Best Ranger to 'wheel...Jeep Rescue.

[HEP111]

Hey Guys,

New to Forem, not to wheeling. I need those of you with intimate Ranger knowledge that wheel moderate to aggressive help me out. I need a truck to keep up with my Jeep Cherokee. Looking for a what year Ranger with decent motor, third door swing out(newer ones??), easily lifted to get 33's (for go, not show!), strongest factory axles to get/swap in for lockers.... Basically I like my vehicles easy to work on out in the boonies, with parts available anywhere ie no custom d-60's with wazoo stuff that costs an arm 'n leg that any one of you wouldn't have a trail spare/knowledge if you came upon me to help me out. Does any of this make sense lol... anyway the dealership is kinda at a loss for what I'm asking.. I guess I want the styling of the newer Rangers with the solidish front axle (ie no IFS) Ive seen on older(90's??) Rangers.

Spec's on the Jeep are 33's, D-44 rear, ARB's front and rear, 6in lift, snorkle, 4.0-4.7 stroked motor, winch blah blah.. I need a SWB go anywhere P/U to throw my Ducati in as well as a recovery truck for my Jeep if/when I get stuck and vice-versa.

looking for info on YOUR recommended motors, axles to get/watch out for, Years that have the options (third door, floor shifted transfer case..not that push button crap) I want. Easily swaped in axle knowledge/tips and links to what I'm looking for VERY appreciated..Ohh and the smallest bed step side size with the above mentioned is good to know as well..

Sorry for the ramble, yes I have searched, I want a person that wheels and takes pride in a well built go anywhere vehicles opinions....

Thanks for the help!

scott

 

[Creager]

Rangers in particular come with a Ford 8.8 rear end. These axles (in rangers) are 27 spline :thumbdwn:

Explorers come with a 31 spline Ford 8.8!! yes, that is something to be pround of.

1991-1994 explorers came with rear drum brakes.
1995-2000 explorers come with rear disk brakes.

You would want an early 90's ranger with the TTB front end.

Some come with the inferior Dana28: you can tell by the ball joints, top ball joint or kingpin would be a castle nut, the superior Dana 35 TTB will have a snap ring and a 'camber bushing' on the top ball joint.

If you go with a ranger, you defiantly want to swap out for the stronger Dana 35 TTB out of an explorer (if not equiped from the factory), along with the rear end too (Ford 8.8 31 spline).

This front end (dana 35) is capable of running 33"s with minimal issues. 35" is probable; only problem with that is the wheel bearings are relatively small on these axles... you might go through wheel bearings a lot.

The TTB is probably the easiest, most simplified, and most DURABLE IFS out there. If you could find one, Skyjacker makes the most reliable bolt on kit for these; available in 2" 4" and 6". Too bad Skyjacker has discontinued making this lift :thumbdwn:

Both the Explorers and Rangers in the early 90's came equipped with the OHV 4.0 engine. This torquy SOB will snap your neck back when driven right, although heavenly underpowered (160hp) is GREAT for wheelin rocks and trails, due to its light design and moderate amount of torque (225ftlbs). VERY reliable engine. Most people achieve upward 250, 300k before needing a rebuild. Although this engine is overly-prone to cracked heads when overheated. The cylinders are realitivly close on this block. 0.040 over bore is the widest you can go. Head work goes a LONG way on waking these engines up, add a performance cam to it and consider it done.

The transmissions of this generation of ford vehicles are hands down the weakest link in the drive line. Defiantly go for the Manual (M5OD-R1, or M5R1 for short) if you can, if not you will be rebuilding the auto (A4LD) tranny once a year, and if you put it through abuse then you defiantly want to look for the manual. The Manual tranny isn’t necessarily any stronger, but definatly earns its title in reliability (if you could EVER get it to shift into gear!). The shifting in this manual tranny is quite odd. At times it almost seems like it’s impossible to shift into gear. You learn quickly how to manipulate it. If you look around this board, you will probably see the A4LD as being the most discussed topic.

The Explorer Rear end is easily the strongest part of these vehicles (I'm sure you have heard of the Ford 8.8 coming from the Jeep world). 31 spline, 8.8" ring gear, makes it a hair larger then the Dana 44. You can run 38 inch tires on this axle. Replacement parts won’t be necessary, because I doubt you will be replacing anything =). The stock carrier is known to be the weakest link of this axle, but I've never actually seen one broken.

Push button 4x4 will most likely be what you find. If you do find a manual 4x4 t-case in these trucks consider it a rarity, but they are out there! Main problem with that is the shift motor, although mine with 185k miles is still stock and still works...

If it were up to me. I'd go for the 87-94? Ranger generation. 6" Skyjacker lift, Explorer 8.8 disk brake rear-end (95-2000), 4.56 gears. Detroit locker in the rear, and an ARB up front. 33" tires and its done. This might make your Cherokee jealous... these are defiantly fun trucks when they are built right.

Some guys go as far as swapping in a 302 (5.0) motor from the 96-2000 explorer generation. This not only gives you one BULLET proof driveline, but you also get some goodies that not all 5.0 equipped fords are blessed with. GT-40 Heads (probably the most free-flowing factory heads for the 5.0) OBD-II (chip-o-rama)... ect... the list goes on.

That’s about all I know haha.

 

[Creager]

There are a couple things you can do with the TTB to make it much more desired. The main issue with it, is its inadaqute wheel bearings. There is a couple methods to fix this, probably the most known would be to swap in a solid dana 44 axle from an old bronco! Also lifting becomes an issue with the TTB, that is a debate in its own. There are so many different ways to go about lifting it that it will make your head spin.

Making the Dana 35 TTB more worth your while:

Companies like Superlift, Skyjacker, James Duff, and Tuff country. all make lifts avalible to this style of IFS. Again Skyjacker is probably the most desired, but they dont produce anymore (*******s!). James duff would be next in line, although they dont make anything over 2.5"! James Duffs quality has been known to have gone down recently, while their prices have gone up.

The advantage Skyjacker and Duff have is the Passenger side beam drop bracket, these companies take into account the tight space down there. I wish i had a picture to show you, but Trailmaster and Superlift's brackets are known to put holes in the Dana35s aluiminum pumpkin when the driverside beam is at full compression.

You will notice that 'Extended radius arms' are common among the bolt on kits. Extended arms is the single best improvment you can make to your TTB when it comes to the language of ride quality and articulation. Which is great except you still have drop brackets for the axle piviot, which all 'practically priced' kits will use. This is fine, however you are still left with a 'not so IFS' ride on the street and while driving hard over rough terrian. Companies like Autofab (www.autofab.com) and Camburg (http://www.camburg.com/) have come up with their own way to eliminate axle piviot brackets. Cut and Turned beams. The new generation of TTB consists of cutting and turning the beams, which gives ENORMOUS amounts travel that will make most solid axle guys want to 'go back.'

A pro of TTB is the fact its sort of its own 3 link suspention. The advantage in this is if you chose to ever use coil overs, its realtivly easy, compared to fabbing up a coil over suspention for a solid axle for instance. A definate con of TTB is its heavy reliance of bushings for stance and articulation. When these bushings ware out they become more of an annoyance than anything, making it hard to alighn and just noisey.

Some companies (Camburg, James Duff) Use Heim joints as a solution to bushings. These are great and definatly create much articulation, but most say its over-rated and usually just keeps you under the truck replacing parts.

Lets get back into the wheel bearings. One of this sites own has come up with his solution to the inadaqute wheel bearings of the Dana 35. Its quite practical, swap in the Dana 44 TTB Knuckles from a full size bronco. Although its still somewhat experimental, its begun to prove itself to probably being the best improvement you can make to you Dana 35 TTB.

OK my brain is racked. haha hope i could help

 

[HEP111]

Wow!

That's Exactly what I needed to know! Thanks for taking the time as I have a much clearer idea of what to get now. Keep the ideas comming though...

Some more specifics I'd like in the truck; Manual is prefered, I'm not above doing swaps like you sugested my friend (front/rear 8.8, better engine and drive line etc), just want to know what the best build up platform from the get go is. I liked the article here about the explorer seat swap as well. And / or what platform is the easiest to modify should that be the way to go.

Again Creager, as I do most of the work on my toys myself, this info is awesome bro! Thanks for the input.

 

[RockRanger]

90-92 or 93-97 ( 2 diff body styles) ranger with a 4.0 sounds like what you want. They came with a dana 35 front and an 8.8 rear. The rear is a 28 spline not 27 like listed above. With 33"s on it it should hold up fairly well if you dont abuse it to bad. They can be found with manual t cases but are rare. they can be swapped in fairly easily as well. The only thing you mentoned you wont get with that body style is a 3rd door. With a lift some bigger tires and some lockers you should beable to keep up with your cherrokee. My old 86 ranger I wheeled with 33"s and lockers and ran the rubicon, dusy ershim, fordyce, and a few trails in moab as wll as alot of so cal other then the hammers. They can be very capable rigs whne driven right.

 

[Creager]

90-92 is RABS (rear wheel anti-lock)

newer models are all wheel ABS

reason i'd say to get an RABS truck is becasue its easier to bypass haha

Like Rock-Ranger said, 33"s will be fine

if you wanna run 35"s it would probably want to swap in a 31 spline 8.8 from an explorer (with disk brakes too, hehe)

4.0/Manual tranny/Stock transfercase, very capable stock drive line

i didnt say much about the transfercase, but the stock BorgeWarner 1354 is a pretty stout case, and the low-range is reativly low... very capable.

the main suggestion i would make for you is to get a MANUAL! haha, dont settle for the automatic. just dont, you will be much happier

if you are running 33"s you want 4.56 gearing. 4.10 would be OK, but its not as fun as 4.56 haha. Also, the 4.0 OHV is somewhat underpowered in the endurance department atleast, 4.56 compliments its powerband much better. But its still a very torqu-e motor.

 

[HEP111]

ah-so..

hmmm didn't think about that whole ABS thing....good call. Yea I like the 8.8 and have been always looking at the manual but thank you for the heads up. I won't go below 4.56's as I know with 33's it gets it back in the power band.

Thanks for all the replys guys, I am still longing for that third door as I believe it gives the cab alittle bit more room than previous modles....no? hmmm can a d-44 be swaped in front on a late model (i've briefly read some of the axle swaps above) or is it too much a pain. Reason is the jeep handles the duel capacity of offroad and sat. night people hauling (ie more than two ppl) .... but when the Jeep is down for the inevidable modifications I'd like the Ranger to be able to haul more than two for short distances.....my thought is that the "new" addition of a third door expands the king cab alittle..but not as much overall break over angle like a dodge, toyota, etc... Ie it is still the most compact light truck with a third door??

thanks for letting me have my cake too

scott

 

[Creager]

D44 swaps are not that easy. Full width axle swap might be 'easier' then cutting down...

you would have to research it, thats a very broad topic

Dana 44 knuckle swap is somewhat easy. You would need machining skills or have a machine shop make sleeves that will adapt the explorer ball joint to the dana44 knuckle from a full size bronco

i dont know if rangers had that third door you were talking about. you might want to look into the later models, 93-97 maybe.

Or you could go with an explorer sport, im partical to those

 

[HEP111]

Thanks to all that imparted their wisdom.... now I just need to find my next project....

 

[yosh18981898]

OK let me clarify a few things.

First is that all 4.0L rangers up to 1997 came with a 28 spline 8.8" rear axle and a dana 35 TTB (Twin Traction Beam) front axle. 4-banger and 2.9L (through 92) and 3.0L (93+) rangers came with a 7.5" rear axle and Dana 28 TTB front axle, both of these are pretty weak and not desirable for a wheeling rig.

Second is that no ranger ever came stock with a solid axle. TTB has an offset differential and can be easily mistaken for a Solid Axle set up from a distance if you're not looking to closly. However, when modified right (as talked about above) TTB can be a real off-road performer and not far off a solid axle at all. TTB offers much more wheel travel than SLA (Short Long Arm) IFS (found on most every other pickup including newer fords) and is much cheaper to modify.

Third is that the Ranger was switched to torsion bar SLA IFS in 98 and it was only after that that the third door was availible. I would recomend going for the pre-98 model and getting the TTB front end over the third door.

4th -I agree the push button 4x4 is cheesy, but it is the same t-case as the floor shift models, only with an electronic shifter. The BW 1354 is a pretty strong case and usually it's just the electronic shift motor that breaks. I have the electronic shift in my 92 explorer and it still works great at 120,000 miles.

5th -Definately go for the manual tranny! You can read horror story after horror story about the A4LD auto on this board. Mine has the M5OD-R1 in mine and it still shifts real smooth. It may not be the best tranny, but you will get lots of life out it. My dad used to have a '89 2.9L ranger with the M5OD-R1 tranny and he got 280,000 out of it before a rebuild. However, that was behind the much weaker 2.9L motor. The average life behind a 4.0L seems to be about 170,000 miles from what I've seen on this board.

Hopes that helps!

 

[unclemeat]

The TTB front axle has on other option available for modification. The beams can be cut and turned. I am sorry I do not have all the answers, but som on this board do. with cut and turned beams front suspension articulation greater than 15-inches is possible. Most doing this modification are desert racers. I believe that some kits are available. This modification can be expensive, but it is available.