1994 Ranger Grille Mod

[mas354]

How do you like my grille?

 

[TheDanger2801]

thats sick. i wish i had that model front end.

 

[mas354]

Here's another pic.

 

[dogboy]

That's awsome!!

How exactly did you do that? Did you just cut the center bar out and Bondo the edges, and paint it up, or what?

I wouldn't mind maybe doing this to my truck.

 

[sparkdic]

Thats about the same thing i did with my grill on my 97. I cut the cross bar out then took pieces from it glued them on the rest to fill the holes and set the mesh back further. Smoothed it out with some putty then molded spots on the back to screw the grill mesh on. Then my buddy cut me and emblem on the cnc machine at work from balstics plate, i like how it turned out, a few people asked me where to buy the grill from, ha. I need to figure out how to post a damn pic lol

 

[mas354]

dogboy: I did it like you said, and similar to how sparkdic did it.

First, I used a die grinder with a 3 inch cutoff wheel on it to cut the center section out. Then I cut pieces of the center section and glued them behind the holes that were left. Then I glued pieces on top of those to set flush with the grill. Pipe glue works the best.

I used a little Bondo to fill in the gaps that were left, then sanded and painted it.

I bought a piece of expanded 3/4" steel, painted it black and fastened it in with a few zip ties. I wanted to use expanded aluminum cause it's lighter and won't rust, but I couldn't find any. I also looked for a 2000 f150 honeycomb style grille, but couldn't get one cheap enuff.

However, I have about $20 in the grille, and a few hours of time. And I think it looks great.

I put on a set of clear corners today. When I get my 31's on it. I'll post another pic.

 

[mas354]

Here's a few pics with the Clear Corners & 31's.

 

[Roadkill]

That's looking really nice! You're doing nice work for sure.

 

[mas354]

Thanks Roadkill.

 

[mas354]

Here's a pic of my Ranger with the ugly stock grille.

When I bought the truck the rear sat 4.5 inches higher than the front. I don't have a pic of that. It felt like I was driving downhill all the time. I made a 3 inch lift using a piece of 2" od heavy wall pipe and welding a 1/4" plate on top of it, and then drilling a hole in the middle of it.

I had to buy a pair of 2 3/4 degree camber bushings to get the camber back in, $20 for those from Advance Auto. I opted not to buy the adjustable bushings they were too expensive for me. I also made a set of front shock extenders. I have about $3 in those.

My 3 inch lift cost me a grand total of $35.

I searched the forums on this site and another for my info on the lift, and I did a self-front wheel alignment according to 4x4 Junkie. It steers and rides alot better now then when I first bought it.