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ranger Rehash Part One - ford Ranger On The Lift With Tires In Place - Photo 34863065

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  • Next month we’ll be working on fitting our new axles in place, along with dialing in the beginning stages of our suspension system. We have a mix of cheap, pricey, and junkyard components that will all be learning to get along under the belly of our battered Ford pickup. Be sure to visit us on the web at <a href="http://4wheeloffroad.com" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">4wheeloffroad.com</a> for sneak peeks on the Ranger’s progress and web exclusive photos.
Next month we’ll be working on fitting our new axles in place, along with dialing in the beginning stages of our suspension system. We have a mix of cheap, pricey, and junkyard components that will all be learning to get along under the belly of our battered Ford pickup. Be sure to visit us on the web at <a href="http://4wheeloffroad.com" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">4wheeloffroad.com</a> for sneak peeks on the Ranger’s progress and web exclusive photos.
The high-pinion Dana 30 front and 8.8-inch rear axle have served the Ranger well. While the axle combo was plenty strong for our original 35-inch tire setup, our new suspension design along with the bigger tire goals has made it so we’re leaving the junkyard jewels behind. When we originally built the Ranger we used a Rock Krawler Suspension YJ coilover conversion kit up front. This setup required limited fabrication, but a fair amount of welding. Our new straight-axle setup will again take advantage of the tremendous Jeep aftermarket, but this time with a fresh approach. One item that will be staying in the Ranger is the geardriven Advance Adapters two-speed Atlas transfer case. Fitted with a 5.0:1 gearset, the superlow crawler case allows the gutless 3.0L to easily crawl over obstacles. Combined with the factory five-speed manual transmission, the Ranger might not be the fastest truck on the trail, but it can crawl along. To freshen up the rear suspension we’ve swapped in a 6-inch Ranger leaf pack from Skyjacker Suspensions. We like the simplicity and durability of the leaf spring rear, and Skyjacker’s replacement spring pack will give us the lift height we need without running a lift block or longer shackle. 1997 marked the last year of the twin traction beam Ranger. The TTB trucks are one of the easier generations to convert to solid axle since the coil buckets accept a variety of Jeep and early Bronco front coils. Since the factory coil buckets are long gone and we’ve torched off the coilover towers, our framerails are a virtual clean slate. The goal for our new solid-axle conversion is to simplify the conversion process and lend some tips that all generation Rangers can use. 4wheeloffroad.com for sneak peeks on the Ranger’s progress and web exclusive photos."> Next month we’ll be working on fitting our new axles in place, along with dialing in the beginning stages of our suspension system. We have a mix of cheap, pricey, and junkyard components that will all be learning to get along under the belly of our battered Ford pickup. Be sure to visit us on the web at <a href="http://4wheeloffroad.com" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">4wheeloffroad.com</a> for sneak peeks on the Ranger’s progress and web exclusive photos.
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