Did We Just Make The PERFECT Ford Ranger? HURST BILLET SHIFTER 

I used to align & bolt the ranger cab to its frame at the assembly plant. I was also responsible for grabbing the transmission access floor plate. The automatic plate was solid & the manual obviously had that black rubber/foam circular opening for the shifter. I bolted that plate down after putting 2 clips on the driver side & my partner on the right hand side cab secure place his clips before I set the trans access plate & bolted it in place. If you search RU-vid for "Twin Cities Assembly Plant Tribute Video" you'll see a memory filled video of the assembly plant that built these trucks in north America. The Ford plant is fully demolished now & expensive homes are being built over where the old factory used to sit. Some amazing history to have been a part of.

The Ranger does have interior lights; turn the dimmer switch all the way up until it clicks. You're welcome. The problem with the stock shifter is that it's got no weight to it; it's a hollow tube instead of a solid rod and has a lightweight plastic shifter ball, and also a bit too long. I shortened mine about 2" and put a billet shifter ball on it. I can still reach it, the throws are shorter and that billet ball just gives it the right amount of counterweight; feels perfect!!!

“If we lose the cup holders the truck is pretty much totaled” 😂💀

My Ranger is a 2011 they quit making them after 2012 (model year built in 2011). The newest generation returned in 2019 (model year). In my option Ford and every other small truck maker really screwed this up. The reason I wanted a Ranger was because it’s size is right for what I need it to do. Even though Ford brought back the Ranger-size wise it’s closer to the F-150 than the old Rangers.

You can also get the Dorman repair kit for like $20 to repair the original. Stiffened it right up and shifts better, removes all the slop, like brand new.

You didn't say "Bring me the gold ratchet" I'm pissed!

“Every knife I’ve ever had is in my dads top dresser drawer” 100% facts right there

Those old Rangers are great lil trucks! I had a couple over the years... They're quite reliable!

Part of the charm on one of the rangers I had was being able to pull it about a foot to get it into gears. Was kinda therapeutic. lol. That tight shifting would make me wanna be race truck all day.

1:20 "it's 8-10 inches for sure" Every woman: *"uhuh"*

These are the best JR videos- where he helps friends fix and improve their cars.

I bought a 2011 Ford Sport Ranger 4X4 New in 2011 only has 37,000mi on it now. Been a Awesome Truck.

To turn on the interior light there’s a dial next to the headlight switch, make sure it’s all the way up, it clicks after it’s all the way up

Taught my ex how to drive a manual in my Mazda (aka Ranger) and she was good with it. Driving home from West Virginia I was sleeping and she went to downshift from 5th-4th at 70 mph and it was so sloppy she threw it in 2nd and revved to the moon. Panicked for a second and then pushed the clutch in, and we survived. But I woke up real fast.

Mine looks that clean with 575,000 miles

I may be alone, but I like the long throw in my ranger, it makes me feel like I’m doing something. Also, if you use your fingers a little to pull it out and out put it in gear- instead of having your palm over the shifter the whole time- you don’t end up moving your arm all over the place

I have 2 Ford Ranger's 1993 2 wheel drive and 1996 Ford Ranger 4 wheel drive. As I love both of them one for summer and the other for winter.

Took that 80’s truck, and pushed it clean back into the 70’s

That has to be one of the best upgrades I've seen to a Ranger!

That syle of ranger was built and sold in Argentina until 2012. We were basically the only country with a dual cab Ranger of that style. After 2012, a new ranger came in, and then you guys got the newest one

A Dunder Mifflin T-Shirt!?!?Awesome dude!! Shout out to The Office.

Ranger came out in late 82 for the 83 year. Buddy of mine had one in high school in 84. Long run for those tough trucks.

I remember putting a hurst 3 speed shifter in our family’s 1969 Ford Torino my dad was cheep. It was a old three on a tree and worked like crap. The difference was amazing was like driving a new cat even though it was then about nine years old.

My uncle has a perfect condition 95 ranger. 105k miles only rust is a small patch on the rear bumper. Only thing is the clutch is still the factory one which might be a problem. Might sell a couple things and try and buy it off him. It's the car he's teaching me to drive a manual in, always thought the shifting was a little long. Good to known short throw isn't that difficult to install.

Love Rangers! Had an ‘86 2.9L 4x2, a ‘92 4.0L (OHV) 4x4, a ‘00 4.0L (SOHC) 4x4 flareside, and a ‘03 4.0L (SOHC) 4x4 FX4 - all extended cab 5 speeds. Great trucks!

Awesome Ranger! Wish Ford still made these like this style. They were cheap, reliable and cool trucks

The second generation went from 1993 all the way to 2011! 19 model years with no major changes. I had three of them, a ‘93, a ‘98, and an ‘03.

Had I known this existed, I may have put one in my old Ranger.

I loved those things. Mine was a 92’. 5 speed.

Spending $500 - 600 US on a shifter -- a SHIFTER -- on my nice affordable Ranger is mental. You can fix the shifter with a $20 bushing kit. This video nicely shows how to turn an inexpensive truck into a very expensive truck.

No Crown Royal bag? Lol awesome job!

I had one of these shifters. Absolutely amazing shifter.

I honestly like the long row. Feels like I’m putting the work in. Honestly tho it’s my first stick so I don’t have much experience. My only problem is it sometimes doesn’t let me into gears. It’s just random tho

I was having am anxiety attack thinking that you were gong to lose the cup holders. I'm so happy that you were able to save them. Truck is worth more with them. 😀

A Hurst shifter makes anything better. Good show too. Go JR go 😁

Amazing how changing something like that can transform a car and the driving experience

Dunder Mifflin shirt, love it ! 👍

I had been looking at this shifter for my 94 because the bolt stripped on mine to replace the bushing but good to know that its actually the shifter and not a bushing

Now for the fun part, praying that the transmission doesn't build up too much pressure and vent itself by blowing out all of the seals. Hurst shifters don't vent like the factory setup does so be ready for the bad time.

I have an '05 Ranger Edge 2wd here in Arizona with only 67,000 miles. I think this will be my next project. Thanks!

I have a 2011 Ranger with the 5 speed that I intend to keep forever, but I cannot justify $500 (Canadian $) for that excellent Hurst shifter. Have to ask Santa.

I replaced mine with an Orbit sprinkler head. Brings the shifter up higher like a real truck 😂

As JR mentioned it at the end, for anyone wondering, R value is the amount of heat transmission through a fabric. I don't know about the US but in the UK we measure it in W/m2K, so a low value is better because it means that less heat is lost through your building fabric, meaning that the building is more insulated/efficient.

Wished I knew Hurst had that when I was delivery parts. It would have made my deliveries faster.

Driven Rangers my whole life .....i like the way the Shifters felt originally it never bothered me.

I had the 2001 Ranger Edge Extended Cab with the manual shifter, and I thought it was just fine, other than thinking it was mounted too close to the dash.

I have a 93 ranger. 2.3l 5sp 2wd reg cab, 485,000 miles! I've owned it for 10 years and as far as I know it's the original engine, tranny and rear end. It had 215,000 when I bought it. Rust free body. Change the oil every 3000. Pretty impressive! EDIT; wanna do mine? Lol

Got a 97 with 41000 original miles. Think I might upgrade. This is pretty damn cool.

Have used that shifter in many of my Rangers.

The next upgrade should be dropping in a 302!

Hell yeah brother!

One of the best mods for any Ranger, if you're ok with only having two seats, is swapping the interior out with the Ford Explorer. Might need an extended cab for that though.

I drove an 86 ranger 5 speed many years ago. Wish that was around then!

They never stopped making the Ranger. They stopped selling it in America. When they introduced the current model in America it had been out internationally since 2011

Always loved the Rangers.

I like the long shifting!! It’s very trick like & Ford didn’t want you to miss out on the old fashioned long shifting!!

I knew you were going to pull out that golden ratchet right when you did 😆

Ranger content is great

I totally agree about the new ranger, just buy a full size. They are so customizable to what you need.

Used to have one of these, a Mazda b2500. Best little truck I've ever had.

Ranger Danger - nice old truck. Great to see it get TLC

A Hurst shifter in a Ranger? The 15-year-olds will be so excited!

Dude, it's like you and Sarah R Tuned are trading notes or something. She just road tripped to bring her Grandmother's Ford Ranger to Arizona from New Hampshire, and she drove through Wichita. You just road tripped a car to Kansas from Arizona You both have shops, you both got multiple lifts installed, you both have ongoing Audi project cars. She's building a Rally car and just rebuilt a go cart, you made a rally CART. Your little sister bought a wagon and you just repaired an Xterra, she repaired/restored an Xterra for her little sister.... Freaky..

We are currently on our 4th Ford Ranger. Our current Ranger is a 2011 XLT super cab 4WD with a 4.0L V6 and a 5spd automatic transmission. It has the tow pkg, factory skid plates. We bought it in 19 and it had only 20K original miles. The original owner was 62 years old when he bought it. He put custom wheels, running boards. We don’t care for silver, gray, charcoal gray or black, yet ours is Silver. I decided to break up the silver so I had it 2 toned. It’s now Silver over Red metallic. I didn’t like the gloomy gray and boring black interior, so I had it reupholstered in Red with black trim and stitching. I use a get 19mpg on the freeway with the cruise set on 75mph. I then added a K&N intake and a 3” FlowMaster exhaust. I now get 23mpg. We mainly use our Ranger for work around our property so I had a LineX spray in bed liner installed and air shocks in the rear, (so now I can haul just over a yard of Topsoil in the bed. Before the air shocks were installed I could barely get 1/2 a yard of Topsoil. I change the oil and filter every 6 months, ( which is about 1,500 miles) with Kirkland full synthetic oil. I also change the front and rear differential, transfer case and transmission fluid every 30K miles. Our Ranger currently has only 36K miles and at our age, I’m quite sure that it’ll be the last pickup we’ll ever need. Our previous Ranger’s had the 2.3L 4cyl engine that were bulletproof. When our 88 had 470K miles my wife didn’t have the front hubs locked into 4WD and she hit a patch of ice and flipped it in a ditch. She was ok, but it totaled the truck. Even at 470K miles it still wasn’t burning any oil. Our other Ranger with the 2.3L was going strong at just over 300K miles but we needed a pickup with more power for towing, so I sold the one with the 2.3L and bought a Ranger super cab 4WD with the 3.0L V6. By the time it had only 80K miles it was burning a LOT of oil, so I sold it and continued driving our old 82 F150 with a 4.9L (300) In-line 6cyl. It had about 150K, but it too was a great pickup and towed what we needed. So in 19 when our 82 F150 finally died at around 550K miles we bought our 11 Ranger. We’d LOVE to find an older low mileage Ranger XL 4WD, 5spd stick for grunt work and getting me to my fishing spot. Sadly the new Ranger are an unreliable 2.3L turbo. If Ford would produce a model that is naturally aspirated, I’d buy a plain Jane, vinyl flooring, vinyl seats, no radio. Just a stripped down Ranger.

Totally didnt know they made these until this video.

JR: The dash dimmer dial to the left of the collum turns on the interior light. Rotate it all the way up till it clicks.

I never had an issue with the shifter in my ranger but I did have a friend say it was weird because of the long throws and the angle it was on 🤣 I forgot the interior light only comes on if you open the doors or crank all the gauge lights to uncomfortably bright

No interior light? Just roll the dash light dimmer all the way up. Should hear a click and it will come on

I love ford rangers they are great. Never seen a ranger I didn't like.

Ford Sport Shift Ranger Nice!

The Ranger continued elsewhere in the world after 2011 like here in Australia.. late 2011 is when the preface lifted current generation ranger was released 👍🏼

Yes !!! about time John did some Ford stuff !!!

My doctor says I don't stretch enough. Until I got my Ranger. Shifting is therapy.

I have the exact same truck. Mine has lived a hard life in New England and is a bit beat up and is a chore truck. Still, I might be able to justify that shifter.

The ford ranger content, I didn't know I needed.

Thanks for this guys!

Those were some great great trucks!✌🏼

Most Fords turn on their dome lights with a detent at the top of the dash lighting brightness control knob, some also defeat the dome light by detenting below low dim.

Definitely A Great Bang For The Buck Replacement!!!!

I have a 1993. This looks like a great fix.

What a massive improvement! I love STS upgrades.

I had an 80 F150 as a beater truck a number of years back. The 3 on the tree linkage went bad (they all did) and I swapped a Hurst floor shift in. Worked well, but got a lot of comments for an old work horse. 😂

It does have interior lights. On the wheel that you change the brightness of the instrument panel. If put it all the why up it turn the interior light on.

Full Size trucks are bigger than a number of us need or want. We had a small blue Nissan Pickup when I was growing up and it was a useful little beast. (I don't know how to drive stick, that's a whole other story)

I need a Ranger with hurst now! Cup holders no longer look dumb with so much better looking and functioning shifter

I would love to find another ranger! I totaled my last one in 2011. I would still have it if I wasn’t a dumb teenager back then.

Ranger come out in 1983 as a small compact before the it was a f100 ranger from the 60's till 82

We just put a billet Hurst built by core shifters in our old Bronco II! It is so crazy to have a sweet short throw in this thing

The long through shifter is great for knowing you’re in reverse! There’s no guessing!! When you put it that far back into reverse. You know it’s in reverse!!

I owned a 94 XLT, regular cab, shortbed, with the Lima 4 cylinder and a manual transmission...and that was one rugged/tough truck. My " beef " with the shifter ? It had a pressed-on knob that after a few years suddenly lost its grip. Half way through a 2-3 upshift the knob pulled off the handle. " Thank heavens " I was in speeding, urban traffic. The transmission itself? It always felt like you were shifting through a gearbox made with rocks for gears, very loose, yet somehow notchy/sticky. The impression that I got was that the transmission was originally specified for another type of vehicle entirely was wasn't properly mated to that engine. BTW, I am flabbergasted that HURST made a shifter for this truck, I would sure like to have tried it.

HURST RULES. WE INSTALLED A 3SPPED SHIFTER IN 69. CAMARO IN 89. AND IT WAS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NIGHT DAY

I love the shifting in this thing I have one in my ranger the thing that sucks about it is there's no nylon stops so when you're driving down the road the shifter vibrates on them metal stops and it sounds like transmission bearings second thing is gasket suck and transmission fluid likes to spew out of the top of the ball

I have this on my 99 it makes it a whole lot better

I had a stick shift ranger. It was like driving a mack. It did not have cup holder.

Nice tighter shift’s 👍🏾

What a difference

If I don't see a "Ranger Turbo" video in a couple weeks I'm going to be disappointed....

Eric(k,kk) is a dead ringer for Phil Kessel! He’s a good fit on your show ! I especially giggled when you were talking about greasing up things so they’d go in faster - and then you held back the biggest sarcastic comment when you remembered your brother in law was right there ..... lol. Awesome stuff!

I've just taken delivery of a new Uniball shifter for my '81 Ford Taunus. I hope it's as good as they say.

I have a similar one, short throw, made by Core Shifters. Has a Hurst stick and ball. (Didnt come with a sticker though dammit) Best money i ever wasted on my '99 Ranger. People that say they like the long throw have probably never tried a short throw. Cause there's no way i could ever go back to the stock shifter. Liked it so much, I found one fory '89 F150. Talk about rowing a boat.. when the shifter bushing goes bad in that one you end up punching the dashboard in 1st, 3rd, and OD. Now i can shift it without taking my arm off the arm rest. Click clack. Quicker shifts make your truck faster. That is a fact. You just got to be careful cuz it can shift faster than the clutch can open.