RockRangerII Refresh

I am going to be going through my 93 ranger and giving it a refresh. I bought the truck in late 2004. Other then a rancho lift kt it was an all stock stripped truck with a 4.0 manual trans and tcase. No AC cruise or power windows. The perfect basic wheeling rig.

Here are the specs of how the truck currently sat before this refresh.

4.0V6 all stock
Stock 5 speed
d.d. machine duel case setup with manual 1350 front and 1354 rear.
Front axle is a 1984 Jeep wagonner dana 44 converted to 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern 4.88 gears and an Aussie locker
Three link front suspension using 8" skyjacker TJ springs.
Rear axle is a 1992 explorer 8.8 4.88 gears and welded spider gears.
63" Chevy springs with a bellteck shackle.
BroncoII tank behind the rear axle
Warn 9.5 XP winch behind the front grill.
Interior roll cage
37" MTR on 17" steel rims

Untitled by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

I took the truck down to King of The Hammers and few years ago and did some wheeling and managed to crush the bed good. Broke both front hubs and all 4 front axles, bent the rear driveshaft and ripped a shock mount off. Due to life getting in the way it sat on the trailer for 18 months before I even touched it again. Now I plan to give the truck some love and get it back on the trials again.

 

[RockRanger]

Should have known Cali had allowed anything fun. I might reconsider the seats in the back. I want to do a buggy but with the amount of free time I have it would take me 10 years to build.

 

[BKennedy]

Its a Nanny state. Too bad, so much potential wasted on liberals.

 

[Stic-o]

Tell zukman to sell you his super cab cab cheap.

 

[Rick]

You live in California, its illegal to ride in the back of a pickup truck even with seats and belts.

In Arizona kids in the back are considered cargo and do not have to be restrained in any manner... Until they fall out. Then you can get a ticket for failure to secure a load

 

[RockRanger]

Haven't had much time to work on the truck. But over Memorial weekend I did finish some bracing and get it welded to the truck. Need to pick up more material so I can finish the bed.

20140527_150053 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

20140528_132922 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

20140528_132908 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

Also about a week ago I was in lowes for work picking up a few things and noticed they had a bunch of clamps marked down 50-75%. Here are a few examples.

20140605_171005 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

Untitled by dresselhausfc, on Flickr


Between a few trips to Lowes and a few trips to Home Depot hitting the clearance sections I picked up 10 pipe clamps, 4 c clamps, 13 bar clamps, 3 Irwin c style vice grips, 8 taps and 8 dies, 3/8 and 1/2" extensions, and a pair of kobalt channel locks and a pair of vice grips for under $200. Now I just need to get it all home. Good thing a flat rate box holds 70lbs.

 

[RangerX]

Looks good, Matt!

 

[DB_1]

Great start Matt One thing I wish I would've planned for was storage compartments incorporated into the tube bed. I can still do it if i want to rework some things but initially I just wanted to get the thing finished.

 

[RockRanger]

Got a few hours today to work on my truck. Worked on the outer tube frame. Between the two rear tubes is 38.5". That gives me enough room I can slide a spare tire in the back. I am still not 100% sure how the interior sheet metal of the bed is going to workout. Will be working on that next.

20140628_183846 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

20140628_184023 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

20140628_183859 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

 

[Stic-o]

I like it. good lines

 

[Rick]

Looking good Matt. I hope you can make it to Truck Haven in October

 

[RockRanger]

We will see what work is like if it will work out. I really want to get to AZ and do some trails out there.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Looks like a lot of hours bending, cutting and welding. Nice work. Eventually I'll remove my fiberglass bed and build the exxo, tube bed and new rear bumper.

 

[RockRanger]

Looks like a lot of hours bending, cutting and welding. Nice work. Eventually I'll remove my fiberglass bed and build the exxo, tube bed and new rear bumper.

It is going to be nice not having any sheet metal in the back to worry about.

 

[RockRanger]

Started laying out the floor. How bad will this end up being to put fuel into?

20140629_155738 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

20140629_155748 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Shouldn't be too bad, might slow it down a little from the kink restricting flow but otherwise I don't think it will affect it much at all. I'd be worried about the rubber filler tube rubbing on the frame and wearing out/ cutting into it.

Maybe notch out the frame right there and reverse box it using a piece of round tube just bigger then the filler tube to sit on.

 

[RockRanger]

Life has been busy and haven't had much time to work on this. Last weekend we took my wife's jeep out and did some wheeling. Ended up at Red Lake and my daughter caught her first fish.

IMG_0146 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

Was double checking some things for my new rear driveshafts and she decided she wanted to help.

2014-08-05_20-05-43_452 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

Got a little time to work on the bed. I had this 1/8" aluminum diamond plate left over from an old job so I am using it for the floors of the bed.

2014-08-06_17-48-39_609 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

 

[BKennedy]

Truck looks great. Like the diamond plate. Good to see your daughter favors her mother.

 

[RockRanger]

To lower the front part of the bed an extra half inch, I cut part of the cross member out and then plated it in.

2014-08-08_11-23-49_690 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

2014-08-08_11-48-22_693 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

Then I started building some of the supports that will get skinned.

2014-08-08_15-56-08_183 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

2014-08-08_15-56-18_582 by dresselhausfc, on Flickr

 

[Tbars4]

..Will you be bringing this down to King of the Hammers?

 

[RockRanger]

I hope so. Depends on work and finances when it gets closer.