We just purchased a 1988 Ranger XLT 4X2 for my youngest son. I want to get him hooked on doing some little simple customization. Maybe a cold air intake, maybe some LED lighting upgrades, some cool dash gauge back lighting. Love to hear some ideas and see some pictures if possible.

 

Welcome to the forum

Well, all fuel injected Rangers came with cold air intake
The lighting updates sound cool

What engine is in the 1988?
2.3l I4, or 2.9l V6

 

This truck has the 2.9 liter motor and what I meant by the cold air intake change was just a nicer set up like a K&N cold air.
The truck has 167000 and the guy we bought it off seemed to not know much about cars. The truck starts right up but runs a little rough. It doesn’t sample when idling but when you first start off it has white smoke at the beginning.
so we did a oil change with a triple sea foam clean. A can in the gas tank, a can in the crank case and sprayed the carberator with the cab and choke cleaner. We’re running a little thicker oil Castro’s 10W-40 high mileage and some Lucas oil treatment that’s been a huge difference so far. We also changed the air filter and PCV valve which are all little things but can’t hurt.

 

2.9L never had a carburetor?

No Ranger V6 did after 1985, the 2.8l was last V6 with a carb
In 1986 Rangers got the fuel injected 2.9l to replace the 2.8l

 

someone could’ve changed the intake and converted it to a carburetor motor. I had a 1989 f150 with a 351w and the earlier fuel injection system in Ford motors suck a lot of people swap over the carburetor systems

 

As RonD posted, your Ranger already has a factory cold air intake. May not look fancy, but it does the job. All an aftermarket set up will do is look fancy, and draw air from inside the engine compartment, ie. not a cold air intake. It will also lighten your wallet of $$$ that could be put to better use. Also, the stock
paper air filter has been proven to remove much more "stuff" than just about any aftermarket filter. There is possibly an air intake silencer or baffle that may be inside the airbox where it connects to the front bracing. that can be removed to get a bit of "growl". I know the later model Rangers have it...my 2009 did, but unsure if your 88 has one...maybe someone else will jump in with info.. If there is, its simple to remove, won't harm anything, but will sound "better", and its free.
Better off taking that $$$ and putting it toward a free'r flowing cat back exhaust, which will give you a bit of sound and a few horsepower.
Lights sound nice, and how about maybe upgrading the stereo and speakers...easy stuff for a beginner to do.