96 StRanger

deankelly · Nov 16, 2014

Hope there are a lot to choose from this month!

1996 Ranger

Mods, 98 Explorer 5.0 drive train, 97 T-Bird IRS, Mazda bed, Custom made (by me) wiring harness, 02 Ranger seats, 98 Explorer instrument cluster.

Paint, by Maaco
Tires, good year
Wheels, Sport Tuning

Jim Oaks · Jan 5, 2015

Pretty cool looking truck. Can you tell us more about your T-Bird IRS? Would love to see some photos.

deankelly · Jan 5, 2015

Thank you all for the votes!

I bought this Ranger shortly before I retired from the Army. I needed another set of wheels and the price was right.

After retiring I found that I had some time on my hands and I not had a hot rod since high school.

I wanted to do something different, apparently lots of Rangers have been converted to V8s. I still wanted that but I wanted to stand out a little also. Surfing around on the internet for things to do to modify my truck I came across a website dedicated to putting IRS systems under full size trucks from the 50s. I contacted the manufacturer (truckirs.com) and asked if their setup would work on a Ranger. After some back and forth and some measurements the engineer decided that it would work. Being that truckirs is located in Florida not too far from me the engineer volunteered to come over and assist with the installation and take notes and photos for their business. They build a kit that gets welded onto your frame and you can bolt in a Thunderbird IRS. I pulled the IRS from a 97 T-bird at a u-pull-and-pay yard in Orlando for $175.00.

We installed the system and the drive shaft bolted up perfectly after changing the flange at the rear.

With the IRS a new problem was encountered. The plastic fuel tank would no longer fit back under the truck. So for a short time (a year +) I had an F150 tank in a plastic tool box in the bed until I could afford to find a way to resolve the issue.

deankelly · Jan 5, 2015

I finally found a way to resolve the issue. Buy a steel tank for an 87 Ranger, and have a welding wizard modify it to fit. The guy did an amazing job and even put a drain plug in the tank for me. (This guy is a pipefitter by trade, he has an awesome 56 Chevy that is blown with two 4s on it - he manufactured his own intake so that there are no holes in the hood. Carbs hang low on either side of the blower.) I will add photos soon.

deankelly · Jan 5, 2015

I spent a lot of time browsing The Ranger Station before, during and after the 5.0 mod to get a lot of questions answered. ( Thanks to all who helped) The 5.0 came out of a rolled 98 Expo that I found at my neighborhood salvage yard. They normally don't do u-pull, but after some time chatting with the owner about what I was doing he allowed me to go into the yard on my own.

Keep in mind, I teach JROTC at a high school, so my time to tinker is limited. I managed to get about six or seven Saturdays in a row that I spent from opening to closing slowly taking the Explorer apart.

After that during a Christmas break from school with the help of my Dad and my son the engine went in after a new oil pump, pick up tube, timing chain and gears and oil pan went on.

deankelly · Jan 5, 2015

Getting the engine in was fairly easy, motor mount adapters and remote oil filter kit did the trick. The trans bolted right up to the crossmember. The drive shaft had to be shortened up a little.

The fun part starts now. Do I wire in the Expo engine compartment harness or do I only graft in the circuits that are needed?

I tried to use the expo engine compartment harness, NO GO. To many things that the Ranger did not support. It turned out to be a lot easier to lay in the needed circuits one wire at a time into the Ranger harness.

Big shout out to The Ranger Station tech library for how to articles for starting and charging conversions.

XLTsplash · Jan 5, 2015

Looking forward to more pictures of your Ranger.

deankelly · Jan 5, 2015

It seems that Ford went through a lot of trouble with emission controls to get it just right. There were so many check engine light codes to work out... Apparently there are sensors in the Expo that the Ranger never needed. I had to track down every P code and wring out every wiring diagram to isolate sensors I did not have (more trips to the salvage yard). Finally got all of the codes to go away, it helps if you plug the upstream o2 sensor into the upstream connector on the harness, not the downstream connector. Also when a o2 sensor is not getting power to the heater the wiring diagrams come in handy!

deankelly · Jan 5, 2015

I did not like the fleet side bed, nor was I too impressed with the Ford step side style. I really liked what Mazda had done so I went looking for a bed that would fit that wasn't too messed up in the salvage yard. I paid $800 for the truck, it ran when I got it. I spent $600 just for the bed and another $75 for the tailgate.

deankelly · Jan 5, 2015

The paint scheme came from looking at photos of cars from the 2013 SEMA show. I wanted the orange and grey, thankfully my wife added the silver stripe and the black pinstripes to the design.

I was limited to what wheels I could use because of the 4.25 bolt circle of the T-bird. I put adapters on the front and found the wheels on line.

Still tinkering when I am able and have some cash to spend.

Jim Oaks · Jan 5, 2015

I dig the paint scheme.

deankelly · Jan 5, 2015

Some of the pictures, have to find and take more

stmitch · Jan 8, 2015

Nice truck! I especially like the IRS. I've considered using the same mounting kit before, but it's not a priority right now. Maybe some day...

Do you have anything else planned for the truck, or is it finished?

deankelly · Jan 8, 2015

Thanks!

It is never finished. LOL The next idea, twin remote turbos as i have no real estate for a supercharger. But that will require anther engine that has been rebuilt and turbos under the bed at the rear. I have been running a 90 day warranty used engine for two years now.

don4331 · Jan 8, 2015

I think you've answered my question on the IRS, but I'm checking to see if I am right:

T-bird IRS is MUCH wider than Ranger axle (63.25" versus 58.5" are numbers I have found..), so you are running wheels with lots of back spacing. Then to have same wheels front and back you have adapters to change from 4.5" to 4.25" (Which effectively space the wheels out; making the front/rear track similar).

Did I get it right?

Do you know how thick the adapters are?

I was thinking of drilling the IRS hubs/rotors for 4.5" pattern, but track difference with IRS was concern...

96 StRanger

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