5.0 swap and SAS "Half-Pint"

[bobbywalter]

love that tail gate.

 

[Rooster]

A little more progress. Got the license plate relocated. I didn’t want to mount it to the new bumper, so I thought the tailgate might be a decent option. It was a little bit of a challenge to route wiring for the illuminator. I’m mostly happy with it, I don’t like that it covers up the F a little but it’s functional.

also got my welds ground down and some bondo on the bedsides. Still gonna take more sanding, and probably a little more bondo before it looks right. I’m not gonna be too picky about the bodywork, the bed isn’t perfect anyway, but I want it to look good from a few feet away

 

[bobbywalter]

dont put too much time into it....perfection makes rock rash infectious.

 

[Rooster]

My thoughts exactly

 

[Rooster]

One step closer on this rear bumper

 

[Rooster]

Got the fenders painted and fender flares put back on and trimmed. There are some minor blemishes in the bondo, but good enough for now. Also added the last little leg of the bumper. Still need to brace the sides of the bumper to the frame, and cut the part that’s still cardboard out of metal. And obviously finish weld the whole bumper. But you can see the overall shape I’m going for and how it’ll look

 

[Rooster]

Fully welded and painted. Im thinking about doing a bed liner on it, we’ll see. I still need to brace the corners to the frame, but I’m gonna move on to other stuff for now

 

[Rooster]

Got some new tires, and got the old bump stops cut off and new ones welded on. Headed to get a front driveshaft made in the morning

 

[Rooster]

Got the park brake working this week. No pics of that, pretty boring. Also installed some rock lights, I’m going to try and get skid plates made before I take it on any serious trails, but until then at least a spotter can see what’s under the truck at night. I only bought 4, I might come back and add some behind the rear axle if I think it’s necessary

 

[sgtsandman]

Affordable off road offers one for the front that might be worth a look. Skid plates for the tranfer case and fuel tank seem to be nonexistant. RCI offers one too but they seem more geared toward the Rangers with the Dana 35 SLA and it's front cross member. That won't work with a TTB suspension.

 

[Rooster]

I had just assumed I would have to make my own, I will look into those though, thanks for the tip. I’m considering doing a fuel cell in the bed to eliminate that low point. Eventually. Right now my attitude is “don’t get it right, just get it running”

I’ve been working on this truck for like 6 years and I’m ready to start wheeling it

 

[ryan]

I had just assumed I would have to make my own, I will look into those though, thanks for the tip. I’m considering doing a fuel cell in the bed to eliminate that low point. Eventually. Right now my attitude is “don’t get it right, just get it running”

I’ve been working on this truck for like 6 years and I’m ready to start wheeling it

Shouldnt be too hard. Just make the crossmember and then throw a plate on it

 

[ryan]

You could really use a hi steer arm

 

[Rooster]

You could really use a hi steer arm

Maybe at some point, not in the budget right now though. I got my front driveshaft in the mail, it ate up most of what I can afford to spend on the ranger right now. Got a custom Adams driveshaft, new pinion yoke, new flange for the transfer case, still need to get some hardware. All together over $1000🥲 but I was willing to spend the extra money after the first driveshaft not fitting

 

[Rooster]

Got the new driveshaft installed, it wasn’t as easy as I would’ve hoped, but I have 4 wheel drive finally. Had to change the yoke on both the axle and the transfer case. I went from a yoke to a flange on the transfer case, and the flange was a bit wider than the yoke so I had clearance issues. I think eventually I want to use a different transfer case, but I’m gonna have to start saving some $$$ for the next phase of this build cause I’m out of money