1997 Ford Ranger Ext. Cab 4x4

[Copper6297]

Hello everyone,
I am new here and just wanted to introduce myself and ask a question. My name is Matt and this is my 1997 ford ranger. I got this from my dad who got it from my grandpa who bought it new. Both my dad and grandpa used it as a work truck and it is about wore out, so lots of plans to get it back where it needs to be.

The plan is to get it up on 33's eventually, replace/ upgrade the front end.... swap to a manual locking hub, put in a rear end from an explorer for disc brakes, and eventually rebuild or swap the engine as it is at almost 300k. The question I have is this, is the front axle a dana 28 or 35? I believe it is supposed to be a dana 35, but I can not find a tag or stamp anywhere to tell me. Any insight would be greatly appreciated so I can start tearing it down and replacing/ cleaning it up.

The truck is a 1997 ford ranger xlt ext. cab with the 4.0 v6 and automatic tranny.

 

[Rick W]

Welcome aboard. I’ve got a 97 2wd, xlt, and an 87 4wd. Your questions are too Techy for me, but this is the right place. These guys know more about these trucks and what you can do to them than the Ford gods.

 

[SmurfBlu97]

Having the 4.0L it *should* have the Dana 35. I'm pretty new myself to this forum but welcome aboard! As Rick stated, the guys here have forgotten more about Rangers than most of us will ever know! Awesome project you're undertaking, good looking truck!

 

[roadrunner4u]

Having the 4.0L it *should* have the Dana 35. I'm pretty new myself to this forum but welcome aboard! As Rick stated, the guys here have forgotten more about Rangers than most of us will ever know! Awesome project you're undertaking, good looking truck!

Greetings from Greenville, NC. I've got a 78' Ford courier 2.3L 4 speed-it's my project truck. Old school muscle car guy wanting to build a mini street machine. I'll be doing all the wiring and all the upholstering on the door cards, headliner, etc. Big job and challenging.

 

[Copper6297]

Thanks for the welcome everyone!! I am excited to get started on the build!! And you guys are correct, I have searched through the forums a bit and there is so much knowledge and information that it is almost overwhelming haha. I am sure I will be on here a lot looking for info on different projects for the ol ranger.

Thanks again for the warm welcome and best of luck on everyone's projects.

 

[Shadowrider6661]

Welcome to the club. You should be able to find out what front end you have by looking at the sticker in the door jamb. I have the original 1997 Ranger factory repair manuals from Ford if you have any questions about your truck. As you can see, I have, basically, the same truck. I'm getting ready to rebuild the whole front suspension due to an incident with a wandering Buck while going 65 mph.

 

[Copper6297]

Welcome to the club. You should be able to find out what front end you have by looking at the sticker in the door jamb. I have the original 1997 Ranger factory repair manuals from Ford if you have any questions about your truck. As you can see, I have, basically, the same truck. I'm getting ready to rebuild the whole front suspension due to an incident with a wandering Buck while going 65 mph.

Thank you for the welcome, and I added my question to the axle segment of the forum and got the answer I was looking for. Im new to the forum thing so I have to learn to search sometimes haha. If you don't mind me asking, what lift do you have? That is exactly what I would like to be running are 33" tires.

 

[Shadowrider6661]

4" from Suspension Connection, I'm running 33s on it. The only rubbing problem I have is due to Large Buck that bent my DS TTB .