Completed Project Kirby's 1991 Ranger Build Up

I haven't posted much here since I sold my 1993 Mazda Navajo around 2010 or 2011. It was 10 years in the making and finally to a solid, reliable state. I had some other priorities and decided to sell it and get something more versatile. I will include some pictures below of its developing states and final state when I sold it below. In the end, it had 37" MTRs, Arb front, detroit rear, 4.56 gears, D and D doubler and I built all the armor and the Dana 44 front Solid Axle Swap.

James duff 3.5" VR coil lift, 235" defender tires and a home made heavy ugly bumper (around 2000 when I bought it) :

2001 with 33x10.50s and James duff 4.5" lift with extended radius arms, manual hubs and new auto tranny:

Here it is just after the SAS with 34s and a swapped in manual tcase and tranny:

Winching out of Mikeys hot tub circa 2002 or so

Stuck on a tree just after 37s

37s, winch bumper rebuild etc

Final State Explorerforum moab trip 2010

Last Poser Shots

I hear it still gets around Colorado and Utah and I have had buddies call me with airings from time to time.

I have had a few rangers and one explorer since I sold my explorer.
Here are some pics of those:

Beat up 1994 Ranger 2.4l ($250)

Traded 1993 Ranger 4.0l and an abused auto tranny

1991 Manual Tcase and Tranny Explorer Sport

We have also had a ton of cool Jeeps. Here are a couple of pics, along with our current Jeep which we are hanging on to:

2005 unlimited Rubicon Sahara 5.7 L Hemi

2005 unlimited Rubicon 35s and 4" lift

Our Current 2005 Unlimited Rubicon 4" Lift 315 Kevlars

It does great grocery getter, family truckster, and occasional wekend wheeler, but I need a truck and I miss my exploder, so I decided to build a Ranger. However, I want to build it a little different this time.

I have always wanted to build a 1989-1992 ranger, so I spent a considerable amount of time looking for a low mile one with the right engine, tranny and tcase in good shape. 4.0l, m5od and 1354M stock. My explorer ended up with this combo, but started out as an auto tranny and tcase. This made for a ton of modifications and headaches with my explorer. Rangers can be had in many other undesirable configurations because they were available with 3 different v6s in 1989-92 and a 4cylinder. It proved to be a difficult task. Finally in the fall of 2012 I picked this one up. A 1991 4.0l manual tranny and transfer case 4x4 extended cab "mountain States Edition. It had 130k on it and ran great. The paint was toast, it had a rusty bed and (my biggest complaint) it had no factory air.

I drove it for a year until I was ready to have it painted. I fixed a bunch on it- thermostat, muffler, wheel bearings, brakes, had a new headliner installed, etc. When I got a quote for the paint (one solid color and fix the dings) it was 2k. So then I started thinking I better look for a different ranger to build! I settled on this one. It too is a 1991, it has air (huge plus after not having it in my other truck all summer), manual case and tranny and everything else and a 4.0. The body is really straight no rust and the interior is super nice. The odo read 83k and I believed it.

Since then I tracked down the original and only owner to find it has 183 k on it and they were all hwy miles. The only complaints I have is I wish it had the other mirrors and pop out extended cab windows. I can deal with those, though. This truck has been taken care of.

First order of business was a tune up, brakes and leaky valve cover gaskets.

The build plan is pretty simple: build it similar to how my explorer ended up, with out all the half builds in between. It took me a lot of work and money to get my explorer to preform well off-road and on the street and be reliable. On this one I want to skip all the poor performing, cheapskate half steps I took with the explorer.

My goal is to end up with a reliable, daily drive able, off-road capable ranger that will make a great driver, great work truck and great expo vehicle. I like the idea of a truck over a explorer sport because I need to haul dirt bikes and Sheetrock and plywood and all kinds of stuff all the time so I always needed a pickup when I had the explorer even though I wanted to drive the explorer all the time. Hopefully this will do both functions well.

So far, I have installed:

A blue tooth pioneer stereo (replacing the stock tape deck)

A optima yellow top

A Black grill and headlight bezels along with new headlights:

The only body work it needs is the topper it had on it was put on with a loose and poorly placed clamp that rubbed a hole in the bed cap. I will weld it up and hopefully add a LineX bedliner over the top

I purchased a Dana 44 out of a 76 f150 with no guts or outers for a $50 bill. I still have my spare warn premium hubs off my ex, and I plan to build this one stout before I put it in and leave it full width but move the c bushings in about 2" per side. I will likely then run stock style f150 wheels with stock backspacing and 35s or 37s as skinny as I can find. It will get a full rebuild and at least 4.88s, maybe 5.13s. I am not decided on radius arms yet. I suppose extended ones are on the bill instead of the stock wristed ones I had before, but I haven't sorted that out yet. The wrist traveled fine but it clunked and made a racket and it was also a pain to get out and pull the pin when it was time to wheel. Extended arms won't perform quite as well on the street as the stock length ones did with the pin in, but longer arms should stream line things.

For the rear I will rebuild a full width late model 31 spline 8.8 put of a bronco or f150 and install explorer disk brakes. I will likely need to have the axle flanges turned down and drill the rotors for the new bolt pattern.

I will extend the wheel base around 3" by moving the front axle forward and leave the rear axle centered in the wheel well. I plan to leave the bed size stock as I need the truck to haul stuff all the time. I will build bumpers and sliders before I beat it up this time.

Stay Tuned, I am picking up the front axle tomorrow.

 

[4pullingGM]

Makin progress! I've thought about building an offroad trailer to pull around, I bet you're gonna miss yours. But, you get to buy more goodies!

 

[BKennedy]

The gray Duff arms cost more because they have some superduperspecialishish powder coating. I asked them to send me the arms raw but they don't do that.

Sorry I did not reply sooner but I am getting the Explorer dirty.

Sent from my XT907 using Forum Runner

 

[Kirby N.]

Makin progress! I've thought about building an offroad trailer to pull around, I bet you're gonna miss yours. But, you get to buy more goodies!

We haven't used it in a long time. I think with a pickup I can sleep in the bed just as easy. It was so old and rough, bit with all the interest I got I probably could have gotten $1,000 for it.

The gray Duff arms cost more because they have some superduperspecialishish powder coating. I asked them to send me the arms raw but they don't do that.

Sorry I did not reply sooner but I am getting the Explorer dirty.

Sent from my XT907 using Forum Runner

Good for you man. No problem! I ordered 5.13 gears and a pinion install kit today. Great prices and service from http://crazyedsperformance.com that's where I get all my parts.

Ed also has a housing with spindles I am going to buy. I think I am going to run stock shafts also to save some coin. When it's gets an arb I will put in chromos. I am pretty excited about that!

 

[Kirby N.]

All dressed up with no where to go

Mounts are moved on and a fresh coat of paint

 

[Kirby N.]

Some good news! I got a shipment from James duff!

They are pretty! I also got my yukon 5.13s for the front and an install kit from crazyedsperformance.com

Last week I also made a trip to the Great Lakes to pick up a jeep for my wife. 2006 lj rubicon to replace her 2005. She has been car less for a couple months. I stopped in Madison, WI and went four wheeling with a couple of my oldest and best friends: Chuk and Jeremy. 3 Rubicons on a trail was a odd sight for that a area. We had to go at night, due to our schedule but it was fantastic. Chuk has a 2003 tj rubicon and Jeremy has a 2006 lj rubicon

Now for the bad news. Last Sunday I got home from church and the ranger was hissing and blowing antifreeze all over. It looked like it was coming out of the block. I decided it had to be a lower intake gasket, unfortunately.

So off with the intake today.

This looks like the culprit

I am not sure if I should put a new gasket on and reassemble or have a valve job done and have the heads checked. Any suggestions?

 

[BKennedy]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, you went with the gray. Rustoleum hammered gray is nearly a perfect match for the radius arm color. I painted the knuckles and RA caps to match. The Solid diff covers are also nearly the same color.

Sucks you have to do repairs not planned.

 

[RockRanger]

I had a head gasket blow on my 86 with a 2.9. It had 170k on it. I pulled the heads put new gaskets and head bolt in and drove it another 100k. Never did a thing to the heads. My brothers 95 ranger had the intake gasket let go and I just put a new gasket in. It is still going probably 20k miles on it now.

 

[Kirby N.]

Thanks for the advice. I took the lower intake to a machine shop to be dipped. It has 200k on it and gets up to 20 mpgs. I had a mechanic tell me a fresh valve job can be hard on a tired bottom end, so I am thinking of replacing the gaskets and hoping for the best. I ordered gaskets and sensors and a bunch of new parts from rock auto yesterday. Should be here in a few days.

 

[Kirby N.]

I got a pile of parts in from rock auto.

I almost have it ready to go back together:

But I can't figure out where these o-rings go that came with the intake set. I have 6 of them.

Any ideas??

 

[Kirby N.]

I couldn't find it in any of my manuals, but it looks like the later ohv motors had a plastic upper intake that used the orings.

 

[Kirby N.]

I got the Ranger all put back together and running well. When I ordered the lower intake gasket, I decided it was a good time to replace lots of parts. I got new temp sensor/ sender, new coolant hoses, new serpentine belt, new plug wires, I even put a new injector wire on where a squirrel almost chewed completely through. I was going to put new injectors in, but then I priced them. So I cleaned them up and put new ends/ orings on them. I had the lower intake hot tanked because it was filthy and I painted the valve covers and thermostat housing. Of course they are pretty much covered up now.

When I got it all together and fired it up, it smoked like crazy and ran poorly. So I was bummed because I was sure it was a head or gasket. Then I got to thinking and checked the firing order. Sure enough. Had a wire crossed. I fixed it, then it ran great!

After I got the ranger together, I put new plugs in our 2006 Rubicon Unlimited. It took me 15 minutes flat with a plug socket and an extension. no wobbles or u joints or blind corners. They were all super easy to get to. Then I looked at the intake. Then I got angry at my ranger and ford for a while! That jeep is so easy to work on. I still like my ranger too I guess.

 

[Kirby N.]

I made another order last night because it was cyber monday. Ruff Stuff and Ballistic fab were having a 22.5% off sale and a 30% some/20% the rest off sale. I needed to get my track bar and steering sorted out anyway.

My track bar will have a ballistic flex joint on the lower end (2") and a ballistic fab poly joint on the other (2.63") both threaded opposite ways. I like this setup because I don't have to weld to a bushing, they both have 1.0 x 14 thread studs on them. I will have my buddy with the machine shop who helped me with the rear disks thread a piece of DOM and add wrench flats. That way I dont have to weld in bungs. I had a bad experience once!!

For the brackets, I bought ballistics upper because it matches the poly joint 2.63" wide and 9/16" holes.

For the lower, I really liked Ruffstuffs offset bracket. I plan to cut the stock bracket and weld to it also to gain an inch or so of length. However, the ballistic joint in a 2" has 1/2" hole and the bracket has 2" width and 9/16" holes. I asked each company about this and they said it is for heims. I am not doing that again on my track bar. Luckily, ballistic sells some weld in reducer spacers to accommodate 1/2" bolts in 9/16" holes. So I ordered those too.

I also ordered ruff stuffs Chevy 1 Ton TREs. Buying them from Ruffstuff, I don't have to ream the passenger tierod end to mate up to the draglink for over the knuckle and they were pretty reasonable. Hopefully they are good quality. The steering links will all be made by my buddy with the machine shop from threaded DOM also.

Lastly, I ran across Synergy MFG's low misalignment dust boot for TREs. These will do well to stop the steering flop common with chevy TRE steering. On my explorer this caused a little dead spot in the center of steering. Not awful, but noticeable. I saw another company build something similar, but these are nicer with the metal dust shield. I will let you know how I like them.

They are here: http://www.synergymfg.com/Synergy-Low-Misalignment-Tie-Rod-End-Dust-Boot-p-30954.html#.VH5o2zTF-So

They wont let me order them direct, so I got them through crazyedsperformance.com

 

[Kirby N.]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, you went with the gray. Rustoleum hammered gray is nearly a perfect match for the radius arm color. I painted the knuckles and RA caps to match. The Solid diff covers are also nearly the same color.

Sucks you have to do repairs not planned.

I have only been able to locate one cap. Still looking for another as well as coil buckets. Argh. Will do on the paint. May have to weld on different shock mounts too. These are stupid.

 

[dkchrist]

But I can't figure out where these o-rings go that came with the intake set. I have 6 of them.

Any ideas??

Those are for the plastic manifold 4.0 OHV. 94+ I just did the same thing. I panicked slightly too.

 

[Kirby N.]

I got the ballistic parts, synergy and ruff stuff parts.

My buddy ed had a spare front end in his bone pile with some of the outer stuff I needed. Spindles, brake parts, axle shafts. I mostly wanted the spindles as they are so hard to find. I also ordered an empty carrier. I also bought a new set of rotors rather than have the old set turned. I plan to use later ttb hubs because I found the warn lockouts fit much better on them. The axle I gutted had some scary steering and it looked like someone had started cutting off the cbushings with a grinder and a torch and given up. I am suprised it held up with the barely welded on spring pads. I would guess someone threw it in a cj at some point. Here it is post gutting:

 

[Kirby N.]

In case you didn't notice, my project has been on hold. I had to remod a bathroom. It's done and turned out nice so I can focus on the ranger again.

House mods aren't as fun but atleast they hold thier value.

I spent some time at the junk yard this week. I still need some coil buckets, some spring cups and a radius arm cap. My buddy saw this little gem of a dents side and sentence down to grab some parts. By the time I got there someone had robbed the whole front end. No cups or caps left. The buckets had an ugly shock mount and bump stop integrated so I decided to hold off on them too.

At least I grabbed a set of 250 shock mounts. They are the 4 bolt ones not the 2 bolt ones. I need to clean them up and paint them.

I have a buddy coming on Saturday to help setup the front gears. Hoping to get them knocked out. Here is the parts pile. Some assembly required...

 

[BKennedy]

I noticed, but my SAS took me six months and I don't even have a steady job.

 

[Kirby N.]

I am in a similar situation. I work 2 or 3 part time jobs so I can be available to take my kid to school and pick her up and do homework everyday. I keep busy though.

 

[Kirby N.]

Got the 5.13 Yukon gears setup today.

Decent pattern. Started cleaning up the shafts and removed the ujoints. I am putting in a new set of spicer 5-760x joints, but I had some problems with the caps on the stock shafts in my exploder spinning caps. So I guess I'll do full circle caps. I need to get some. I think lowes has them??

 

[BKennedy]

Nice pattern. That is an expense I could have avoided by doing it myself but I am not confident with gears so I farmed it out.

I noticed on my build, that I got real enthused when I ripped the old suspension out. Then it tapered off. Got enthused again when I rolled the new axle under the rig for the first time. That lasted until I was finished. I was nearing obsession when I drive it around the back yard for the first time. Of course, you have done this before. For me, it was a huge undertaking.