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FrankenSteinRanger
Member
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2023
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 7
- Location
- New York State
- Vehicle Year
- 1996
- Make / Model
- Ford Ranger
- Engine Type
- 4.0 V6
- Transmission
- Manual
So after years of research truck problems here I am finally making an account.
I have been driving rangers for 15+ years now. My first car was a '94 ranger regular cab 2wd with the 4cyl engine & 5-speed Manual trans. It was owned by a contractor & in pretty rough shape. My father gave it to me when I turned 15. The truck was cramped inside and absolutely horrible in the snow, regardless, I loved it. My father sourced a grill guard & a light bar from an f250 that we modified to fit. I bought some explorer rear tail light guards & some Jeep Wrangler wheels & tires. We painted it electric blue & added an 8 foot flame decal & a pair of chrome side steps. This was my introduction to the world of the ford ranger.
I drove the truck for ten years until the clear coat began to peel. Other Mechanical issues forced me to park it long-term and then eventually retired it.
After this, I stepped away from the ranger platform & worked on tuner cars for a few years, during which I learning more about how cars went together. Then my father did some repairs on a customer's black '96 ranger Supercab 4.0 4wd 5-speed transmission. The man did not pay, so my father bought the truck for $500 called it even.
The truck sat for a year, then he gave it to me after I saw it & offered to buy it. I always wanted to install a suspension lift my previous ranger but was discouraged by Dad due to the what it was cost. Now the financial situation was different so I bought a cheap Superlift 6" suspension lift kit & installed it that summer. I also procurred a set of 33 tires on jeep wheels (Wrangler wheels bolt right up, so there's no shortage of used options). I also brought over all the bars & lights from my first ranger. We did another backyard paint job, this time we painted the body Magma red.
I drove this Truck for 5 years, during which time I moved to the Adirondacks in upstate NY. The 4wd was incredibly potent in the 1+ feet of snow we regularly got up there, especially the low-range option. The 4.0 was just strong enough to pull a full size boat, & there were snowmobile trails that made for great mudding opportunities in the summer
All the fun came to an end as one night the thermostat stuck and steam started dumping out of the exhaust pipe, fogging out the road. There was no phone reception, it was -10 degrees in a blizzard, & I was an hour out in the wilderness. A truly life-threatening situation. The truck somehow made it back, although there was almost no coolant left in the bottom of the radiator. The engine was finished, I parked the truck thinking this was the end.
But I just could not let the truck go, two months later, my father arrived and we prepared to tow the it back to his place. I tried starting it & to my bewilderment it was running after the first try! So I attempted to drive it up onto the trailer, there was antifreeze pouring out of the cat converter & smog cloud that would put London to shame, but drove up on its own power. What a testiment to the 4.0 engine to be able to do that after what it went through . We installed a junkyard 4.0 over the next two weeks and finished it in the nick of time the night before I had to be at work, a trip 3.5 hours north. The engine started up & made its maiden trip with no issues, to my relief. Everything was finally back to normal, or so I thought....
The truck ran great for a year, then the thermostat stuck again & the engine blew. Back to square one... again. I towed it back to my dad's place but he couldn't help due to the late stage of his cancer. He passed away that year & the truck sat for a couple years, this was surely the end. But then, I realized this was the last gift from my father and I would not give it up, no matter the cost.
I removed the old engine & threw it out. This engine is a pain to get out as the EGR system blocks the rear exhaust manifold stud, making it almost impossible to remove. A completely mindless setup designed by someone equally as mindless over at ford. Anyway, then I took another 4.0 engine from a ranger sitting in the yard & attempted to install it on my own. It did not go well & after several days attempting to mate it with the transmission, I had other thoughts. I read online (On this Forum) that a v8 swap was common for this platform, & after all the work I already put into this why not go for the best? So I bought a 5.0 explorer for the project, but after taking a look under the ranger, I discovered another problem. It was really rusty under there, even rotted through in a place. So before doing the engine swap, it was clear that a full frame restore was necessary to make everything worth it.
I rigged up a lift with some friends & completely dis-assembled the frame. The frame was connected by thick-headed pins that take forever to grind away, so it took a month of evenings & saturdays to get everything apart.
So here we are. The cab is too rusted to use, but fortunately, I have a 95 cab that I will be using, it will need to be modified for the manual trans. The plan is to get the frame & suspension galvenized as the winter roads here are covered in corrosive salt. Some of the frame cross members are too rotted to use, but I ground off replacements from the parts ranger & other junkyard specimens. The frame itself is still structurally sound, there was a place behind the gastank that needed welding. I'll be painting this ranger the same blue as the original. I made the mistake of cutting off bolts that are discontinued, so its taking some extra time to locate replacements. After those are found, I'm pushing hard to complete this project by the end of next year & will be posting pictures when finished.
Using the 5.0 Donor Explorer to push frame into garage
Frame Completely Dis-Assembled
I have been driving rangers for 15+ years now. My first car was a '94 ranger regular cab 2wd with the 4cyl engine & 5-speed Manual trans. It was owned by a contractor & in pretty rough shape. My father gave it to me when I turned 15. The truck was cramped inside and absolutely horrible in the snow, regardless, I loved it. My father sourced a grill guard & a light bar from an f250 that we modified to fit. I bought some explorer rear tail light guards & some Jeep Wrangler wheels & tires. We painted it electric blue & added an 8 foot flame decal & a pair of chrome side steps. This was my introduction to the world of the ford ranger.
I drove the truck for ten years until the clear coat began to peel. Other Mechanical issues forced me to park it long-term and then eventually retired it.
After this, I stepped away from the ranger platform & worked on tuner cars for a few years, during which I learning more about how cars went together. Then my father did some repairs on a customer's black '96 ranger Supercab 4.0 4wd 5-speed transmission. The man did not pay, so my father bought the truck for $500 called it even.
The truck sat for a year, then he gave it to me after I saw it & offered to buy it. I always wanted to install a suspension lift my previous ranger but was discouraged by Dad due to the what it was cost. Now the financial situation was different so I bought a cheap Superlift 6" suspension lift kit & installed it that summer. I also procurred a set of 33 tires on jeep wheels (Wrangler wheels bolt right up, so there's no shortage of used options). I also brought over all the bars & lights from my first ranger. We did another backyard paint job, this time we painted the body Magma red.
I drove this Truck for 5 years, during which time I moved to the Adirondacks in upstate NY. The 4wd was incredibly potent in the 1+ feet of snow we regularly got up there, especially the low-range option. The 4.0 was just strong enough to pull a full size boat, & there were snowmobile trails that made for great mudding opportunities in the summer
All the fun came to an end as one night the thermostat stuck and steam started dumping out of the exhaust pipe, fogging out the road. There was no phone reception, it was -10 degrees in a blizzard, & I was an hour out in the wilderness. A truly life-threatening situation. The truck somehow made it back, although there was almost no coolant left in the bottom of the radiator. The engine was finished, I parked the truck thinking this was the end.
But I just could not let the truck go, two months later, my father arrived and we prepared to tow the it back to his place. I tried starting it & to my bewilderment it was running after the first try! So I attempted to drive it up onto the trailer, there was antifreeze pouring out of the cat converter & smog cloud that would put London to shame, but drove up on its own power. What a testiment to the 4.0 engine to be able to do that after what it went through . We installed a junkyard 4.0 over the next two weeks and finished it in the nick of time the night before I had to be at work, a trip 3.5 hours north. The engine started up & made its maiden trip with no issues, to my relief. Everything was finally back to normal, or so I thought....
The truck ran great for a year, then the thermostat stuck again & the engine blew. Back to square one... again. I towed it back to my dad's place but he couldn't help due to the late stage of his cancer. He passed away that year & the truck sat for a couple years, this was surely the end. But then, I realized this was the last gift from my father and I would not give it up, no matter the cost.
I removed the old engine & threw it out. This engine is a pain to get out as the EGR system blocks the rear exhaust manifold stud, making it almost impossible to remove. A completely mindless setup designed by someone equally as mindless over at ford. Anyway, then I took another 4.0 engine from a ranger sitting in the yard & attempted to install it on my own. It did not go well & after several days attempting to mate it with the transmission, I had other thoughts. I read online (On this Forum) that a v8 swap was common for this platform, & after all the work I already put into this why not go for the best? So I bought a 5.0 explorer for the project, but after taking a look under the ranger, I discovered another problem. It was really rusty under there, even rotted through in a place. So before doing the engine swap, it was clear that a full frame restore was necessary to make everything worth it.
I rigged up a lift with some friends & completely dis-assembled the frame. The frame was connected by thick-headed pins that take forever to grind away, so it took a month of evenings & saturdays to get everything apart.
So here we are. The cab is too rusted to use, but fortunately, I have a 95 cab that I will be using, it will need to be modified for the manual trans. The plan is to get the frame & suspension galvenized as the winter roads here are covered in corrosive salt. Some of the frame cross members are too rotted to use, but I ground off replacements from the parts ranger & other junkyard specimens. The frame itself is still structurally sound, there was a place behind the gastank that needed welding. I'll be painting this ranger the same blue as the original. I made the mistake of cutting off bolts that are discontinued, so its taking some extra time to locate replacements. After those are found, I'm pushing hard to complete this project by the end of next year & will be posting pictures when finished.
Using the 5.0 Donor Explorer to push frame into garage
Frame Completely Dis-Assembled
