Can't have nice things

In memory of my 95 extended cab

You're viewing a single thread.

151 comments

98 Ranger XLT extended cab. I've added trailer brake control for livestock hauling and a modern stereo with bluetooth, handsfree calling, and a sealed 10" sub cause I'm a metalhead.
It's got the pushrod V6 that will last forever, in 99 they switched over to those awful self-destructing cassette timed V6s.
It throws no codes. Redid intake manifold and valve gaskets about 18 months ago, but I've got increased Idle RPM and minor oil leak again. So, I have to redo it, looking for a more permanent fix.
My truck does 10x the work most of those oversized pavement princess trucks do. It's a little truck for our little play farm.
- Nice. Mine was Cayman Green, a couple of shades lighter than yours and a 4-banger, but similar otherwise.
  
  This is actually my fourth vehicle, lifetime. My second was a 97 ranger with the 5 speed and 4 banger. I sold it and missed it so bad I got this one after I lost the car in a flood.
  
  I live in Worst Carolina, and I know the feeling when you can just say you lost something in "the flood" and people just nod their heads like, "yep, I know".
- My current daily driver, which I won't upload my own photo of because it's literally enough to dox me (by people who know me IRL), is one of these:
  
  It's not an SUV, but air suspension allows it to rise taller than some crossover SUVs, providing decent clearance. And on the road you can lower and stiffen it for better handling (or keep it in the comfort position for normal height and soft suspension). Both axles are always being driven, with front and rear diff locks being electronic, based on the ESP system.
  It doesn't do as much work as your truck, but then I don't live on a farm. If I did, I'd have a truck too. It does however do significantly more work than any of those pavement princesses. In particular, it's been used for towing trailers, I've had the entire trunk, with rear seats folded down, filled when I moved most of my furniture. I've gone off road in it because I needed to go to the woods. Everything was muddy afterwards.
  I'll use yank units for the fun of it, so it's got around 250k miles on it. It's a remapped 3.0 diesel, so it does over 40 mpg very easily unloaded, and can keep up with pretty much anything on the road because of the ridiculous amount of torque it puts out. I paid less than 2k EUR for it (paid pretty much exactly 2000 USD given current exchange rates actually). With all the torque it has, you could also easily tow way more than the legal limit of such a vehicle - which I've never needed to.
  It's also rusty, scratched up, dented, etc. Some of the unnecessary extras don't work (park distance control? lol no, it's shorted out) It's not the best car I've owned, but it's the best one I've had for getting shit done. 3 months and 6000 miles so far, I've spent ~500 to replace some safety-critical neglected parts (brake, suspension) some of which will last the next 100k miles and some hopefully indefinitely (updated to a newer, more reliable ABS module).
  It wasn't cheap for the first person who bought it, but neither are modern trucks. It was cheap to buy used though, unlike trucks. Parts are cheaper too, but that's partly because I'm in Europe.
  
  I wish I had AWD/4WD sometimes. That's really the only thing I don't like about the truck.
  Before this truck, I had a Malibu, kept folding the seats down, toting 2x4's and such. Ripped sheets plywood in the parking lot with a battery powered saw to fit it in before.
  Parts are still pretty cheap for this truck here. They made so many of them. I only gave $3500 for it, but that was before prices on used little trucks jumped so high.
  I'm hoping I don't ever have to replace this truck, but if I do, I would be looking at a V6 minivan, especially if I could get in AWD. Gut one of those, and it's basically a little truck. I think it would do everything I needed, better on fuel costs, etc. I'm not much for lifitimg suspensions, but a truck-minivan with AWD I might lift a little to get into standard truck ground clearance range.
  Trucks/utility vehicles are tools and should be used and maintained like a good tool. If it doesn't have a few scratches and dents, it's not a real tool.
- I see F350 work trucks all the time but they rarely have stock beds, most of them run a full dedicated tool box usually with ladder racks or a custom bed made of diamond sheet. Same deal for the 550 and 650 if they aren't box trucks.
  Your truck reminds me of the garage kept spare cars I see on farms. Sometimes they just live outside near the house but they get driven. Often to pull the bigger trucks out of mud somehow
  
  Yup. I have a play farm, not a real farm. Real farming is an industrial process that requires duallys and such. However, those are also real trucks. Beat to shit, tools in the bed, not lifted so much you can't load them, etc. They look the part. I do also have a 98 Chevy 3500 box truck. Drinks way too much gas to use it for anything other than its purpose, don't even have it registered right now, bad cats.
  
  I know some play farmers with dualies. One is for building a fence, one is for towing a 5th wheel and a toy hauler. The fence builder is similarly unregistered because it's "expensive enough to maintain"
- that's one sexy looking truck! practical and it has a nice color!

151 comments