What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I bought the HF porta-band plug in awhile back, works well for both steel and aluminum. One of the few HF tools I have anything good to say about. I am a bit handy with a sawzall too, I mostly run carbide tipped metal blades (Diablo) if I’m cutting metal with the sawzall or carbide tipped wood blades if I’m cutting wood, lol

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Got some more parts. Winch stuff is for my winch, clutch disks and diff cover are for the green Ranger. Not pictured is some rust encapsulator paint too.

 

[Ranger850]

Fun Fact : When your band saw blade gets gunk'd up with aluminum, cutting a piece of steel will clean the aluminum out of the blade

 

[sgtsandman]

I would rather cut it by hand with a hack saw, aluminum cuts easily enough. I also have a jig saw with metal cutting blades I use for thicker AL.

This is the method I prefer. Aluminum has been problematic for me when it came to power tools. With it being so soft, using a hand tool isn’t that much of a bother.

 

[Blmpkn]

Got my crossbars on. Go get the canoe this weekend hopefully!

Perhaps Friday I'll order a stubby antenna to replace the stock one, as it sticks above the rack a few inches.

Apparently reception isn't as great with the stubbys.. but as a pandora listener I'm not concerned.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

You cut down the supports? You will have a problem loading the canoe... you will probably end up adding some 2x4 to the front bar so the canoe tip clears the roof.

 

[Fast Eddie]

You cut down the supports? You will have a problem loading the canoe... you will probably end up adding some 2x4 to the front bar so the canoe tip clears the roof.

He could shorten the rear so the nose tips up?
@Blmpkn

 

[Blmpkn]

The canoe doesn't have a super big 'ramp' to it from the center out to the tips like some do so I don't think I'll have much issue loading it.. but yeah either a 2x4 or lowering the back a bit would be fine with me if need be, we'll see what happens.

I couldn't NOT cut those uprights down though honestly. The crossbars were so damn high right out of the box it just looked terrible.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I've often thought a custom canvas made to drape over one of those bed racks would be cool for a camping set up.

 

[Roert42]

I've often thought a custom canvas made to drape over one of those bed racks would be cool for a camping set up.

Like a soft topper?

The only downside of those is you can’t put anything ontop because they are designed to fold up.

Cool idea I seen was to design a rack to fit over the softtopper.

 

[Ranger850]

My dad pulled the intake and heads of of my blown 3.0 yesterday. Rear piston on DS was disintegrated. I knew it was toast, but dad thought he would "take a look see" I'll get a few pics when the weather eases up. It's been raining every afternoon from 3-6 almost everyday for a week now. Dad has WAY more free time than I do, so he's going to try to get some of my projects moved along. Starting with the Ranger.

 

[superj]

The canoe doesn't have a super big 'ramp' to it from the center out to the tips like some do so I don't think I'll have much issue loading it.. but yeah either a 2x4 or lowering the back a bit would be fine with me if need be, we'll see what happens.

I couldn't NOT cut those uprights down though honestly. The crossbars were so damn high right out of the box it just looked terrible.

a utility rack is supposed to be a decent amount taller than the cab though. i think everyone is accustomed to seeing those new style racks people put in for holding water cans or fuel cans and hi-lift jacks so they think the true utility racks are to tall. without the lead bars on the rack to support the front of whatever item though, stuff will bounce off the top of the cab with lower racks.

i think you are right on the canoe though. i don't think it will flex and hit your truck with how canoes are designed

 

[Curious Hound]

i think you are right on the canoe though. i don't think it will flex and hit your truck with how canoes are designed

On rough terrain, there will be frame flexing. So the cab will move independently from the bed/rack and that could cause things on a low rack to hit the cab roof.

 

[Blmpkn]

If my bed was long enough to sleep in I'd be all over a setup like this

Like a soft topper?

The only downside of those is you can’t put anything ontop because they are designed to fold up.

Cool idea I seen was to design a rack to fit over the softtopper. View attachment 80502

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Got the A/C working!

Went to put my new gmrs in it.

And discovered the heater core is now leaking.