2002 Ford Ranger

Vehicle Overview

This truck was handed down to me by my father in drivable, but otherwise shabby shape. It is a (deep breath) 2002 Ford Ranger XLT 4x2 4-door SuperCab, with the SLP Engineering Thunderbolt Stage II performance & appearance package. The engine has clocked over 180,000 miles and had been driving around with bad timing chain guides, oil leaks everywhere, a broken power steering pump, worn-out motor mounts and sway bar end links, a broken steering column and armrest, broken fog lights and a tired paint job. I've gone through a lot of work so far tearing this thing down and fixing many of these issues and am in the process of reassembling the engine with new seals (except for head gaskets), replacing the motor and transmission mounts, replacing most of the front suspension, rear shocks, brake pads, power steering pump and generally trying to make the thing more powerful. I've added an electric fan to replace the mechanical fan and an underdrive crank pulley. I previously fixed the armrest and replaced the steering column to improve the car's drivability. For a while, I planned to make this a daily-driver, but now I'm converting it into my own personal performance truck with intentions to further upgrade horsepower and to take it to track days.

Vehicle Story

Future Plans

I have purchased a supercharger and manifold kit with the intention to eventually install it, but I'm going to enjoy the work I've done to restore this vehicle for a little while first. I plan to use water-meth injection and strap this kit to a fortified engine I have yet to acquire. I would like to learn about electronic performance tuning so that I can program this thing myself. I'm a database programmer by trade and I've always been fascinated by cars and vehicle engineering.