I love these machines and think I will always own one. Even if I have to start importing the new ones from Australia. Rangers are displayed chronologically and you can look at this as a timeline of my Ranger ownership. Enjoy!

1st ranger was my first car. She was a 91 silver xlt reg cab, 2wd, 2.3L 4 cyl 5 speed. I got it with 190,000 miles for 500 bucks. My aunt bought it brand new in 91 and all 5 of her sons owned it at one point. When it finally came to me it was pretty beat but would not break down. My cousins called it the truck-o-sourous. I called it the Anger Ranger. Only because the R broke off the emblem and it just seemed mad. Our favorite thing to do together was to go to walmart at 3 am and play bumper cars with shopping carts. (I was 17). I beat the crap out of it for a year and sold it for 75 bucks with 215,000 miles and she still ran great. Well she ran good. Good memories with her. The durability of that truck got me hooked for life.


By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25


By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25


By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25

Look at this tired old motor that could.

By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25

She's pretty mad.

By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25

2nd ranger was a lemon. She was a 94 green ext cab, 4wd, 4L v6 5 speed with 130k when I bought it for 3800 bucks. Pretty much the opposite of my first truck. Overheated the second day I had it. I should have known to just sell it right there. After a month, my leaf spring brackets, shackles, and the leaf springs themselves all collapsed. everything completely rusted through. 1200 bucks later (went to stealership, wont make that mistake again) she was back. about 8 months later the tranny went and I sold it for 1300. I loved the truck, but she was a money pit.

The tranny is actually blown in these pictures. My buddy came over to take pics for me so I could sell it. Which I did, about a week after these pics were taken. Some guy came from Ohio with a car dolly and towed it home, fixed the tranny, slapped a plow on it, and uses it to plow a business park he owns.

By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25


By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25


By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25

And the beastly 4.0

By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25

This truck just made me mad

By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25

3rd ranger is a sad story. She was a brand new 2007 left over, ext cab 4.0 L 6cyl 5 speed xlt. In my favorite color, electric blue (vista). I paid $19.5k out the door. I bought it a few weeks after those pictures above of my 94 Ranger were taken. Last 07 on the lot. Sucked on gas almost as bad as my 94 but I loved this truck. Sadly, a little over 2 months after I got it, I was rear ended one morning before work in Pittsburgh. Brand new Cadillac rear ended me hard and pushed me into the car in front of me. Drunk driver at 7 am. After he hit me, he immediately got out of his car, pulled out his lil dick right in front of me, and started pissing over the guard rail. All while coolant was shooting outta his destroyed caddy and traffic backed up everywhere. Needless to say, he got arrested. This is the only pic I have of the truck because of the short time I had it. I bought a 08 focus for my girl and my 4th ranger with the insurance money.


By jayellcowen at 2011-03-08

4th Ranger had me go back to my roots. I bought a newer version of my first ranger, down to the color. It was a 2003 silver reg cab, 2wd 2.3L 4cyl 5 speed xl base with 66k miles. Only option was a/c. I paid 6k cash. I loved it instantly. She was nimble, quick enough, cozy, and in almost mint condition. I worked the hell out of this truck and sadly beat it up pretty bad. Lots of scratches and dings. I also hit 4 wild turkeys one day and smashed up the front end pretty good. Those birds are heavier than they look. Sadly, I got divorced and had to decide between my 08 focus and this ranger. Since the truck was so beat, I picked the focus. This truck got me back on the 4cyl kick. I love those engines. I got between 23 and 27 mpg in this thing. I made sure my latest ranger had one.


By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25


By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25


By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25


By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25


By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25

Here it is. The legendary 2.3L four banger

By jayellcowen at 2009-07-25

My 5th and most recent ranger is a work in progress. It's a 1998 2wd reg cab flareside with a 5 speed tranny and 2.5L 4cyl motor. 1998-2000 was the only major ranger generation that I haven't owned and I always wanted one, especially a flare side. Reg cab flare sides are so sexy to me. I wanted a truck again and a project too. I bought this ranger for $1000 with a bad knock in the original engine. The body is perfect, so I bought a used 2.5L engine with 50k miles for $600 and new clutch with slave for $300. I paid another $600 to have them installed. So I am in the truck $2500 right now. Mechanically, it runs great. Okay gas mileage. (20-24 mpg) The body has 230k miles so I have to rebuild most of the front suspension. All the ball joints, tie rods, and wheel bearings need replaced. Everything else has been replaced already or is in great shape. There are a few small projects though. Door handles are broken. Cracked windshield. Hood release and e brake cables need replaced. And I want to install a new cluster with a tach. It's gonna be my project truck for a little while. Should be fun. It's pretty easy to work on and it's gonna be sweet when its done. I'm not going crazy low rider or anything. Just stock and original. Basically a restoration rather than a modification. Only have a few pics, but more to come in the future.


By jayellcowen at 2011-03-08


By jayellcowen at 2011-03-08
Stuck with 300 pounds of snow in my bed

By jayellcowen at 2011-03-08


By jayellcowen at 2011-03-08

I know it has car tires on the front. I just got it back from the engine shop and they will get changed soon. Anyone in Pittsburgh have wheels/tires for sale, let me know.

By jayellcowen at 2011-03-08

Thanks for the read guys and I hope you enjoyed the pics of all the rangers that have come and gone in my lifetime. This is a great site with tons of good info. If the truck lasts and you give me long enough, I'll prob use it all. I got lots of little projects to do with this truck to get it perfect so thanks in advance for any advice or tips.

 

no way i could have downgraded to a 2WD after that NICE 07 man

 

your current ranger is almost an exact duplicate of my grandpas ranger except his is the light blue and only has 46K on it lol...shame what happened to that 07

 

i cant believe youwent from a 94 to an 07 then down graded again lol

 

Sounds like my story. My first was a '94 4.0 2wd, second was a '99 2.5 2wd, third a '87 2.9 4wd, fourth a '93 3.0 4wd, fifth a '85 2.3 turbo 4wd. And I guess cause I'm getting my '93 back it will also me my sixth ranger.

Oh and I wanted to know if it was you that put the arfcom logo on the bed of the '03.

 

I was getting married and had a little girl on the way when the 07 got smashed. So I made a sacrifice and bought a 4 door sedan for my wife/kid and bought myself the 03. Then divorce took the 03, so I bought myself an integra and bought the latest ranger for work and a project.

But yea, it sucked down grading

and no, the previous owner put that sticker on the tailgate of the 03. I never knew what it was, but thought it looked cool so I left it

 

welcome, i'm partial to the 07'. i'll let you guess why. how old are you? you look young in the pictures and the fact that you are divorced is leaving me confused.

 

my guess is because you have the same truck, but newer, few mods, and not destroyed and in a junkyard somewhere (just judging by your info under your post). That blue is awesome right?

and the divorce, well

the kid was on the way before the marriage (hint). I got married a month before my 22nd birthday (which was 3 months after I found out she was pregnant), and divorced a year and a half later. I will be 25 in June. I was with my ex wife for 3.5 years before she got pregnant. She is prob the hottest chick I have ever seen (no lie), but she is an evil, super negative, miserable bi*ch and we were way too young and only got married bc we thought it was the "right thing" to do. My daughter is awesome though.

and I love electric blue bc of this car

1992 Acura Integra Gs 1.8L 4 cyl 5 speed. Captiva Blue!


By jayellcowen at 2011-03-10


By jayellcowen at 2011-03-10


By jayellcowen at 2011-03-10

It was my second car between the 91 and 94 Rangers. I actually owned it and the 91 at the same time for a while. I bought it for $2500 with 175k miles from some guy at WVU. The car was a tank and was the most reliable vehicle I ever owned. The only reason I ever got rid of this one was bc after 2 1/2 great years, 40k miles, and doing absolutely zero maintenance or repairs (broke college kid), the driver side upper ball joint broke while I was driving and I literally drove over my driver side front wheel. It destroyed all the front suspension and fender on that side. $1100 in damage on a 1992 with 216k miles wasn't worth it, so I parted it out, made almost $2k doing so, and it ended up looking like this before she was crushed. I miss that car so much and really regret ever getting rid of it, but parts of her live on all over the country installed on other integras.

Yes, I did pull the engine and sold it to some guy who built it and installed it in a hatch back and it is still running to this day.

By jayellcowen at 2011-03-10


By jayellcowen at 2011-03-10

I got 40k carefree and cheap miles out of that car and I will love Integras forever. Just like Rangers! After the greatness and reliability of my first two cars(91 ranger and this 92 teg), I knew the only cars I will buy for myself are Rangers and Integras. 5 Rangers and I am on my 3rd teg.


My 2nd Teg I bought for $2k after the blue one was totaled. It was near mint (minus some paint fade). I bought my 94 Ranger a few months after buying this.

1993 Acura Integra Special Edition 1.8L 4 cyl 5 speed with super low mileage of 112k

By jayellcowen at 2011-03-10

I did get the hood and roof repainted while I owned it.

By jayellcowen at 2011-03-10

I owned this teg for a little over a year and when the tranny went on my 94 Ranger, I sold it and the Ranger for the down payment on the 07 Ranger. And after that was totaled, it ended up turning into my 08 focus and 03 Ranger.

2008 Ford Focus Se with sport appearance package. 2.0L 4 cyl Autotragic :( Bought brand new for $17k
(don't mind my pregnant ex wife, only pic of the car I have on this pc)


By jayellcowen at 2011-03-10

About 6 months ago, I sold the focus to a friend in the army. He is stationed in california. He flew home and drove it back. It was mint and only had about 30k on it. He is my best friend so I hooked him up and sold it for what I owed on it. $9k. I then bought this:

2000 Acura Integra GS-R 1.8L Vtec 5 Speed. 95k miles. Paid $6500

Only mods are tein coilovers, spoiler delete, ITR front lip, cold air intake, and stereo. The car has the original gsr blade wheels on it now. This car is so amazing. It is really quick and handles like a dream. I'm sure I'll get 250k miles out of it too. If you are looking for a nice, cheap, reliable, and fun sports car for a backup to your ranger, Integra's/Rsx's are the way to go. Like Rangers, these cars cost almost nothing to maintain. Plus they get 30+ mpg and are decently fast and kinda luxurious (for a Honda). You can't beat it. Id say I would post new pics of her when I take them, but this is the one and only time I will post anything other than Rangers on this site.


By jayellcowen at 2011-03-10

Phewww! Now you know all the cars I have owned. Minus a 98 vw jetta and 92 honda accord which I used strictly for beaters. Sorry for all the non-Ranger material, but I hope you guys enjoyed that timeline and I will let you know when I buy my next car! Haha. Should be soon. I have had 11 cars in 8 years.

 

That 2007 was a sharp truck. I'm going to paint my 2004 Ranger Vista Blue or Sonic Blue.
Btw ... you can photo shop your ex out of that picture.

 

Wirelessly posted (Timberwolf)

Holy story

 

Yeah sounds like you've had quite a bit of excitement in just a quarter century of life.

 

Yea, life has been pretty crazy so far. And sorry for the long post, but i'm passionate about my cars and I like telling stories