Back when I bought my '99 Ford Ranger new, I got the base offering -- no optional extras whatsoever aside from the long box. I thought, "There. I've got one of the commonest, easiest-to-maintain vehicles on earth. What can go wrong?"
Well, what went wrong is that 14" wheel rims became obsolete. You may as well go shopping for new wheels for your Roman chariot as try to obtain a replacement for a 14" rim on a Ranger; 14" rims cannot be had, except for the odd one on Ebay.
"Why do you need a wheel rim?", you may be wondering. I need a wheel rim because the spare tire's rim is a rusted ruin. The Ranger's spare tire lives outside beneath the box. After a decade of that treatment, the rim looks like something that's spent a decade under a pickup truck's box, in a climate that features salty slush on the roads for a good part of each year. Here's a view of what I'm left with.
Air-tightness at the tire's beads is not on; the thing had multiple bead leaks on both sides.
The least costly solution I can think of is to install an inner tube -- those can still be had; my son is getting me one from an internet outlet in the U.S.A.. We'll see how this goes.
I'll update this post as I go along.
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It's Here -- MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2013
The inner tube finally arrived -- standard parcel mail service across the border takes its own sweet time
Anyway, the tube came folded up in a USPS 'PRIORITY MAIL' box -- there was no manufacturer's packaging. On the tube is printed,
"AUTO BUTYL TUBE
GATEWAY
GR-13/14/15
TR13
MADE IN KOREA"
The tube looks to be quite substantial; it looks like it ought to hold air.
I take it that the "GR-13/14/15" indicates that the tube will fit 13, 14 or 15 inch tires -- it's quite the versatile item.
Later today I'll take it to Dan's garage, along with the tire and rim, for them to install the tube. We'll see how this goes.
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All Done
The tube fits and works. Yeehah!
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