So I was poking around under my 97 Ranger and found this: Pretty obviousley not a good thing but what exactly is it? How urgent is it that it be fixed and how long would you guess it can be driven like this?

 

Probably not much longer when it comes to the last photo, you can see the pin is almost worn through.
New mounts and bushings are available.
Looks like the mount may still be OK, but the bolt will have to be replaced too.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...g+bushing,7488

 

So what exactly is this bushing holding, would this be called the forward leaf spring?

 

The bushing is holding the leaf spring on the front shackle and is held in place with a bolt.
The bolt in your photo is weakened where it's worn thin, so it can't be re-used.
What's missing is the rubber that the actual bushing is made from, it's pretty much gone.

Not so much the forward leaf spring, but the forward mount.
What's the rear shackle look like, that's usually the one that fails, fails, not the front ?
Sometimes the frame on the rear where the shackle rusts away too.

It's a big job to replace the bushing, the entire leaf spring (on each side if it's gone too) has to be removed so the outer steal part of the original bushing can be pressed out on a hydraulic press.
The press is also used to insert the new bushing.

Once the new bushings are pressed in and the springs are mounted with the new bolts, the truck is let standing in it's static position with nothing in the bed.
Then the bolts are tightened up as to correctly pre-load the rubber in the new bushings.

 

Looks like the transmission cross member mounts to me.

 

You have any suggestions for any good how to videos or posts on how such a procedure is conducted?

 

It is indeed bolted to the Transmission

 

OK, yes trans mount, it's much different then mine.

 

Yes, that's the transmission support bar bracket, also called crossmember frame bracket

Drawing here: http://repairguide.autozone.com/znet...528008d497.gif

Unfortunately the rubber bushings are rotted out and they are part of the crossmember not a separate part, so you would have to buy a whole new crossmember, but...........

If you are a resourceful person you may be able to make bushings
You will need new bolts and nuts as the ones on there will most likely have to be cut off
The brackets on the frame look OK, and should be fine to reuse

And there is also the option of a 1994 crossmember which bolted to the frame no bushings or hangers, but it is said there is more vibration transfer

Or see if you can find one with OK bushings at wrecking yard, but look closely, they use fork lifts to move cars around and crossmember is easily bent


Front leaf spring brackets are a little farther back on the frame

 

Thanks guys you've been a lot of help. Hopefully this isn't to hard a fix. Or at least a educational one xD

 

Ok so I'm considering these two replacements: https://www.ebay.com/i/151444438467?chn=ps Because it seems fairly easy, and straight forward to install and it's not breaking the bank.
The second consideration is this: https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts...ort-e9tz6a023e I'm not sure the this is actually the right part, but it looks like it is and on another forum it was stated it was used for such a purpose. It is also not stated if the bolts would come with it or not.
Any suggestions?

 

Second selection is better because it isolates frame from vibration of engine/trans and driveline, like what you had before

The bolt needs to be correct diameter, it doesn't need to be super hard metal so hardware store bolts can be used

Nut needs to be nylok or double nut so it can't unscrew itself
Ford used pinch nut setup for these I believe, pinch nut is slightly out of round so can't unscrew itself
Use washers, the bigger the better, the brackets are rusty so you want to spread out the holding force of the bolt/nut

Of course the metal nuts and bolts can start to rust, so paint them after install , use primer then paint

 

Talk about going off topic
What the heck does some kind of golf game have to do with a transmission cross member ?

 

Alright here is a update for those who care, your advice was crucial to make this happen!

As you can kind of see this bar was not in the best of shape.

Yup, that's a toasted Transmission mount!

I say it turned out pretty well!

 

Good deal!