WRC Urban Rally Ranger

As I close up my undergraduate career here in the northeast and find my paychecks starting to increase, I begin to ponder the feasibility and uniqueness of a little daydream I've been having lately.

Supercars and Lowered vehicles in Boston are the dumbest thing ever. In my opinion new york is equally as bad. I dream of a low slung, long travel, high speed street suspension valving, and a fit and finish through and through of a WRC car. Maybe even a sequential gear-box to really make it fun.

My question is, has it been done yet? Is there a market for fabricating trucks like this? Would you buy the parts if I started a company that builds the parts to build a truck of this street caliber?

Just imagine how fun it would be to be able to smoke everyone with a pick up that just hammers through whatever you throw at it. Of course, the motor build is up to you, but I'd keep my four banger with a hearty build up to be a boosted and snarling beast. I'm thinking downpipe cutout that dumps out right behind the front passenger tire.

Lets talk this one out. How would you build one?

sounds like a cool plan!

I have a 400hp Turbo Diesel to do most everything you mentioned.

It can:
- tow 20K lbs
- 'smoke' pretty much anything it comes up against within reason
- pull out stumps/trees/small homes
- handle well on or off-road
- travel down the interstate at 75mph
- travel through deep snow, mud, sand, etc being 4x4
- comfortably seat 6 adults
- pull 20mpg on the interstate

No one will really pay you what anything is 'worth', especially not when you are talking about broke highschool or college students on an extremely limited budget.

He said rally ranger

a big diesel is not near as cool as a totally modified ass hauling ranger.

What would you rather have
This?



Or this

hahahaa, thanks for puttin him in his place. If you saw his rig that I assume he says will do the same, its definitely the former rather than the more preferable latter choice of your two pics. Essentially, I'm trying to build a street version of the second of the two, but one thats meant to drift/rally the broken and pot holed streets of any city. A truck that is basically a stadium truck with more street in mind when it comes to the actual suspension valving. The problem is I want lifted extreme offroad suspension travel and durability with street/rally car handling improvements.

you know, I'm actually from illinois.... wonder if I'll see him someday when I finish this. mmmmmmm, Sequential Dogbox.... hope he knows what that is.

I wouldn't drive either of those, actually.

Don't toot your own horn, it creates an ugly picture.... It's a cool idea, but not profitable. Hence the reason why companies make lesser kits, such as Camburg, et al. No one wants to pay the type of money to actually build something like that, and those who do, typically build it themselves, or are few and far enough between that they could never support a business doing so. After sseveral feasibility studies, it's been proven that you cannot center your business on something so specialized, you need to be much more wide-based. If a highly specified job comes through the door, more power to you as you are able to build such a vehicle.

I'd still take my rattly, smokey, lumbering diesel truck over that Ranger any day. Buy one, own one, drive one, until then, you'll never quite get it.


What would your price tag be for something like this anyway?

josh-the-ranger said:

a big diesel is not near as cool as a totally modified ass hauling ranger. What would you rather have?

Click to expand...

That's a no brainer, I would choose the diesel over the ranger any day. The numbers don't lie my friend. A turbo diesel putting out 400hp and 675 ft lbs will demolish the best freaking ranger money can buy or YOU can build. Especially if the diesel is tuned a little which doesn't require much to do. Ever see a diesel truck drag race? Go on youtube and search for it. Turbo diesel trucks rock. Nuff said.

A turbo diesel putting out 400hp and 675 ft lbs will demolish the best freaking ranger money can buy or YOU can build.

Click to expand...

It will demolish the best freaking ranger money can buy?

Theres no way a full size diesel truck is gonna beat this ranger ON or OFF road! Under the hood, he stuffed a 427ci small-block Ford engine that was also built by Craig's High Performance Shop. This isn't just a small-block - it was built to push over 575 hp at 6,800 rpm and 575 lb-ft of torque while still being able to use regular pump gas. Not only does it look better its faster!


Now if your talking daily driver i would put a 347 stroker in a ranger. guaranteed i can make a badass ranger that is faster than a diesel truck and spend less money doing it.

not trying to start an argument. just sayin....

josh-the-ranger said:

not trying to start an argument. just sayin....

Click to expand...

Too late.

Go on with your Ranger pride, it's funny.

Hold up here - let's clarify this.

I love desert racing. It's what I would love to do.

I also love WRC rally racing. It's what I would want to do if I could desert race.

Desert racing is a western time-distance race. Rally is an eastern tine-distance race.

I believe someone that was in the forums did some type of rally racing. Don't remember who.

If I'm reading this correctly, he's talking about kits for World Rally Car type vehicles, not desert rigs.



That would be different suspensions.

Well, I like the idea. I don't think it is going to be the base for a business all by itself, but doing that type of work on a number of types of vehicles would.

I've seen plenty of yoo-toob videos, and yes, they are impressive. But I still don't like those trucks. I don't like my own either. It can haul a lot of shit, it can tow a lot of shit, it fits a lot of people, it get extremely good mileage considering its size--but I don't like it all that much. It's inertia preys on my mind. I was much happier in a Ranger-sized vehicle, but this thing is more practical for where I'm at in life. It checks more blocks on my list of things that need done than any other vehicle could--and it's paid for.

I can honestly afford to drive anything that I want. I just don't give that much of a shit. I don't tie my self esteem into a stupid vehicle. I agonize over what suits my needs the best then that's what I do. It's the same reason I still have a D35 in my Bronco II.

But trucks aren't my main interest so that explains the attitude. If you like to design stuff and think you can sell it, go for it. Just keep an open mind because John in right about narrowing your clientele too much. Those cars have different suspensions but if you could do the suspension for one of those, you coud do it for a lot of other things too. Making a living on your hobby is the dream life.

Wow, great to see the buzz guys. I'll tell you all this. This will just be my first vehicle. My fandom is for everything with a motor. From atvs, snowmobiles, jetskis, boats, cars, and trucks, and even exotics, I love them all. Thankfully I can even say I've had experience in each throughout my 23 years of life. I am no fortunate son but I've worked some fun jobs and played with some nice toys. Nevertheless, this is indeed, as was stated in earlier posts, an urban rally truck much like what you would see hammering the various international stages of World Rally Championship racing. Though there are strong similarities between the racing styles of desert and rally, the set ups are drastically different. With the rally concept, the idea is to lighten, strengthen, and stiffen a stock chassis to improve its handling and safety. Safety should be concerned in every vehicle and no project of mine will overlook this category, not even a hot rod. Sadly, too many friends have already been lost and without even riding a motorcycle, I've sworn myself never to own one. The rest of the set up lies in a durable driveline, a strong, efficient, and reliable powerplant, and a suspension meant to control vehicle dynamics at speed while still managing the rough stuff at the same time. I suppose my best choice for the suspension will be a stiff compression and rebound setting for a long travel desert pre-runner and then I'll just have to play with spring rates and anti-roll bars and camber/caster till I find the right combination.

Believe me people, my shop won't be focused around one thing. I'm a young aspiring tuner and designer. I have friends who've worked for Boyd, and I myself was fortunate enough to work for a certain lamborghini shop in Illinois for a brief period on a semester off. Needless to say, it was hard to make the decision to return to school. You guys wouldn't believe me, but I was actually talking to a former motocross world champ, Mr Shaun Kelley, while I was working there about twin turbocharging his gallardo with the assistance of the renowned Stanley Chaffin as the lead technician for the whole project and me as the project designer/manager. Things didn't line up financially though and 8 months later, Heffner Motorsports pulled it off. Looking back, I was too young for that honor anyways and I can see why it wasn't supported by the company president. Can't help but dream though... anyone wanna invest in a business plan?

Beleive it or not, I've heard similar speeches before. You probably just graduated with an Engineering degree, no? Those are big shoes to fill, especially with no real-world experience to speak of under your belt. If you'd been working in the industry for 20 years I could see it, but once again, your age is working against you.

Believe me, I've been in a very similar situation, although a different venue.

josh-the-ranger said:

guaranteed i can make a badass ranger that is faster than a diesel truck and spend less money doing it.

Click to expand...

I would like to see the numbers you come up with. Are we talking new parts, used parts, used truck? Also, few questions you might want to consider. Will your ranger retain the same value as a diesel truck? Will it be able to carry as many people as a quad cab diesel? Try towing 14,000 lbs with your suped up ranger and let me know how that works out for you. Turbo diesels are straight up brute strength dude. They will outlast anything out there and get way better fuel mileage considering the numbers they are putting out.

Truth is, you and I see things very differently. I am into offroading, and I mean the real kind where four wheel drive is required, not this rally shit. For me, the slower your rig goes, the better. When I look at street vehicles I see them as what they can do to fit my towing, power, and everyday needs.