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Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 04:51:21 -0700 (MST)
From: owner-fordtrucks-small-digest ListService.net (fordtrucks-small-digest)
To: fordtrucks-small-digest ListService.net
Subject: fordtrucks-small-digest V2 #24
Reply-To: fordtrucks-small ListService.net
Sender: owner-fordtrucks-small-digest ListService.net


fordtrucks-small-digest Friday, January 23 1998 Volume 02 : Number 024



=======================================================================
Ford Truck Enthusiasts - Ranger, Explorer & Bronco 2
Visit our web site: http://www.ford-trucks.com/
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=======================================================================
In this issue:

Cowl induction, Ram Air, and Black box q's [Luke Wells
Re: fordtrucks-small-digest V2 #23 [Blest25913 ]
Re: fordtrucks-small-digest V2 #23 [Blest25913 ]
Re: fordtrucks-small-digest V2 #22 ["Joseph L. Casey"
pinging [M A Bolch ]
Re: pinging [Gardner ]
LOWERING KITS /MUSTANG WHEELS ["Jeff Wey" ]
Re: Who cares about Toyota [Jordan ]
5.2 to 5.0 swap [Jordan ]
Re: pinging [M A Bolch ]
More CB stuff [ILuvTruks ]
Cleaning up clearcoat wheels [Barry Nestor ]
pinging [Hawk sktc.net]
Re: fordtrucks-small-digest V2 #23 [Midwest96 ]
Re: Who cares about Toyota [Midwest96 ]
Re: More CB stuff [Midwest96 ]
A little antenna theory (was CB's) [Patrick De Gagne ]
Re: Who cares about Toyota [Diana Slyter ]
Re: Who cares about Toyota [FastRngXLT ]
Re: fordtrucks-small-digest V2 #22 [Bakend ]

=======================================================================

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 11:56:08 -0500
From: Luke Wells
Subject: Cowl induction, Ram Air, and Black box q's

I have a few more questions, on cars with ram air how come water doesn't

get into the air filter, and
then the engine? Also how does cowl induction work, and which is better
cowl or ram-air? Also my
friend has a 4.0 Ranger and has a for black box behind the passenger
seat, what is it?

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 14:34:27 EST
From: Blest25913
Subject: Re: fordtrucks-small-digest V2 #23

In a message dated 1/22/98 6:54:28 AM, you wrote:


Subject: This Mailing List...

Is activity really slow on this list or is there a server problem???
Should I be seeing my own posts?? If so, I'm not. What gives?
>>

I'm getting a digest or two every day.
Ron Trampe
'96 Ranger 4X4

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 14:46:58 EST
From: Blest25913
Subject: Re: fordtrucks-small-digest V2 #23

In a message dated 1/22/98 6:54:28 AM, you wrote:


Subject: question for the CBer's out there...

I just installed my CB in my '97 Ranger. It works good but I'm getting a
lot of RF noise from certian componants on the truck. >>

Maybe its something simple like your squelch needs to be turned up. If I have
my squelch turned too low, I hear everything the truck is doing
electronically. With the squelch adjusted properly, the only thing that I hear
from the truck is a short burst of static whenever I drive out of a driveway
onto the road, from the transmission, I think.
In regard to the radio coming on to Ch. 9, that is because you have it wired
in to a switched power source. By that I mean that whenever the ignition is
turned off, there is no power to the radio. When the ignition is turned on,
the radio will default to ch. 9. To get around this, wire it into someplace
where there is always 12V. Or do like I have done now on both my vehicles,
plug it into the 'cigarette lighter'. That way you can unplug it if you think
it is causing problems elsewhere, such as the electronic transmission
(E40D)(if thats the one in a '96). My Ford dealer disconnected it from where I
had wired it in. Said it might cause problems with the transmission.
Ron Trampe
'96 Ranger 4X4

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 14:16:08 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph L. Casey"
Subject: Re: fordtrucks-small-digest V2 #22

I have questions about the two quotes from previous posts. My questions are
after the quotes.

You said,

"Is there any way to clean up/fix the aluminum wheels? The clear "coating"
is coming off.. and it looks ugly.. not shiny anymore"

and, Lou Guerriero said,

"I cleaned mine with a steel wool type of pad from the kitchen and then sprayed
>them with a clear coat."


My questions:

1. What is the name brand of the "steel wool type of pad?" And,is there a
danger that this sort of pad scratches the finish?

2. What is the nature of "spray them with clear coat." Do you mean clear
paint-like spray, or wax, or ??

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 16:48:11 EST
From: M A Bolch
Subject: pinging

I have a 94 Ranger with a 4.0 and 5 speed . I bought the truck used with 45000
miles . when i use 87 octane gas it pings under acceleration in high gear .
last time i went to midgrade 89 octane with same problem . i dont have this
problem with my 94 tarus with 3.? . is this a problem with all 4.0 engines or
just mine . any suggestions or comments would be appericiated .
thanks Mark

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 17:46:29 -0500
From: Gardner
Subject: Re: pinging

M A Bolch wrote:
>
> I have a 94 Ranger with a 4.0 and 5 speed . I bought the truck used with 45000
> miles . when i use 87 octane gas it pings under acceleration in high gear .
> last time i went to midgrade 89 octane with same problem . i dont have this
> problem with my 94 tarus with 3.? . is this a problem with all 4.0 engines or
> just mine . any suggestions or comments would be appericiated .
> thanks Mark
> +---------Ford Truck Enthusiasts - Ranger, Explorer & Bronco 2--------+
> | Send posts to fordtrucks-small listservice.net, |
> | List removal information is on the web site. |
> +---------- Visit Our Web Site: http://www.ford-trucks.com/ ----------+

how many miles do you have now?

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 16:55:50 -0500
From: "Jeff Wey"
Subject: LOWERING KITS /MUSTANG WHEELS

Luke ,I had Cobra wheels on my ranger direct bolt on had to get different
tires.My buddy put a set on an explorer and had to have the center holes
drilled out to fit.
As for lowering kits try pointing your browser at the following
http://www.ford-trucks.com//lc/lc.php?action=do&link=http://www.belltechcorp.com http://www.ford-trucks.com//lc/lc.php?action=do&link=http://www.traderstruck.com
http://www.ford-trucks.com//lc/lc.php?action=do&link=http://wwwstreetgear.com
http://www.ford-trucks.com//lc/lc.php?action=do&link=http://wwwaimind.com http://www.ford-trucks.com//lc/lc.php?action=do&link=http://www.chassistech.com These should get you
started if you have any questions feel free to e-mail me Jeff
jwey valkyrie.net

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 17:25:58 -0600
From: Jordan
Subject: Re: Who cares about Toyota

>I don't care how much whiz-bang power a Toyota has. I bought a FORD for a
>reason - dependability. If I wanted to own a piece of 1/16th inch metal
I'm sorry i love my explorer but hahahahahaha dependability. get real
look in consumer's reports or any REAL test magazine. The Fords are the
worst of the bunch. I guess you haven't heard of the 200k mile toyata with
one oil change at 100k and many other things. The ONLY problem with the
toyota trucks is how freaking expensive they are. (25% tarriff on imported
trucks)
>that 5 years from now we'll still be going on down the road while you are
yeah going down the road looking for a parts shop, I don't want to be rude
but you really should think about why you say stuff about other makes
before you do. I think you are just a person who wouldn't drive a toyota
truck if it was built from titanium , had a v12 engine and was a better off
road vehicle than a cheetah and only cost 10,000.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 17:17:51 -0600
From: Jordan
Subject: 5.2 to 5.0 swap

>I was quoted 14,636 (invoice) plus 200 for the salesperson for a
>1998(factory ordered) Dakota Sport with 5.2L 5 speed a/c and sport
>package with 3.90 gear ratio! Not a bad price but think I will go with
>the 5.0 swap instead in the summer...the aftermarket products for 5.0 is
>plentiful
First of all i believe the Dakota they are reffering to is the 5.9 (not
5.2) SS which would be really incredible. Anyway I saw a test on the 5.2
and they said it was the closest thing to a pony car the company makes. Why
would you want to spend all the extra money to swap an engine in with less
displacement, first of all its a truck and 5.2 will haul second, there are
and will be more performance stuff for the 5.2 and 5.9.

Back on topic, what do you guys think about a 302 swap into an explorer or
maybe a 351 even better, a 460 would do the job I think.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 18:03:52 EST
From: M A Bolch
Subject: Re: pinging

I just bought the thing have 47000 miles now . one of those things were i
should have ran the hell out of it during the test drive with the salesman .

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 21:35:19 EST
From: ILuvTruks
Subject: More CB stuff

Hey, everybody,
Has anybody here have any experience with the CB antannas that splice into the
radio antenna? How well to these work? How does the CB affect the radio, and
vise-versa? What kind of range can be expected?

Thanks
Clay

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 22:42:35 -0500
From: Barry Nestor
Subject: Cleaning up clearcoat wheels

Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 03:24:12 -0500
From: "Lou Guerriero"
Subject: Re: fordtrucks-small-digest V2 #22

Hi,

Is there any way to clean up/fix the aluminum wheels? The clear
"coating"
is coming off.. and it looks ugly.. not shiny anymore..

Any advice?

Lou Guerriero

Lou,

I think it depends on how much money and effort you want to put into it.
The
Eastwood Co at www.eastwoodco.com or 800-345-1178 has wheel finishing
kits for alot of different needs. I've always been sort of curious about
these kits since the wheels on my 91 Explorer are kind of beat up. If
you do end up trying one of these please let us know how your wheels
turn out and what it costs you to do them over, maybe I'll give it a try
after all.

Regards,

Barry Nestor
Digital Equipment Corp.
Littleton,MA

------------------------------

Date: 22 Jan 1998 22:04:08 EDT
From: Hawk sktc.net
Subject: pinging

FO>I have a 94 Ranger with a 4.0 and 5 speed . I bought the truck used with 450
FO>miles . when i use 87 octane gas it pings under acceleration in high gear .
FO>last time i went to midgrade 89 octane with same problem . i dont have this
FO>problem with my 94 tarus with 3.? . is this a problem with all 4.0 engines o
FO>just mine . any suggestions or comments would be appericiated .
FO>thanks Mark
FO>+---------Ford Truck Enthusiasts - Ranger, Explorer & Bronco 2--------+
FO>| Send posts to fordtrucks-small listservice.net, |
FO>| List removal information is on the web site. |
FO>+---------- Visit Our Web Site: http://www.ford-trucks.com/ ----------+

Mark,
I have a 94 Ranger with a 4.0 and a 5 speed and it doesn't ping.
However, I don't accelerate in high gear. Maybe you are lugging the
engine by accelerating in 5th, try dropping a gear and going on.
Buck

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 01:39:50 EST
From: Midwest96
Subject: Re: fordtrucks-small-digest V2 #23

In a message dated 98-01-22 14:50:32 EST, you write:


I
had wired it in. Said it might cause problems with the transmission.
Ron Trampe
'96 Ranger 4X4 >>

Were there specifics to that because I have never had any problems nor have my
friends, and three of us have service done regularly at the dealer. Vehicle's
are: 96F150XLT2x4 (Mine), 97RangerFlare4x2, and 94RangerXLT2x4

Craig

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 01:51:01 EST
From: Midwest96
Subject: Re: Who cares about Toyota

In a message dated 98-01-22 18:31:28 EST, you write:


one oil change at 100k and many other things. The ONLY problem with the >>

personally, I'd like to see the specifics on that one, because except for the
brand new models I see on the road, the rest are rusty POSs with more smoke
coming out of them then Denny's after 10pm. Course, if I only changed my oil
once after 100K, my engine would probably smoke too :)

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 01:53:18 EST
From: Midwest96
Subject: Re: More CB stuff

In a message dated 98-01-22 21:37:55 EST, you write:


Has anybody here have any experience with the CB antannas that splice into
the
radio antenna? How well to these work? How does the CB affect the radio,
and
vise-versa? What kind of range can be expected?

Thanks
Clay >>

It's worse than through the glass. Specifically in answer to how do they
work: they don't

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 03:04:11 -0500
From: Patrick De Gagne
Subject: A little antenna theory (was CB's)

At 21:35 22/01/98 EST, ILuvTruks wrote:
>Hey, everybody,
>Has anybody here have any experience with the CB antannas that splice into
the
>radio antenna? How well to these work? How does the CB affect the radio,
and
>vise-versa? What kind of range can be expected?

Those Car radio antenna adapters are junk, don't waste your money on them.
They're only very cheap and lossy 27mhz antenna tuners.

First thing you have to realize that a CB (just like any other transmitter)
needs a decent antenna to be expected to perform properly. Now the *ideal*
antenna for a CB would roughly be a 102 inches long metal whip in the
middle of your roof.

Why on the middle of your roof? Because to work properly *most* mobile
antennas need a large metallic surface to "reflect" the signal. We call
this a "ground plane", and it works best at the highest possible point.

Why 102 inches? Because that is a quarter of the wavelenght at around
27mhz (cb freqency), and it's aptly named "quarter wave antenna". I will
not get into details, but a "quarter wave" is what you need to get a good
transmission and reception on your CB.

Now you'll tell me "but I've seen many CB antennas shorter than 102in!",
and you'd be 100% right. Because an antenna is a device used to transmit
an electrical signal, the physics laws of electricity apply. And because
of that, antenna makers can use a coil somewhere along a shorter antenna
(base, middle, top) to trick it into acting like a full lenght quarter-wave
antenna. The trade off is that of course the antenna will not be as
efficient.

And now lastly (but quite importantly) comes the issue of SWR. That stands
for Standing Wave Ratio. SWR is basically the electrical signal from your
radio not being transmitted because your antenna is not the proper lenght.
This electrical signal has to go somewhere, so it's bounced back into your
CB... Now this has 2 main results... first, the percentage of signal
turned into SWR will not be transmitted, so it's lost... and second enough
SWR will burn out your transmitter.

Two ways to get rid of SWR are to use a proper lenght antenna which
transmits nearly 100% of your signal or to use a device called an "Antenna
Tuner". Simply put an antenna tuner is a device that will remove the SWR
coming back from the antenna, but it's side effect is that the SWR is still
somewhat there and will not be transmitted, it just won't harm your radio...

So now I hope you understand why a car radio antenna (which is clearly NOT
the right lenght for CB) with a cheap antenna tuner cannot possibly have a
decent performance.

Hope this helps!

Pat
VE2VFD

(ps to other hams out there: Please don't jump on my back for
oversimplifying a few things up there! I'm trying to keep this message as
short yet comprehensive as possible.)

- ---
\/ Scouter Pat - Patrick De Gagne - Montreal, Canada
/\ Dollard Des Ormeaux Venturers - Roxboro Fire Dept
/ \ http://www.ford-trucks.com//lc/lc.php?action=do&link=http://www.cam.org/~pdg - IRC: I-Spy on #Scouting
/ \ PDG CAM.ORG - VE2VFD - I used to be a Flying Frog!

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 02:28:29 -0600 (CST)
From: Diana Slyter
Subject: Re: Who cares about Toyota

Please do your research before you turn the flame up. The little Toyota
pickup is assembles in California and thus does not bear the full 25%
tariff. It is probably slightly more durable than the Ranger; but the
Ranger has a larger box and longer wheelbase for better weight
distribution available. The Ranger also comes with standard rear antilock
brakes and 4 wheel ABS optional.

- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
dianas __ __ ____ ___ ___ ____
dianas primenet.com /__)/__) / / / / /_ /\ / /_ /
/ / \ / / / / /__ / \/ /___ /-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Thu, 22 Jan 1998, Jordan wrote:

> >I don't care how much whiz-bang power a Toyota has. I bought a FORD for a
> >reason - dependability. If I wanted to own a piece of 1/16th inch metal
> I'm sorry i love my explorer but hahahahahaha dependability. get real
> look in consumer's reports or any REAL test magazine. The Fords are the
> worst of the bunch. I guess you haven't heard of the 200k mile toyata with
> one oil change at 100k and many other things. The ONLY problem with the
> toyota trucks is how freaking expensive they are. (25% tarriff on imported
> trucks)
> >that 5 years from now we'll still be going on down the road while you are
> yeah going down the road looking for a parts shop, I don't want to be rude
> but you really should think about why you say stuff about other makes
> before you do. I think you are just a person who wouldn't drive a toyota
> truck if it was built from titanium , had a v12 engine and was a better off
> road vehicle than a cheetah and only cost 10,000.
> +---------Ford Truck Enthusiasts - Ranger, Explorer & Bronco 2--------+
> | Send posts to fordtrucks-small listservice.net, |
> | List removal information is on the web site. |
> +---------- Visit Our Web Site: http://www.ford-trucks.com/ ----------+
>

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 03:36:56 EST
From: FastRngXLT
Subject: Re: Who cares about Toyota

In a message dated 1/23/98 3:29:00 AM Eastern Standard Time,
dianas primenet.com writes:


pickup is assembles in California and thus does not bear the full 25%
tariff. It is probably slightly more durable than the Ranger; but the
Ranger has a larger box and longer wheelbase for better weight
distribution available. The Ranger also comes with standard rear antilock
brakes and 4 wheel ABS optional. >>

Where did you get the idea of the Toyota being more durable than the Ranger
from? I've had both, I had a Tacoma and it was the biggest peice of crap I
have ever owned. It was always in the shop, and I was scared to take it off
road to much because it seemed like when I did I broke something. I now own a
96' Ranger and bought it new. Although it's primary turf is pavement (4x2, V6
5spd) I have burned, spun, redlined, towed, you name it, and it just begs for
more, not a min's trouble.

Brian

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 05:01:18 EST....

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