Unsinkable Dreadnought

[The Artillerist]

African-level poverty is a boon to ingenuity: somehow this is still being used for its intended purpose. The camera actually makes it a tad more lithe than it was in person

Observed on my resent business trip to Midwest

 

[racer12306]

M.... F.... FORD RANGER!!!!

 

[IndyIan]

They are getting pretty bad, a guy I know has a similar ranger and he's basically build a wooden box inside the bed tying all the parts of the bed together... The outsides of the bed are almost flapping in the wind though!

 

[tcp71]

My older son just bought his first vehicle last night. 2008 ranger, single cab, 6' box, 2.3l 4cyl, manual transmission, 2WD. I was very surprised to see manual door locks and MANUAL windows cranks.

 

[LDM]

I know a guy that had his frame crack on an old F150 and being an iron worker he welded a bunch of scrap iron to it to keep the frame together. Drove it for a while until the engine finally gave up. I always expected for him to have a story one day about how he was driving it down the road and it fell apart. Its amazing what people will drive down the road.

 

[The Artillerist]

How the mighty have fallen

 

[Jetronic]

How the mighty have fallen

View attachment 187765

First car I drove in the US was a manual 2wd 3.0 V6 ranger, slightly older model than that. I was soooo dissapointed with the performance. I had a 1.1l 4cyl at home that ran circles around it.

The chevrolet c1500 v8 after that was nice though.

 

[joegreen]

Looks like the leaf spring shackle broke

 

[Number_35]

First car I drove in the US was a manual 2wd 3.0 V6 ranger, slightly older model than that. I was soooo dissapointed with the performance. I had a 1.1l 4cyl at home that ran circles around it.

The chevrolet c1500 v8 after that was nice though.

They used to say of the 3.0 in the Ranger: "Power of the 2.3, fuel economy of the 4.0".

 

[mk378]

Though oddly mismatched, all the lights work and the driver is using the turn signal. I suspect everyone is careful to make way for him anyway.

 

[meep]

Looks like the leaf spring shackle broke

Yep. Replace the shackle and hopefully the frame remembers how to spring/bend back!

 

[RaymondP]

Given the danger to the driver and other road users, you have to wonder how this is legal? But then I have seen everything. Recall a jalopy rolling down the freeway (55 mph?) with the mainframe broken in the middle so was clearly slanted downwards after the break. It was literally held up with bungy cords. Asked myself the same question qt the time.

 

[D60]

My older son just bought his first vehicle last night. 2008 ranger, single cab, 6' box, 2.3l 4cyl, manual transmission, 2WD. I was very surprised to see manual door locks and MANUAL windows cranks.

I daily in '07 F150 that's the same deal albeit 4R70.

The best thing about the stripped down models? That weird short lever on the floor -- they say it has something to do with a transfer-something.....I dunno.