boegey

According to fordvehicles.com under the "build it" tab, you can get your '08 Ranger Sport 4-door Super Cab in 4x2 with the standard 3.0 V-6 or the $800 optional 4.0 V-6. Boegey

Almost 30 years ago, I was a kid watching a F-150 climb a hill of cement blocks. Then, a few months later, a F-150 climbed the same hill with a Chevy on its back. And if I remeber correctly, Ford finished with a F-150 climbing the cement block hill with a Chevy on its back and towing a Dodge. As much as I like the R8, and it is a beautiful car, I prefer the Ford GT!! Boegey

My '04 F-150 Super Crew has rear window defrost, but rear defrost was not offered with the power window option. It was either defrost or power not both. I would have to agree with weriley that it would take alot of changes. Boegey

I have no x-plans to offer, but yes, if you use x-plan you are still entitled to incentives such as rebates and or financing. Boegey

Sista, I'm glad to hear you are taking advantage of the dislocated worker program and are ready for whatever comes your way. I just heard you folks got one more year. Congrats! Use you time wisely. Good luck. Boegey

I feel badly for those lost TCAP souls that still hope for a TCAP resurrection. Sista, you and your friends would be better off taking advantage of Minnesota's dislocated worker's program that has been offered to you and preparing for WHEN TCAP closes. You have no control of the plant closure date but you can control how prepared you will be when it occurs. Boegey

Sista, I spent 12+ years at TCAP with you. When they announced TCAP's closure, the 'official word' was that TCAP would run through the '08 model year which places end of production around July of '08. Then idling the plant for closure might take skilled trades until Dec. of '08. The concensus of a Sept. '07 closure was strictly plant rumor because no one could see getting a contract approved in a plant that only had 1 yr to go after ratification. As Wallflower stated, everything I've read said no additional plants. TCAP was already on the list. Boegey

I thought the GT was celebrating Ford's 100th Anniversary or 40 years after kicking Ferrari's butt or something like that. Boegey

There is a lot of talk of GT's sitting on lots because the market was saturated, and that may be true. I always felt these cars were on lots because buyers weren't willing to pay the high gouge pricing over sticker. I believe Deanh stated his dealership was looking for GT's at 12K over sticker and had buyers. I don't mind dealers getting what they can, but I feel this price increase slowed the sales, not necessarily market saturation. JMO Boegey

I have friends with GM's that have the washer nozzles in the wiper arms and what a pain at temps below zero. I live in MN and washers are needed especially with the salty road spray up onto the windshield. I spent over a half hour in -15 degree weather with a blow dryer trying to thaw out a set of hoses that fed these wiper arm mounted nozzles for a friend of my wife who was visiting. What a pain!! I'm glad my Fords don't use that idea!! At least on the hood, the engine temps keep the hoses from freezing. If the nozzle itself freezes, a couple whacks with a snow brush quickly and easily clears the ice clog. (And YES, windshield washer fluid does freeze!!) Boegey

I'm not sure why Ovaltine loves LTD so much and hates Crown Vic. Heck, I remember Crown Victoria starting out as thetop trim level for LTD. I don't date back to the '56 Vickie though. Anyway, to each his own. I guess LTD is a simple name and Crown Vic has been a name relegated to taxis and cop cars. Renaming the 500 Taurus may not have been too bad of an idea. My neighbor is a salesman for a local Ford dealer and he always told me people would come in and want to buy a Taurus but alas no Taurus to be had. When he would try to show them the 500, they wanted to hear nothing about it. They only wanted another Taurus. He was happy because now they could show people the 'new' Taurus. They didn't know or care that it was called a 500. It was always my understanding Ford wanted the Fusion to replace the Contour and the 500 to replace the Taurus. I believe this was based on exterior dimensions. But when looking at interior dimensions (Ford learned a thing or two about packaging while designing the Focus), the Fusion would replace Taurus, the 500 would replace Crown Vic and Contour just went away. Any truth to this or opinions? Boegey

Trish, The neighbor came home yesterday with a brand new shiny boat and trailer. His trailer had surge disc brakes and guess what? He had to have a 5-pin harness added to his vehicle as you described. His particular trailer has the reverse lock out pin as does yours. It turns out the fifth wire in the connector taps into the reverse light circuit. When the tow vehicle shifts into reverse, a solenoid on the trailer does the reverse lock out function in place of the pin. If your trailer is like this one, I'd get the five wire flat connector because it would sure be convenient. However, if your trailer is not like this changing the harness is probably a waste of time since converting your trailer would probably be a bigger pain than it is worth. (Or trading your current trailer for a newer one could be considered - although still spendy for a convenience item.)

I've been buying new Ford products since my '85 Cougar. I've learned and now recommend to friends to find a dealer with a good service department and forget how well or badly the sales staff treats you. For one transaction with a salesperson, good or bad, you'll have multiple trips to the service department, if for no other reason than regular maintenance. I have been to extremely good and extremely bad service departments. While living in Charleston, SC, I was deployed and my wife took our '87 Mustang GT Conv. in because in between shifts the rpm would go to 2000 rpm and stay there. Three times they told her there was nothing wrong. In fact, one mechanic told her it was normal for a high performance car to 'anticipate' the next shift! When I returned from sea, I took it in and they 'discovered' the fuel pressure regulator was too high and adjusted it. (By the way, the only reason the incompetent fools found this was because the service manager had a 5.0 LX with the same problem.) The sales people were great when we bought the car but service sucked. We never went back. While living in Temperence, MI (I cannot recall name of Ford dealer), my '91 Explorer was about 4000 miles out of warranty (back in the days of the 12/12000 warranty). The driver's side lift gate hinge welds broke loose (actually, of the 4 spot welds it appears only one was holding since the sheet metal tore at this one spot weld). The dealership contacted Ford's area rep. and the repair was covered in full. The dealership didn't need to go the extra mile but neither did the area service rep. I now live in MN and send all of my A-Plan and X-Plan buyers to Wolf Motors in Jordan. They supply a free loaner vehicle (the policy says they give a loaner if you bought your car from them, but to my knowledge they give a free loaner to anyone.) Normally, my car is repaired correctly the first time and when promised. Have I had one or two of those "Sorry, we could not replicate the problem." experiences? Sure. They cannot fix what they cannot get to malfunction. I think customers need to be realistic with their expectations. Many of us who have mechanical backgrounds or common sense get this, but lots and lots of people do not. Just my two cents. Boegey

It is usually on the backside under the axle tube. When removed, you should see a notched wheel. On my F series, if you rotate this whell downward it will tighten the brake pads. Going upward loosens them to facilitate removing the drum with little interference from the brake pads. Boegey

I always thought it was strictly noise suppression. But who knows? Boegey

It might have something to do with TCAP sitting on the next 'Super Fund' site. In TCAP's 90 year history, environmental protection wasn't always a priority. After working there for over 12 years, I can attest to what a person sees when digging into the ground. We did some construction a few years back and also replaced some fire hydrants. It seems a few weeks a go the EPA did some core sampling to ready the property for sale. The news reports state that Ford has a lot of cleaning up to do before it will ever be able to sell that property. I doubt Ford has that kind of $$$ right now. Maybe the rumor is that if you can't sell it, then use it. TCAP has always been a leader in Quality. It is just old and small. Boegey

I just had this question/problem on my '04 F-150. If you have the rear disc/drum brake like my F Series, the parking brake adjustment is in the drum brake. Take the rubber plug out and make the adjustment to tighten the parking brake. If the Explorer has a disc only rear brake, I'm sure someone here will be able to help. Good Luck. Boegey

In all honesty, the article you cite never states that traction control is standard equipment. I do see how a person could infer or assume that from this paragraph but it still never claims this as standard equipment. It is common for manufacturers of all kinds of products to use wording like this. Just because Ford's truck 'utilizes' this technology, it 'utilizes' it as optional equipment. You also continuously refer to the traction control as an option throughout this post, yet expected it to be standard equipment. I do feel bad for your experience, but when spending that kind of money, I always clarify those details with the sales person. If you had stated to your sales person, "And it comes with traction control, right?" you probably would not be in this situation. Boegey

Others may have better info, and I'm sure they'll correct me if I'm wrong. Your '01 ST is based on the Ranger (I worked at TCAP) and the '01 Explorer moved to a new slightly larger chassis that year ending it's Ranger based blood line. Only in '06 or '07 did the ST go to the Explorer Chassis. I don't believe your engine bay is wide enough for the 4.6. I've seen big engines stuffed into Pintos, so anything can be done, but it definately is NOT a bolt in procedure. Boegey

Thanks for all your help. As you stated, it was a simple drum brake adjustment. Boegey

Point well made, Furious!! Boegey

I won't repeat many of the arguments already posted. I feel this is an extremely difficult case to prove and leave that to more intelligent people than I, however I do believe Ford on more than one occasion has done the 'right thing'. 1) When the Rouge Plant had a boiler explosion many years ago, Bill Ford was at the scene and the hospital with the families of the victims. Ford lawyers about had a heart attack and recommended Bill stay far far away. Whether anything was accomplished by his presence is unimportant. His show of respect and condolences was important. 2) The great Firestone Tire debacle that Ford took a black eye over, both in the media and financially. In case you haven't heard, thanks to the media deciding not to report it, the defects were found to be the sole responsibility of Firestone and not the Ford Explorer design. Yet, after Firestone refused to do the 'right thing', Ford did! They stepped up out of concern for the safety of their customers which as you say 'support them'. Not only did they protect Explorer owners, they went further and made sure all customers who took delivery of a vehicle with those tires were taken care of. 3) Lastly and closer to home, Ford's Way Forward buyouts. I used to work at at the Twin Cities Assembly Plant, it is slated to close. Believe it or not, Ford could have waited until Sept. when the contract expires and said "Have a nice day, We don't need you anymore." Instead, Ford went above and beyond what was required and offered many packages to aid employees after the plant closed. Buyouts, early retirements, and educational plans all aided UAW employees to carry on with their lives during a very difficult situation. Yes these buyouts aid Ford's recovery, hence the Ford wide offer of buyouts rather than buyouts just for closing plants. Sure, I know more than a few disgruntled workers who don't see it my way, but I repeat Ford could have met us at the door one day in September and told us to go home. Anderson Windows did just that to more than 500 employees here in Minnesota a few months ago. I believe Ford goes far above the average company to do the 'right thing'. In your case, it is just too difficult to find culpability. Boegey

Thanks, Mr. Robot and Atomaro. When I get home I'll start at rear discs rather than looking under the dash or where ever for an adjuster. If it is like drums, this should be a piece of cake. I hope I don't have the bad luck Atomaro had. Boegey

My '04 Super Crew has 68K and the truck has never seen a service bay other than routine preventive maintenance. Boegey

Being a publicly traded company on the stock exchange, Ford is open to audits on an annual basis. With Ford's financial situation, I believe everyone and their brother have gone through Ford's books. Plus, hiding the money and creating this financial crisis doesn't aid Ford's stock price at all. I find this "rumor" difficult to believe. Unless Arthur Anderson did the accounting audit!! Boegey