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

[Rick W]

The other thing I did yesterday was to finish up a trailer for sale. This was a double JetSki trailer when it began life. I bought it for $100 for the sole purpose of taking off the axle with 5 x 4.5 hubs to use under a Ranger bed I’m making into a trailer. I bought 4 or 5 Harbor freight trailer‘s For no money during the Covid craziness. I modified one of the trailers to go under the Ranger bed, and I’m putting this axle on that frame so I can run ranger wheels that match The Missing Linc. The 4 lug axle under this trailer was from that harbor freight trailer. I lengthened it, moved the fenders over, stuck on a $10 Craigslist 24 inch diamond plate tool box, Used the plywood from the Harbor freight trailer to make most of the deck, and then used some $1.50 each furring strips and scrap 2x4s to build the rest. The tailgate comes off, and the chains on the tailgate were inspired by my first truck, a 3 wheel drive Chevy c-20 (it was a four-wheel-drive when it was new, 18 years before I had it)

And, of course, my signature Rust oleum paint job. Asking $650, first $500 takes it. One of my white collar suburbanite neighbors will snatch it up so they don’t get their garage queen pickup trucks dirty when they go by antiques or more bushes for the Yard

 

[Rick W]

Well, I went out with intentions of getting after the green Ranger but I’m still really irritated about not finding my frame sections, so I went back on the hunt again. Down to my property, ransacked the barn again (2-stall horse “barn” that’s a sloping dirt floor rickety wonder), dug my way all the way back. My tires and rims that were sold to me as Ranger rims are still back there, need to try and get rid of them again. Not exactly sure what they are, but they are Outlaw II style rims and they are 5x something that isn’t 4.5 or 5.5, because they fit nothing here.

Anyway, back to the hunt. Found the rear cab crossmember from the donor. Nothing else with it. Found a brand new set of drums I believe, boxes were still taped shut, but I didn’t write on them what they were for. Also found a brand new set of brake calipers for the choptop. Not entirely sure what that stuff was doing there. A little stash of used truck parts, but no frame sections. Checked the “garage” (a rickety structure on sloped gravel slightly bigger than the Chrysler New Yorker that’s in there that needs a new home somewhere away from my property) and as predicted, they definitely aren’t there either.

Checked dad’s firewood shed and they aren’t there (still need to find my tree stand a happy home), but I did get most of my stuff out of there before I get yelled at again. Dug most of the way back in my tarp shed and they aren’t there, but I was able to do some re-organizing which gave me a little space back. Checked dad’s equipment shed, nada. Checked over at my shed. No luck there either, however… a raccoon (or multiple raccoons) have taken up residence in the loft. Gonna have to serve an eviction notice I guess. Poked around a couple other places but at this point I’m reasonably certain my frame sections aren’t here. Messaged my buddy and asked if he could do some poking around there again.

Really didn’t get much done on the Ranger today, but I did get a few things done like putting loom and wrap on the fuel tank sender harness that I repaired yesterday I think it was. Really kinda need the frame sections if I don’t want to do a bunch of work twice.

Is this them?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’ll look in my shed of miracles again…

Question: Do the raccoons drive a Ranger? Is it Rusty? maybe they took them

Lol, let me know if you find them because I’m kinda baffled at this point. Thought I remembered them being in the box truck, but they’re definitely not there now. I know before we got kicked out of the garage my buddy was renting off a neighbor, they were there. Some of that stuff went in my buddy’s garage and some came here, but I no longer remember exactly what went where. Couple concussions will do that to you I guess.

Pretty sure the raccoons don’t drive and Rusty wouldn’t be interested because they’re for a newer Ranger than he owns. Those older ones don’t seem to rust as bad in the frames either.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Is this them?

View attachment 90848

Not quite, lol

 

[Rick W]

Another Missing Linc detail: Back in the day when I scoured the scrap yards (1970s) I grabbed every pair of fender indicator turn lights off the mopars. I must’ve had 10 or 15 vehicles over the years where I mounted them on top of truck hoods, once on a Ranchero, etc. We’ll, now there is rare as hens teeth, on line for $70 & up, and I used my last set probably 15 years ago. I searched online but couldn’t find anything like it.

What I did find were windshield washer nozzles that had an LED light at them. I think the low riders use them on cruise nights mostly. Well, I installed a pair on The Missing Linc facing backwards up on the hood corners.

One thing I figured out over the years is to wire them into the trailer tail lights after the fuse. That way, if they’re not working, I know my trailer lights are probably not working. You can get them in different colors, these are red. So when I step on the brakes they go on, and they also flash with the turn signals.

I really wanted the Mopar ones because of the quality, but then I realized I can get an extra windshield washer reservoir and hook a button up on the dashboard and squirt anybody who walks past. Top priority for my next trip to the pull a part.

 

[Rick W]

One last thing I did with the wiring by accident, but I’m going to keep it now, is when I put in the Town Car dual headlights, I put the ground on the high beam and the high beam on the ground. So when you have the low beams on or the high beams on, they ground through the other circuit instead of the ground. That makes one bright, and one kind of dim/Amber. They reverse when you turn on the high beams. I’ve been complimented on it a couple times before I even realized what I did. Now I think it’s too cool to give up. It’s great when your screw ups work out!

 

[Rick W]

Soooo, i’m planning on sanding and repainting the black above the yellow line, and I have some stickers/graphics on order for the Missing Linc and the Road Ranger. Probably a dozen things I forgot and a dozen more I still need to do. But here it is. All I get are smiles, and, amazing to me, it is a chick magnet!

I’m still debating whether I’m going to swap out the Ranger steelies for a set of Lincoln turbine wheels. If I use the turbine wheels, I plan on polishing the ribs and painting the spaces in between with the same regal red as the truck.

Now I’m going to sketch up how I did the third axle & “5th wheel” on the Road Ranger as a start for that truck.

And if there are any basketball fans, my son is the assistant coach for Roselle Catholic in New Jersey. They won the New Jersey state championship for non-public schools. The national invitational tournament starts today, and his game is going to be broadcast on ESPNU at 6 PM. My son has been a basketball scout for the inner city and international talent for pre high and high schools, and he now has five players in the NBA. Proud poppa. GO LIONS!!!

 

[scotts90ranger]

drug some more pallets home from work in the '97 tonight, was loaded in a way that was NOT aerodynamic but not much of a choice with what I grabbed, the ol 2.3L could only hold 55-60 on the flat instead of having some reserve power...

Looked at the '90 on the trailer a bit ago, still has an oil leak but I know where it is, it's the fittings for the oil pressure switch, gauge tube and turbo supply, need to take that mess apart sometime and seal it up... tightened the fittings when the trans was out but almost easier from up top...

 

[JoshT]

I bought 4 or 5 Harbor freight trailer‘s For no money during the Covid craziness. I modified one of the trailers to go under the Ranger bed, and I’m putting this axle on that frame so I can run ranger wheels that match The Missing Linc.

How did that work out? I'm going to end up with one or two spare short beds, and I've thought about doing the same to make a trailer out of one of them.

 

[Rick W]

How did that work out? I'm going to end up with one or two spare short beds, and I've thought about doing the same to make a trailer out of one of them.

Half done, I’ll send some pics

 

[Rick W]

How did that work out? I'm going to end up with one or two spare short beds, and I've thought about doing the same to make a trailer out of one of them.

I took all the wiring and all the lights off the bed, flipped it over and then I removed all of the various plates and shields that are not part of the bed structure itself.

I laid two 2 x 2 x 1/16” square tubes from the end of the bed deck extending about 2 feet past the front of the bed, n line with the six bolts that held the bed to the frame. The bed will ultimately be bolted to the frame through these tubes.

I took the axle & springs off the harbor freight frame, and then I flipped it over onto the upside down bed with the 2 inch tube. I kept four of the five crossmembers, and I moved the spring mount channels more to the center so they will clear the ranger wheels in the wheel well. The 2 inch tube and all the harbor freight parts will be welded together. If you consider the loading, they really don’t have to be very significant welds, just enough to keep everything from shifting.

I have some extra 1/8 inch diamond plate, so I am going to face the front of the bed around the toolbox so nothing looks unfinished. I haven’t mounted the toolbox yet, but my thinking is I’m going to create a slot between the frame and the bottom of the toolbox large enough to hold one of those skinny 14 inch trailer tires as a spare. I want to do it so the top of the toolbox remains even with or below the top of the bed. My concept is the tire will slide in and out under the toolbox, and I can secure it simply by dropping a bolt through the bottom of the toolbox through the middle of the tire. If the toolbox is locked, the tire can’t slide out.

Then I’m going to use the harbor freight pieces to reassemble the tongue so the front corners of the toolbox don’t hit the corners of the truck while I’m towing it.

I have an 88 bumper with the brackets. There are horizontal holes and vertical holes. I lined up the 2 x 2 tubing so I can bolt the bumper on the same way it mounted to the truck frame. I since realized that the bumper on my 87, the Missing Linc, is actually from a later model truck. So I may go find a matching bumper since I plan on painting the trailer exactly the same as the truck.

In hindsight, the only thing gained from the harbor freight trailer (which cost me $100) was the springs and the spring mount channels. I plan on doing two more of these, and I’m probably going to skip the Harbor freight trailer, and just fabricate the frame out of the 2 inch tubing and regular trailer parts. I usually don’t plan these things a lot, I get a concept, and then I throw them together with whatever is in the shed of miracles and the yard.

I got a 5 x 4.5 axle and hubs from another hundred dollar trailer, the one I just put in the post a couple days ago. I’m selling the trailer for more than it cost me, so theoretically these parts are free.

I plan on reusing and remounting the fender struts, the lights and wiring harness, etc.

Edit afterthought: the 87 has a 2 1/2 or 3 inch lift. I’m not going to weld the spring mount channels to the frame until I fit the axle so the ride height matches the ride height of my truck. That means I might have to space the mount channels down, or I may have to use a long shackle spring connector.

Edit afterthought afterthought: I had the 1/8 inch tubing and rust really isn't a problem down here, but I might bump it up to 1/8 if I lived in the Rust Belt. Also, I’m doing it where I can flop the trailer frame down and paint it all over before I built the bed on it. Yep, Rustoleum…

As always, this is for informational purposes only. This is to show what I did, and I don’t guarantee it will work for anyone else for any purpose other than a planter in the yard, nor that it is even safe for that!

I hope to finish it up in the next few weeks, and I’ll take a few more pictures as I go

 

[JoshT]

As always, this is for informational purposes only. This is to show what I did, and I don’t guarantee it will work for anyone else for any purpose other than a planter in the yard, nor that it is even safe for that!

Of course. It was still more than I expected. I doubt it'll just be a planter in the yard. Maybe a mobile planter in the yard, but certainly not just another planter in the yard.

I had not even glanced at any measurements for either, but I was hoping that the HF trailer would be a better fit. Probably doesn't matter since I'd end up cutting and modifying to strengthen and add features anyway. For one, when/if I ever get around to doing it, I think I'm going to strengthen and make it tilt/dump bed. I can see myself using it to pick up small loads of dirt and gravel type stuff.

 

[bobbywalter]

took a look at the frame damage.....the radiator is definitely trash... started dropping fluid at lowes... the wiring is still not fixing itself.....and all of the rust keeps falling off....none of that has grown back ever.... the door still closes though. but the cruise control quit working.


some day.....i will need to work on it.


the bronco 2.....pretty sure lil bob finished off the 4.0.... so fixing the frame crack on the ranger and getting an engine in the b2 seem to be the urgent issues. engine is not gonna happen this trip home.

 

[Rick W]

Of course. It was still more than I expected. I doubt it'll just be a planter in the yard. Maybe a mobile planter in the yard, but certainly not just another planter in the yard.

I had not even glanced at any measurements for either, but I was hoping that the HF trailer would be a better fit. Probably doesn't matter since I'd end up cutting and modifying to strengthen and add features anyway. For one, when/if I ever get around to doing it, I think I'm going to strengthen and make it tilt/dump bed. I can see myself using it to pick up small loads of dirt and gravel type stuff.

yeah I think I went around the mountain to make my point about the Harbor freight trailer. It’s too wide. But it’s an erector set, you can disassemble it and cut the cross pieces shorter and then just reassemble it and use it as a narrower version of itself. The purpose of the 2 inch tubing is simply because the ranger frame is 4 inches high and the harbor freight is 2 inches high so you need the other 2 inches. The bed box is plenty strong, all you need is the two stringers underneath to get to the coupler for the hitch. I think I over designed it before I realized I’d have to rework the whole Harbor freight trailer, but again it was one of those things I didn’t think out, I just started it and went where it took me. But it really wasn’t hard to do at all

 

[mtnrgr]

Drove to Susanville today which is close to the California/Nevada state line, have wanted to do this for awhile. Drove the 44, and drove the 36 back..total of around 250 miles. With my health issues i really did need this. All thru the mountain roads my ranger did great. Love these pine trees.