89 Super cab with a 4.0 swap

[RowdyFitz]

I didn’t think about taking pictures of it while I was there lol. Next time I go out I’ll get some. I’m usually too busy watching the dirt for tracks and watching dogs to make sure they’re hunting, not playing or eating cow poop lol.



It was a little warm yesterday so I waited until sun down to start working on it. I started beefing up the rear spring packs to handle the weight of my dogs and gear. Took a little longer than I anticipated. Got the passenger side done then started the driver side. Mosquitoes were pretty bad last night and I stopped working on it just before 10:00.
I figured I got around 1-1.5” of lift by adding 2 ranger leafs to the chevy leaf pack. I used the smallest and 2nd to largest leafs from the ranger leaf pack. I may pull the bed sides today and see how much clearance that adds. I cut up the sidewall of my brand new tires on the first trip because they were hitting the rear fenders.

 

[RowdyFitz]

Finished the leafs up. I gained 1” in height unloaded and it only squats about 2” loaded with all 12 of my hounds and 10 extra gallons of gas.

 

[donalds]

Another dog box
Yeeyee

 

[410Fortune]

Need some clearance Clarence
Pull those bedsides and a saws all for the front? Flares?

I love the first gen bed with the sides pulled, looks trick. Need to match it up front somehow maybe some glass?

 

[Josh P]

I've seen pictures of a ranger where the guy used a jack in the bed wheel well to flare it out for tire clearance.

 

[410Fortune]

Yes that’s called pulled bedsides. There is a simple metal support you cut,
Push them out with a jack and then weld in a patch…. Looks awesome on a gen i

 

[RowdyFitz]

Another dog box
Yeeyee

Yes sir! I hunt lions here in NV.

Need some clearance Clarence
Pull those bedsides and a saws all for the front? Flares?

I love the first gen bed with the sides pulled, looks trick. Need to match it up front somehow maybe some glass?

That’s exactly what I plan to do, along with new rear spring hangers and a shackle flip. I’m hoping that gives me a little more lift. I don’t think I’ll splurge on glass fenders though. I did that on my older ranger years ago. It looked great but I tore them up. I’m gonna keep it metal so I can just hammer it back or just leave it. I will be trimming the fronts and maybe adding some lawn n garden flares if it throws rocks and sand.

 

[RowdyFitz]

My 87 back when it was 1/2 ton. Kept breaking front axle shafts and blowing up 9” diffs. So now it’s got D-60’s under it.

 

[Josh P]

That thing looks like sex on wheels

 

[RowdyFitz]

That thing looks like sex on wheels

Lol thanks! It has evolved some since then.

 

[Josh P]

Were those fenders original on the truck? I've never seen an 87 with V6 badges

 

[RowdyFitz]

Were those fenders original on the truck? I've never seen an 87 with V6 badges

No, they came off a bronco 2 I had for parts.

 

[410Fortune]

Love the mirrors and the variable rate coils…
Chevy 64’s……..Wicked cool ranger!!

 

[RowdyFitz]

Love the mirrors and the variable rate coils…
Chevy 64’s……..Wicked cool ranger!!

Thanks! I took the mirrors off a 70’s Dodge power wagon. Had to drill the hole in the stock brackets a little bit bigger but they match the truck well and I like the larger mirrors more.
The coils are for an original bronco, I think I got them from wild horses IIRC. They ride good and flex even better. My only issue is that my frame is bent so the passenger coil bulges out pretty bad. I plan to frame swap with a full size Bronco some day. Unless I happen upon a F-150 for dirt cheap.

 

[RowdyFitz]

Hunted a couple days this week. Had a pretty good time. My daughter got to see her first lion and 6 of my pups got to see their first lion. It was a young one so we didn’t harvest it. In hound hunting lingo we call it “Treed and freed”.

The truck is running good but still has a couple bugs.
A surging idle when cruising and put into neutral to coast to a stop.
Leaf packs are still too light.
Radius arms clack a lot in the brackets.
Need to fix the AC.

 

[Josh P]

You going to add some more leafs to the springs?

 

[RowdyFitz]

You going to add some more leafs to the springs?

I added some last month and that netted about an inch of lift. I’m thinking about adding some 2” add a leafs or maybe just adding air bags. I plan to put onboard air in it so that would be convenient.

 

[donalds]

Nice
Love the hounds

 

[RowdyFitz]

Nice
Love the hounds

Thank you, they’re all pretty good dogs.

I started playing around with YouTube. I made my first edited video. I’m not looking to go pro or anything, just playing around.

 

[donalds]

I like the mama dog
It's great to see children going hunting in learning skills like that it's almost lost to us