So I wanted to haul my bike in my truck, it's 500 Lbs.
Unfortunately, the Ranger has almost nothing to attach to except these flimsy little brackets inside the box, and they are made of the finest Drop-Forged Cheese, and held on by luck and well-wishes.
So I began to look at the bed bolts, and thought of using those as anchor points. Only problem is, the stock metal U-clips that go on the frame are stamped, and not very hefty.
I thought of using nuts and washers inside the frame, but the fuel tank is in the way on the driver's side, and I wasn't about to drop that.
I found that F-250 box bolts use a type of U-clip that retains an actual hex nut, and that ought to be strong enough for anything you could toss at them.
Plus, they are 14mm, Vs the stock Ranger's 12mm bolts.
I picked up some barely used bolts and clips off Fleabay, and set to work.
Comparison between Ranger and F-250 hardware:
It was a simple matter of removing the two forward bed bolts, jacking the bed up a bit with a floor jack and a 2x4, which allowed me to remove the stock U-clips.
I put a little black silicone around the hole, just for giggles, and to fill in where the bedliner was disturbed and popped up. Probably not necessary, but hey, it was handy, so why not.
Next to replace with these:
I got these two massively beefy D-rings, and drilled out the square holes to match the F-250 bed bolts, which was just under 3/4" just up under the head (they widen near the top). The drill press at work was invaluable.
I also radiused the corners of the brackets so they would not interfere with the front wall of the truck box.
From there, it was just a matter of screwing in the new bed bolts, and using them to hold the D-rings in place. I did discover that I needed to eliminate the factory washers off the bed bolts, to get full threads down into the U-nuts under the box, on the frame. Without a thick bedliner, you might not have to do this. I checked the bolt threads on the passenger side from underneath to confirm.
Other side, same thing:
And the whole shebang with wheel chock (yes, it's offset to the right, so the front tire sits down inbetween the ribs of the bed floor):
Unfortunately, the Ranger has almost nothing to attach to except these flimsy little brackets inside the box, and they are made of the finest Drop-Forged Cheese, and held on by luck and well-wishes.
So I began to look at the bed bolts, and thought of using those as anchor points. Only problem is, the stock metal U-clips that go on the frame are stamped, and not very hefty.
I thought of using nuts and washers inside the frame, but the fuel tank is in the way on the driver's side, and I wasn't about to drop that.
I found that F-250 box bolts use a type of U-clip that retains an actual hex nut, and that ought to be strong enough for anything you could toss at them.
Plus, they are 14mm, Vs the stock Ranger's 12mm bolts.
I picked up some barely used bolts and clips off Fleabay, and set to work.
Comparison between Ranger and F-250 hardware:
It was a simple matter of removing the two forward bed bolts, jacking the bed up a bit with a floor jack and a 2x4, which allowed me to remove the stock U-clips.
I put a little black silicone around the hole, just for giggles, and to fill in where the bedliner was disturbed and popped up. Probably not necessary, but hey, it was handy, so why not.
Next to replace with these:
I got these two massively beefy D-rings, and drilled out the square holes to match the F-250 bed bolts, which was just under 3/4" just up under the head (they widen near the top). The drill press at work was invaluable.
I also radiused the corners of the brackets so they would not interfere with the front wall of the truck box.
From there, it was just a matter of screwing in the new bed bolts, and using them to hold the D-rings in place. I did discover that I needed to eliminate the factory washers off the bed bolts, to get full threads down into the U-nuts under the box, on the frame. Without a thick bedliner, you might not have to do this. I checked the bolt threads on the passenger side from underneath to confirm.
Other side, same thing:
And the whole shebang with wheel chock (yes, it's offset to the right, so the front tire sits down inbetween the ribs of the bed floor):
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