late 80's ranger, thinks to look for?

[countryboytn]

Well, with the rising gas prices my v8 powered 2ton vehicles are killing me. My buddy is going to sell his late 80's-early 90's ranger (not sure of exact year). It's a 2wd, 5speed, 4cyl, reg cab. with 180k on it. I'm seriously interested in it. He's asking $1000 for it.

I know of a few problems it has, exterior: slightly dented front corner of passenger door, tailgate latch doesn't work, small hole in side of bed, and the turn signals don't work. (the back ones light up, but don't flash. Front doesn't do anything, but hazards work all the way around.)

Anything to look for in these trucks, any strong points/weak points, ect?

 

[racsan]

biggest thing that i know of is the rear spring hangers. little or big truck, they all seem to hold salt,dirt and moisture and rust out sometime down the line. its worse if your in the salt belt. there not hard to replace, worst one is the front drivers side. you can either drop the fuel tank or pull the bed. (i pulled the bed) your electrical problem could be a bad ground. heres a pic of the hanger from my dad's '94 3/4 ton:

heres a picture of my l.r. hanger right before i changed it:

and here you can see the holes in one of my front hangers:

 

[countryboytn]

DANG! Wasn't hardly anything left of that thing... I'll certainly check that, since the truck has a little rust around the cab corners and along the bed rails.

 

[smokey]

The ranger is a great little truck. the 4 cylinder is a 2.3l they are close to bullet proof should be getting close to 25 mpg in a 2wd.
the 5spd should last a long time, the automatics with the a4ld were weak. You shouldn't have the rust issues down there like we have up north due to all the salt used on the roads.
they are easy to work on parts are cheap.

 

[john112deere]

biggest thing that i know of is the rear spring hangers.

The other place these trucks seem to rust first is the radiator support panel.

Beyond that...like Smokey said, they're great trucks.

'Course, after that many years and miles, it does kind of depend how well it was treated, so make sure you check all the usual stuff- funny noises in the engine or transmission, front end tight and all the brakes good, etc.

 

[racsan]

yeah, forgot about the front core support, both my rangers were a little rusty there, at least the front fenders will help keep the radiator mounted upright. lol. i just now noticed the original post was from tennesee. doesnt mean the ranger has spent its life down there though. last week i was looking at my dads '96 bronco, bought brand new and only has 70K miles, his rear spring hangers are looking kinda bad. and on my truck the only thing holding the fuel tank in is the skidplate, 2 of the straps have rusted completely in half. if you get it, be sure to go over it real well, it might have the original trans fluid and rear diff oil. when i got my dad's '97 S-blazer last august i found low oil levels in both diffs, bad seals, original oil. think ive got everything on it straightend out now. spider gears in the rear diff showed alot of wear and pitting from being low on oil. when it was filled, it began oiling the inside of the l.r. brake drum. im guessing thats how it came to be low on oil to begin with.

 

[countryboytn]

he's been driving it to and from work for about 4 or 5 months, with no issues. So, it's atleast half way reliable.

He doesn't beat on it to bad (no worse than I do my stuff.. I don't want something that's been babied, only to have it fall apart when I drive it), and I know the previous couple owners as well.. one of them is sorta rough on stuff, but only owned it a couple months so no harm done.

Sounds like it should be a pretty dependable truck... now to get my parents to let me get it. No job, so money comes out of there pocket. Wonder if I can set it up, where I pay them back when I get a job. (been looking for 3 months... don't wanna work a grocery store of flip hamburgers)

 

[polarbear]

he's been driving it to and from work for about 4 or 5 months, with no issues. So, it's atleast half way reliable.

He doesn't beat on it to bad (no worse than I do my stuff.. I don't want something that's been babied, only to have it fall apart when I drive it), and I know the previous couple owners as well.. one of them is sorta rough on stuff, but only owned it a couple months so no harm done.

Sounds like it should be a pretty dependable truck... now to get my parents to let me get it. No job, so money comes out of there pocket. Wonder if I can set it up, where I pay them back when I get a job. (been looking for 3 months... don't wanna work a grocery store of flip hamburgers)

I'm not liking the sounds of that paragraph AT ALL. When son Nick bought his '95, I reminded him he wanted to buy the used truck from someone that maintained and drove the truck like me- not like him. We found that guy- and that truck- and it's been fabulous so far.

As far as previous owners being hard on it but not driving it long- remember a lot of abuse shows up as a repair bill many 10's of thousands of miles down the road. Just because he didn't break it then and there doesn't mean he didn't cost you money down the line if you bought it.

 

[countryboytn]

I'll be the first to admit, I beat the crap out of my stuff sometimes. (I keep it well maintained, though)

He doesn't drive it hard, but it's seen occasional abuse (couple races, couple burnouts, ect) certainly not day in and day out, though.

and a truck with 180k on it for $1000, I don't see it being a reliable truck for years to come. Mainly something to get me to and from for a few years.

I certainly see your point of view though, and am well aware you know ALOT more about what your talking about than I do..

 

[jdk]

Trigger was bullet proof and never let me down. he was a 87 super cab, 2wd, 5speed manual, and a 2.3 4cyc. We took a newer head off a mustang 2.3 with a newer roller cam, and header (also finned aluminum valve cover) and put on on. That really brought him to life. I got in trouble and had to see him. 2 months later, a guy gave dad a turbo out of a 2.3 t-bird turbo coup (AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH)

 

[countryboytn]

Update: (cause i'm bored, and it's 4:35am). He never did sell this truck, but ended up rolling it on a slick road a night or two ago. Still runs/drives fine, but passenger side is shot, aswell as the roof. Buddy of mine just offered him $300, and he said alright.. so we will see where it goes. If he don't get it, I might. Would make a awesome beater.