One more 2wd 98 coil spring 5.0 swap.

The truck is amazing truly a work of art looking at your truck makes mine look like they need scraped ha ha

Mightyfordranger said:

The truck is amazing truly a work of art looking at your truck makes mine look like they need scraped ha ha

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Thank you for the kind words. You should see it now! It has 6300 miles on it and like I said, "it won't look the same after 21 days at work." I already have one or two small stone chips on the front bumper and the underside is starting to look a bit "used." But hey, that is what it was built for. I love spending the 8-10 hours a day in it and enjoy the feel of that little 306!

I am still working with my tuner, data logging info and chasing down minor drivability issues. The "tip in throttle" is still a little off and it feels like there should be more low end snap on tap. I am averaging 18.6 MPG in town and about 21.4 MPG on the highway (Premium fuel). Pulling a 5x8 enclosed trailer that weights about 900 lbs I am getting 15.8 MPG if I stay at 70 MPH or below (Regular No Lead). It is just a little under what I was hoping for but close enough to keep it.

I had to add Friction Modifier to the rear end as it was starting to chatter pretty good. My son packed the clutch plates right up to the very limit and it locks fast and hard, but it did need a little help getting around corners smoothly.

The World Class T5 is as smooth as butter. I have had a few of them through the years and have always loved them. This one just turned out to be an exceptional example.

The creature comforts are getting better with each passing day. I now have the audio installed with Sirius XM, DVD, IPod, and hands free Bluetooth for the cell phone. It won't be long and my evenings will be a little more relaxing when it is finished.

I know I promised some updated interior shots a while ago but I just haven’t had a chance until now to get them loaded and posted up. I still have a few “minor” things to clean up such as, the automatic shifter opening on the steering column, dying both seat belts black, dome light, Air bag switch cover, clean up the shifter boot area, etc.

Sorry about the late day sun!







I ended up going with the black alcanterra on the head liner and the visors. I then used the remaining leather to wrap the rear cab panel between the speakers.





I trimmed the OE cup holder and relocated it where it doesn’t get in the way or interfere with the “open feeling” of the passenger area. I really like having the space between the seats and don’t regret moving away from the 60/40 split set up.

Ohhh... that's nice...

Just a quick update, I rolled 11,000 miles today and all is well.

How much did you end up cutting off your coil springs? I'm at that point on my build. By the way very nice interior

JakeF said:

How much did you end up cutting off your coil springs? I'm at that point on my build. By the way very nice interior

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Not very much, if you set the coil spring on the ground so the end of the top link is in the 12:00 position, I cut part of the top coil off at 5:00. It is going to look a little to high for a month or two but once it settles in it sits pretty good. It took me a couple sets to figure out how much it settles over the first few months.

Thursday night my wife and I were booking my work for the weekend. Leave Largo, pick up in Bradenton, drop in Titusville, drop in West Palm Beach, pick up in Naples, drop in Bradenton, return to Largo! "You are talking about hitting all four corners of West Central and South Florida. That is almost 800 miles, you can't do that in one day," she said. "I know, it sounds like a lot, but I don't want to work on Sunday! Just book the work," I told her. That is pretty much how the conversation went.

This is going to be a good test for the Ranger. It has been at work for over seven weeks now but mostly all short runs, 400 miles or less at one time. This is going to be about 14 hours of pretty steady work, pulling a trailer over some long stretches of highway.

Saturday morning I was up at 4:30am and out the door by 5:30am. An hour later I was loaded in Bradenton and heading East toward Titusville with the sun just coming up over the hood.




9:39am, done in Titusville and heading south toward West Palm Beach. At 12:46pm West Palm Beach was done and the trailer was empty. By 2:00pm I was crossing the Everglades and trying to out run the rain coming from the Southwest.







The northwest looked clear and dry!




2:30pm, pedal down, hitting it hard, still dry with the rain at our heels!




Snake Road, halfway through the Glades and time to stretch the legs. At this point I am starting to think my wife was right.













3:59pm, the Naples pick up is done and all that remains is the drop in Bradenton. At 5:46pm, 8 miles out of Bradenton the good weather comes to an end. The rain finally catches me.




7:21pm, back in Largo, the sun is setting and the Ranger rolls over that last mile. Total count for the day is 697 miles, my wife was pretty close with her rough estimate.




The truck performed well over the course of the day. Pulling a trailer at speed through some harsh and hot areas at long periods with no issue. It ran very consistent maintaining a smooth idle at stops and good throttle response over the entire trip. None of the "mood swings" that you might expect with hard long term use without down time. The odometer now reads 13,868.

I had the new windshield installed a week or so ago and then went ahead and painted the mirror inserts and small roof trim pieces. You know how it goes, never really done, always a few things still on the list.

Man I found this thread last night.. needless to say it is now 0435 and it's time for work. This is absolutely the cleanest build I've seen. Great work!

nbdt_country said:

Man I found this thread last night.. needless to say it is now 0435 and it's time for work. This is absolutely the cleanest build I've seen. Great work!

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Thank you for taking the time to look through everything. It has been a journey that is for sure. Now that it is done I am really enjoying the time I get to spend driving the truck. It made the hard work worth it. There were a couple times that I wanted to give up and let the entire thing go. I am glad I didn't talk myself into that.

Hi awesome build I am new to the site but have been reading for some time now. I have gathered up everything needed to do the swap in my 99 ranger except for the mount plates and was curious about the lower mounts.Is there anyone who still sells the plates? You said you were using the 3.0 lower mounts right? Does the explorer oil filter not fit in the ranger I have read it does and that it doesn't. Any help would be great thanks

Justin d said:

Hi awesome build I am new to the site but have been reading for some time now. I have gathered up everything needed to do the swap in my 99 ranger except for the mount plates and was curious about the lower mounts.Is there anyone who still sells the plates? You said you were using the 3.0 lower mounts right? Does the explorer oil filter not fit in the ranger I have read it does and that it doesn't. Any help would be great thanks

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Welcome aboard. I got my plates from Stradashop. I think he is still on the forum but not sure if he still does the plates or not. The diagrams are floating around but be a little careful, there are two sets that look identical and one of the two sets shows one side plate backwards. The driver side plate is flat but the passenger side drops (not lifts) that side. The 99 4 cyl and 6 cyl mounts are the same and they are what I used on mine. I would highly recommend shaving the top on the steering rack just a little bit as that area gets tight at the oil pan. There should be enough material to grind off a small aunt along the ridge. The Explorer oil filter adapter does fit and is a nice set up worth using. I went with the remote set up just for the look.

This is the best build thread I've ever read. The attention-to-detail is impressive and unmatched. I think you've put as much time into documenting the build as you did actual building. You truly have a one-of-a-kind Ford Ranger restomod. Why isn't this truck featured on the home page? This is the type of work that separates this forum from all the others. Bravo Mr. Brown! Bravo!

1qaz said:

This is the best build thread I've ever read. The attention-to-detail is impressive and unmatched. I think you've put as much time into documenting the build as you did actual building. You truly have a one-of-a-kind Ford Ranger restomod. Why isn't this truck featured on the home page? This is the type of work that separates this forum from all the others. Bravo Mr. Brown! Bravo!

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WOW! Thanks man! I could not have done it without everyone here. Not just the help/advice on some of the tough areas but also all the encouragement along the way. There was a lot of hot, mosquito invested nights, that made the work very uncomfortable. I sure am glad it is done.