Found out my rough idle on cold startups on my truck is probably a cracked head (long story on diagnosis)... has anyone bought new heads from cylinderheads.com in FL? They have a 3yr unlimited mileage warranty and are reasonable priced compared to Ford dealer for the redesigned heads for the 4.0 OHV.
Also I know i need all new gaskets for intake, upper, lower, etc, and head gaskets... anything else anyone can recommend to replace while I'm at it? Luckily my brother is a good mechanic and will do most of it, I just want to get all the parts together before we start that I know I will need.

 

I actually sold my 2000 Ranger to Carmax for this very same reason. I feel your pain.

 

I replaced the heads on my 99' 4.0L OHV alhtough I got my heads from www.idealcylinderhead.com.

You will need the following:

Upper Intake Gaskets
Lower Intake Gaskets
Head Gaskets
Valve Cover Gaskets
New Head Bolts
Anti-Seize
Black RTV
Engine Assembly Lube
Thermostat (Good to replace while you have the motor apart)
Pushrods (Good to replace while you have the motor apart)
Lifters (Good to replace while you have the motor apart)
Spark Plugs
Enough oil for two oil changes
Two Oil filters
Coolant
It's also a good idea to clean out the Throttle body and MAF while you have it all apart.

If your brother is a mechanic he will know all the basic tips and tricks....Label all the hoses, and electrical connections...etc.

 

My first reaction was to trade or sell it, but prices are rediculous around here for Rangers since gas got high and economy worsened... my truck is worth more with the shape its in than when I bought it almost 2 yrs ago.
I can stand to put a grand back into it rather than trade and maybe get something as bad or worse (but newer) ...

 

Thanks, I had searched for a "how to " on this and never found one for doing the heads... but now have found plenty of other projects I want to do thanks to all the info everyones put into this site. As soon as I can I will definitely make a contribution to the site, I just can't see paying probably double the cost just to have someone else do it half-**s when with my brothers help I can do it and know it's done right... one reason I've went back to doing my own oil changes, coolant flushes, etc. Even the better shops around here are a joke, the one decent guy we have besides my bro stays covered up just doing simple mech work, and my bro mostly does it as a hobby now since his other job pays alot more than mechanic work.

 

I rebuilt my 4.0L about 6 months after I learned how to change oil. It's really just a matter of having a shop manual and the right tools. It's extremly easy on this motor.