Putting miles on our rigs is all part of the job. Whether it's towing, wheeling, or putting the hammer down for our 60 mile daily commute, we put our rigs through their paces, and rightly so. What kind of magazine would we be if we just tossed parts on, drove a couple of miles and said "gee wiz this gadget works great." ? Well for all of you who've been looking for updates on some of the recent projects, here are a couple that I've been keeping up with and how they're holding up so far.
The last time this black beast hit the pages it had just received a new transmission from NADP (Jan. 08). It was struggling to deliver all that new found power from the ATS turbo, Diablo Sport programmer, and TS Performance fuel pressure box. With 21,000 on the clock and still serving as a daily driver we're happy to report that she's running great, shifting strong, and getting an average of 20 mpg! Not too shabby for a 3/4-ton on 35-inch tires.
'97 Ford Danger Ranger (Stock)
Starting from humble beginnings our beloved Danger Ranger wasn't always a beefy little crawler. Actually we wheeled it for a good little while in the stock configuration, even with a bed shell. Although crawling wasn't really its strong suit the TTB front combined with the super soft rear leafs to do a great job of making the little '97 a blast on mild trail rides.
Defying all odds and completing the 2007 Ultimate Adventure without breaking a single drivetrain component, the little Ranger that could, did. Though it now spends most of the warm California days with the doors left at the house, the Ranger happens to be holding together just fine and will soon be on it's way to the East Coast after a little house keeping is finished.