How in the world do I get the headliner panel out of a supercab ranger?

[barrys]

I'm thinking of recovering the healiner in my 1994 Ranger Supercab. I've been looking and planning and measuring and ordering. All of a sudden I thought that it looks nearly impossible to remove the headliner panel from the truck.

Has anyone ever removed a headliner panel from a supercab?

The panel is about 48 X 50. The door opening on the longest diagonal is 51. To get the panel out the door opening, it looks like the door will have to come off. That seems like a huge PITA. I'm just wondering if there's some advice on how to get that thing out of there and then back in without bending it something awful and having it break apart.

Alternatively, I could try recovering it in the truck. But, applying adhesive and the new fabric upside down without getting adhesive all over everything seems pretty challenging too.

Any advice on this would be great.

 

[Tbars4]

...My first thought would be, remove and replace the front windshield might be the only possibility..

 

[barrys]

We've got a good thread going on this on therangerstation.com forum.
Seems it's a solvable 3D geometry problem...

So far the best advice I heard was:
Remove both seats.
Drop the driver's side of the headliner towards the floor first.
Rotate 90 degrees.
Pull it out the passenger door.

Some claim that they were able to get it out without taking the seats out.
One member suggested drop the front of the headliner towards the floor first.

No matter what, it seems like you'd want to have a buddy around to chat with and help you move the thing around in many trial and error moves to wriggle it out of the truck.

I think it also depends on whether you've got stick or auto. With the shifter sticking up from the center of the floor like that, it would likely get in the way.

I'll try next week and update.

 

[Tbars4]

...I was going to suggest removing the seats...

...Then I got to thinking...:scratch:...Then I would wind up making the darn thing fit one way or another out the darn door....Meaning, I would probably force it beyond repair...

...Be sure to do a write up here with plenty of pictures...I am sure this will be of great help to other Ranger owners here who might encounter this same problem...:biggthump

 

[barrys]

I agree that removing the seats -- 4 bolts and one connector per seat on mine -- seems like an easy enough way to reduce the risk of ruining the headliner shell. It's just going to allow more room to maneuver that thing around in the cab.

Also, at some point they changed from cardboard to some aerated fiberglass and I have the latter. It is a little flexible, but if you crease it it's toast. There are vendors online who sell abs shells. But, those are 300.00 delivered so I'm trying to skip that step.

Here's a good site with writeups for other vehicles including the Explorer but none on the Ranger yet:
http://www.wlsheadliners.com/tutorials/ford-explorer-headliner/

Seems the Ranger supercab (or any other extended cab truck with two regular doors) is a special case PITA. But, it doesn't seem any worse then what they'd have to do for sedan as far as R&I of the board.

 

[barrys]

An update on material acquisition...
I ended up ordering from A1 Foam and Fabrics (a1foamandfabrics.com) and the shipping was really expensive.

They don't tell at the time you place the order what your shipping charges would be.
To get two yards of fabric shipped in UPS' cheapest (same state) zone, the shipping charge was over 20.00 which was like sticker shock when I read my invoice after the stuff arrived. I called to inquire and they told me that's the way it is...

If I did it again, I'd seriously consider http://wlsheadliners.com. That site is so cool and filled with information and tutorials with pictures.

 

[MD3rdgenranger]

you could always find a convenient n nice lookin spot to cut it then when u put it back in run a different colored strip over the seam to hide it. i had to do that the the interior plastics cuz i wanted to paint em, n i didnt feel like goin through all the seatbelt stuff n cut a slit right about where the belt runs throught the plastic.
but thats prolly the only way of doin it without bendin it all to heck or ...r & i ing the windshield lol