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]

I moved the shocks that way maybe a year ago. @Stic-o got me the hookup on some Bilsteins all the way around. What fixed most axle wrap issues was when I went did my new spring hangers and removed the factory block. I was running FR36 Skyjacker springs till I snapped one in half on the Rubicon. Now I am running procomp 3.5 inch lift 63 inch Chevy springs.

 

[RockRanger]

Here is also a video I made of where I redid the front suspension. After 10 ish years of running the front suspension with limit straps I started having issues with the front springs coming out when I was on the Dusy Ershim trail. When I took it apart I found a coil bucket loose and the frame cracked behind it. I patched it together and build new axle mounts. I also relocated the lower shock mount from the links to the axle. It made a huge difference and improved road driving tremendously.

 

[Kirby N.]

Woah. Maybe I need to check my frame. Great stuff as always dude. I love that new bumper and the spring hangers. Mine were rusty when I pulled them- but have thought I need to buy yours and replace them.

 

[RockRanger]

Somehow all the bolts holding it on were loose. I don't know if I forgot to tighten them or if they worked looose themselves. The passenger side was fine and tight but the driverside was the damaged side. They had maybe 500 miles on them sense I had them off last. To install the upper shock bolts I have to pull the coil buckets.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

go matt!!!!!!!!! wooohooooooooo!

 

[RockRanger]

I extended my sliders 4 inches closer to the rear tires. These sliders were one of the first things I built on this back when it was still ttb and on 31s. I also moved the rear support for the slider to tie into the side of my custom spring hanger. By extending the sliders and moving the support I will picknup even more much needed storage space when I built the rest of the bed.Then I reinstalled some of the old floor framing and I am reusing parts of the old floor. Some additional supports and cross bracing still needs to be added.

 

[410Fortune]

You have to remove the coil buckets to install the upper shock bolt?? Holy smokes! That’s crazy
My 88 bii has had a few frame repairs in the last two years, I still beat on her pretty good she has seen I think 27 winters with me driving.
The engine cradle cracked above the passenger beam mount. also the rear shock hangers the frame was cracking behind both of them. All these years of dirt and moisture take their toll… glad to see you putting her back together!! Looks very strong this time around

 

[Kirby N.]

Somehow all the bolts holding it on were loose. I don't know if I forgot to tighten them or if they worked looose themselves. The passenger side was fine and tight but the driverside was the damaged side. They had maybe 500 miles on them sense I had them off last. To install the upper shock bolts I have to pull the coil buckets.

Oh ok, well I won’t worry about mine then. Mine is also welded and bolted on that side. Maybe I’ll just check torque. I am glad to know yours were fine up until 500 miles ago. Didn’t you break your lower track bar mount too? Your poor ranger gets its exercise.

 

[410Fortune]

I love that back bumper did I mention that before? Way up high and cool looking too!!

 

[RockRanger]

Oh ok, well I won’t worry about mine then. Mine is also welded and bolted on that side. Maybe I’ll just check torque. I am glad to know yours were fine up until 500 miles ago. Didn’t you break your lower track bar mount too? Your poor ranger gets its exercise.

I had the axle side track bar crack half way thru. I found it before it fully broke. It was the only store bought bracket that I used. Once I found it cracked I looked at the mfgs website and they had changed the design of the bracket. Maybe others had issues with it as well.

I also partially ripped my driver lower link off the frame. I think that had to do with the rock I hit on the driverside at like 15mph that stopped me dead in my tracks. The trail fix is still holding strong 2 years later. I will fix it one of these days.

 

[Stic-o]

Interested to see what you do with the bed. Rear bumper looks great.

 

[RockRanger]

Pulled out the reliable old blue tube on a roll to get a visual of what I was thinking. After a bit of looking at it I started on the tube work. I put a 5 degree bend in the main tube. This way it roughly follows the slider then cuts back to tie in with the bumper. I am designing this all around running 38ish tires max. I figure that is all my axles can reliably handle so I will buikd it for the current setup.

I also wired in all the lights. The factory reverse circut doesn't have the power for all 4 lights so I am going to wire them thru a relay. I am also getting a phantom voltage thru the tail light circut. When I turn the truck on the tail lights will slightly light up. Not as bright as if I had the head lights on or when I hit the brakes but still light up some. It did this with the old led lights as well. No idea why it does this.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

looking forward to seeing this nee setup sometime!

 

[410Fortune]

My 88 has the faint tail lights too because I am running led rear bulbs
The lighting system is expecting some draw from the halogen bulbs, when we replace them with led the system is not happy and results in fast flasher and dim light draw. You can add a ballast to draw some extra current or just live with it like I do.
On my 97 f350 the whole bed would stay lit up sometimes like cannot turn it off. I would look outside and the whole yard lit up like a Christmas tree in the middle of the night! Had to disco the batteries to get them to turn off.
The flatbed has like 14 leds drove me nuts. Eventually I added a halogen bulb to each side (drivers/pass) and buried the bulb inside the headache rack. Now the system is happy and all the leds work as they should.

Happy Easter!! Keep up the good work!

 

[tdavis]

The phantom current draw is probably coming from the dashboard bulb out/turn signal blinker light out circuits.

 

[RockRanger]

The phantom current draw is probably coming from the dashboard bulb out/turn signal blinker light out circuits.

If I remember right from last time I investigated it, it was coming coming thru the tail light circut wire.

 

[RockRanger]

I extended the bumper towards the tire so that it aligned with the top bar.

 

[RockRanger]

Floor of one of the new storage compartments is temporarily held in place. Will start welding it in tomorrow. Way back in the day old school member DB1 told me to build as much storage in as I could. I thought I did build in enough but I didn't. Having a standard cab makes it hard to have a dry storage area for jacket and other stuff you don't want to leave out in the elements. Multiday canping trips are always a challenge having everything stored in the bed. If I ever needed tools I had to unload camping gear to get stuff out. Fixing that problem as well.

 

[RockRanger]

Added a few more tubes to the side of the bed. I also started sheet metal floor for the new front compartment. Then I moved up the front section of the open bed up. It was always a catch for sticke leafs and dirt. The open area under will be enclosed and accessiblefrom the side it will make a perfect area for storing my spare axle shafts.

 

[RockRanger]

Progress has been slower then I would like as life has been busy lately. I managed to bend the upper tube to tie the cage into the rest of the bed. Then I started working on the frame around the doors for the first hatch. My homemade sheet metal brake was leaving a lot to be desired. Last night while surfing facebook marketplace this 4 foot 16 ga box and pan brake showed up. A few messaged back and forth and a 90 minute drive each way and now I have a much better way to bend sheetmetal.

Now I need to figure out where I am actually going to store it. My shop is quickly filling up.