Kyle M's Ranger Rebuild

[86 slo-vo]

with the right gearing the ole 4.0 will do all you ever need it to...

its lookin good man, cant wait to see some more progress

 

[Kyle M.]

I agree, in an off road rig the V8 swap is more work that it is worth. Now a street truck...different story.

Ok, got my rear axle partially mounted, then started wondering if I want it there or if I wanted to move it forward more.

So, I leveled the frame out at ride height, set up the front axle under the truck in position, about 1.5" to 2" forward of stock, measured my wheel base at 114" to 115", not too bad, about 10" shorter than it was. Then I got wondering where my rear cab mount was going to end up so i measured that out and it ended up being dead in the center of the front spring hanger. see pic

my cab mount needs to be at about the 5" mark, but i think I can move it easily to the 4" mark.

Now the problem, I don't think I can fit a standard cab bushing/bolt in that space.

Question, should I say F it and try and make it work or move my axle forward the necessary distance and make it a shorter wheel base?

Please, give me your opinions!

 

[86 slo-vo]

are you useing stock ranger leaves? or 63's?

 

[Kyle M.]

63's

 

[86 slo-vo]

its hard to tell wihout being there looking at it but could you build off the leaf mount and combine the 2 brackets?

 

[Kyle M.]

Well that is what I was thinking of doing, but the stardard bushing/mount has rubber over and under the mount. I think the bolt and the bushing/nut combo might be too thick to fit. Maybe I can cut down the rear bushing that the cab sits on to only like 1/2" thick from 2" to make more room(move the cab mount up to the 3.5" mark)? I was already going to cut it down to 1" thick.

IDK, i could just make it a shorter wheel base to fix it too

 

[86 slo-vo]

shorter wheelbase couldnt hurt but you can only go so far before you have to cut the cab for tire clearance...i believe a shortcab short bed ranger is 108"

 

[Kyle M.]

F it, I will build a cab/hanger mount and see how it looks....go from there I guess.

 

[Bray D]

I'd say you want a shorter wheelbase, IMO 110 is the magic number on a small tire rig (37 and below).

That being said, I dunno if that 4-5" would be enough for the hanger to clear the body mount or not. You can't relocate the mount on the body itself? I have no idea, never had my body off, just throwin it out there.

Like slo-vo said, watch for tire/cab clearance as well.

 

[Kyle M.]

Well I would have to move the rear up at least 8" to clear unless I refab both brackets. I think for now I am going to try and graft the 2 mounts together. As far as wheel base goes, I am at about 114 now with the front pushed out about 2" so I can clear the fender at stuff and turning. I think I will leave it this way now, can't be worse than my old 125 wheel base and I made it around well like that.

 

[Bray D]

yeah 114 will be way better than 125. Moving it forward 8" wouldn't be too awfully bad. That'd put you at 106 whereas a stock single cab shortbed is 108. Then again, the cab vs tire clearance issue arises.

I think you'll be happy with 114 when it comes to climbing stability. Breakover angle will suffer a bit, but it'll be better than your 125 was.

 

[Kyle M.]

Got the motor in, getting fuel lines figured out....anyone know how to tell the difference on feed and return lines?

Stripped the front axle of all brackets, found one of the wedge welds were broke, need to fix that. The wedges on an EB 44 aren't cast into the C, they are welded on to the tube. Just need to find out what type of material they are so I can weld em back on.

Gonna finish up my raduis arms so I can make my cross member...the frame is tapered where I am putting it so I need to get the length down before I finish it. Hope to have all that done this week.

I have a plan for my rear cab mounts, just have to get some templates made so I can start fabing those up, but that is low on my to do list since the cab will be the last thing I worry about.

Things I have to pay for yet:

electric fan (have the stock cluch one if I need it in a pinch)
new rear shocks.....one of mine is bent...don't know how?
drive shaft lengthening and shorting
bead locks (optional)
gear install kit, bearings and seals
brake parts, lines, pads, calipers

wow that is better than I thought it would be....

 

[Robert_1967]

hook the battery to the wires going to the fuel pump, the that squirts you in the eye is the feed, and the other is the return, on the engine, the fuel pump regulater is the return side.



Robert

 

[Kyle M.]

LOL, not too worried about the fuel pump side, looks like those lines will hook up either way, the engine side is what worried me. Thanks

 

[Robert_1967]

on my ranger and broncoII they are two different size's ( the high side is different size then return line), and the return on both of them come off the fuel pressure regulator.



Robert