hi,im kenny

picked up my 98 ford ranger from my ex girlfreinds father sold it to me for 800 dollars,

it has sat for a while and has 151,340 miles on it and needs two rear tires and new oil...and i quess ill do a radiator flush and new fluids while im at it...and replace the coils and spark plugs and belts...and i read alote about the gatorbacks...ill purchase a few of them

but all in all when driveing the truck.it felt a bit sluggish.could be old spark plugs and needing a tuneup after a year of sitting maybe old gas aswell and two of the tires being semi flat (remember this is my first smiley :D)

anything i can do for my truck that can help her get a bit more power not trying to get her going crazy over the line..but something to make the v6 act like a v6 or just in general get 200 even hp

...also...not to make anyone mad im not into raiseing trucks im more into lowering it a bit more so it sits like a car but not draggin allover the place
any tips on lowering the truck? and ill try to post pics when i get to see my baby again its a darkish blue ranger

ill be looking forward to replys and any advice for my new truck.and also it is my first vehicle and im mechanicaly inclinded (according to the Exxon corporation) to work on vehicles :) hopeing to know everyone and ill try to be a familiar face on the forums if i could :D

 

welcome to R-F, sorry to hear that you got the 3.0 (slow). For performance..200hp, you will definitely need a supercharger, but they are hard to find cuz no one makes one for the 3.0 anymore. You can add small gains to the 3.0 like underdrive pulleys, roller rockers, exhaust, X-Cal tuner, screamin demon coil pack, etc......check out Stuff For Your Ranger

Also, DJM sells a great 4/5 drop kit for your suspension. You can lower with a static drop, but it will require some more cutting and fabrication.

 

There is a Whipple for sale on here. It was used for two months, the drive went out, sent back to Whipple and rebuilt, and never reinstalled. Basically new.

 

im gonna have to check out the drop kit :) how much would they run for? and i was thinking for my first mod is to get the coil pack and the wires.and by the look on your avatar it seems like the way i would like the truck to be lowered :)

 

why are the 3.0's so slow??

 

oh yeah, I thought someone already bought it, maybe not.

The 4/5 drop is awesome. The kits new from DJM are $600-$700, but used for about $300 or so. I bought mine used from a member on RPS.

and your question about why the 3.0 is slow is a question that has boggled men for years and years, and we may not find an answer in our own lifetime.

 

Lessee, you have the Twin I beam front suspension right? Lowering it is pretty easy with the DJM kits, as mentioned above. Great product, and easy to install if you know how to work on a vehicle. As far as power goes, fuggedabowdit. The 3.0 is a reliable, almost bulletproof motor, but for some odd reason, it don't make power. You could probably go through and completely redo the motor, eliminating as many poorly designed aspects as possible, and mange to get decent power out of it, but for that kind of money, you could build a decent V-8 and swap it in. Headers, intake and under drive pulleys will get you by though.

Oh, and Welcome to the site!

 

sweet looks like i have something on my list for lowering it :D

also a good freind of mine is installing HID's a complete kit with a warrenty for 169 dollars and he does the installation with that price :)

as far as a engine goes,its mind boggling that 3.0 and it isnt haveing the power ,and from what i read a supercharger will kill the performance?? i dont relaly have the time and patience for a swap so im screwed there =/

 

No no....his is 1998.....thats the first year of the control arms. It is still pretty easy to do a 4/5, just a different suspension from the i-beams

 

finally you slip up and i can call you a NOOB!
hahaha


hids take all of a half hour to install yourself, and a kit will run you 70 bucks SHIPPED! with warranty. do it yourself and save 100 bucks

 

My HID kit cost $160 but it has highs and lows, 4 bulbs and 4 ballasts.

And my bad, for some odd reason I read '93 instead of '98. I need to quit drinkin before I post!

 

hahahaha its all good :D

and i suck at electronics more of a mechanical person not electronical ><

so ill leave it for my buddie to install it and it has the same things you described :)

 

Sweet. $10 for the install is worth it, it took me about an hour and 4 beers to install mine. Prolly would have been done in 30 min if it hadn't been for the Beers.

 

takes no electrical knowledge of any kind, plug ballast wire into existing harness, mount ballast, plug bulb into the ballast, insert into housing, put on the twist lock thingy. bam, done haha

 

well for 10 dollars done i get it professionaly done :) i really dont want to mickey rig my truck i want it done right :D

 

Don't forget mounting the relays, and running a wire to the bat.

 

cool part is the previous owner put new batteries in it :D although its still sitting haha...i wonder what type of tires i should put for newer ones ..hmmmm...=/

 

if they come with relays.... or mounting brackets for that matter

 

If it's a good kit, they should come with relays. Running the HID ballasts off the headlight harness voltage is a bad thing.

 

maybe this thread will be helpful on someone looking on how to install HID's :)