Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and 
livetoride21
Member
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2010
- Messages
- 97
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 6
- Location
- Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Vehicle Year
- 2002
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Size
- 4.0L
- Transmission
- Automatic
Well It’s been about 4 years since owning my first ranger, a 1993 ranger reg cab 2.3L 2wd. I had some fun with that truck, but always wanted 4x4 and more power. The engine ended up going on my and I spent the last 4 years in a 98 civic hatchback, and a 2003 Nissan altima, both treated me very well, towed my boat, and motorcycles, and brought my all the way through eastern Canada. But I was finally sick of being in a car and it was time to get back in a ranger.
The search began, I sold my altima, and looked everywhere. Countless hours were spent driving to see truck after truck, to no avail. Most were in far worse shape than advertised, rotted out (I live in the salt belt), leaking coolant, leaking oil, blown head gaskets, I Was just loosing hope. Went to see a 2003 fx4 level 2, about 2 hours away and was super excited thinking I’d finally found exactly the truck I wanted. But it wasn't meant to be, it drove alright, but had far too many problems to bother with, and it had a "rebuilt" title, meaning it had been crashed and severely repaired.
I was bummed.. The fx4 level 2 supercab was exactly the truck I wanted, manual transmission, manual t-case, supercab. But sometimes you have to compromise and think about what you really need & want. The night I was driving 2 hours away to see the fx4 level 2, a friend of mine found a clean looking regular cab about half hour from my house, with low kms. I decided it was worth a look even know it was automatic. Turned out to be a gem, 84 year old man owned it, 105000km (60000miles ish) on the clock, 4x4, 4.10:1 diffs, rear posi almost zero rust, just needed two minor spots touched up, but very minor surface rust. All that was needed was a muffler, and front brakes soon enough. I couldn’t pass it up, and negotiated a deal.
(pics were after already taking her for an offroad mission, did well)
Anyways, to make a long story short, I’m stoked to finally be back in a ranger! The plan is to build up a capable overlanding vehicle. And the great thing about it being automatic, is on long trips my girlfriend can now help with some of the driving!
My girlfriend and I like to camp, and like to sight see. The plan is to build a platform in the bed topper to sleep on, with storage underneath. The topper has side windows that open, which will be perfect for venting at night.
Modifications will be as follows;
Stage 1;
-Make skid plates
-Cb Radio
-Rancho RS-5000 shocks
-Rear lift shackles or add a leaf (due to extra load in back)
-1” body lift ( to clear slightly bigger tires)
-electric fan
-higher offset wheels with 265/75/r16 mud terrain or extreme all terrains (haven’t decided)
Stage 2;
-Make Rock sliders
-Make rear bumper with built in tire carrier/table/extra fuel support
-Make front bumper with provision for winch
-Winch
-Auxilary lighting
-secondary marine battery
-possibly a small independent kerosene or other heater for cold nights in the bed cap.
Hope I haven’t bored you with my story, I’m just very excited to be able to get things rolling again. Build will probably only happen in the spring but it will happen, and it will happen QUICK!
The search began, I sold my altima, and looked everywhere. Countless hours were spent driving to see truck after truck, to no avail. Most were in far worse shape than advertised, rotted out (I live in the salt belt), leaking coolant, leaking oil, blown head gaskets, I Was just loosing hope. Went to see a 2003 fx4 level 2, about 2 hours away and was super excited thinking I’d finally found exactly the truck I wanted. But it wasn't meant to be, it drove alright, but had far too many problems to bother with, and it had a "rebuilt" title, meaning it had been crashed and severely repaired.
I was bummed.. The fx4 level 2 supercab was exactly the truck I wanted, manual transmission, manual t-case, supercab. But sometimes you have to compromise and think about what you really need & want. The night I was driving 2 hours away to see the fx4 level 2, a friend of mine found a clean looking regular cab about half hour from my house, with low kms. I decided it was worth a look even know it was automatic. Turned out to be a gem, 84 year old man owned it, 105000km (60000miles ish) on the clock, 4x4, 4.10:1 diffs, rear posi almost zero rust, just needed two minor spots touched up, but very minor surface rust. All that was needed was a muffler, and front brakes soon enough. I couldn’t pass it up, and negotiated a deal.
(pics were after already taking her for an offroad mission, did well)
Anyways, to make a long story short, I’m stoked to finally be back in a ranger! The plan is to build up a capable overlanding vehicle. And the great thing about it being automatic, is on long trips my girlfriend can now help with some of the driving!
My girlfriend and I like to camp, and like to sight see. The plan is to build a platform in the bed topper to sleep on, with storage underneath. The topper has side windows that open, which will be perfect for venting at night.
Modifications will be as follows;
Stage 1;
-Make skid plates
-Cb Radio
-Rancho RS-5000 shocks
-Rear lift shackles or add a leaf (due to extra load in back)
-1” body lift ( to clear slightly bigger tires)
-electric fan
-higher offset wheels with 265/75/r16 mud terrain or extreme all terrains (haven’t decided)
Stage 2;
-Make Rock sliders
-Make rear bumper with built in tire carrier/table/extra fuel support
-Make front bumper with provision for winch
-Winch
-Auxilary lighting
-secondary marine battery
-possibly a small independent kerosene or other heater for cold nights in the bed cap.
Hope I haven’t bored you with my story, I’m just very excited to be able to get things rolling again. Build will probably only happen in the spring but it will happen, and it will happen QUICK!
Last edited:
