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Bagged and Z'd // 5.0L M50D-R2


2Krngr

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I had this ranger build on RangerPowerSports for years but since that forum is apparently never coming back I am just putting up a version of this long term on-going build/rebuild here to keep it alive.


(Original truck I purchased brand new in march of 2000 started out as 2wd Supercab Stepside 4.0l / 5-speed / LSD 8.8 3.55/ Dark Graphite Interior)

Basic Specs of the new Rebuild will be as follows:

2004 FX4 Level II All Black/Ebony Interior Swap
2000 Mountaineer 5.0l engine / harness / ecu
1993 Mustang Dual Sump Oilpan (chopped to shit)
2003 F150 M50D-R2 5-speed manual trans
1992 Ranger 8.8" LSD Rear Axle 56.5" Housing
2003 Ranger EDGE PowerDome Hood
Frame Z'd and Sectioned (de-humped)
Front Bag cups Pierced through frame
Thorbecke Triangulated Wishbone 4-link w/ Superpivots
Michigan Metal Works Front Upper/Lower Control Arms
RicksRangerz Raised Upper Arm Mounts
RicksRangerz Motor Mount Brackets
Illusive Raised Transmission Crossmember
Camburg Longtravel Tie Rod Heim Conversion
Custom 2 piece Driveshaft w/ Spicer 6.5" Slip Shaft
4wd spindle/rotor conversion
Cobra Rear Disc conversion
Brazilian 1-Piece Ranger Headlight conversion
York 210 engine driven air compressor

Frame Z'd = 2.5" (lowers front to eliminate stock rear rake)
Frame Sectioned = 1" (lowers rear to eliminate front rake after Z)
Control Arms Forward = 1" (gives more tire-to-firewall clearance)
Control Arms In-board = 3/4" per side (allows wider wheels)
Upper Control Arms Raised = 2" (corrects extreme camber change during travel)
Steering Rack Raised = 1" (eliminates toe change during travel caused from Raising Upper Arms)
Steering Rack Moved Back = 1/2" (done to help clear oil pan)
Oil Pan Notched = 1.25" (done to clear 1" Raised Steering Rack)
Tie Rod Frame Notches = 2" (to clear tie rod angle caused by raising steering rack)
Transmission Crossmember Raised = 2.5" (moved up inside framerail)
Spindles Raised = 1/2" (4wd spindle swap which has 1/2" higher centerline)
Spindles In-board = 1/2" per side (4wd spindle\rotor swap, the hub faces are retracted 1/2")
Front Bumper Raised = 1/2" (to eliminate some of the stock bumper to headlight gap)
Motor Mounts Lowered = 1.5" (to keep motor under the Edge/Powerdome hood)
Motor Moved Forward = 2" (for oilpan to clear the steering rack)
Rear Frame Notched = 10" (rear axle clearance)
Bed Floor Raised = 7" (to allow air and fuel tanks to mount under the bed)
Shifter Tunnel Raised = 1.5" (to clear transmission after Z)
Rear Axle Shortened = 3" (to allow wider wheels)
Carrier Bearing Raised = 4" (to delete lower crossmember)
Carrier Bearing Moved Back = 18" (to move pivot point behind cab so no raised driveshaft tunnel needed)
 
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2Krngr

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5.0L GT40
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Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Here are a few pictures of the history of this truck, I bought it new in 2000 and immediately 4 linked, bagged, and shaved it. So it looked like these pics from 2001 until 2012. I have been collecting parts and redoing the truck on and off as a backburner project slowly between 2012 and now.

picture 007 (16).jpg


IMAG0772.jpg


picture 007 (20).jpg
 
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2Krngr

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2000 Supercab
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Stepside
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5.0L GT40
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Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Next couple post will be catching up to current on the rebuild.

Using the lift to pull the cab and slide the frame out from under it:

IMAG2139.jpg



Put the cab on some dollies to be able to move it around:

IMAG2148 - Copy.jpg



Here is the old 4 linked frame and fuel cell setup:

IMAG2145 - Copy.jpg
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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Interesting build. I like it. Looking forward to more posts.
 

2Krngr

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2WD
The old 4 link setup got plenty of rear lift. Nice to have so much lift but really unnecessary.

IMAG0950.jpg


IMAG0951.jpg


IMAG0946.jpg


IMAG0935.jpg


IMAG0944.jpg
IMAG0984.jpg


IMAG0987.jpg
 

2Krngr

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2WD / 4WD
2WD
So with the frame off I began to strip it down for the changes to be made. The 98+ rangers have 2-piece frames and the rear half can be easily removed once you grind off the rivet heads. So here is the still fully function rear frame section that came off of it.

Anyone that want's this turnkey complete bolt-on rear frame half let me know, it is located in Virginia and fits all Rangers 1998-2011 supercab or regular cab (6ft bed, not 7ft longbed version) and both 4x2 and 4x4 use the same rear half.

20140807_205710.jpg


20140807_205832.jpg


20140807_205846.jpg


20140807_210022.jpg


20140807_210048.jpg
 
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2Krngr

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2000 Supercab
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5.0L GT40
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Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Here is the truck with a new rear half bolted on I pulled from another stock truck to start over from scratch. The old frame setup worked and rode great, I just wanted to have some fun and redo it and will have fuelcell, 12gal air tank, and 2 batteries all under the bedfloor.

Lots of measuring, and more measuring before welding anything.

20150423_220546.jpg


And as you may notice I am using the rear lift brackets from the KP Components 4 link kit but with them mounted on the front, haha.. These are mounted against the cab making the link bars 10" longer than when using the stock leaf hanger location for the bars. The one piece brackets take care of the shock mounting and spacing the bag away from the frame as well. I used them just because I thought it would be interesting.

I am using a 1992 Ranger 8.8 axle housing here, as it is 56.5" wide, where as the 2000 8.8 axle that was in it was 58.5" wide (and an explorer 8.8 is 59.5"), I am using the shortest axle to increase the available backspacing to be able run wider wheels (19x11)..

I will be using the Mustang disc brake conversion and the 3:55 LSD internals from my original axle in this housing along with a full Timken rebuild.

20150427_010445.jpg
 
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2Krngr

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2WD
The rear wishbone and lower bars will have superpivot joints on the frame ends for more aggressive side to side.

IMAG2690.jpg


The front is using MMW control arms, which I already had upgraded from DJM on the truck previously before the teardown. They fit well, I had ordered them +1" forward to give more firewall-to-tire clearance, and -3/4" inboard to allow wider wheels up front (19x9.5).

IMAG0118.jpg
 

2Krngr

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2WD
I am having a hard time find all the pictures I have backed up of alot of this frame build, I will be adding them soon. But meantime here is a bit more of the truck other than suspension.

This is the stock dark graphite interior, I have since bought a complete FX4 Level II Black/Ebony Interior which I have not installed yet, I will do this after the truck gets painted.

Explorer Overhead Console, Center Console, and Dome light Conversion. (These pieces will have to be dyed black once I swap the FX4 interior in..)

IMAG0967.jpg


100% coverage floors/doors/backwall/roof with dynamat and all voids spray foam filled x4 L7 kickers with dual PPI 1500.1 amps

IMAG0854.jpg


IMAG1041.jpg
 
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2Krngr

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2000 Supercab
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5.0L GT40
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Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Took the sub box to a friend that made an upholstered bezel for me, he did a great job.

IMG951648.jpg


IMG951652.jpg
 

91stranger

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This thing is sweet AF. I like the color too. Are those factory headlights with a different grill bezel or are they headlights off something else? I like the aggressive look of them. Too bad mine is far too rusty to ever look this good. Damn rust belt.
 

91stranger

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Oh I didn't notice all the L7's you had either. I have one L7 with a pro comp 1000.1 amp and it rattles the insides of my ear drums to the point it's an annoying tickle so I'm sure this gets the glass rattling pretty good.
 

Ranger850

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Doing things wrong, until I get it right.
This thing is sweet AF. I like the color too. Are those factory headlights with a different grill bezel or are they headlights off something else? I like the aggressive look of them. Too bad mine is far too rusty to ever look this good. Damn rust belt.
he said they're Brazilian Ranger Headlights.
 

2Krngr

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V8 Engine Swap
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Vehicle Year
2000 Supercab
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Stepside
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V8
Engine Size
5.0L GT40
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
This thing is sweet AF. I like the color too. Are those factory headlights with a different grill bezel or are they headlights off something else? I like the aggressive look of them. Too bad mine is far too rusty to ever look this good. Damn rust belt.
Those headlights are just APC from early 2000's, and the 'Dagger' Grille was also from APC. There was a grille on a demo ranger at Sema and it was also listed in their product catalogue for a very short period but never made it to full production before being discontinued due to inconsistency of manufacturing/fitment of it. I called them for 6 months back then hassling them to sell me one and they finally sent me one of thier pre-production sample units with no guarantees of fitment, but after a bit of bodywork it fit nicely. If you ever see one of them for sale buy it, you'll never find another.

he said they're Brazilian Ranger Headlights.
You are correct in your reading, the truck now has Brazilian Headlights, I had been trying to find a pair for over 10 years and finally scored a brand new set about 8 months ago! I will post them in the upcoming picture updates.
 
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2Krngr

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Vehicle Year
2000 Supercab
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Stepside
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V8
Engine Size
5.0L GT40
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
2WD
Back in 2000 I had built a mini pc that fit under the explorer console that had Earthmate GPS software and Winamp with all my mp3's on it, and an external 802.11 B (haha soo slow) so I could sync my music folders from the driveway (this was pre-usb sticks and bluetooth days), it was fed to a Touchscreen 7" VGA monitor molded into the dash, and the stereo I used was a Panasonic Dolby Surround dvd headunit with motorized flip out center speaker, the video output of the dvddeck was was fed through a rca-to-vga convertor. Pretty cool for the time but extremely dated now!

pc_front.jpg


pc_rear.jpg


tv2.jpg


IMAG1001.jpg
 
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