D-Ranged

This is my Ranger. There are many like it, but this one is mine. I'm updating the beginning of the thread with how it progressed. To follow along, you can see some of it here, the rest is on The Ranger Station and Pirate. Just search D-Ranged. This thread isn't much different than what you would see on those forums, but a couple people asked me to post up about it on here too, so here you go. Also, I'm in the process of fixing all the bad links to pictures.


It started life simple. A 1 owner, ultra clean 94 4.0/5speed/4x4. I immediately removed the dear hoof wheels and installed some cheap aluminum ones.

Then a few months later, I put on a small lift, but not the tires... hey, the 31s still had tread and I was a lance corporal that lived in the barracks... cut me slack

tires finally wore out, bought some used 33s and a stupid roll bar thing

then i got a free drivetrain out of a FSB, and put it in (god this thing was SCARY to drive)

then i went to Loftis Motorsports in El Cajon, CA to get a SAS done

then I put an 06+ front clip on it

then i put a big ass bumper on it, a winch, added some lockers, and met up the Explorer Forum guys in Truckhaven in 2011.

oh yea, and painted it Screamin' Yellow.

I ran the 35s for a while, even took it to Moab,

and when they wore out, I stepped up to a set of 37s

added a doubler,

and took it to the rubicon. Alone. Don't EVER do that, especially on a trail that 600 miles from home and you drove your rig there

Then I moved to Kentucky for school and things went drastically south.

 

[josh40601]

After a long day, I have the exhaust hung so it's nOt laying on the crossmembers, CB mounted on the ceiling, air tank plumbed (but is still leaking :annoyed: ), access panel cut out and installed, and some misc. Wiring taken care of. Tomorrow I have a final, then hoping to get the new speedo cable in, and hopefully get this damn leak fixed

 

[josh40601]

Took the ol Ranger out for her last time in San Diego. Only one more wheeling trip on the west coast. We went out with my buddy in his built JK and decided to run the Connector at Corral Canyon. For you local guys, you know this is the toughest trail out here. IMO, its as tough as some of the Hammer trails. Well, now that it is over, it looks like i took my truck down a hammer trail.... I will post the pics from the trip later, but here is the aftermath....

 

[RockRanger]

Did you go down hill? If so I have a good idea of a tree that might have taken the flairs off. I left some paint on a tree towards the bottom. I think it is harder to go down the connector then it is up.

 

[josh40601]

It wasn't the tree.... That is what gave me the dent in the cab. The last left turn coming down, my spotter told me to go left... and i did... right into a bunch of trees...

Here are some pics from Sunday

 

[josh40601]

flares back on

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Looks new again! One of my favorite Rangers.

 

[josh40601]

Thanks brother!!


Little update

Yesterday there was a little present in a little brown box out front...

Then today, I took the truck to a shop to figure out why i had no power and why i kept hearing it backfire... Turns out the intake tube had a hole in it, and the EGR valve was leaking. Got it fixed, replaced the intake tube, and bought some new wires and belt and stuff to do a tune up. I'll take care of that and install the locker tomorrow.

Then on my way home, i seen D's little brother....

 

[josh40601]

I had been thinking and prepping Bumblebee for the trip, and i remembered how the flares were ripped off last time. Well, i didn't want to drive 570 miles and lose a flare and drive around the rest if the time with a black, red, and yellow truck. So i removed all the flares and painted the fenders. Lets just hope the cops have more important things on their mind....

 

[josh40601]

the rubicon run is over, and i beat, bruised, and broke Bee so much it makes me cringe, but she is back home now. If you want to read about it, read one of these. I'm too lazy to post the posts here too.

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1098389#post1098389

http://www.ranger-forums.com/showthread.php?p=1889286#post1889286

 

[FROADER]

That's quite an adventure!! It was a pain in the ass while going through it, but also an experience you will never forget.

It almost pains me to say that I made it through there twice on the TTB and 35s with no problems except a little dent in one door.

 

[josh40601]

made it through Moab on 35s with no problem. Went to 37's and everything went to hell. If i had someone with me to spot and help, i would have been fine. Running the trail for the first time alone is not ideal conditions

 

[josh40601]

sold the wheels and tires today.... D's on training wheels now.... But there are some new meats sitting in the building that will hopefully be on tomorrow night.

 

[josh40601]

And here is where things went south... quickly...
Well, some of you will like them, some will hate them. The tires are too small, i know. They are almost brand new so i will use them this winter, then go with a set of 35's after. I am digging the big 20" wheels though. I think they show the axle placement extremely well.

As you can see, I only cleaned 1 wheel real good. (These were given to me from my step dad. I did have to buy adapters to fit 6 lug Chevy wheels though.... More on those later....)

 

[josh40601]

I ordered a set of adapter plates from Lucky's Autosports (Lucky's Krazy Kustoms) in Lexington, KY. The spacer plates were perfect. 1/2x20 lug nut hole, 1 7/8" thick, perfect. the silverado plate on the other had was a totally different story....

not only did they charge me 400 freaking bucks, they also didn't mill the center out enough to cover the lock outs.

What was their excuse?? "Well, you didn't tell me you had lock outs"

I simply replied with, "Why didn't you mill the same center out all the way through?"

"That's how they come. You're the builder, you should know"

I said ok, and hung up. I will never do business there again. So i had them milled by another company, and installed the spacers, adapters, and wheels, which is what you see above...................................




















then this happened.....

The reason was due to the wrong lugnuts. Lucky's installed METRIC studs and never decided to tell me. Maybe that is my fault, but figuring as 99.9 % of American trucks run a 1/2 .20 lug nut, i just assumed that was what they installed..... I was wrong.

 

[GRNMACHINE]

WoW first set of pics re: hating 20's, only thing I hate is I dont have a set! Yes, tires are too small but rims look great and will look even better with 35's! Nice Find.

Re: 2nd set of pics, whoa, glad you are okay!!!! That could have been much worse. That seems the only "Lucky" part you got from Luckys non customs. $400 is insane, results are inexcusable!!! Lucky is Lucky he is still in business...

 

[josh40601]

Thanks buddy. I got it all straightened out. turned out to be the studs were metric, and i put standard lugnuts on it. Also used an impact, which i learned is another big no-no when messing with adapters. I put new studs in the adapter plate, replaced all my lugnuts with the correct ones, and tightened them down. Everything is fine now.

 

[josh40601]

Just found out today that D made it onto the front cover of Petersen's.

I'm pretty stoked!

My issue hasn't came in yet, so i have no idea what all they put in there. I have only see the picture of the cover

 

[Tbars4]

...Glad to hear it made the cover...:biggthump

...Was it thru the reader's rides or did they see it somewhere?

 

[josh40601]

Reader Rides

 

[DaExplorer]

Just found out today that D made it onto the front cover of Petersen's.

I'm pretty stoked!

My issue hasn't came in yet, so i have no idea what all they put in there. I have only see the picture of the cover

So here I am visiting my in-laws in New Mexico and went with my Father in-law to his dentist office. Looking through the magazines and come across an off road magazine and go HEY i know this guy. Wow Impressed.

It is the Feb 2012 issue. Small photo in upper right corner of cover along with some others vehicles. Another photo inside and small write up. Took shots with cell phone which I arrached for all to see.

Glad to see that you are still having fun.