First Post, First Day, First Car.
#1
04-18-2015
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: St. Catharines
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First Post, First Day, First Car.
Hey guys,
Title says it all, new to the forum, new to fords, actually, new to cars.
About to turn 20, went on a 3 month long used car hunt, started out looking at sedans, but when my mother's hatchback got stuck in the mud at the airsoft field I decided to go a completely different direction. Fast forward 2 weeks later and I am going to pickup my 2008 ranger sport from the lot tomorrow. Bought for 10k with zero rust, zero scratches, no accident hist, and only 73,000km (hey look a Canadian) on it. So unbelievably excited.
Short bit about me: I used to work for a BMW plant in Canada (actually, a plant that makes part for a plant that makes parts for BMW) and am a studying mechanical engineering student. I was always intimidated by large trucks but after test driving this and not finding it too bad and all the things lined up I wasn't about to let it go.
My big concerns are how these handle in the winter and how much life I can expect out of it. Also, roof light bars, I like the look and the concept, but is it legal to use on the roads and how much they cost is very vague. I've not scoured the forum yet though but I shall.
Any and every piece of advice is welcome. I shall try to learn quickly and help out where I can as well. (Also, I make things, so let me know if you need something
)
Title says it all, new to the forum, new to fords, actually, new to cars.
About to turn 20, went on a 3 month long used car hunt, started out looking at sedans, but when my mother's hatchback got stuck in the mud at the airsoft field I decided to go a completely different direction. Fast forward 2 weeks later and I am going to pickup my 2008 ranger sport from the lot tomorrow. Bought for 10k with zero rust, zero scratches, no accident hist, and only 73,000km (hey look a Canadian) on it. So unbelievably excited.
Short bit about me: I used to work for a BMW plant in Canada (actually, a plant that makes part for a plant that makes parts for BMW) and am a studying mechanical engineering student. I was always intimidated by large trucks but after test driving this and not finding it too bad and all the things lined up I wasn't about to let it go.
My big concerns are how these handle in the winter and how much life I can expect out of it. Also, roof light bars, I like the look and the concept, but is it legal to use on the roads and how much they cost is very vague. I've not scoured the forum yet though but I shall.
Any and every piece of advice is welcome. I shall try to learn quickly and help out where I can as well. (Also, I make things, so let me know if you need something
)
#2
04-19-2015
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Placentia, CA
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Congrats on the truck. That is a good find, with pretty low miles. You will enjoy the sport.
Winter handling with the trucks in stock form, especially for a 2wd, is just as bad as any small size truck. No weight in the rear. Your best bet for winter performance is larger winter tires, throw some sand bags in the back, and get a L/S if yours doesn't have one. Being a sport, you can crank the torsion bars and fit 32 inch tires if you want.
Roof light bars are not legal to use on the roads. The price varies depending on if you go with an china cheap LED bar (a lot of guys have good experiences with some of these so do some research if you go this route) to a lot of money for name brand. If you want more "legal" lighting I would add a light bar or some light tabs and add some auxiliary lighting. Many companies make driving lights which are legal. While I am not saying its legal, I prefer to have offroad/illegal lights and just turn them on when I need them if no one is around.
If you put on a roof light bar DO NOT drill into your roof. This may seem like a no brainer, but it is not lol
Winter handling with the trucks in stock form, especially for a 2wd, is just as bad as any small size truck. No weight in the rear. Your best bet for winter performance is larger winter tires, throw some sand bags in the back, and get a L/S if yours doesn't have one. Being a sport, you can crank the torsion bars and fit 32 inch tires if you want.
Roof light bars are not legal to use on the roads. The price varies depending on if you go with an china cheap LED bar (a lot of guys have good experiences with some of these so do some research if you go this route) to a lot of money for name brand. If you want more "legal" lighting I would add a light bar or some light tabs and add some auxiliary lighting. Many companies make driving lights which are legal. While I am not saying its legal, I prefer to have offroad/illegal lights and just turn them on when I need them if no one is around.
If you put on a roof light bar DO NOT drill into your roof. This may seem like a no brainer, but it is not lol
#3
04-19-2015
Good price on a good truck
Yes, 2 wheel drive truck is probably the worst in snow and mud, front wheel drive car would out perform it.
But you would have 4 wheel ABS so stopping should be no problem.
Yes, you will need to put some bags of salt or sand in the back during winter months, put it as far back in the bed as practical, behind wheel wells.
And if possible secure the bags in a net or put a board/barrier across the bed, in the event of a sudden stop, accident, you don't want heavy bags flying towards the cab and the back of your head.
Snow tires have a more aggressive tread design for traction and a softer rubber compound so it doesn't get too hard in cold weather, but because of this they wear out very fast if used in warmer weather.
Studded tires are banned in Southern Ontario(St. Catharines), which IMO is dumb since accident prevention far out weights road damage dollars according to any studies ever done on this.
But an accident costs insurance company and driver money, not the Government, lol, so ban on studded tires saves people who can ban something money, so to heck with the voters and their children getting injured or dieing, "and we winter in the Caribbean in any case so F'em."
I would look at getting 4 snow tires before next winter, many tire sellers also offer discounts on changing the summer to winter and winter to summer tires, i.e. a set price "for life" of tires to dismount and remount and balance, and also free/cheap storage of the unused tires, if you don't have room at home.
3.0l is a good reliable engine, it does have a problem with Cam Sensor Synchronizer wearing out around the 80k MILE time, you will hear a high pitched squealing almost like a slipping fan belt noise coming from the synchronizer(rear top of engine).
Not expensive or hard to change, but do change it as soon as you hear that noise, as this device also runs the oil pump.
On the back side of drivers door will be a Label, it will have the vehicles manufacture date, weight and stock tires size, at the bottom it will have the AXLE code, look here:
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...le_codes.shtml
This will tell you what axle/differential you have.
The Differential transfers power from the Driveline to the axles, because a vehicle must go around corners the rear wheels/axles need to be able to rotate at different speeds, so the differential can not drive both axles directly, there are two kinds of differentials:
OPEN is a standard differential used on most vehicles, the easiest wheel to turn is the one that gets the power, yes the easiest, lol, this means if one wheel is slipping, it gets ALL the power, so................easy to get stuck.
L/S means Limited Slip, Chevy calls this Positraction, Ford calls it Traction-Lok, what it has is a clutch system in the differential that trys to equalize the power, so if one wheel starts to slip/spin some of the power is transferred to the other axle.
And there is a 3rd type but not stock, it is a Locking differential, it is controlled by the driver, you can manually lock both axles to the differential, so both axles get power full time, but this is only for straight line driving or slippery conditions when wheels can slip when cornering, or an axle will break.
Just an FYI that may help you if you have an OPEN differential, if one wheel is spinning, slowly apply the emergency brake this will brake the spinning wheel more and make the other wheel the "easier wheel" to turn, so transfers power to the other wheel, but you do need to release the E-brake as well so wheels can turn, tricky maneuver with foot brake and hand release, especially with manual trans, but it has got me unstuck quite a few times, but not every time, lol.
And this is when the bags of salt or sand come in handy, you can use some of that material under the tires to gain some needed traction.
Axle code also tells you the gear Ratio.
3.73 is standard, it is good for towing and gets good gas mileage
4.10 is better for towing and acceleration but less MPG at highway speeds
3.45/3.55 gets better MPG at highway speeds but harder to get going especially pulling a load.
Yes, 2 wheel drive truck is probably the worst in snow and mud, front wheel drive car would out perform it.
But you would have 4 wheel ABS so stopping should be no problem.
Yes, you will need to put some bags of salt or sand in the back during winter months, put it as far back in the bed as practical, behind wheel wells.
And if possible secure the bags in a net or put a board/barrier across the bed, in the event of a sudden stop, accident, you don't want heavy bags flying towards the cab and the back of your head.
Snow tires have a more aggressive tread design for traction and a softer rubber compound so it doesn't get too hard in cold weather, but because of this they wear out very fast if used in warmer weather.
Studded tires are banned in Southern Ontario(St. Catharines), which IMO is dumb since accident prevention far out weights road damage dollars according to any studies ever done on this.
But an accident costs insurance company and driver money, not the Government, lol, so ban on studded tires saves people who can ban something money, so to heck with the voters and their children getting injured or dieing, "and we winter in the Caribbean in any case so F'em."
I would look at getting 4 snow tires before next winter, many tire sellers also offer discounts on changing the summer to winter and winter to summer tires, i.e. a set price "for life" of tires to dismount and remount and balance, and also free/cheap storage of the unused tires, if you don't have room at home.
3.0l is a good reliable engine, it does have a problem with Cam Sensor Synchronizer wearing out around the 80k MILE time, you will hear a high pitched squealing almost like a slipping fan belt noise coming from the synchronizer(rear top of engine).
Not expensive or hard to change, but do change it as soon as you hear that noise, as this device also runs the oil pump.
On the back side of drivers door will be a Label, it will have the vehicles manufacture date, weight and stock tires size, at the bottom it will have the AXLE code, look here:
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...le_codes.shtml
This will tell you what axle/differential you have.
The Differential transfers power from the Driveline to the axles, because a vehicle must go around corners the rear wheels/axles need to be able to rotate at different speeds, so the differential can not drive both axles directly, there are two kinds of differentials:
OPEN is a standard differential used on most vehicles, the easiest wheel to turn is the one that gets the power, yes the easiest, lol, this means if one wheel is slipping, it gets ALL the power, so................easy to get stuck.
L/S means Limited Slip, Chevy calls this Positraction, Ford calls it Traction-Lok, what it has is a clutch system in the differential that trys to equalize the power, so if one wheel starts to slip/spin some of the power is transferred to the other axle.
And there is a 3rd type but not stock, it is a Locking differential, it is controlled by the driver, you can manually lock both axles to the differential, so both axles get power full time, but this is only for straight line driving or slippery conditions when wheels can slip when cornering, or an axle will break.
Just an FYI that may help you if you have an OPEN differential, if one wheel is spinning, slowly apply the emergency brake this will brake the spinning wheel more and make the other wheel the "easier wheel" to turn, so transfers power to the other wheel, but you do need to release the E-brake as well so wheels can turn, tricky maneuver with foot brake and hand release, especially with manual trans, but it has got me unstuck quite a few times, but not every time, lol.
And this is when the bags of salt or sand come in handy, you can use some of that material under the tires to gain some needed traction.
Axle code also tells you the gear Ratio.
3.73 is standard, it is good for towing and gets good gas mileage
4.10 is better for towing and acceleration but less MPG at highway speeds
3.45/3.55 gets better MPG at highway speeds but harder to get going especially pulling a load.
Last edited by RonD; 04-19-2015 at 11:33 AM.
#4
05-09-2015
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: St. Catharines
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Hey guys sorry for the really, really long delay between posts. Work gave me a BEATING lately.
Code Differential Capacity Gear Ratio
97 open 8.8" 2750 4.10
Guessing this is mostly standard.
EDIT: There is a squeak that is VERY inconsistent. It literally seems to randomly show up and its very easily covered by the radio. I assume this is not what you are talking about.
Code Differential Capacity Gear Ratio
97 open 8.8" 2750 4.10
Guessing this is mostly standard.
EDIT: There is a squeak that is VERY inconsistent. It literally seems to randomly show up and its very easily covered by the radio. I assume this is not what you are talking about.
#5
05-09-2015
3.73 is standard, original purchaser probably got a tow package, it came with 4.10
OPEN, of course, means less traction on slippery roads, only 1 wheel gets power.
Is the squeak only when moving or does it come even when stopped?
If it comes with either then it would be either a fan belt idler or tensioner pulley or synchronizer.
When it becomes more consistent, you can remove/loosen the fan belt and then start COLD engine, if squeak is gone then it is a fan belt pulley, if it is still there it is the synchronizer.
OPEN, of course, means less traction on slippery roads, only 1 wheel gets power.
Is the squeak only when moving or does it come even when stopped?
If it comes with either then it would be either a fan belt idler or tensioner pulley or synchronizer.
When it becomes more consistent, you can remove/loosen the fan belt and then start COLD engine, if squeak is gone then it is a fan belt pulley, if it is still there it is the synchronizer.
#6
05-09-2015
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: St. Catharines
Posts: 6
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3.73 is standard, original purchaser probably got a tow package, it came with 4.10
OPEN, of course, means less traction on slippery roads, only 1 wheel gets power.
Is the squeak only when moving or does it come even when stopped?
If it comes with either then it would be either a fan belt idler or tensioner pulley or synchronizer.
When it becomes more consistent, you can remove/loosen the fan belt and then start COLD engine, if squeak is gone then it is a fan belt pulley, if it is still there it is the synchronizer.
OPEN, of course, means less traction on slippery roads, only 1 wheel gets power.
Is the squeak only when moving or does it come even when stopped?
If it comes with either then it would be either a fan belt idler or tensioner pulley or synchronizer.
When it becomes more consistent, you can remove/loosen the fan belt and then start COLD engine, if squeak is gone then it is a fan belt pulley, if it is still there it is the synchronizer.
Edit: Pics!
Photo Album
Last edited by Sierra Invenio; 05-09-2015 at 11:48 PM. Reason: Pics!
#7
05-10-2015
#8
05-12-2015
Join Date: Apr 2015
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#9
05-12-2015
#10
08-31-2023
I have a 2011 Ranger Sport Supercab with a 4.0L automatic and a factory tow package. My research has found its towing capacity is as much as 5,000 lbs. I'm thinking of towing a 24' skiff with an outboard on a tandem aluminum trailer for a grand total (boat, motor and trailer) of 3500 lbs. My route would take me from Long Island, NY to Boston, about 200 miles. I've done some towing in the past but not that distance or weight. Looking for comments. Thanks.
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