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Just been hectic. 50-60 hour work weeks with another hour commute each way, broke down vehicles to fix, floods closing bridges, not to mention my little guy is 2 now & likes to be the center of attention.

When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way!
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gotcha,,,your making me tired just listening.lol,,most of my long hours start in the winter,,,,too many snowy moutains to climb....but summer i usually spend all my free time remodeling my house,,,,either way sometimes i dont get on here for weeks at a time...bob

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Welp...there goes Christmas! On my way to work this morning and the transmission let go in the Ranger. Good news is the local auto parts stores can get remanned ones in for about $800. Bad news is that's $800 we just weren't looking to spend on a vehicle right now. I doubt the one off my '86 (4-banger 5-speed) will bolt up to the '92 (V-6 5-speed) as the slip yolks were different. Slip yolk is an easy fix if that's the ONLY issue...I'm afraid the bolt pattern on the blocks are different as well. Just the way this year has gone...2 steps forward followed by a kick in the teeth and 5 steps back.

Sitting on the side of the interstate now waiting for the wife to bring the Suburban & draw-bar to tow it home. Fun times.

When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way!
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Got it home. Neighbor has an uncluttered garage I can put my diesel/kerosene heater in to at least stay warm & dry. On the plus side, it SHOULD come out easy enough as it was just out a month ago doing the clutch & slave cylinder. Neighbor says his cousin just bought an old Ranger for parts, so if it's 2wd with the 183cid V6 and a 5-speed, I might have a transmission. Otherwise, he says "junk yards sell those for $50-$75 all day long"...just not sure about a junk yard transmission. But, if it gets me down the road for a few months until I can get a remanned (or tear into/fix this one), then it'd be worth it just in fuel savings alone vs commuting 100 miles/day in the F250 (which is OOS at the moment...timing cover gasket leaking antifreeze) or Suburban (having issues with that transmission, too...but that might be due to the tach signal coming from the ECM being anything but accurate & steady). Beyond that, I've got my bike back on the road (it sat for 5-1/2 years) and the wife's (that I've been riding) decided to dump all its oil onto my garage floor. Yeah, it's a Harley. Then there's the Mack...with no plates, no insurance, no batteries, and a leaking transmission input shaft seal. What good is having spare vehicles when they're all broke?

 

Just got to get ahold of the neighbor again so I can get over there and get to work on it...

When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way!
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My "friend" whos numbers I was running decided insurance was too expensive & leased his trucks onto another carrier...leaving me up a creek w/o a paddle at the end of August last year. With the input shaft seal leaking, it wouldn't pass an inspection to lease back on where I had been before (really didn't want to anyway because of their insistance on running THEIR peoplenet system and charging me for it & the access it would give them to info that goes with it which they have no reason to have), and because my "friend" was a little behind on paying me, I didn't have the resources to get my own numbers. So, it got parked. Hopefully next spring when the weather breaks I can tear into it. I had hoped to this year, but it didn't quit raining dang near August...

 

Hell, he STILL owes me over $3K and hasn't taken my calls or responded to a text in over a year. His wife says she's sure he'll call "when he's ready". I THOUGHT he was a friend...was best man at my wedding. He's SUPPOSED to be my boy's Godfather. At this point, I couldn't care less about the money...sure, it'd be nice & would go a long way towards getting things fixed the way they need to be, but I'm getting by without it. It's only money. Losing a good friend of damn near 20 years sucks.

 

When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way!
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Sorry to hear all this has happened to you and you are right losing the money is bad enough and with time and hard work you can recover financially but the loss of a supposed to be friend stings forever I wish you all the best and hope everything turns around for you and family 

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Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you’ll get through this hard time. It’s no fun when the rain storm settles in your world but on the bright side this will make you really appreciate when things are going well. Hope things get better soon, merry Christmas. 

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The problems we face today exist because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by the people who vote for a living.

The government can only "give" someone what they first take from another.

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Got the Ranger tore down, and there was a silver lining to it all. I'd been hearing a ticking sound coming from the front left wheel. Just put new brakes/calipers/rotors/brake lines/wheel bearings/etc...on this summer, and it's only been back on the road since August. Been meaning to jack it up and investigate, but with so much other crap going on just haven't had time. It drove straight, no vibrations, handled well, and no obvious signs other than the slight "tick tick tick" as the wheel went around. Well, when I raised it up to pull the transmission, I took a look at that front wheel. I've never even seen that much play in a shopping cart wheel! The outer bearing race fell out of the rotor when I pulled it off the spindle. I'm surprised the entire wheel didn't come off...which would've been REALLY bad. So, the transmission going out probably saved me and the truck, because losing that wheel running the roads I commute on at the speeds I take them would've been quite ugly...total the truck and probably do some serious damage to me, too.

 

Anyway, I'm a little jealous of my boy. I'm rolling around on the creeper, struggling to maneuver around in the tight quarters under the truck...and all he has to do is stoop over a little bit and walk. Being in the garage is nice because he can wander around and watch me work, rather than be contained in the bed of the truck. I don't need him wandering off while I'm elbow deep in a project. I'd upload a pic of him "helping" but they're all too large...only have 1.57MB available. If I find time here in the next few days I might see about making some room to do that...

When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way!
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  • 3 weeks later...

Sorry for your difficulties Rowdy, but it'll get better. And I've wished over and over that i'd kept my 4 cyl. 5 spd. Ranger, one of- if not THE- best vehicles i've ever had. I let it go and kept the POS Dodge just because the Dodge was 4wd.

Producer of poorly photo-chopped pictures since 1999.

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Ranger's been back together for a week now. Took 3 weeks to find a transmission that would work...that 3L has a unique bolt pattern, so it HAD to come off a 3L truck. One a friend located for me was in AR and off a '98...so the tail housing & speedometer drive gear had to be swapped over since the '98 was electronic. Other than that, it bolted right up easy enough. It's nice to commute for $12/day in fuel again vs the $30/day it costs in the Suburban. Transmission will pay for itself pretty quick.

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When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way!
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