WHAT IS THE DIFFRENCE BETEWENE AN EXPLORER AND A RANGER FRAME

[P.HUNT]

OK here is the plan i want to make a 4 door truck out of my explorer ! i want to chop it after the rear doors and graft no the back of a pickup cab and put on a regular short bed.??
are the body mounts the same on the ranger and explorer frames??
i will need to chop 2 ranger frames and weld them togather so it will be the proper length and then it will be a bolt on project.
i know it will be a lot of work but i think with full with axles and 37"-40" tires it will be one of the coolest trucks arround!

anyone see any flaws or hangups that i might run into?
i have done simmilar projects with jeeps so i have the skills and the tools

 

[Hartman]

The Explorer frame is wider than a Ranger frame. The body mounts are not the same. You need to either graft the whole rear frame clip off a Ranger or add truck bed body mounts to the Explorer frame and then lengthen it.

 

[Campo]

What Hartman said..

Besides, that's been done already..

it's called the Sport Trac

 

[351explorer]

Build a tube chassis.
There are companys that will bend frame rails to your specs. I can give you some if you like.

 

[P.HUNT]

the sport track is the gayest ford ever built its bed and flares look retarded

the frame of an explorer onle curves wide after the door just before the rear spring mount. is it the same as the ranger in front of this point?

 

[tmsoko]

Depends on the model year. The 95-01 trucks share the same front frame, up to ~the torsion bar cross member. It is different forward of the rivets that hold the sections together. I found this out when I went to put the Explorer V8 exhaust under my truck. Everything from the trans cross member and torsion bar brackets forward was interchangable aside from the upper a-arms and knuckles.

 

[white96x]

Originally posted by P.HUNT
the sport track is the gayest ford ever built its bed and flares look retarded

the frame of an explorer onle curves wide after the door just before the rear spring mount. is it the same as the ranger in front of this point?

Boy...i can't wait 'til Johnstone gets a load of this.

 

[RiverRat]

Hey, sport tracks are cool

Anyway, I'm planning on putting a ranger bed on a 96 4door explorer frame and making it into a trailer. It should work? At worst I'll have to weld on some brackets for the bed right?

 

[bates]

Originally posted by white96x
Boy...i can't wait 'til Johnstone gets a load of this.

Thats what I was thinkin. John is gonna eat this guy

Have you seen Johns sportrac PHUNT? It's badass!

 

[Mbrooks420]

I wish they put a v8 in the sporttrac. It be my next truck for sure.

 

[John_Rock]

Originally posted by bates
Thats what I was thinkin. John is gonna eat this guy

Have you seen Johns sportrac PHUNT? It's badass!

P.HUNT is entitled to his opinions.
Don't know if you are aware of this, but Ford does make a 4-door Ranger. They just don't sell it in the USA.
It might be possible to import one from South America or Asia. I personally would go with the ones from South America, because you can get them with a 4 cylinder Power Stroke Diesel.

Here's a picture of a 4-door Ranger from the Ford Argentina's website.

But if cutting and welding is your thing, then go for it. But, you won't get much help around here if you come off with an attitude and bash people's rides.

 

[P.HUNT]

i wasn't trying to be an ass or bash anyones rig it is just my opinion i dont care for the body style on the sport track! And i come from PIRATE 4X4 so i am use to being blunt sorry

i have just read on here that the explorers sit on a ranger frame and thought it would be an easy project

 

[John_Rock]

No problem bro.

Anyway, it's kind of hard to answer your question since you haven't specified whether you have a 1st Gen Explorer 91-94 or a 2nd Gen 95-01.

I can say for sure the front part of the frames are either very similiar or identical between 2nd Gen Explorers and the 2000 and newer Rangers. 98-99 Rangers might be the same, but I've never seen one. But, I have no clue as to when the Ranger frames start getting narrower than the Explorer frames. All I can say is hit the junkyards to check it out.
But, why use a Ranger frame to extend it? Why not use an Explorer frame to extend it to handle a truck bed?

If you don't really care for a closed cab, then you might want to do something like this:

Coincidently both these trucks belong to a guys named Michael here in Texas.

Check out their galleries for more pics:
http://www.explorerforum.com/data/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=64
http://www.explorerforum.com/data/showgallery.php/ppuser/9352/cat/500/password/

 

[Blee1099]

Originally posted by P.HUNT
And i come from PIRATE 4X4 so i am use to being blunt sorry

That explains everything..

 

[P.HUNT]

SORRY IT IS A FIRST GEN 1991 I figured that i would use the ranger frames to keep from fabing more mounts for the bed
well i guess me and my tape measure will hit the junk yards and i will let u know what i find