Hello!
First post here! I have a "new" 99 XLT and needed to take the bed off to even get it running. With the bed off, I was thinking of taking on some things.

First, I was going to change the Fuel Pump with the AIRTEX E2263S kit, (126" wheelbase). I'd love to get a OEM, but the price is outrageous for "preventative" maintenance. I was also picking up the Airtex FTPS2 Fuel Tank Pressure Sensor. Should I also change the locking nut to the pump? I was also going to change the Fuel Filler neck but I can't seem to find the part number I need.

I also picked up some shocks. I don't really need the bed off, but it's easier to see. And same boat for changing the rear differential fluid. I was wondering if I should look into the leaf springs and even the exhaust. I don't think there's anything wrong with them, but the accessibility is awesome. And I just want a new exhaust.

Any thoughts on what else I should do? There's a great amount of rust. I'm all about taking a wire wheel and trying one of those rust converters. Anything else I should do? Right now, my priority is figuring out how to remove one of the Torx bolts that broke in the frame. Got the Dorman replacements on the way, but need to get that one out.

 

Here's my take on changing your fuel pump. Unless its broken I would not touch it. Reason being you have a known quality ford pump (unless previously replaced) which can last the lifetime of the truck. None of the aftermarket pumps are as good as OEM so I'd take a used functional OEM pump over an aftermarket one any day. You may change it and the new pump dies in a year where the old one would have kept on chugging away.

If it were me I would pull it (verify it's a motorcraft pump) and if so change the pre-filter but leave the pump alone. If it's already an aftermarket pump then replace at your own discretion. Just my opinion.

while the bed is off check and replace any questionable fuel, brake, or vent lines. Check all the wiring for damage. If it looks effed up fix it. I wouldn't go nuts just throwing parts at it unless you have a viable reason to suspect damage. (The exhaust thing being an exception... upgrades are always a necessity! )

As for taking care of the rust, look into a product called "corroseal". I've used it, it works. It brushes on as a milk like substance and turns rusted surfaces into a black finish after 10 mins or so. Then you can just rattle can some enamel on top.

 

DO NOT for the love of various gods install an Airtex branded anything in any vehicle. 100% junk and you will be replacing the pump in less than a year if you do. Company needs to go bankrupt.

Check over your rear shackles and spring mounts - known to rot out bad on rangers for some reason.

 

If you're near or above 200k, I'd replace the pump. No opinion on brand though. Certainly motorcraft is excellent, but as you pointed out it's expensive. Bosch has a good reputation.

Lag spring hangers, shackles, and bushings should all be checked. Clean and rust treat the frame as needed.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I can definitely verify it's an OEM fuel pump. And what's funny is someone even mentioned Airtex providing OEM pumps on some model Rangers. And if I read it on the internet, it's definitely true I think the ordeal of taking the bed was a nightmare. But besides removing a gear box and bed liner, if the bolts hadn't required the strength of Thor & 6 Rosie O'Donnels, it really wouldn't have been that bad. And with the new Dorman kit, I might just punt the idea of a pump unit and wait for it to go bad. Btw, the truck is about 125k right now. That said, should I still go ahead and change out the fuel filler neck and even fuel pressure sensor at this stage? I can't seem to find the filler neck part number online, but I think a Spectre unit is like $80.

And yes to corroseal! I've read a bunch on that stuff. The rust isn't as terrible as I mentioned. It's more just neglect and that cross support behind the cab that need the TLC. Then the hitch, etc. As far as lines, that's actually what I'm working on now. But the shackles and hangers... how do I know if they're bad? This is my first leaf spring suspension so please feel free to talk down to me! I just grabbed a few shots, (forgive the cellphone quality).

Oh, and if I did "preventative maintanance" to swap the exhaust, are there a lot of catback bolt-ons or would I need to concern myself with welding and all that stuff? Never replaced my own exhaust before.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I can definitely verify it's an OEM fuel pump. And what's funny is someone even mentioned Airtex providing OEM pumps on some model Rangers. And if I read it on the internet, it's definitely true I think the ordeal of taking the bed was a nightmare. But besides removing a gear box and bed liner, if the bolts hadn't required the strength of Thor & 6 Rosie O'Donnels, it really wouldn't have been that bad. And with the new Dorman kit, I might just punt the idea of a pump unit and wait for it to go bad. Btw, the truck is about 125k right now. That said, should I still go ahead and change out the fuel filler neck and even fuel pressure sensor at this stage? I can't seem to find the filler neck part number online, but I think a Spectre unit is like $80.

And yes to corroseal! I've read a bunch on that stuff. The rust isn't as terrible as I mentioned. It's more just neglect and that cross support behind the cab that need the TLC. Then the hitch, etc. As far as lines, that's actually what I'm working on now. But the shackles and hangers... how do I know if they're bad? This is my first leaf spring suspension so please feel free to talk down to me! I just grabbed a few shots, (forgive the cellphone quality).

Oh, and if I did "preventative maintanance" to swap the exhaust, are there a lot of catback bolt-ons or would I need to concern myself with welding and all that stuff? Never replaced my own exhaust before.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I can definitely verify it's an OEM fuel pump. And what's funny is someone even mentioned Airtex providing OEM pumps on some model Rangers. And if I read it on the internet, it's definitely true I think the ordeal of taking the bed was a nightmare. But besides removing a gear box and bed liner, if the bolts hadn't required the strength of Thor & 6 Rosie O'Donnels, it really wouldn't have been that bad. And with the new Dorman kit, I might just punt the idea of a pump unit and wait for it to go bad. Btw, the truck is about 125k right now. That said, should I still go ahead and change out the fuel filler neck and even fuel pressure sensor at this stage? I can't seem to find the filler neck part number online, but I think a Spectre unit is like $80.

And yes to corroseal! I've read a bunch on that stuff. The rust isn't as terrible as I mentioned. It's more just neglect and that cross support behind the cab that need the TLC. Then the hitch, etc. As far as lines, that's actually what I'm working on now. But the shackles and hangers... how do I know if they're bad? This is my first leaf spring suspension so please feel free to talk down to me! I just grabbed a few shots, (forgive the cellphone quality).

Oh, and if I did "preventative maintanance" to swap the exhaust, are there a lot of catback bolt-ons or would I need to concern myself with welding and all that stuff? Never replaced my own exhaust before.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I can definitely verify it's an OEM fuel pump. And what's funny is someone even mentioned Airtex providing OEM pumps on some model Rangers. And if I read it on the internet, it's definitely true I think the ordeal of taking the bed was a nightmare. But besides removing a gear box and bed liner, if the bolts hadn't required the strength of Thor & 6 Rosie O'Donnels, it really wouldn't have been that bad. And with the new Dorman kit, I might just punt the idea of a pump unit and wait for it to go bad. Btw, the truck is about 125k right now. That said, should I still go ahead and change out the fuel filler neck and even fuel pressure sensor at this stage? I can't seem to find the filler neck part number online, but I think a Spectre unit is like $80.

And yes to corroseal! I've read a bunch on that stuff. The rust isn't as terrible as I mentioned. It's more just neglect and that cross support behind the cab that need the TLC. Then the hitch, etc. As far as lines, that's actually what I'm working on now. But the shackles and hangers... how do I know if they're bad? This is my first leaf spring suspension so please feel free to talk down to me! I just grabbed a few shots, (forgive the cellphone quality).

Oh, and if I did "preventative maintenance" to swap the exhaust, are there a lot of catback bolt-ons or would I need to concern myself with welding and all that stuff? Never replaced my own exhaust before.

 

Those shackles passed bad 10 years ago! The hangers are probably salvageable though.

 

haha - I'm very OEM :)

What would I need to replace those besides the actual shackles? Like what's the connecting bracket called on the other end of the leaf springs?

 

The hangers are the parts riveted to the frame. The front of the leaf bolts direct to the hanger. The shackle bolts from the rear of the spring to the rear hanger. The shackles come ready to just bolt on, you dont need anything else to replace them.

 

I wonder what the critter was nesting on the fuel tank ???

 

Thanks! At this point with almost 20 years on the truck, would it be prudent to just replace the springs, bushings, and shackles? I wasn't able to put a load on the bed before removing it, but there's a lot of give. Not sure how much of that is due to the worn out shocks though.
And as bad as the tank looks, it's really just a bunch of pine needles. They sort of collected there when I pulled the bed back.

 

The shocks won't have any real effect on the give in the suspension. If the springs are worn out, you have lots of options. I just finished installing a set pulled out of an Explorer Sport Trac (same as an Explorer as far as I know). They ended up quite a bit taller than I'd expected though, so the next time I have things apart I'll remove the factory lift block. I've attached a photo (for reference, those are 33" tires).

 

Dang - that's some lift there! I'm not jumping at the bit to necessarily replace the springs, but if I have to take off the shackles, I'm sort of already there. Which leads to the next thing: do I need to worry about replacing those hangers or are they as good as the frame? If I have to do the shackles & hangers, why not just do the leaf springs too, you know? Oh, and I was looking at some bracket kits. Do they all come with bushings or is it just the bracket?

Sorry to ask so many questions. Totally green behind the ears on this type of setup. So far, I think I'm going to:
1) Replace the Fuel Filler Neck (Still looking for a part number)
2) Replace the Rear Shocks with Bilstein (24-188258) 4600 Series
3) Replace the bed mounting bolts & clips with Dorman 924-310
4) Wire brush & coat the frame/axle with Corroseal and follow up with some sort of top coat
5) Do something about the spring suspension...
6) Look into some sort of bolt-on/no welding cat back system

 

The hangers look fine to me. I wouldn't replace them, just clean and paint them. For the springs... Unless the truck was leaning, sagging, or the springs are corroded (they dont apear to be) again i would just clean and paint them. The leaf springs in my mustang are 53 years old and work the same as they did when they were new. leaf springs really dont wear out much unless they were damaged or used really hard. You may consider replacing the bushings however as they absolutely wear out.

If you wanna go nuts here's what i would do. Remove the springs and shackles, throw the shackles in the nearest river. Buy new shackles. Then take the spring pack apart by removing the center pin. Remove and replace the bushing on the main leaf. Then individually clean and paint each leaf. When you put the pack back together put in new teflon pads between each spring on the center and tips and use a new center pin. If they have spring clamps replace them as well. Use an open top clamp for a softer ride or a solid clamp for a stiffer ride. You now have the equivalent of new springs for about 20 bucks plus whatever shackles cost.

One of my first jobs in highschool was at a frame shop that had me sit there all day rebuilding/upgrading spring packs for plow trucks... To this day I still have PTSD when I see an F-250 with a plow frame on it.

 

I would definitely deal with the shackles and the hangers while you have access. The spring eye bushings are worth looking at as well. Be sure to use anti sieze on all the bolts when you put it all back together.
​​​​​​If you've been considering a body lift, now would be the time to do that. A kit would come with the new bolts you need, or you can piece together a one inch set for about $50.

 

Thank you guys for the advice! This is great. The truck "had a brake leak" which led me to take the bed off. And this was a can of worms. I really like the idea of saving some dough, (already picked up 4 shocks and front brake pads. Still need rotors and new rear shoes. This on top of needing 4 new tires. And that's not even addressing the actual engine yet! ) I'm definitely picking up rear hangars & shackles. Whole kit with the bushing and all new bolts. If I can find a decent price on the front hangers, I'd swap them, but they're looking pretty dang pricey right now. But going through all this, I'm really wondering if new springs would be the way to go. Once the rain stops, I'm taking some cleaner and power washer to see if there's "markings" or hairline cracks appearing. Regardless, I'm trying to replace all the bolts just to have a fresh starting point - so long as it's not too much cash money. Does anyone know what U Bolts I'd need? My suspension code is BK.

Thanks again guys!

 

U-bolts are kinda generic and just go by bolt diameter x width between legs x leg length x round or square bend. No reason to buy them as a ranger specific part, you'll just pay more. They are for sale all over amazon in kits for 20-30 bucks, just find your size.

 

Found this info in a separate post:
Had to look it up because I couldn't remember the bolt info.

 

Thanks all for the information! This is making my head spin. I've been sitting here putting a hurt on Google and it's taking the punishment. From what I can tell, Rangers with drum brakes use the 28 spline. I think I'm ready to pull the trigger on some stuff.

First, I'm not against saving some coin and doing a rebuild. But considering the bed is off and there's almost 20 years on the springs and I have 0 experience repacking them, (plus the costs of the bushings, bolts, and hoses), I'm going to opt for new springs, rear hangars, and shackles. I'm going to paint the front hangers. And I'm going to go ahead and get some new U-Bolts. I went to several different sites just looking and looking, and I think I found an all-in-one stop at ATS. Right now, I have:
Stage 2 3/1 1,250lb Leaf Springs (with bushings and leaf eye bolts)
Rear Hanger & Shackles, (with bolts)
1/2 X 3 X 9-3/4 U-Bolt Kit

So in addition to reusing the front hanger and bolt, it looks like I'd have to reuse the U-Bolt plate too.

A couple of concerns though: Will this 3/1 setup noticeably raise the truck? My spring code is BK and I think my OEM springs are 2/1 at 1,100 lbs. I'm not looking to really go crazy, but now's the time to add a little extra for down the road. And concerning the U-Bolts, these are Grade 5. Is that a big deal or should I be looking to match Grade 8. And heck, while at it, should I get a new eye bolt for the front hangars?

Thanks again!