Forum Member Ranger #1 took three years building the truck you see here.
His goal was to build a stealthy truck. A truck that would handle great in the desert but wouldn’t be covered in stickers and scream ‘desert truck’. He did all the fabrication on this truck keeping it low but built something that would handle great.
To achieve the suspension travel he wanted, he extended the Dana 35 TTB beams 2-1/2 inches on each side. It didn’t require a longer axle shaft on the driver side, but the wider beams made the passenger side intermediate shaft 5-inches to short. This is resolved by using the passenger side intermediate shaft from a Dana 44 TTB. The Dana 44 shaft is 5-inches longer than the Dana 35 shaft, which is why people extend the beams 2-1/2 inches.
The beams were plated and trussed for strength and used with custom built radius arms.
The rear axle is a Ford 8.8-inch with 31-spline shafts and disc brakes.
The front and rear suspension uses King coilover shocks with engine and bed cages.
The whole thing moves from a 4.0L V6 and automatic transmission.
The headlights were converted to DDM 6000K HID’s. The Hella 700’s were converted to HID as well.
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About The Author
Jim Oaks is the founder of The Ranger Station, one of the longest-running Ford Ranger enthusiast communities on the web. He has spent over three decades owning, modifying, repairing, and driving Ford Rangers on the street, trail, and cross-country routes.
Since launching TheRangerStation.com in 1999, Jim has documented thousands of real-world Ranger builds, technical repairs, drivetrain swaps, suspension modifications, and off-road tests contributed by owners worldwide. His work has been referenced by enthusiasts, mechanics, and off-road builders looking for practical, experience-based information rather than theoretical advice.
Jim’s hands-on experience includes long-distance overland travel, trail use, drivetrain and axle upgrades, suspension tuning, and platform comparisons across multiple Ranger generations. The content published on The Ranger Station is grounded in first-hand experience and community-verified data, not marketing claims or generic specifications.
