Well-
After a year of dreaming about trading off my car i finally did it. I went in at the begining of this month and six hours later i traded the cav and my wifes escort and bought these:
the wife's ride. 2005 ford escape 3.0L 4x4 xlt all the bells and whistles with it.
and finally my toy:
2004 ford ranger xlt
4.0l
4x4
2 door extended cab so nobody can use the back seats.
no back seats factory
spray in bed liner
4:10 limited slip gears
towing package
rubber floor instead of carpet
already added my own touch to it. also addind a bear archery sticker
now for the plans:
Ford factory cruise <- done (my brother is a ford master mech. so all parts available at a greatly reduced price.
bug/rock sheild <- done
3" body lift <- august
black nerf bars <- looking
black Grill guard <-looking
KC daylighters <- in brothers garage
Tool box - in brothers garage
Window Tint <- august 20% all five plus strip on windsheild
Camoclad lower accent <- next summer
Fleet side truck box <-still debating but possibly next summer.
2" Reciever hitch <- as soon as it goes on sale
15" black steel wheels with 31x1050 r15's <- sitting in brothers garage
husky liner <-probably this weekend.
the escape well she stays stock for the wife.
please please please don't do a 3" body lift. it will look completely retarded and won't perform any better at all, plus it will be completely unsafe.
if you're looking to lift over 1" you should really look into a suspension lift. not to mention, you shouldn't need much lift at all for a 31x10.50 to look right at home on the ranger.
nonetheless, nice purchases.
Check out my build thread!
i might mix, suspension with body. the suspension lifts for rangers suck though. I would love to get a set of 285's since those are bigger than 33's it just depends what my brothers shop gets in. when they get a truck with a lot of aftermarket stuff, his dealership has found that it isbetter to return to stock to sell them than with all the stuff on them, so he can get parts, we found a safari rack for the escape last night in the warehouse so hopefully i will be getting that and some daylighters for the escape this summer. then since she needs new tires i will do something a little bigger to fill the wheel wells.
i tell you one thing the truck will be so much easier to load my deer hunting gear and kills into than the cavalier. so glad to be done with cavaliers and small cars.
I was never one for Fords, but the escape is nice, and nice job on the Ranger. Looking foreward to the mods ur gonna do. Congrats on the purchases. And as far as loading up ur gear and kills, for stuff i need to haul or such im glad i have my Escalade
and the cavalier is my tinker toy/around town car
pls its 100 times better on gas then the damn truck lol. Goodluck!
well going monday to get a set of nerf bars for the ranger. last week i got a full set of huskey liners liners for the escape and my brother is grabbing me a sarfari rack for it. also last night i parked next to a lifted ranger at wal-mart and my stock truck is actually 1 inch taller that the one with a three in lift. so it might just get bigger tires. don't really know.
the trucks will work out better for me, my brother and i maintain close to 200 acres of hunting grounds throughout iowa so we are always needing 4x4s, finally i will be able to work without having to borrow trucks. as far as gos millge goes for now with me 10 minutes from work and my wife 5 minutes the milage is okay. when we move again this summer (hopefully to an acreage) i might be picking up a fusion or a focus for the longer commutes or just take the truck.
so far i am happy to be finally after three cavaliers done with chevy.
Watch what you say. A change of pace is nice but soon you will see each brand and model has very specific problems and quirks at least you knew what they were with the Chevy. Not saying you made a bad choice by any stretch of the imagination. My brother has a Ford Ranger and my in-laws have one. It is a vehicle I would consider if I needed a small truck.
On a side note I don't care for the step side box. I think they look better and are more functional with the standard box.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edited Friday, June 11, 2010 10:05 AM
FORGET GIRLS GONE WILD WE HAVE GOVERNMENT SPENDING GONE WILD!
your right wade, i have found that rangers are prone to the third brake light and cowl leaking rain water. after making some new seals i think that i have that mostly cleared up. it hasn't leaked in the last two rain storms. so far my only thing that i am tossing back and forth with the truck is the step side bax and whether or not to trade it towards a fleet side. i look for fleet sides but its one of those if it happens to trade the box then i will with no storage right now, buying a fleet side box is out of the question. thankfully my older brother is a ford master mechanic. so all issues are dealt with by him. i have yet to see pictures of your new car.
ruggedz, we have lifted a lot of trucks and by using a body lift it does not effect the center of gravity as bad as doing a pure suspension lift, actually if done correctly and not by drilling holes through hockey pucks i should have no problems with it. the one thing that really looks retarded is teh space between the bumper and the tailgate and grill. but you can get or fab brackets to raise both of those to fill the gaps. i do appreciate the input though and like the cj in your sig.
i wasn't saying body lifts are a bad thing at all, just warning about the risks of using such a large body lift. large body lifts put a lot more stress on the bolts and risks shredding them, and ultimately the box sliding off.
also, thanks for the comment on the cj. it's coming along slowly but surely. check out my build thread in other cars if you're interested.
Check out my build thread!
ruggedz- midwest has some decent body lifts. but i had to laught the other day at wal-mart because there was a ranger with the three inch body lift and my stock truck was 1 inch taller. i chuckled and grabbed a pic on my cell phone, i toss around the idea of a jeep before i got the ranger and just thought even a little truck is more practical right now. but i have been i talks with a buddy of mine who has a 93 cherokee sport. that was a rv tow behind so i has 67,000 miles and will not start. i keep telling him taht i will buy it from him use for a sweet play rig. but he's still holding off. its just a matter of time. his future wife and mother are trying to talk hime into selling it to me. i have looked but as far as shorter body lifts tehre isn't much for the ranger the best i have found is three and up. i could get an overall 6" out of it with a 2" suspension lift and 285 tires. but that is just a lot of rotational mass from the wheels for the 4.0 litter. on my brothers 5.3 it'd be fine but i am begining to think that i will add some unwanted stresses.
new pic.
second addition to the escape. i probably should start a thread for it, instead of the truck. oh well. picked this up from my brother this weekend.
now just to get some meatier tires.
nice, i test drove a subaru wrx before i bought the truck and i thought that i would just get myself into trouble with it. it does not surprise me though with how clean your car is, when i have seen your last one. next time you guys come to the omaha area i might have to see it in person.
a small sized deer decided it would be a good idea to rearrange the hood and fender on the escape last night. so after 5000 of damage i should have it back with new parts and new paint by next thursday. also to let you know smacking a deer at interstate speeds sucks.
Ouch man, good to know u guys are okay. Truck can be fixed, but ppl and family are irriplaceable. This is what insurance is for. Good luck!!
Looking back on these pics, I don't know why I didn't notice before....especially with the dealer plates clearly showing you bought both vehicles at Rusty ass ford....Do you live in The Landing apts in Bellevue? You're like 5 minutes from my house lol.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
In my family we teach that boys have a God-stick and girls have a Shame Cave. -John Stewart
JLAudio yeah we are living at the landings for now. we will probably be moving again in august though. our lease is up and we want to move into a smaller town.
Smaller town than Bellevue?
Hell man, didn't even realize you were that close. Should come hang out some time.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
In my family we teach that boys have a God-stick and girls have a Shame Cave. -John Stewart
jl we should hang out sometime. it would be nice to get to know some people out here that i do not work with. we just got the word today that my wife has gotten a teaching job in denison, iowa so we are looking to move to either logan, woodbine, or missouri valley. sad thing is, is that we have to move by this august.
DAMN! Hey man, you free tonight? me and a buddy are going to hit up Bristro(small bar by the base) and chill for a couple beers, feel free to come out with us!
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
In my family we teach that boys have a God-stick and girls have a Shame Cave. -John Stewart
JL sorry about not being able to meet up with you on the 9th, it would have been fun. life is getting a little crazy because my wife got a new job in dension and she and i are moving in the next two weeks. we'll still be in the omaha area since i still work downtown but we are getting a place in woodbine, ia so its half way for her and i to drive. now because of the extra gas we will be spending i am looking to garage the truck till winter and find beater a-b car. i have several buddies keeping their eyes out for cheap vw's, you know the type the 500 dollar rusty bucket that will run
