All I Wanted was a Two Wheel Drive!! | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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All I Wanted was a Two Wheel Drive!!

Kona

Active Member
Joined
April 8, 2008
Messages
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City, State
BC
Year, Model & Trim Level
91 XLT Ranger Supercab
This page is a start , I will fill in the blanks as I feel like it :D .

After 2 months of looking for a 2whldrv Ranger SCab I had a friend drive my for greener fields. After a day of finding trucks sold, crappy overpriced trucks and sheer junk I, in desperation bought the only truck I liked in my price range and it happened to be a 4whdrv lifted (4") truck. It had a canopy which I left on for a week or two and then traded for a good Fiskars axe. The power train is a 4.0 with manual transmission auto t case manual hubs and 3.73 gears. The transmission (rebuilt )and rear springs (replaced) just 15,000 miles ago, the whole truck had 156,585 miles (252,000kms)on it.

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But I could not leave it alone, it was lifted so I HAD to go offroad since it was lifted!

******CONTINUED *******

So the next thing to do, since I was going to do some November driving on BC, Coquihalla highway the Michelin 31" A/T tires got swapped out for the Latitude Ice X 's you see in the picture. Then, well the exhaust was fine but...... Flowmaster 40 time!! Fuel economy was a little dicey as a stuck open thermostat and a lazy O2 sensor took a bite out of my wallet but eventually got tracked down. Next thing on the list is what brought me to this forum, other then reading about Aldive's mileage monster! The front axle slip joint had too much play to use and the push button T-case did not do anything. So I read and read and fixed the T case in a hour , the axle was $500 sadly.

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So now I have a working 4x4, hmmm well my buddy pays meals for firewood collection so out in them hills I go.

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After tackling a few de-activation ditches I was hooked, so...Finally we go snow road running! A few hours on the backroads in 2 foot deep snow, great fun!
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Then in the spring (08) try the truck out for real , got the A/T's back on and out we go. Sadly while they are good on hard pack ice and rock they lack greatly in mud and snow.

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So now I need new tires!! What next? So I got a hell of a deal from my BigO tire guy on some 2nd hand BigFoot X/T's that he will warranty for me and sell to me at 1/2 price of new. I figure that now I have new tires I am going to get in more and more trouble, so I am going to need a winch. And so, not long after getting the tires I get a old school winch bumper for $250. So here is a picture of the two new improvements with the tires in action.
2008
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2009
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So I go out and 4x4 and it is good.......

My local 4x4 shop has a open house, as you can see I entered the ramp competition and made the connections for my economic downfall...more improvements. The local rock crawler club was there and I got invited on a run of the famous Whipsaw Trail one of BF Goodrich's "Outstanding Trails" BC 4x4 Forums.
 
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One of my favorite threads so far -- the story had a beginning (the search for a truck), a climax brought on by desperation, and a dramatic ending where he went off roading.
Plus there's more to come .. cant wait :)
 












Nice, I like the older bodystyle. What engine and transmission?
 






4.0 & m5od, thank you
 






Ouu more pics! Loving the white stuff on the ground.
 






So to carry on a little...I had a shock break , so time for new. Trailmaster 4" gas shocks (which have enough travel for 6" as well) replaced the Dick Cepek oil front air/oil rear and suddenly my handling off road got way better! I addition to the good stuff I was fixing every little thing so I would not have to walk home.
On my trip on the Whipsaw I popped the c clip out of the front axle center u joint leaving me halfway though the trail with a 2 wheel drive:mad: This was going to lead to more money, I would need bigger tires.


here is putting the new winch to use.
 
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And to think you wanted a 2wd! :D

Nice looking Ranger. What mods are coming next?
 






Well since I am describing stuff in 08...... ;) and I was on 31's ...if you read my signature line.....you will get the idea. However I will go into describing the trials and tribulations involved as well, and I have a bunch of work still coming as I found bent center hinge brackets with gimped bushings while getting ready to do my radius arm bushings.
 






love the thread and def. love the truck =o' reminds me of my 90' xl (RIP) =[
 












Nice looking ranger....glad you got 4 wheel drive huh?
Haha
 






Oh but doing a trail that is recommended ford 31's at least 1 locker and to be in good mechanical condition in 2 wheel trains you in finesse.
 






Guess I will post a list of what this money ***** has made me do

Winch
Winch bumper
100 watt driving lights
Sylvania Xtra Vision bulbs
Stabilizer shock
Trailmaster 4-6" travel shocks
Steering box re seal
Calipers/rotors/slave cylinders/pads/shoes
Both front spindles, one twice
Wheel bearings x2 in 2 years
Both stub axles
Intermediate axle and slip joint
Radiator
Fan
Water Pump
Thermostat
ECC relay
Power steering pump
Starter
Alternator
Idler pulleys x2
Idle air control valve
Plugs /wires
Air filter box
K&N air filter
PCV valve
Brake vacuum booster grommet
O2 sensor
Speedometer gear
Intake air temp sensor

Removed cat
Various u-joints
Skyjacker #136 coil springs
Belltech 6400 shackles
Gas tank
Fuel pump
Fuel filler neck
Tires 2 1/2 years Hankook's only ones new MTZ current summer boots $400 75 & 66 % fr/rear
- Michelin IceX 235's
- Hankook I Pikes 235's
- Big O Bigfoot X/T 31's
- TrXus M/T 33's
- Mikey Thompson Baja MTZ 33's
Passenger seat recliner
Shifter bushing kit
Center hinge brackets, Skyjacker Stage II
Beam bushings, polyurethane
Radius arm bushings (also poly)
Front sway bar quick disconnects
Ball joint
Camber cone

SOON

Body bushings.. poly got them.. real lazy
Nother wheel cylinder & back brakes
Manual T case out of the parts truck swapped for the electric
Explorer springs (got) to get rid of block
 
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Body bushings were the only good thing to be polyurethane on a off road truck , finally James Duff makes a hardware kit for Ranger body mounts so I put mine on. No more body flex! Done so much since my last post , put on 35's!!
 






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