Hi there, my name is Brian Stefanski, i live in northwest Indiana. I own a 1997 Ford Ranger xlt ext. cab, 4.0, automatic, 23,000 orginal miles. my grandfather purchased the truck brand new, (ordered it in late 1996, received it February 1997). he only used it to go to store or to visit the family near by. when i got the truck on my birthday, (july 23, 2008), from my parents, who inherited it and didnt need it, it had 14,000. I did all the work to it when i was growing up, i washed and waxed it and maintained it(oil changes, tire checks, brakes, ext.), and my grandpa always said it would be mine someday. Anyway, i keep up the maintence better that when it was my granpas, oil changes every 3000, synthetic oil, just done transflush for the first time, and its third coolant flush too. I am in love with this truck. it isin cherry condition, i detailed it all the time, but, i just got finished doing the full detail that took 2 straight days, and i completely almost stripped the interior down to nothing a cleaned every piece. the whole truck is in 99% the way it was the day it was built, its the clean and straight, except for one scratch on the door. Sorry, i'm rambleing about it, i'm just really proud of this truck, its strong, dependable, and looks great. I will aways buy rangers the rest of my life, and will probubly have this one the rest of my life.

I was wanting to swap the automatic trans out for a 5 speed..... bad idea?? my grandpa was going to order with a stick, but, he had weak knees and shoulder(he was 94 at that time). How hard will this be??? i was also wanting to convert it to 4x4......another Bad Idea??? lol i have pondered this numerous times, and it looks like a big job in my head, but, doable. there alot i still want to do after that,but, i have to convert the trans and the axles before i do it all. Well, PLEASE, be honest, and let me know what ya'll think about my ideas, and any pointersyou might have too. Sorry for this almost being a novel, but, just wanted to fill everyone in on MY lovefor Rangers. God Bless You All -Brian-

 

Sounds like a nice ranger ya got there. Got any pictures of it?

 

damn....and i thought my 96 with 72k was cherry....

 

welcome to R-F, Brian!

 

NICE! pics please

 

Sounds like a gorgeous, clean truck.

IMO, leave it original..

 

Welcome Aboard. Lets see some pics though.

 

Sounds like a truck that we need to see pictures of. Welcome to R-F. Don't change anything. That thing is cherry as it is. Don't go changing things up. Buy a beater so you don't put too many miles on this truck. Keep it low milage. If it were mine, it'd be in the garage covered.

 

PICS

 

Welcome. We need some pictures of it

 

Welcome. It would take a lot of work to change to 4x4 and manual trans and in my opinion wouldn't be worth it for that nice of a truck. Are you wanting to wheel it? What are the plans?

 

Leave it 2wd, buy a beater for off road or winter.

 

agreed, buy a junker for beating around... don't mess something up that is that old and that pristine...

 

well, i dont want to do anything really big yet, but, i want to change it alittle from when my grandpa owned it. i went and bought atzellia(i KNOW i didnt spell thatright) tail lights,clear front corner(turn signals) lights, hid headlight conversion, the originals were weak. i'm a vollunteer firefighter in my hometown, so i have(police) strobes(great quality, like 300 for the set up) hooked up in the front clear corners and the reverse lights in the tail lights, wig wags for the head lights, i put led blue lights that look like fog lights in the bumper slot below the grill. when the lights arent on, they are clear, so, all the emergency lights are hidden till i hit all the switches! its pretty kool. plus the switches are in a kool spot, my adapter for my pioneer cd player has a slot under it, which is pointless, so, i tookthe back out, made a black panel out of dvd cases and made a bracket to hold the plasticfrom falling back into the dash, and drilled the holes and put the swithches in. ill have to show ya'll, it looks really professional. well, i'll get back with ya'll to answer your questions. Peace everyone! and keep them wheels spinnin' and the mud slingin'

 

PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! VIDEOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! USE YOUTUBE CODING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

x2

 

Pics!!!