- Joined
- Dec 29, 2010
- Messages
- 8
- Points
- 1,501
- Age
- 35
- City
- arlington, tx
- Vehicle Year
- 97
- Transmission
- Automatic
this is my first time posting on this forum, more of a reader i guess. thought i'd show off what i'm doing. picked up a ranger bed for my mazda so i could use some sweet LED ranger tails. frenched the plate into the gate, welded in a grant kustoms roll pan. and i can't find any company that makes a handle flip kit. ended up just flipping it myself today. it only took an hour in a half too.
before somebody asks how i flipped the handle or comments go flying... i cut the metal that indents around the handle from the exterior side of the gate. cut the same size hole on the access panel and welded that indention part to it in reverse. "clearanced" the backbone part underneath the access panel. put the scissor part and handle back in. flipped the linkage rods (left stayed on left but flipped 180 for a different bend, same for right) connected everything and checked. then welded the hole in the exterior. hope i never need to service it, it might be painful.
for anybody wondering the fit on the rollpan. it was too large to fit side to side. not a bad thing though, makes for a good weld after trimming 1/8 inch off each side. there's a curve on the rollpan, and it sticks out in the center 1/4 to 3/8 an inch. not sure if there's a curve on a ranger tailgate vs a mazda one though.
got a little anxious on the welding there, didn't warp it with the plate box but warped it some there.
before somebody asks how i flipped the handle or comments go flying... i cut the metal that indents around the handle from the exterior side of the gate. cut the same size hole on the access panel and welded that indention part to it in reverse. "clearanced" the backbone part underneath the access panel. put the scissor part and handle back in. flipped the linkage rods (left stayed on left but flipped 180 for a different bend, same for right) connected everything and checked. then welded the hole in the exterior. hope i never need to service it, it might be painful.
for anybody wondering the fit on the rollpan. it was too large to fit side to side. not a bad thing though, makes for a good weld after trimming 1/8 inch off each side. there's a curve on the rollpan, and it sticks out in the center 1/4 to 3/8 an inch. not sure if there's a curve on a ranger tailgate vs a mazda one though.
got a little anxious on the welding there, didn't warp it with the plate box but warped it some there.
