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Mirage's '03 Edge 4x4 Build


Mirage775

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And this is where I'm caught up too. Since Rough Country came out with their 5" lift last Summer, I've decided to buy and install it by Winter '19, along with some other goodies! I also finally found a Camper Topper/Shell, (that's actually made for my truck), last weekend, about an hour West of me for $175. It's a Tri-Glas top, (spelled correctly), and was a truck bed cover/cap company in Alabama that went out of business in 2007. The camper top looks great and will carry everything needed for offroading, for my wife, dog and I. It will get painted Grabber Blue, in the Spring and it needs a few misc. rubber/hardware pieces, then it'll be permanently installed on the Ranger!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2cUUK4H]49938648_510147419495028_8650562337465434112_n by Jason M., on Flickr[/URL]

More pics to come in the future! But here's a list of planned parts I'll be buying over 2019:

Suspension:
Rough Country 5" Lift Kit
Front/Read Energy Suspension Bushings
New Leaf Springs 5 leaf HD
Upper Control Arms w/Ball Joints
Lower Ball Joints
Front Sway Bar Disconnects

Exterior:
Affordable Offroad Rear Bumper
Rear Tire Swing/Jerry Can Carrier
Custom Rock Sliders
Misc. Lighting
Cab Roof Rack
Smittybilt Overland Tent

Wheels/Tires:
(5) 17x8 Steel Wheels
(5) 285/70 Mud Tires

Steering:
Inner/Outer Tie Rods

Drivetrain:
Left/Right Half Shaft Front Axles
Rear Locker
Rear Disc Brake Conversion
Rough Country Front Driveshaft

Misc:
Misc. Recovery Gear
Misc. Communication Gear
On-Board Air Compressor
Hi-Lift Jack and Accessories
Bottle Jacks
Camping/Cooking Gear

Performance:
Chip or Programmer
Headers
CAI or Custom Snorkel
 


tairngreacht_bas

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Awesome build so far! Just picked up an 05 with a blown engine for cheap. Currently getting truck tore down to swap in new engine. Interested on your take on the RC 5in lift. Will be my first model after the engine is in.
 

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33x12.50x15
Looking good!
 

Mirage775

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Well, it's almost 2020 and nothing has been done to the Ranger, since I last posted in January... We decided to finish the majority of our house renovations/addons throughout the year. I thought about buying the lift for my truck, before I bought the $5000 supercharger for my car a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to get the car finished, before I started on the truck, as I'm planning on doing serious repairs/mods to it, hopefully in 2020? We have our 15 year anniversary coming up in April and we've planned a trip in the convertible to North Carolina for about 4-5 days, but after that, I'd really like to start working on the Ranger :)
 

Mirage775

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Well, it's been a few months since I last posted, but I'm stuck between a decision for the future plans of the Ranger? I'm debating on either going with:

All the lift stuff that I was planning on in my last post or....

Removing all the 4x4 bits, dropping it and building a 348 Stroker, with a T5?

Either way is going to cost money and to me, it's not worth a couple thousand bucks to sell it, as it's still a good everyday truck! We're thinking about buying a 2021 Bronco in December 21/January 22 and that would be my daily driver/offroad vehicle. So, that's why I was thinking about doing a V8 2wd conversion on the Ranger. I know it's solely my decision and all, but either way, it's not going to be cheap... I have to repair the drivers floor pan regardless of which direction I go with, as well as the rear suspension hangers and the fuel tank straps/mounts.

Honestly, it's probably better to go the lifted/offroad route, as I wasn't going to do a V8 swap if I went that route :) I just need to find parts to rebuild the factory 4.0 I'll try to keep this page more updated, once I decide what to do!
 

09fx4guy

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Real nice looking truck. The blue really looks great.

If you are going to keep the truck, keep it as a 4x4 truck that you can use as a beater / work truck. Lord knows you can find enough parts to rebuild the 4.0 and for the floorpans and suspension hangers.

I keep looking at the new Bronco as well, but I don't think that I would ever get rid of my Ranger.
 

Mirage775

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Thanks! The backyard Grabber Blue paint job has about meet it's life. It's starting to look bad, but I painted it almost 5 years ago.

Also, I never said anything about getting rid of the Ranger, for a new Bronco...? I said it's not worth selling it to me. If we buy a new Bronco, that will be my offroad/lifted toy/semi daily driver.

I saw an '04 2wd Black Edge on YouTube. He lives in Florida. That truck is really sweet.

I've been doing lots of research on dropping a torsion bar front end. I don't want it on the ground, just a slight drop, maybe 3"? As for the rear, I was going to buy an Explorer rear disc brakes 8.8 and changed the gears from 4:10, to something more forgiving? Also, from the research I've gathered, the Explorer rear axle no-welding route will drop the rear of the truck 4"? I could live with that drop. Add some Scott Drake Legendary HB45 17" wheels all around, with some nice rubber to compliment them!

My poor little Ranger lived up north for about 2-3 years when it was new and I assume the 1st owner didn't clean the salt out of the drivers side, very well, if ever at all.... That's why I need to replace the driver side floor pan, which I can do, but I'll need the truck out of commission while I do this, which is why I'd need another vehicle...

I'd also like to find a seat that fits me a little better and possibly sits me down some, as I'm a pretty tall fella.

Since it's already a 5 speed, I figured I could just build/stroke a 302 to a 348 and mate it to a T5 WC trans. I even want carbs and I want to the AC crap removed and that's really saying something for someone living in north Alabama! Honestly, it doesn't work half the time and this truck would become my toy/weekend driver, so AC wouldn't be that much of a deal to me.

Also, this would be a lengthy project, possibly 3-4 years and that's if I start collecting parts this Winter...?
 

09fx4guy

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My apologies, I thought you meant you were selling it.

You should be easily be able to drop a carbed 302 into the ranger, motor mounts for a v8 swap are around. I think with a t5, you would need a tailshaft from a s10 truck.

As far as dropping the front, you would probably be better off getting a set of torsion keys from a 2008 or later ranger that are clocked so the truck sits lower. Maybe even a weaker set of torsion bars. #1 is the strongest, B is the midgrade, and F is the weakest. However, I would make sure that the 302 would not be too heavy for whatever bar you select.

If you switch to carbs, you would lose a lot of your gauge and electronic functions. Also, I don't know how inspection is in your state, but in NJ, they would not let me on the road with that (emissions, blah blah blah).

I look forward to seeing the truck when it is done.
 

Mirage775

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My apologies, I thought you meant you were selling it.

You should be easily be able to drop a carbed 302 into the ranger, motor mounts for a v8 swap are around. I think with a t5, you would need a tailshaft from a s10 truck.

As far as dropping the front, you would probably be better off getting a set of torsion keys from a 2008 or later ranger that are clocked so the truck sits lower. Maybe even a weaker set of torsion bars. #1 is the strongest, B is the midgrade, and F is the weakest. However, I would make sure that the 302 would not be too heavy for whatever bar you select.

If you switch to carbs, you would lose a lot of your gauge and electronic functions. Also, I don't know how inspection is in your state, but in NJ, they would not let me on the road with that (emissions, blah blah blah).

I look forward to seeing the truck when it is done.
I've figured out how to get the front lower, but I don't care about it sitting on the ground. I'm old now, LOL! I had a '55 F100 I restored 20+ years ago and just miss the simplicity of the carb'd life. To my understanding, the ECU only controls engine sensors, correct? Wouldn't the PW, PDL, PM, etc all still work without being fuel injected? Correct me if I'm wrong?

I thought about buying an Explorer 5.0 long block and just rebuilding it and going with a carb and probably just buying a new T-5 and figuring out what I needed from that point? I also need an Explorer rear diff with disc brakes, so I could get about a 4" drop in the rear.

I was thinking about doing a custom Autometer gauge pack and deleting my AC, along with my Radio. The exhaust will be my music! I don't use cruise control enough to keep it, so I may delete that as well? I would prefer to keep my PW, PDL, and PM, but I don't have to, if they wouldn't work with a non fuel injected engine?

I have so many plans in my head of how I want this thing to look and sound, but unsure if I'll be able to do everything or not...? I have some dings and dents that would definitely need fixing too, then it would have to be painted, again....

No Emissions or Inspections in Alabama, so I can do whatever I want too :)
 

09fx4guy

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I think that you could get the power functions (doors, windows, and locks) to work, but you would probably not have any gauges unless you wire them in yourself. You will also lose ABS (good riddance).

You actually might be better if you remove all of the wiring and simply install a painless wiring harness. Take a look at P/N 10204, it has 28 circuits.

It will probably be easier to freshly wire the vehicle. instead of trying to do patchwork. The worst part in a swap like this are the electrical gremlins.
 

Mirage775

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I think that you could get the power functions (doors, windows, and locks) to work, but you would probably not have any gauges unless you wire them in yourself. You will also lose ABS (good riddance).

You actually might be better if you remove all of the wiring and simply install a painless wiring harness. Take a look at P/N 10204, it has 28 circuits.

It will probably be easier to freshly wire the vehicle. instead of trying to do patchwork. The worst part in a swap like this are the electrical gremlins.
Yea, I was wondering if it would be better to do a Painless kit too. I've installed PW and PDL before, in a truck without one, so that wouldn't be a problem. Not worried about the stock gauges either. I thought it would look sweeter with some aftermarket ones. I'll look at that P/N, thanks!
 

Mirage775

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It's been about a year and I still haven't done anything else to the Ranger, except drive it back and forth to work... I've thought about doing quite a lot to this truck, but honestly, to me, I believe I'm going to let it go once I buy a new F-150, 5.0, 2wd, regular cab, at the end of the year, assuming this chip mess is taken care of by then...? It's going to cost so much money to build it the way I want too, with a new 347, 5 speed and disc rear end, plus all the other crap I wanted to do to it.
 

09fx4guy

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If it were me, I would not sell it. You may not want to sink money into it now, but in a couple years you could get bitten by the Ranger bug again, and you would at least have a great starting point.

Frankly, I know IF I ever upgrade to a newer vehicle, I intend to keep my Ranger. I will be hard pressed to find another one like it, that is not beat up.
 

Mirage775

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Nah, it's too small for my wife, my Pitbull and myself to go anywhere in. I've thought about a new crew cab Ranger, but the 4 cylinder turbo doesn't appeal to me, even though I've driven one and it had plenty of power. My truck isn't mint, the body has dings all over it. It's starting to get the typical rocker rust on both sides and I don't care about owning a 4wd anymore, etc., etc. Things are going to need replacing soon and I can do it myself, that's not the problem. The problem is, I'm tired, "getting old", of messing with them nowSomeone told me I could easily get $4000 for it, but I'm not sure? It was completely stock when I bought it 6 years ago. I doubt I've put 20k-30k miles on it since then, LOL! I only bought it because my old Wrangler at the time was staying tore it and the Ranger was the only decent truck I could find that I could finance and it not cost a fortune, LOL!

So, it's most likely going to be for sale in a year or so :)
 

09fx4guy

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Fair enough. If you are happy to see it go, then it is the right decision.
 

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