Ugly, But Built Ford Ranger

[Cambo]

I just bought an 86 Ford Ranger single cab. This baby is a little rough on the outside, but the PO put soooo much work into it!! Just a little run down of goodies:

5.0 HO V-8 from 87 Mustang
Built C-4 with lower than stock gears
Dana 20 twin sticked
HP F-150 D44 cut to size in front with 4:10s and LSD
Currie built 9" BB w/4:10's detroit and 31 spline alloy axleshafts
On board air with tank and air bags
winch bumpers front and rear ( no winches yet)
Tranny & oil coolers
Internal rollcage
35" Pro comp Xterrains

I think that pretty much covers it. The suspension is great and lots of goodies like traction bars and adjustable heigth springs in front, limit straps, bump stops and skid plates everywhere.

I have been building rigs here and there, but never really finished one. This baby is a completed get in and go rig. Just have to add my own touches. Of course there are things I want to do, like add a king cab version, but that is a lot of work!! Anyway, enjoy the pics and let me know what you think!!

http://s486.photobucket.com/albums/rr221/camifa00/1986 Ford Ranger/

 

[KMV77]

I like it. Looks like it was well built, and should have plenty of power. What are your plans?
Kevin

 

[Cambo]

For now, I am just going to tune it up, add a CB, HID lights, a winch and other odds and ends and wheel it to see if it needs anything else. I am still not too familiar with it. After that I need more passenger space. I was thinking of an Explorer body cut off at the rear door, cap it and add a shortened bed. That seems like tons of work, so I was also thinking of going with a super cab Ranger, adding that to the frame and shortening the bed. I have the Explorer to cut up, but am thinking the super cab option will be less work.

 

[ihatemybike]

Pic to lure other readers in.

 

[dwh]

Nice!

I'm not a fan of spring lift blocks. With that much power you could get some serious axle wrap. Couldn't really see if there is anything to prevent that. I'd say dump the blocks and get some real springs on top of that Currie.

Nice!

 

[Greggk]

hell yeah thats awesome!!! i miss my 87 STX with a built 5.0.. thing was great. such an easy swap too!

 

[RB1]

I like the supercab body idea. Been thinking about doing that myself to a single cab LWB 2wd Ranger I have. Rangers seem to be undervalued as expo vehicles, but considering all the off road/prerunner/desert racer stuff available I don't see why.

 

[shortbus4x4]

Supercab is the way to go, lots less work and it will look more finished without lots of body work. You can just shorten the stock bed or put your own custom flatbed on it.

 

[Greggk]

only thing i can say is that intake is no bueno for a few reasons. 1 is it is crossing back over the front of the motor absorbing more heat then it needs to, 2 it has too may bends causing disruptions in airflow. just take it and where it comes out of the throttle body, run it through the MAF and put a filter on it.

just my .02 cents.

 

[Cambo]

Nice!

I'm not a fan of spring lift blocks. With that much power you could get some serious axle wrap. Couldn't really see if there is anything to prevent that. I'd say dump the blocks and get some real springs on top of that Currie.

Nice!

Not a fan of the blocks either but he built in a traction bar and anti-spring wrap bar too. Take a look and let me know what you think.
It also handles surprisingly well, especially with no anti-sway bars.

 

[Cambo]

Supercab is the way to go, lots less work and it will look more finished without lots of body work. You can just shorten the stock bed or put your own custom flatbed on it.

I am going to do the super cab for two reasons. It will much easier as far as body work. And I will have more usable bed space. I like the idea that it is a truck and don't want to take that away.

 

[Cambo]

only thing i can say is that intake is no bueno for a few reasons. 1 is it is crossing back over the front of the motor absorbing more heat then it needs to, 2 it has too may bends causing disruptions in airflow. just take it and where it comes out of the throttle body, run it through the MAF and put a filter on it.

just my .02 cents.

That seems like good advice. I think once I get the smog complete I will do that. I was planning on an open element anyway and to cut out all the excess tubing will certainly help.

There are still quite a few things I want to do and I really need to drive this truck more to see what else I want to change. A few things on the list:

No thermostat for electric fan (on all the time) I want to add a thermostat and an on/off switch

Tranny pan is about as big as a PB&J sandwich. Need to reroute exhaust and add deep pan. Maybe then it won't need two tranny coolers.

Relocate or add skidplate for relocated oil filter (above passenger front tire) and oil cooler (up front below radiator)

It also has an Art Carr shifter which I don't care for.

Other than that I need to drive it and see what else I want to change. Now, this is in no way a knock on the PO, because he put together one helluva truck. But, now I have to add my own touches. I have an Expo sticker to add once I replace the rear slider!! :elkgrin:

 

[dwh]

Huh...that's an...interesting...setup. Looks like there won't be much axle wrap there.

So there is the traction bar from the block to the front spring mount, then a bar from the spring mount to the frame, and what looks like another bar on top of the spring?

And then the spring is almost flat. Not sure how much travel that suspension has - though the shock looks like it's seen a good amount of travel.

I'll have to think about that to see if I can figure out exactly how all the parts work, but it looks overly complex to me and seems like it wouldn't have much articulation...can't really tell and I've never seen anything exactly like that.

Sorta looks like he had torque issues and just kept adding on to it until the problem went away.