Good Afternoon Ranger Nation,

Just a little background of the truck first. I have a 2000 Ranger 3.0 4x4 that needs some TLC to keep her on the road. I have decided to do so, so here I am. Almost 200,000 miles and still going.

Recently, I got a local tire shop to put two new front tires on but they wouldn't give me an alignment due to my ball joints and tie rods needing to be replaced. I told them that I can do the work myself, as I have done this once before. I was wanting to know what all I should consider to order, on top of the ball joints and tie rods, in order to replace necessary linked parts. I could use a quick list of what to consider when servicing the front end. To start, I would say that I need to replace the front bearings, upper and lower ball joints, tie rods, and that's all I have so far. After that, I'll be sure to pay for someone to do the alignment.

On the other end, I also need to replace my back brakes, which are drums, as well as the related parts. If you know, can you please give me an idea of what to consider for replacing the drums and bearings, etc.

If there are any good sources that you know if to, please let me know so I can look further into.

Best Wishes,

 

I bought all my stuff for my truck from RockAuto.

Make a list, double check it. Walk around the truck with it. Inspect everything you want to replace or suspect needs replacement. Then buy it all at once. You will save a lot on shipping, and they only charge one shipping fee for it.

During my initial phase of my refresh, I kept buying small stuff every other day, and would of saved around 100 or so just in shipping had I just made a list and bought it all at once.

As far as the front nd is concerned, I would look into all your suspension bushings as well. You'll need to disconnect everything to really inspect them for play and wear. For 200k, if you're going to service it all, may as well throw those in if you have the skill/means to pull the bushings. Otherwise just buy a whole new arm if you'd rather do that, but someone with a press should get those knocked out for cheap for you. Lower ball joints, tie rod ends, and upper control arms (I don't think either torsion or coil spring has serviceable upper joints, mine doesn't)

As for the brakes, just replace all of it. Pads, hardware, and self adjusters. Most of the time those star adjusters are wasted to begin with. A trick for drum breaks - Buy a torch, like a MAPP gas one. Run that around the axle flange where the drum seats until you hear a few "crack/ting" sounds. The drums should come off like butter afterwards (save for minor effort to work them around your pads, if the star adjuster is seized and cannot be turned in) 9 inch drums have ribs. 10 inch are smooth. You might as well replace the front pads while you are at it. Inspect rotor for wear/runout and have them turned/replaced if necessary. This is also a good time to replace your parking brake cables. The pedal and bare intermediate cables are usually not an issue. The rears often fail. If anything before you buy parts you might want to remove the drums in the back to inspect the wheel cylinders. There is a good chance given the age of the truck that at least one of them might be weeping.

I essentially replaced every part on the truck save for interior and the body, including a trans and engine rebuild I did myself. All in all, I'll have about 2500 in the truck, once I purchase the suspension components and redo the front control arms and joints as you are doing now. I also suggest shocks while you're in there.

But, before you do ANY of that...ask a buddy to throw it on the lift, or take it to an oil change shop. Throw them 20 bucks for their time, and spray every component down with PB'laster or whatever your favorite oil is. You will thank yourself by doing so. It's also a quick way to tell if any of the components might give you trouble, and if you will need anything else "special" to get things apart. Make sure (imperative) that you spray all 4 brake bleeders. You're going to want to do a complete system flush. The last thing you want to get yourself into is a brake job and break the bleeder.