notorious for rust. Get a framing hammer or something similar and give the areas you're concerned about a good whack. If it starts crunching or bending, it's no good. Good frame won't be affected. It shouldn't do anything but make metallic banging noises.
Thanks for the reply! It's the vulcan v6 3.0. The frame is not even close to crumpling or having holes if hit with the hammer. I was going to do that and go along the frame with a grinder or a wire wheel and clean it up/prime it/paint it. I'll post pics tomorrow.
I'd go through and replace the radiator and heater core hoses as well as flush the cooling system and put new coolant in if it hasn't been done recently. I've read that the 3.0 doesn't tolerate overheating and tends to blow head gaskets quickly. Here's a link to engine specs. https://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/3_0performance.shtml I had a heater core hose rupture over the summer a couple miles from home and noticed a coolant puddle when I parked. I replaced both heater core hoses after that. They were original.
Yes! I went ahead and drained the transmission pan already/cleaned it out/changed filter, coolant has been dumped out and the system flushed/heater core removed and flushed. Didn't look bad at all. And wasn't leaking. The hoses have been replaced as well along with the transmission lines. Man, those are rust buckets if they ain't taken care of. {black}:scared:
If the chassis is in good shape, you like the vehicle, and can afford to do it, I'd go ahead and have it removed.
depends on the chassis condition. Do you have any photos of said rust?
I'll have to take pics tomorrow and post them. It's not really that bad, you can even still see some original paint and the blue from the steel.