1954 F100 short bed body onto a 1999 Ranger short bed Chassis

[allmyEXes]

I'll need a more comprehensive wiring diagram for the 1999 Ranger to understand where the pair of VSS wires head to after they leave the differential
@410Fortune As far as being able to drive the VSS signal from the Ranger drivetrain off of the transmission, that really won't come in to play until I install the 3.0/auto over in to the 1987 Aerostar. The Ranger differential wouldn't be an easy swap in to the Aerostar. Aerostar has a 4 link differential.
The Aerostar Air Conditioning will operate stand alone.

 

[Josh P]

I'll need a more comprehensive wiring diagram for the 1999 Ranger to understand where the pair of VSS wires head to after they leave the differential
@410Fortune As far as being able to drive the VSS signal from the Ranger drivetrain off of the transmission, that really won't come in to play until I install the 3.0/auto over in to the 1987 Aerostar. The Ranger differential wouldn't be an easy swap in to the Aerostar. Aerostar has a 4 link differential.
The Aerostar Air Conditioning will operate stand alone.

The later aerostar axles have the tone ring in them like the ranger. I'd find an 8.8 with a limited slip in either 3.55 or 3.73

 

[allmyEXes]

@Josh P Sounds more and more like I need an Aerostar parts truck. What was the last year that FoMoCo made them?

 

[Josh P]

1997

 

[allmyEXes]

You do not need the gem to get the speedo working
The 98+ ranger vss for the speedo is the rear axle 8.8 sensor, the signal is fed directly to the abs module which does the buffering (changes the pulses per mile down to the 8000 rotations per mile the speedo wants to see) then sends that signal to the gem, cluster, speed control and others.

30 mins ago I went out to the sea(C) Box where the Ranger sleeps and looked at the RABS wiring and I see where the twisted pair, (I assume that they are twisted to prevent RFI) the lt gr/blk and rd/pk go in to the RABS. I traced them back up to the main harness to see where I clipped the pair going to the GEM. I don't see a gray/blk wire coming out of the RABS module. I see up in the main harness where I clipped the gray/blk and the two that remain, one goes to the instruments(speedo) and then I assume that the other one goes to pin 58 of the PCM. Is the buffered wire coming out of the RABS a different color than gray/blk?
It looks like the twisted pair VSS wires forked and one pair went to the RABS and one pair to the GEM?
Forgive me for keep going over this. I would like to think that there is a wire coming out of the RABS to go to the electric/onic speedometer and pin 58 of the PCM and allow me to eliminate the GEM. I have searched and searched for '99 Ranger RABS wiring and cannot find anything on the net. Just dead ends.

 

[410Fortune]

2000 explorer vss (98-01 similar)

2000 ranger w 4wabs

2000 ranger w RABS

98-06 ranger all similar
I hope this explains it

 

[allmyEXes]

Thanks for the info. According to your service manual if the vehicle has 4 wheel ABS the VSS pair go through the 4 wheel ABS module. The gray wire with black stripe comes out of it.
(Page 64-2) The 2 wheel antilock brakes system RABS the VSS pair go through the GEM then the gray wire with the black stripe comes out of it.
The 4 wheel ABS and 2 wheel ABS seem to be wired a little bit differently and I will say FoMoCo's drawings there aren't entirely clear about that.
But that must be how it is...
Thanks again Jamie, I know Ford has so many variations that it is hard to keep up with all of them. Thanks for your time and experience.
Added: For some reason there are two little blocks on the diagram on page 64-2 that want page 42-2 looked at. and then 59-1 and 59-2

 

[410Fortune]

Yes!! 4wabs Vss pair is straight from the stator ring and sensor, lots of pulses per mile

The Abs module buffers the signal down to the traditional 8000ppm for the truck side of things (like the old vss sensors produced) and now that signal is sent out via the grey w black

RABS trucks the gem does the buffering

If no gem or RABS modules present or if you want to bypass any of that for your conversion then we can use a Dakota digital or similar to produce that 8000ppm

The nice part about the Dakota is it’s adjustable via Bluetooth or w buttons as you drive you can dial in the speed to be exact even w tire size changes, ring and pinion changes, etc

 

[allmyEXes]

OK. Mine is RABS.

 

[410Fortune]

I hate RABS I would delete it lol

 

[allmyEXes]

Well I do too not like any ABS personally.
I should have studied the wiring before I went hack happy. If I solder back in the GEM though, I can get the speedometer working again for now.
Also when the Ranger/54 is all grown up to a 5.0 and the HTM PCM I can re-plumb the rear brake line to delete RABS. Thanks for your help.
Late for work. Later.

 

[Josh P]

What is the difference in body width between the 54 and the ranger?

 

[allmyEXes]

@Josh P The F100 body is a few inches wider than the Ranger. The majority of that is the ballooned out or "fat" fenders. The Ranger frame is about an inch narrower. Tracking width an inch or so narrower. A 1972 F100 frame and tracking width would be way too wide for the 1953-56s. The cab of the mid fifties is close to the same width of the 1998 to 2011 Ranger. Look back at post #23 the 3rd picture and that has pretty much a stock stance with the wheels kind of sunk up in under the large "fat" Fenders. There was always a lot of room for wider rims/wheels and tires. You can go to Facebook and look up this group Explorer F100 Chassis Swap and there are several swaps going on. A lot of people use really wide wheels and tires to make up for the tracking width being a bit narrow. Some have just left the Explorer wheels on that doesn't even look as sunk in as original '54. Some add a 1 inch spacer to bring the wheels out a bit. What I have been looking for is a wide stock style wheel that looks original, wider than the original and fits the Ranger wheel stud pattern. I have found several but I haven't been able to find a company making a wheel that you can "custom pick" you offset. If I could I would have wheels made that would stick out a little without using spacers.
Now for some shiny stuff

This is an emblem that goes on the front hood edge if the truck came with a factory overdrive unit. I see that I need to purchase more chrome items. They have been harder to come up with lately with the supply chains being interrupted.

 

[CDW6212R]

I recall when Pontiac first had ABS in some higher end models, they had center caps with ABS on them. Mercedes has for ages listed their +1 over drive gears on the back, with an emblem. I like emblems, but I prefer fewer and very specific, to the point. I usually want all of the make and model letters off, but have the option level or special features, engine etc. I like people to look and also have to figure out what the vehicle is somewhat. So a Lincoln emblem tells you enough, no need for a bunch of small letters also, on both the front and rear.

 

[Josh P]

Emblems are to sell more cars, not for the person who bought it.

 

[allmyEXes]

@Josh P @CDW6212R Oh, you gotta put the "jewelry" on these classic antique vehicles.

 

[CDW6212R]

@Josh P @CDW6212R Oh, you gotta put the "jewelry" on these classic antique vehicles.
View attachment 430295

That I love, it's simple and makes the statement. There is a right place for some emblems, and sometimes, some amount is too much.

Think back to the 70's, there was the Gran Torino Sport which most people know now because of the movie. I had a Gran Torino, my parents first car bought new. The Ranchero they chose to call a GT for the sport model, whatever, it's a stripe package basically. I have two 73 Ranchero GT's, one a donor for parts and then sell. The other a keeper with lots of upgrades. I bought the Sport and Ranchero emblems from a JY in the early 80's. Those will go on my fenders, that's where I got my first personalized license plate from. 72RS351, 1972 Ranchero Sport 351. So, the two fender emblems and the license plate, plus F O R D on the tailgate.

This isn't my truck, just a nice picture of the tailgate trim.

 

[allmyEXes]

@CDW6212R That was the Pinnacle of Ranchero.
This Saturday I was able to get in a little time on the wiring. I put back together the GEM wiring that I had cut out last weekend. I soldered and heat shrinked(shrunk) shrank two connectors of wires. I only hooked up the following wires. 1st connector numbers 1, 6, 9, 11, 14, 15, 18. 2nd connector 14, 25 and 26. There was ~ 2 dozen wires that I did not hook back up. Anything having to do with the wipers, windows, interior lights, warning system lights etc. I went down the street 800 ft and back and the speedometer works again. I will try not to talk too much more about the Ranger side of things or the Aerostar, which may be the new home for the 3.0/auto and not only will the PCM be connected to it but also the GEM.
I'm learning quite a bit about 1998 to 2000 Rangers. Particularly 3.0 powered ones. This one is Flex Fuel and it did not like it at all when I put 100% gasoline in it. It needs some fuel treatment too. Any suggestions? I possibly haven't put any in since 2009. It runs a little rough when it is cold. Rev it a little it smooths out. The 3.0 models had 7.5 differentials in them I want a rear disc Explorer 8.8.
Question: Does the 7.5 and the 8.8 have the same number of teeth on the tone ring for the VSS system? Or will some reprogramming be in order?

 

[CDW6212R]

I would expect the ring gear tone ring to produce the same signal, I'd swap that without worry.

 

[Josh P]

The rings are the same