92 body on 97 frame?

[Raser13]

Got kind of a weird one for everyone. I have a 92 2 wheel drive four banger five speed stick. The rear main seal blew a few years ago while I was going down the highway and I didn't notice it till it was to late for my motor. Trucks been sitting since. My brother bought a 97 parts truck for his ranger and it came with an extra 97 engine with it. So I have been gifted a motor for mine. (Yes I know about the different crank sensor. I'm going to put a new harness in the truck)

He also doesn't need the frame from the 97 for his project and was just going to scrap the thing. But it's in alot better shape then mine. Salty Midwest roads have gotten between the front shock mounts and the frame and made things pretty thin. This 97 frame looks brand new.

My question is. Would my 92 cab and bed just bolt into the 97 frame? The body mounts look to be in the same spots as my 92. Anyone done this kind of swap before? Know if the body mounts match for sure?

Thanks for any help if really love to get this baby on the road again.

 

[Brain75]

somewhere buried deep in the bowels of a thread here, someone said you could take a 1st / 2nd, or even 3rd gen and move everything between them as long as you took it all. the sheetmetal wont interswap (the body lines are different so fenders wont match doors, etc), but if you took the cab and whole front clip they will swap.

I think it was in a door swap article (1st and 2nd gen doors interswap but you have to drill out the holes where they put X landmarks and did not drill them out).
1st and 2nd gen beds are identical (that doesn't help you I know).
If you are taking everything sheetmetal (cab, fenders, bed) then it just boils down to frame length. are they both 6' beds (99% of the 3rd gen seem to be 6' beds) or both 7', are they both extend cabs?

The real real question to answer is wheelbase - if they have identical wheelbases then the frame should be the same....
the tech articles list the wheelbases for all configs in the sizes page

Stock Ranger Specifications - The Ranger Station

Looking for the stock ratings and specifications for your Ford Ranger? Here you go: General: Understanding The Federal Compliance Sticker In Your Door Jamb Ford Ranger Dimensions (1983-2011) 2019 Ranger vs 2011 Ranger Size Comparison Chart Ford Truck VIN Decoder … Continued

www.therangerstation.com

Ford Ranger Dimensions - The Ranger Station

Do you need to know the measurements of a stock Ford Ranger: 1983-1992 Ford Ranger: 1983-1992 Ford Ranger Vehicle Dimensions Regular cab short bed (6′) Regular cab long bed (7′) Extended cab (First Super Cab was 1986) Wheelbase, in. … Continued

www.therangerstation.com

I think (fairly sure) someone has done the extend cab to extend cab and you just end up with 0.8 inches between box and bed instead of 1.0 or in your case it would be 1.2 I'd guess.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, that, the main differences are going to be in the front bumper area ahead of the body mounts and a '93-11 rear axle is wider by a touch...

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

When was the cab length extended by 3"?

 

[Brain75]

98+ (I only know cause I google searched TRS a bunch before posting my 1st response)

one of the source threads:

Possible frame swap?

Has anyone resto modded s ranger??? I'm not quite sure if it's a fesable idea or not. But has anyone tried mounting a early-late 80s body on a 98+ ranger frame?

www.therangerstation.com

wasn't 98+ the same year they started the 2 piece riveted together frames?

 

[Brain75]

and yes, my bad for forgetting to mention the slight frame horn differences... 1st and 2nd are identical I believe, there is a minor difference between 1st/2nd and 3rd gen, and then another minor difference 4th gen again.

 

[Raser13]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the info. I'll double check the bed length and wheel base next time I'm down at my brother's. If it matches up, I'll start stopping things to do the swap.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

98+ (I only know cause I google searched TRS a bunch before posting my 1st response)

one of the source threads:

Possible frame swap?

Has anyone resto modded s ranger??? I'm not quite sure if it's a fesable idea or not. But has anyone tried mounting a early-late 80s body on a 98+ ranger frame?

www.therangerstation.com

wasn't 98+ the same year they started the 2 piece riveted together frames?

98+ was indeed the two-piece frame start.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

and yes, my bad for forgetting to mention the slight frame horn differences... 1st and 2nd are identical I believe, there is a minor difference between 1st/2nd and 3rd gen, and then another minor difference 4th gen again.

Yup, his front bumper likely will not just bolt up to the 97 frame

 

[Brain75]

If you go through with it (it is a lot of work), would you mind shooting a pic of the frame specific stuff so we can add it to a tech article. There isn't an article that I could find on frame swap. Honestly, your question was not weird - all the 1st/2nd gen are rusting out and need donors from somewhere.

 

[Raser13]

If I do the swap I'll do a write up on it. As for the bumpers I'm not beholden to my stock ones. As long as the 97s don't cause fitment issues or look all weird. I'll just use them. But we'll see. If it just takes drilling a new hole for a bolt. I might mod it, just to keep the looks. Figure it all out next time in around the trucks. Probably thanks giving.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

If I do the swap I'll do a write up on it. As for the bumpers I'm not beholden to my stock ones. As long as the 97s don't cause fitment issues or look all weird. I'll just use them. But we'll see. If it just takes drilling a new hole for a bolt. I might mod it, just to keep the looks. Figure it all out next time in around the trucks. Probably thanks giving.

Front bumpers won’t even be close. Not sure what the frame ends look like on a 93-97 since I haven’t owned one yet, so I don’t know how difficult fitting up the 92 bumper will be. If it was mine and the 92 bumper wouldn’t fit up, I would build a custom bumper. But I have a welder and it wouldn’t be the first bumper I built…

Rear bumper should be close and your 92 bumper should bolt up as well. So rear shouldn’t be a problem, just the front.

 

[Brain75]

yes the front is drastically different

sarah-n-tuned did a frameoff restore on her grandma's 94 high rider and she did a lot of video on the frame... I haven't put my front bumper back on yet (still doing the cut and buff after paint)... between those 2 sources I could show you every difference you want to know - the 93-97 has an adjustable bumper height adapter lets you raise/lower the bumper if you do a body lift. the 1st/2nd gen the frame comes out straight and you bolt directly onto the frame.
the 94

and my '90 (after primer, before paint)

 

[Brain75]

I grabbed that first pic real quick, but knew it wasn't the best cause you can't see much from the top... I watched a few minutes and found a better angle - you can see on the 94 both slots are straight vertical, on my 90 the slots are horizontal and 45 degree angle...

The 2nd gen (90) bumper brackets bolt to the outside of the frame (so the spacing is wider than the frame)... I can't confirm this, but it looks like the 3rd gen (94) would have to be inside... so might have to use the bumper brackets from the 3rd gen if they will fit on the 2nd gen bumper

worst case I would guess use the 3rd gen brackets and then modify em - add a hole or extend em with a piece of flat, etc.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

1st gen the bumpers bolted directly to the rounded frame horns. I'm too lazy to look but I have pics in my low buck race truck build.