Does anybody know of some good timing chain kits that won't break the bank for the 03 4.0 sohc Ford ranger? I just feel like the plastic material breaks to easy I've had to pull my engine out within a year after putting new ones in?

 

Its not the cassettes(timing chain and guides) that's the problem, its the tensioners that fail and cause the chains to break the guides

The plastic guides can not be broken unless the chain starts to bang in them, and the tensioners are what hold the chain tight, so.............

 

Thanks so if I was to purchase a master kit from eBay for about $100 it would be ok?

 

For the timing chains yes, but I would only use Ford(motorcraft) tensioners for the long chains, you need 2, they cost about $120 for the set on ebay, if you look around, usual price is $180
These will be a new design, not sure what 3rd party tensioners are like, they are only $40 for a set so for something like this I wouldn't chance it

 

Thanks now what about the cassettes witch is plastic does that matter where I get it from? I mean I just don't get it?? I tried to squeeze my tensioners and well I was able to move them a bit or should they not move at all?

 

Shouldn't move at all once they are filled with oil

When you get the new ones put them in a tray/bowl with clean oil in it and then push them down a few times and they will get stiff

Video here, at about the 1:40 mark it shows the tensioners: youtube.com/watch?v=-5mI-ah4qRQ

You can see the old one is easy to press and the new one, once filled with oil, can't be pressed in


Can't say on the guides and chains, but these are one of those things that is hard to change if they fail, I can't see a real difference.

If you wonder why Motorcraft parts are so expensive its because of the Labor costs, these parts are used in new Ford vehicles, Ford requires documents of where all the raw materials came from how they were made(no child labor, lol) and that they are inspected(quality control) before shipping, all of that costs $$, even if its made in China or ??

3rd party parts don't need all of that, and they can copy the parts down to the last detail, even make it at the same factory as the Motorcraft parts, but it is a roll of the dice

If you are getting a door latch or some other part that's easy to get to to replace then why not save money and go 3rd party
Internal engine parts............not easy to get to
Same for fuel pumps, I do bite the bullet and get Motorcraft fuel pumps, because it's a pain to pull the bed up or off

 

I agree I would rather spend the extra dough when it comes to the engine because this is my second time within a year pulling the engine out to fix the timing chain parts and I dread it very bad!!. I mean It is a learning experience but dang it's some major headaches!!