89 Ranger 4.0 Swap and Hunting Rig, the Houndrunner

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

So I didn’t get anything else done to the truck. I had to clean out my water storage tank. I just had a whole house RO system installed. It only produces about 1/3 a gallon per minute, so I need a storage tank. Then the wife asked if I would watch the kids so she could ride her horse after I finished with the water tank. So I was busy the rest of the day. Now she’s taken some of the horses to the vet for a dental check up. Hopefully she’ll be back before noon and I can finish up the rear end today.

The D35 diff guard I ordered came in yesterday. It’s pretty stout. The guy used old rusty material though. It’s pitted pretty deep. But for the price it’s not too bad. I’ll post a picture later.

I inspected the jeep springs. They don’t have any identification on them. They measure 20” tall and are 5/8” thick.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

The new diff guard and what’s probably gonna be my final gear pattern.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Just picked up a set of stock 63” chevy springs for $100 with hangers and bolts.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

I installed the spartan and finished the gear install today. I had to pull the carrier more times than I care to admit. I couldn’t get the cross pin in, and I thought I was doing something wrong. Turns out I was just pulling the wires before I tried installing the cross pin. I was gettin pretty pissed off lol. Took it a test drive and to get the first warm up of the gears. I’m able to get up to 75-80 mph now! My speedometer is off of course, but the speedo was reading over 85, I figured that was pushin 80mph.

I also installed a set of xj 4” lift coils. I’m gonna give it a test drive this evening to see how they ride.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

They ride great, a lot more body roll now, though. Also, my steering and the camber is way out now. Gotta fix that tomorrow. It pulls pretty hard passenger now and the tires are noticeably leaning top in.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Well I don’t think the xj coils are going to work out. They compress too much. I don’t have enough adjustment in the brackets to compensate.

 

[BlackBII]

Yeah those coils need to be longer for sure.

What is the current compressed length? I'm using 4" brackets on my truck with Skyjacker 6" coils. They're 19" tall and 15" tall with the weight of the truck on them, for some reference.

Gears look good!

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Thank you!

The XJ coils were 20” extended and like 15” compressed. They distort inboard and outboard when compressed. I have Tuff Country 4” lift brackets. here’s a picture of the coil ID. I’ll look it up later.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

I couldn’t find anything on the coils...

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

I’ve put around 100 miles on the new gears. The motor is running significantly better but still has a slight shudder and feels a little under powered. I’m gonna buy some vacuum line and replace all the lines. I put about 40 miles on it in the desert. It did good, no cooling issues. The locker is a little loud on the pavement. That’ll take a little getting used to.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Oh, with the old gearing and about 30 miles with the new gears fuel mileage was 14.5 mpg. But the gears were 3.55 with 31” tires and now they’re 4.56 with31” tires. I’m not sure of the correction needed to determine the actual mileage. I need to get new speedo gears, one for the 31’s and another one incase I go to 33’s.

 

[Greentitan]

Thank you all for this thread! I'm getting ready to swap a 4.0 out of an 06 ranger into my 1989. The 4.0 came with a harness but no ecu. After reading the posts I've gathered it would be better for me to get a manual ecu. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Thank you all for this thread! I'm getting ready to swap a 4.0 out of an 06 ranger into my 1989. The 4.0 came with a harness but no ecu. After reading the posts I've gathered it would be better for me to get a manual ecu. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

My truck now has a 4.0 OHV, your engine should be a 4.0 DOHC. Two totally different engines. There’s probably threads about that swap that would be much more beneficial for you. There are differences between a wiring harness for an auto and a manual trans. I assume that correlates to the ecm plug too. Now I haven’t done that swap, but I don’t think it’s as easy as plugging in an ecm from a manual trans. You’ll have to re-pin the ecm plug to match the manual ecm, then either install plugs to match the manual trans sensors, clutch interlock, etc or re-pin the plugs to match. It will most likely save you time and frustration to get a matching ecm and harness.

 

[Greentitan]

My truck now has a 4.0 OHV, your engine should be a 4.0 DOHC. Two totally different engines. There’s probably threads about that swap that would be much more beneficial for you. There are differences between a wiring harness for an auto and a manual trans. I assume that correlates to the ecm plug too. Now I haven’t done that swap, but I don’t think it’s as easy as plugging in an ecm from a manual trans. You’ll have to re-pin the ecm plug to match the manual ecm, then either install plugs to match the manual trans sensors, clutch interlock, etc or re-pin the plugs to match. It will most likely save you time and frustration to get a matching ecm and harness.

Well either way I'm glad I found this thread because I wouldn't have known that. Thank you for the help. I'll be sure to keep an eye on your build!

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

This is what I’ll be referencing for the 64” spring swap.

64-Inch Leaf Spring Swap & Shackle Flip - The Ranger Station

Chevy Leaf Springs – 63-Inch Or 64-Inch: Lets first clarify that there isn’t a 63-inch Chevy leaf spring. The fullsize Chevy truck (from 1973-1999) came with either 54-Inch, 56-inch or 64-Inch leaf springs. Those that are measuring their springs at … Continued

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