Completed Project Kirby's 1991 Ranger Build Up

[Kirby N.]

You know Jaime- after my encounter with Herculiner (not my hootus' encounter), I think its worth having someone do it! I didn't love the way the herc wore out on my fenders and stuff. It would get thinner and thinner until you could see paint through it. I had rhino on my beat up 1993 ranger when I got it and it was super thick and really durable. I always told myself I would get that on another ranger- so I think I will do that.

I made some progress and got some pictures. I think I am going to put 6 of these on the bed.

Plates with 4 bolts and washers on the back. The center bolt has a hollow core and a loop screws into it. I will weld that stud to the plate. All grade 8.

I like the idea that the loops will come off. When I haul the UTV in the bed, I need every inch of space. So I may need to unscrew them to load that thing.

I am leaning against welding the plate to the bed. I can do it, but I think the bed might crack around the welds. Any thoughts?

 

[410Fortune]

No need to weld, just protect all the holes and plate from potential moisture
That looks like a very strong setup!! Nicely done

We Herculined an entire truck. We dubbed it "Hurt U liner" because that stuff is ROUGH you walk past the truck it would rip up your skin. Plus Herc has no UV protection so it looked dull within months
We had to scrape and sand it all off all of the herculiner and then spray the truck with 3 coats of a special primer before the Monstaliner would stick
The truck is now coated with black monstaliner and has been good ever since.
Rhino lining is some tough ass stuff, that is the truth. I have seen it applied almost 3/8" thick on a truck bed you want to talk about protection!
I like Monstaliner because its a DIY and it can be repaired and touched up, but its not nearly as tough as Rhino or LineX products

 

[Scott B.]

You know Jaime- after my encounter with Herculiner (not my hootus' encounter), I think its worth having someone do it! I didn't love the way the herc wore out on my fenders and stuff. It would get thinner and thinner until you could see paint through it. I had rhino on my beat up 1993 ranger when I got it and it was super thick and really durable. I always told myself I would get that on another ranger- so I think I will do that.

I made some progress and got some pictures. I think I am going to put 6 of these on the bed.

Plates with 4 bolts and washers on the back. The center bolt has a hollow core and a loop screws into it. I will weld that stud to the plate. All grade 8.

I like the idea that the loops will come off. When I haul the UTV in the bed, I need every inch of space. So I may need to unscrew them to load that thing.

I am leaning against welding the plate to the bed. I can do it, but I think the bed might crack around the welds. Any thoughts?

Why don't you put the plate on the backside of the bed wall? That way, it would act as a backing plate, spreading the load. As is, you are spreading the load across the 4 nut/washers. Seeing as the bed wall is thin material, a larger plate would be harder to pull through as opposed to the smaller nut.

 

[gmanpaint]

Those traditional course liners have used tire rubber in them, that gas out, and cause them to fade and wear out. Thicker applications can be done by spraying, no matter the material. Once they gas out enough to open up, they can let moisture seep in and work it's way underneath. Worst place that can happen, is the floor of a truck bed.

I prefer the newer 2 part urethane materials by Monstaliner & Raptor Liner. Both have UV protection, & neither have the rubber to cause failures.

Plate the backs of them 150k/psi tensile bolts. The sheet metal will rip before they ever start to break. Jeez, what are you hauling?

 

[Kirby N.]

Why don't you put the plate on the backside of the bed wall? That way, it would act as a backing plate, spreading the load. As is, you are spreading the load across the 4 nut/washers. Seeing as the bed wall is thin material, a larger plate would be harder to pull through as opposed to the smaller nut.

A guy on ranger station has me thinking about plating the back and tying all plates together with some square tube or something between the bed structure and the fiberglass.

 

[Kirby N.]

Plate the backs of them 150k/psi tensile bolts. The sheet metal will rip before they ever start to break. Jeez, what are you hauling?

Haha. I haul a lot of stuff in it. I want to do it right the first time I guess and I would rather overdo it then do it twice.

 

[Kirby N.]

I have made some progress, but it has been really slow. I have been working on it like 4 days all day now. The side braces are all in and turned out nice. They are going to be really handy and I think they will stiffen up the bed. The back holes are still getting a hook and a backing plate but I ran out of mig gas.

It’s hard to see but the backing plates are attached to the strap via 1x1 square tubing. The backing plate for each hook is made of 3/8 plate. The strap is 1.5” wide by 3/16” thick. I welded it in about 12 places.

The rear section of the bed gets removed for the bed sides. However, the rear lower corners of the bed get removed and that really weakened the lower corner and the tailgate mounts are there. So I tried my hand at some body work. I made these little braces and spot welded them in.

Then I used some brackets from the front fenders and doubled up on the brace. I did this on both sides.

Then I had to trim the back corner so the bedside would fit on each side. So I tried my hand at cutting out a section and then re welding it back together. I think it turned out good for my first shot at body work. I also had some cracks on the front from where I took out the spot welds. I fixed those up too.

Bed sides are ready to go on now and Ill have to figure out how to mount up the taillights. This was a lot of work. I am considering putting undercoating in the underside of the bed. Also considering making a metal brace between the inner fender and the fender.

 

[gmanpaint]

It only feels like your going slow because it's all new to you stuff. I get that feeling too, and have to remind myself it's completely normal.

All that looks really good. Your right, I do not see the 1"sq tube. lol

Are you going to use the stock tail lights? If not, now would be a good time to build the boxes for recessed Led's.

 

[410Fortune]

braces for the fiberglass bedsides a good idea
then undercoat the whole thing
I see alot of guys undercoat their fiberglass these days too to protect it
Rubberized spray is the stuff I use because it can just be re applied every few seasons

I love what you have done so far, should be a nice strong factory box!

I always fill two tanks of argon/c02 mix at the welder supply this way when I run out I can just swap tanks

 

[BKennedy]

I like how you are still going to use it as a truck with the bedsides. Most people around here have those fiberglass bedsides flapping around in the breeze as they go down the highway and it looks like crap. Its going to turn out very well because you are taking the time to do it right.

 

[Kirby N.]

I finished up the last of the tie downs. These are thicker sections of the bed frame so I am not going to tie it to the others.

The tail lights fit pretty good. The tail gate not so much. The bed sides are much thicker, so the tailgate fits tighter. My body guy said it was best if I had him order me one instead of getting my own. I trimmed the stock tailgate some- will need to trim the new one too. The tailgate is taco'd pretty bad and the passenger side latch is stripped so it won't tighten.

Then I got it mounted up. It looks pretty good- except the drivers side is really close on the from of the rear tire. The other clears fine. I clearance the bumper so I could get the bed as far forward as possible but it wasn't enough. I may have to move the rear axle back. I dont want anymore wheel base, but I don't know what else I can do. The passenger side is fine. I was hoping there would be room for 37s, but without moving the axle there isn't even room for 35s. It needs to go back 1-2".

I like the sweeping rear end and the tire coverage a lot. I could have gone wider, but I actually wanted the tires to hang out a little to protect the body still- I think it was about perfect. This was 3" front and 4" rear. I wanted the same, but they didn't have them. I can see the inch difference between the two for sure.

The fuel filler lined up great. I ordered some tabs from ballistic to build the braces for the bottom corners of the wheel wells, but I haven't heard anything about shipping or when they will be here. So I just cut the stock ones and welded some square 1/2" tube in the pieces. I'll plan to fix that when I take of the bedsides for paint.

 

[Kirby N.]

I finished up the last of the tie downs. These are thicker sections of the bed frame so I am not going to tie it to the others.

The tail lights fit pretty good. The tail gate not so much. The bed sides are much thicker, so the tailgate fits tighter. My body guy said it was best if I had him order me one instead of getting my own. I trimmed the stock tailgate some- will need to trim the new one too.

Then I got it mounted up. It looks pretty good- except the drivers side is really close on the from of the rear tire. The other clears fine. I clearance the bumper so I could get the bed as far forward as possible but it wasn't enough. I may have to move the rear axle back. I dont want anymore wheel base, but I don't know what else I can do. The passenger side is fine. I was hoping there would be room for 37s, but without moving the axle there isn't even room for 35s. It needs to go back 1-2".

I like the sweeping rear end and the tire coverage a lot. I could have gone wider, but I actually wanted the tires to hang out a little to protect the body still.

The fuel filler lined up great. I ordered some tabs from ballistic to build the braces for the bottom corners of the wheel wells, but I haven't heard anything about shipping or when they will be here. So I just cut the stock ones and welded some square 1/2" tube in the pieces. the I take the fenders off I'll build some new ones.

 

[410Fortune]

what the heck? Why does the drivers side tire seem so far forward with the bedside?? I see it on the pass side too.... I agree you could push that axle back 2" and it would be centered better
2" wont hurt anything but it sure is a PITA!
She looks really nice with the glass
Happy new year!

 

[Kirby N.]

Happy New Year buddy!

2" won't help anything either. I am already at like 126" wheel base. That is plenty. It makes it hard to get into parking spots and stuff- turning radius keeps getting worse.

I have been head scratching about this thing.

I thought maybe I could find some leaf springs with an offset pin. That would be the easiest but the chevy 64"s all have a centered pin.

I thought about moving the perches, but my bumper would get in the way of the back perch moving. I could do a little, but not much.

So I guess I am leaning toward these:

2+ Perch Kit

But I am also thinking if I do those I might as well do a truss and install the arb. Then it just keeps getting more complicated.

Anyone else have any ideas. I think like Jaime said 2" would be about right.

 

[gmanpaint]

Custom main leaf made with the center pin relocated back 2"?

Those 64" are the longest 2.5" factory leafs available. Only thing that came to mind for stock leafs, would be to convert to 3" leafs, but that opens up a new can of fab worms.

Ruffstuff makes some beefy parts, and welds are top notch on everything I have seen from them. I think that if they can give you 1", maybe even 1.5" of rear axle movement, they sound like the ticket. Pretty expensive axle perches tho.

 

[Kirby N.]

I am already using their adjustable perches that gave me 1” forward, centered or 1” back. I have them in the back position. Those perches give 1”, 2” or 3” back. So in their furthest back position I would get 2” more than what I have.

 

[410Fortune]

with that additional 2" do you think you would need a driveshaft lengthened? (or a spacer)

Its always good time to install an ARB

 

[Kirby N.]

Yeah I’ll need to have the driveshaft lengthened and I’ll need to figure out the ebrake too. It’s an onion and I am not stoked about it!!

I really like the springs I got. They travel really well and are good for loading up and towing- I don’t really want to go with something different or change to 3” springs- but thank you for the idea. I didn’t think of that.

 

[Kirby N.]

I got a good deal on an ARB twin high output compressor. It has only been mounted and never run.

I am excited about it, but when I got it home, I had a head scratcher of where I am going to mount it. I don't want to mount it inside the cab where I have the noise and the space is a premium- and I don't want to mount it under the body in the dirt. The engine compartment would be ideal, but this thing is a big ol honker.

Has anybody used one of these in a rbv yet? I mounted my other arb opposite the battery tray on my Navajo, but I don't think there is enough space for the twin.

 

[gmanpaint]

I welded up a box for my ARB pump with an open top, bolted it inside, then mounted the box on top of the factory spare tire winch plate. Will help keep the elements off it, and makes it easier to plumb air lines to the rear axle/bumper.

(yes, it has vents and drains)