Pirate 4x4 banner

2.5 ton Ranger

90K views 179 replies 69 participants last post by  3rdgenftw 
#1 · (Edited)
2.5 ton Ranger(Vids and actions shots, finally)

Got started on my new truck this weekend so I figured I'd get a build thread going.
The body is a 96 Ford Ranger Splash.
2"x4"(.250 wall) box tubing frame.
Wheelbase is going to be stretched to about 114".
4-link w/ 2"(.250 wall) DOM tubing, 1 1/4" Midwest Control heims, 14"
coilovers up front and 16's in the back
532 BBF/C6/NP205
44" Boggers on 16.5 x 14 DIY beadlocks
2.5 Rocks

I'll post up more as I go along.

Pics of the wheel shells.



Pics of the box tubing.



Pics of the Ranger.



And a couple pics of the truck its replacing.

 
See less See more
8
#2 ·
Friday & Saturday 11/20/09 & 11/21/09
My buddy Brian came over on Friday to help me lay out the frame. It took about 7 hours to lay it out and fit it up. Afterwards I started welding it out, gapped all of the welds, put a 6010 root in with a 3/8's 7018 cap. I welded on it for 5 hours on Friday and Saturday morning it took me about 2 hours to finish it up. Stick welding it all made it a little harder to keep the heat down and keep it from drawing but it turned out good.

tool I used for the job


fitting up the frame






starting the welding


 
#3 ·
Sunday 11/22/09

I started stripping down the ranger today and transferring the body over to the new frame.

The final ride hight is going to be about about 6" higher(pic is with 44" Bogger), then I will tub it out as needed. The wheel base is going to be stretched a couple inches in the back and about 8 to 10" in the front.




 
#10 ·
I like the old body better too but I'm trying to cut weight and. The 79 cab is shot plus I'm going to make it a firewood hauler out of it
 
#14 ·



dug this up out of the barn over the weekend also. will be mounted between the last 2 crossmembers.

I have no idea where my avatar came from, I found it in my photobucket. Considering how far back I found it I'd say its been there for a few years.
 
#21 ·
If I had a bigger mig I would have went that route. Would have been alot easier.
 
#22 ·
order my wheel centers from 406 YJ yesterday. still depating on which DIY beadlock kit to go with. I got some free time today so I started on my body mounts, going to finish them this weekend and try to get a motor and trans in for mockup.

for the mounts I'm using two of these gussets with a 3"x4" flat plate on top. I figured I would need a little body lift to clear the motor and I didn't want to use body blocks so I made my mounts to incorporate the body lift.

 
#30 ·
I agree, its a slow process making everything but I'm going to have less than $400 in it including all the brackets, gussets, and mounts. I think I'm going to buy me a new mig welder sometime this week so that will speed things up a little.
 
#31 ·
my Midwest Control 1 1/4" RH heims came in today from Ballistic Fab, just waiting for the LH to get back in stock. Ordered 4 of these today in the 14" flavor.


going to start putting together a hydro steering setup, just wondering what size heims and DOM I should use for my tie-rod?
 
#32 ·
going to start putting together a hydro steering setup, just wondering what size heims and DOM I should use for my tie-rod?
7/8" heims with 3/4 ball, 1.5" DOM 1/4"wall thickness. Thats what my steering is made of. Well i run 7/8" heims at the knuckles and 3/4" heims at my ram, only because a 3/4 heim is the biggest that would fit in the ram clevis's.
 
#33 ·
well today is the first day I've got to work on the Ranger in a few weeks. I got my Rocks today and finished up the body mounts. I picked up a front and 2 rears. I have U-joint axles and a detroit for the front and I'm welding the rear.

Front and spare rear



rear during teardown

Torn apart and cleaned

 
#34 ·
My springs for my coilovers came in and my 1 1/4" tube adapters and jam nuts. Also my heims for my sway bars.



 
#35 ·
got the front end tore down today and started putting the rear back together, cleaned the hubs and repacked the wheel bearings, got it welded up, and cleaned the diff.


 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top