My name is Greg and I am the proud owner of my 5th Ford Ranger over the years. Some old some new and all sold for different reasons. I always seem to come back to Rangers and here I am again. I currently live in Lafayette, La and will be finishing graduate school in just a few months.

I picked up a really nice 2004 Ranger base with 73,000 miles on it and I have come to Ranger Forums to learn how I can make it a little less "Base". I have been really surprized by the power and highway capabilities that this 4cyl 5 speed has compared to my last Ranger (1991). My intended mods are:

1 Swap factory AM/FM radio for a factory CD/Cassette... Yes Cassette
2 Pull the vinyl seat and put in a cloth seat out of a 04' Edge
3 Modify the over the rail bed liner so I can mount a bed cover.
4. Aftermarket cruise (its not already wired. Thanks Ranger forums for showing me how to tell)

Aside those main ideas I may add aluminum wheels for looks and a small graphic to break up the ugly white color. Of course it was a smokers truck before so when I change the seat I am going to make a weekend out of removing most of the interior for a good cleaning. Thank god for rubber floors.

The whole idea is a reliable, gas friendly truck with a few creature comforts.

 

Welcome! Don't see too many other LA members around here!

 

Welcome!

 

Thanks for the welcome guys.

I added a new thing to my list of things to do to the truck. The miles on the truck are all highway so the top center of the wheel is badly worn from 1 hand resting there. So I decided to get a new wheel. It seems like no one is selling the wheel I need without cruise buttons. All the junk yards say is that they only sell it with the column. I see alot of traffic on here by people putting factory cruise in their trucks and switching steering wheels. So if someone has one they took off or can steer me the right way I'd appreciate it.

 

Welcome

 

Welcome neighbor. Central Mississippian here.

 

you have any local u-pull junkyards? that way you can just get the wheel because thats all you need...welcome BTW

 

There is a Pull-A-Part in south Jackson MS. They will sell you just the wheel if they have what you need. Not too far from you if you can't find something local.

Or I can go and get the part for you and send it to you.

 

Thanks for the welcome.

I called the local Lafayette Pull-A-Part and the newest ranger they had was a '98. I just said screw it and bought a steering wheel cover. Good as new! :)
I do apprciate the offer Rider99XX. If I decided I need to have it I'll let you know. For now I am content with the wheel cover.

Its been a good week for the truck so far. I got it Monday and havin been smoked in for years it was smelly. After 6 hours of cleaning it looks and smells clean. I also got my cloth seats in. I picked them up from an '04 edge for only $170 with 55,000 miles so they were in nice shape. My radio bezel had some issues. One vent was broken and the textured finish was peeling off. I fixed the vent, turns out someone pushed too hard and knocked the fins out of the grooves. I then soaked the bezed in hot soapy water for a while so I could rub the rest of the textured coating off. Now its a gloss black. Looks pretty good considering it looked aweful before. Someone may be buying my vinyl seat this week so thats a little ore money to put into the truck and I have a set of pre-tentioners I can sell too.

When I am done I hope to have a Ranger XL that you can't tell is an XL. :) Cheap and nice with great MPG. The last owner said he got 32mpg if the whole tank was highway. I'm averageing 27 this week.

 

Welcome !!!
Looks like you quite a list ahead of you!

 

Here are some pictures.




Before:



After: Notice the addition of 2 more cupholders. The seat was out of an automatic and mine is a manual. Now I have 4 cup holders. YAY!


The gloss bezel: (my cd/cassette radio should be here this week)

 

Yes I do. Its fun to take such a bland plain truck and give it a few upgrades. Once I get my list done I might do some cosmetic changes but for now its just making the inside more comfortable.

 

No problem Root2812, if I can help let me know. Where did you get those seats? Those look nice and the cup holders are a welcome addition.

 

After I got the truck I just looked on craigslist for someone parting out a newer ranger. One guy had a low milage edge that hit a bridge rail at 65mph. He was close by so I picked them up. I do like having 4 cup holders instead of 2. Haha. My last ranger didn't have any so I was due for a few.

 

Those seats are sa weeeeeet!
I've been trying to locate some from 2004+
for awhile now.Keep up the nice work!

 

Its wierd to me that you are having trouble finding 04+ seats. Just this week I found 2 04' edge's being parted out and one 05' STX with buckets being parted out.

I went with the 60/40 bench instead of the buckets so that my dog would have a place to sit when the wife was in the truck. Had I gotten an extended cab I'd have gone with the buckets with console.

Good luck finding your seats.

 

I should've stated " for a price that I can afford" ;0)
Thank you

 

Ahhh gotcha. Mines all on a tight budget too so I get what you're saying.

 

Here is my latest upgrade. Along with a cassette adapter for my ipod its a great set up. It did however expose what complete garbage my speakers are.