New UK Ranger owner

[BAZUK]

Hello All I have recently purchased a 2009 Ranger thunder 4X4 Crew cab 2.5 diesel with manual transmission. The truck was bought from Copart with front end damage. Looks like it had a fairly heavy hit on the passenger side front wheel which had shattered the wheel. Inner steering joint on Lefthand side from back and connecting bar between joints on righthand side had broken and lower wishbone ball joint on L/H side had broken. Someone had looked at starting repairs by cutting the drive shaft. I think they might of ran out of ideas when they could not move the lower wishbone due to the torsion bar winding up. I have replaced all of the broken parts but it looks like the central steering arm might be bent. Also the axles centre distance on the L/H side is between 12 and 15mm less than the R/H side. Do the lower wishbones give before the brackets that they are mounted on give or would you think it would be a bit of each. I realise that I need to release the tension on the torsion bar before removing the bar and wishbone. Sorry for the long first message but any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers Baz

 

[ericbphoto]

Hi! Welcome to the site. My instinct would be to release the torsion bar tension first. But I'm not an expert on that suspension design. This particular section of the forum is for introductions. You will get better answers to your question by asking it in a section of the forum that is aimed toward problem solving steering and suspension problems or even the "general" forum.

 

[Ranger850]

I'm curious as to what the "Thunder" package includes. Maybe similar to the "Edge" or "XLT Sport", I'm guessing.

 

[sgtsandman]

The OP is from England. Thus, why he got neat things like a diesel engine.

You might be needing to take the truck to a shop that can check frame alignment. Whether you can get away with replacing the bent parts first or not, I can't say. While I'm a handy mechanic, when it comes to repair work after a crash, I'm out my element.

 

[BAZUK]

I have done a bit of online investigation on truck. Its basically a Mazda built BT-50 with the Duratorque 2.5 diesel engine in it. Thunder trim is top of the range at the time it was built, A/C, leather interior and some gauges that tell me the angle of tilt and inclination of the truck. I have made a start on sorting the suspension damage but work keeps getting in the way. I have started a post on the suspension section of the forum which I will update as I go along. It looks like not that much is the same as US spec trucks.
Cheers Baz

 

[Dirtman]

Yup its what we call the international ranger. It was never sold in North America for some reason.

2009 North American ranger

2009 International ranger