So my recovery Hose is falling apart and I don't feel like shelling out 100$ for one, what would you recommend I'm going to go all copper or aluminum piping with brass fittings, Duratec 2.3 ranger

 

I assume you are referring to the hose that wraps around the engine.

I replaced it with DORMAN 626528 linked > HERE

It's a fun one to replace. I did mine while the engine was out. What I liked about this unit is the 3-way junction above the starter is aluminum vs the "glued plastic" that the OEM Ford unit is. So if it ever breaks, I can replace it myself.

You'll be looking at removing the trans to get this one out, as it's about near impossible to do the job any other way.

 

I rebuilt the entire coolant system and the one that goes to the egr, I want to brain slap the person who thought it was a bright idea to stick plastic under the exhuast manifold, I set new hoses and everything to the front row of the truck that way everything is easy, and more coolant capacity as there is a second res (aluminum 1/2 quart) I'm gonna bulletproof the whole thing in February

 

I used 3/4 inch aluminum piped with brass tees and Teflon tape for it thickly and it has fins welded on the pipe that sits just behind the rad for a little extra cooling

 

I used 7 brass fittings and 4 1/2 ft of aluminum pipe and 1ft the rubber pipe to the egr

 

There should be no plastic under the exhaust manifold. Everything on my truck was metal on that side, save for the obvious rubber hose that came off that pipe.

 

The pipe that was black and slick feeling I can confirm is plastic, I broke off a price with ease and it was braided, maybe something to do with the 2001-3 ranger duratecs, but after being told by ronD that temps should range between 240-265 I've had no problems and the truck has so much power, it runs cool at all rpms til 5500+ but anything below is cool, I have the Efan set to spool up to 40mph, I put in the 4.0 rad

 

Looking at my turbo duratec and the stock, the stock design is such a POS in terms of long term reliability I'm sorry it's just horrible and not user friendly

 

Strange, mine was steel, and is an 01....

 

I'm going to go through my boxs to see if I can find the stock hose to my 02 the 03 is the one that had the problem, I'll let you know if it may have been a mistake but the hose is plastic on the o3 that broke

 

The 3-way tee above the starter is definitely plastic, for sure. As well as the heater bypass. They also put "fireproof" insulation on the heater hose that runs up behind the manifold, and wire loom on the hose to the recovery tank.