What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[Curious Hound]

Wow! Yall are hitting it hard. My Ranger has been waiting for me. But I just made major improvement on the F250.

 

[Rick W]

Here’s a better pic of my rectangular tube mounts. Self tapping screws with a rubber washer between the bracket and whatever it screwed into. That makes me think it’s part of a metal building. There’s virtually no damage to the powder coating, it’s just dirty.

It’s no big deal, but I am curious what these things used to do. It all adds to the mystique of the Road Ranger!

 

[Snoranger]

Soooo, I’ve known several Masons over the years, but I didn’t realize they needed such heavy duty hardware to relieve themselves.

Call Or is it a different kind of mason dump?

Other mason dump:

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Maybe new spark plug wires too?

BTW: I just finished painting my used '97 Explorer sway bar. It looks like a great improvement. Thanks!

I’ll give the wires a check, but they don’t look too bad. Plugs probably need attention or replaced. Just not sure how much effort I want to put into it today when I have other things that need done and I need the truck tomorrow. On the other hand if it helps it with starting and running then it would be worth it.

Also got my fingers crossed, I found someone that listed used tires that will work on the choptop that are in my current budget and I’ll be reasonably close to them tomorrow, so hopefully that can work out.

You’re welcome on the sway bar recommendation, let me know what you think of it, I haven’t had a chance to test mine yet.

Wow! Yall are hitting it hard. My Ranger has been waiting for me. But I just made major improvement on the F250.

I’m certainly trying to hit things hard. Way behind on projects and getting to drive the choptop a little has been a bit of a moral boost that I needed, but I’m anxious to get a few things resolved so I can drive it more because I keep going back to the F-150 right now when I need more than just a local drive. I’d like to get the choptop squared away to use as a DD quickly then turn my attention back to the green Ranger. Ideally I’ll have the choptop and green Ranger ready in time for the trail ride this year. If I can get either or both ready in time for Carlisle, I’d like to get out there for a day, but we’ll see. I’m still not sure how that will work out because I’m supposed to be in two places, the Irish Festival in Dublin, OH and Carlisle are the same dates.

 

[Lefty]

Wow! Yall are hitting it hard. My Ranger has been waiting for me. But I just made major improvement on the F250.

So then, what did you do to your Ford F250 today? Or is this thread for Rangers only?

 

[Curious Hound]

So then, what did you do to your Ford F250 today? Or is this thread for Rangers only?

The title of this thread is " What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux)".

So My F250 info is in it's own thread. "2002 F250 diesel - discovery and build thread"

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Well, rain brought progress to a halt, so I’ve been working on my parts books for my trucks and searching various things…

Hitting a solid wall though. I bought a Jegs cage (Jegster Ranger 10 or 12 point cage, forget exactly which I bought) for my Choptop awhile back. I have part of it tacked and roughly fitted (halo bar, main hoop and front legs) in the choptop but the front legs are pretty close to the dash to try and give me enough room to get past them and in the seat (I’m really not a fan of how in the way they are, but I’m not really sure what can safely be done about it). At any rate, before fully welding it (and building the rest of the cage), I wanted to fit some tube clamps on the front legs so I could remove them if I needed into the dash (there isn’t enough room to even pop the panel free that goes around the gauge cluster and radio/HVAC stuff).

I bought the cage because it was rated and it was cheaper than I could buy the steel for. At the time I didn’t have a bender and nobody I could find local had a bender either. After I got the cage I bought a bender and a 180* die and some extra steel to match the cage. Here’s where the problem is, the cage is 1-5/8” tube (1.625”) and it’s 0.134” wall. I really would prefer interlocking clamps (I can find 1.625” external sleeve type clamps but I’m not particularly excited about that design). Jegs doesn’t sell any clamps I could find that fit. Neither does Summit. So far my searching has found a few rare places that have 1.625” interlocking clamps, but they are all for either 0.095” wall or 0.120” wall. The only way to make the 0.120 wall ones fit would be to turn down the ends with a lathe to fit 0.134 wall. I don’t own a lathe and with the exception of a buddy who needs to fix his lathe (and he lives in GA), I don’t know of anyone able to modify the clamps. If it wouldn’t be so expensive I’d be tempted to buy a 1.750 die for my bender and rip the Jegs cage out and re-do everything in 1.750 tube with a 0.120 wall just to have a standard size.

 

[Rick W]

Well, rain brought progress to a halt…

I wish it had rained here to cool things off!

I got out in the morning and did a little, but had to quit and shower at noon for a funeral service. It was 93 when I stopped. After the service I was going to do more, but by then it was 97. Just can’t do that anymore so I napped. Worthless

On your tubing, I’m not very knowledgeable, but along the concept of no dumb questions:

Can you get a tubing expander like they use for muffler pipe and swage it out (the pipe or the coupling)?

If it’s too hard/hardened for that, can you heat it up and swage it when red hot or soften a small part to then be able to swage it?

Hope it helps…

 

[JoshT]

Can you get a tubing expander like they use for muffler pipe and swage it out (the pipe or the coupling)?

If it’s too hard/hardened for that, can you heat it up and swage it when red hot or soften a small part to then be able to swage it?

The wall thickness of the metal he's dealing with will be too much for any tubing expander that he could reasonable buy.

If he heated it enough to make it eassy to expand he'd encounter a few more issues. First it might compromise the strength of the metal. Second, the tubing expander he could get would melt before expanding the tubing. Most of those tubing expanders are held together with a rubber o-ring. To get the heat necessary to soften that metal, it would probably destroy the o-ring.

@lil_Blue_Ford I think you best choices are suck it up and use what is available, try to make a new friend, or find a semi-local machine shop that can turn down the one you want to use. Ripping out and redoing is a valid choice too, but wounds like a lot of waste and rework. If you did go that route, I think I'd try to follow the a pillars down and go through the front edge of the dash rather than behind the dash. Just my thought's from my armchair.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I wish it had rained here to cool things off!

I got out in the morning and did a little, but had to quit and shower at noon for a funeral service. It was 93 when I stopped. After the service I was going to do more, but by then it was 97. Just can’t do that anymore so I napped. Worthless

On your tubing, I’m not very knowledgeable, but along the concept of no dumb questions:

Can you get a tubing expander like they use for muffler pipe and swage it out (the pipe or the coupling)?

If it’s too hard/hardened for that, can you heat it up and swage it when red hot or soften a small part to then be able to swage it?

Hope it helps…

The rain didn’t do anything about heat here but boosted the humidity by about 10,000% or so. Feels like a tropical rainforest and it’s been on and off heavy rain and storms today.

Tubing expander is probably a no go for several reasons, including potentially adversely affecting cage quality and strength. I’d be better off getting some clamps turned down. Much better safety-wise.

The wall thickness of the metal he's dealing with will be too much for any tubing expander that he could reasonable buy.

If he heated it enough to make it eassy to expand he'd encounter a few more issues. First it might compromise the strength of the metal. Second, the tubing expander he could get would melt before expanding the tubing. Most of those tubing expanders are held together with a rubber o-ring. To get the heat necessary to soften that metal, it would probably destroy the o-ring.

@lil_Blue_Ford I think you best choices are suck it up and use what is available, try to make a new friend, or find a semi-local machine shop that can turn down the one you want to use. Ripping out and redoing is a valid choice too, but wounds like a lot of waste and rework. If you did go that route, I think I'd try to follow the a pillars down and go through the front edge of the dash rather than behind the dash. Just my thought's from my armchair.

Pretty much sums up the potential issues with trying to expand the tube. Not sure if there’s better ones than the exhaust expanders, but even those on thin wall exhaust tube take some work.

So I can get the clamshell/external sleeve type for the tube size, but I’m a little skeptical of that route. I feel like an interlocking thing that welds in each end of the tube would be a stronger connection than an external clamp that only half of one side can be welded to the tube and everything just kinda floats. Just kinda irritated that a commercially produced cage is an oddball size for accessories. Most cage parts seem to be 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, or 2” and 0.120 wall. Instead of a common size, Jegs offers a 1.625” at 0.134 wall and no accessories other than fire extinguisher mounts and light mounts. Kinda frustrating.

The cage also came with absolutely nothing for instructions. Just a big bundle of steel. Guess it’s kinda self explanatory, but it would have been nice to have a little guidance. I wasn’t really a fan of chopping into my dash, especially because where it would have to go on the drivers side would affect the HVAC vent, headlight switch, possibly the fuse box, and it would be in the way of the E-brake pedal and release. As it is now, I can still work the pedal and release, but it’s definitely awkward. Although this arrangement also made working the window crank awkward unless you open the door (or take the door off). On the passenger side it would get the vent and glove box. I also had some concerns about the length of the tubes that I might not be able to put it right by the A-pillar without ending up short. I really didn’t want to have to build a custom dash at this time, but that’s about the best way I can see to move the tubes forward. Where I want to put the interlocking splices, I think it would allow me at a later date to build a custom dash and new tubes to shift forward.

 

[Roert42]

Sounds like you really want an exoskeleton.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Well, rain brought progress to a halt, so I’ve been working on my parts books for my trucks and searching various things…

Hitting a solid wall though. I bought a Jegs cage (Jegster Ranger 10 or 12 point cage, forget exactly which I bought) for my Choptop awhile back. I have part of it tacked and roughly fitted (halo bar, main hoop and front legs) in the choptop but the front legs are pretty close to the dash to try and give me enough room to get past them and in the seat (I’m really not a fan of how in the way they are, but I’m not really sure what can safely be done about it). At any rate, before fully welding it (and building the rest of the cage), I wanted to fit some tube clamps on the front legs so I could remove them if I needed into the dash (there isn’t enough room to even pop the panel free that goes around the gauge cluster and radio/HVAC stuff).

I bought the cage because it was rated and it was cheaper than I could buy the steel for. At the time I didn’t have a bender and nobody I could find local had a bender either. After I got the cage I bought a bender and a 180* die and some extra steel to match the cage. Here’s where the problem is, the cage is 1-5/8” tube (1.625”) and it’s 0.134” wall. I really would prefer interlocking clamps (I can find 1.625” external sleeve type clamps but I’m not particularly excited about that design). Jegs doesn’t sell any clamps I could find that fit. Neither does Summit. So far my searching has found a few rare places that have 1.625” interlocking clamps, but they are all for either 0.095” wall or 0.120” wall. The only way to make the 0.120 wall ones fit would be to turn down the ends with a lathe to fit 0.134 wall. I don’t own a lathe and with the exception of a buddy who needs to fix his lathe (and he lives in GA), I don’t know of anyone able to modify the clamps. If it wouldn’t be so expensive I’d be tempted to buy a 1.750 die for my bender and rip the Jegs cage out and re-do everything in 1.750 tube with a 0.120 wall just to have a standard size.

The cage was rated for what? If you're not racing you can do whatever you want, including using a bar that will work with the couplers you can get. Maybe go down to 1.5" if there are couplers that fit.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

The cage was rated for what? If you're not racing you can do whatever you want, including using a bar that will work with the couplers you can get. Maybe go down to 1.5" if there are couplers that fit.

Although that’s a good point that I’m not planning on racing it so I don’t have to meet any particular specs, I’m not really sure what strength trade offs I’d have with changing the tube size. Or going to a thinner wall tube. I did find a place offering the couplers I want (after a lot of searching) but for a 0.120 wall instead of 0.134 wall. I’m pretty comfortable driving it, but I’d hate for the unexpected to happen and end up testing the cage. Because of that I’d like to be as strong or stronger than originally designed. Maybe stepping up to 1.75 X 0.120 wall would be equivalent or stronger than the 1.625 X 0.134 wall? I can get couplers for that.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Although that’s a good point that I’m not planning on racing it so I don’t have to meet any particular specs, I’m not really sure what strength trade offs I’d have with changing the tube size. Or going to a thinner wall tube. I did find a place offering the couplers I want (after a lot of searching) but for a 0.120 wall instead of 0.134 wall. I’m pretty comfortable driving it, but I’d hate for the unexpected to happen and end up testing the cage. Because of that I’d like to be as strong or stronger than originally designed. Maybe stepping up to 1.75 X 0.120 wall would be equivalent or stronger than the 1.625 X 0.134 wall? I can get couplers for that.

My gut feeling is those would be pretty equivalent. I rolled my racetruck with 1.75" and no discernible damage. Wasn't going very fast tho. Your main hoop is providing most of the protection, side bars are less likely to get hit.

 

[JoshT]

So I can get the clamshell/external sleeve type for the tube size, but I’m a little skeptical of that route.

I'm guessing that what you've found is something like this:

Steel bolt on tube clamps 1.625" 1-5/8 inch universal roll cage mounts

Universal Fabrication 1-5/8" Tube Clamps to compliment all of your builds. 2-1/2" in overall length. Building a roll cage on any vehicle with 1-5/8" tubing- here's the clamps to add any bolt on feature for your project . We sell these to UTV /SXS /Jeep and many other off-road fabrication shops...

utvdistribution.com

I feel like an interlocking thing that welds in each end of the tube would be a stronger connection

and what you want is something like this:

Interlocking Steel Tube Connectors Rollcage 1-3/4" x.120 &.095

Universal Fabrication Interlocking Steel Bungs Building a rollcage on any vehicle with 1-3/4" .095 or .120 wall tubing- heres the bungs to get that project going. We sell these to UTV /SXS /Jeep and many other off-road fabrication shops. Great all around fabrication tube connector. Features...

utvdistribution.com

I am in no way suggesting or advising these parts, just what I found in a quick google search for examples.

If I'm correct, I understand your preference, it would be mine too.

I don't know how or where you use the choptop, but I feel like it's probably not likely to be involved in high speed collisions/accidents where you intend to use it. A low speed rollover is probably more likely. If so I think the clamp welded to the cage is probably going to be more than adequate. I'd weld the half to the top bar, the other half to the bottom bar, then do a plug weld or two through each half into its respective bar.

If you can find connectors like the lower link where the ends are solid, I think it would be fairly easy to get them turned down for the thicker wall on you tube. In fact if you find a place that makes these parts in house, it might be worth giving them a call and seeing if they can turnsome down to fit for you.

I wasn’t really a fan of chopping into my dash, especially because where it would have to go on the drivers side would affect the HVAC vent, headlight switch, possibly the fuse box, and it would be in the way of the E-brake pedal and release. As it is now, I can still work the pedal and release, but it’s definitely awkward. Although this arrangement also made working the window crank awkward unless you open the door (or take the door off). On the passenger side it would get the vent and glove box. I also had some concerns about the length of the tubes that I might not be able to put it right by the A-pillar without ending up short. I really didn’t want to have to build a custom dash at this time, but that’s about the best way I can see to move the tubes forward. Where I want to put the interlocking splices, I think it would allow me at a later date to build a custom dash and new tubes to shift forward.

Makes sense. I was thinking about a first gen dash with it's removable metal top plate, not a molded second gen dash. Most likely if I were doing something with a cage I wouldn't be using the stock parking brake pedal anyway. It'd probably be converted to use a handbrake lever between the seats and/or use a line lock for parking brake. Of course I'm not talking about a trail/offroad rig either.

I have no comment on the relative strength of the tubes. That said there isn;t much size difference between 1.5 and 1.625 inch tube. Is it possible that a 1.5" coupling would have the right diameter to work in your thick wall 1.625 tube? The outside diameter of the coupling would be slightly smaller, but its a solid machined piece so I think it would be plenty strong enough.