2021 Ford Ranger FX4 TRS-3 Project Build

[sgtsandman]

What about the stripe the Strategic Air Command used to put on their aircraft?

 

[Ranger850]

I'm just gonna drop this right here, what ya'll do with it from this point is all on you. Look real hard at the tailgate.

 

[Jim Oaks]

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

View attachment 96981​

Perfect!

 

[Snoranger]

View attachment 96981​

 

[Uncle Gump]

Makes me want to snap into a slim jim.

 

[Fast Eddie]

I like @sgtsandman's idea except that particular stripe may be too busy (too many stars).

You placed the TRS logo in the same place most people would expect to see a logo, so it's not likely to stand out. Maybe subtlety was the objective, not sure.

If there was something on the front, in the same color(s), it could call out the logo on the rear. That's where the blue stripe comes to mind, it would pull the TRS logo out into the open and differentiate it from the typical logo placed on the rear fender.

You could play with a few mock ups using painters tape. It comes in all different colors now. A dash-to-ditto blue strip with a white pin stripe along the edges, going across the hood and partially down the fender (between the wheel well and door) might work to pronounce the rear logo and pull it out in the open. It doesn't have to be skunk stripe wide. Use the tape to find the right width.

Bring some blue into the front of the truck. As the eye moves from front to rear, the blue stripe in the front should cause it to catch the blue logo in the back and bring attention to 'TRS' over the usual logo in that position.

Just throwing it out there.

 

[sgtsandman]

I like @sgtsandman's idea except that particular stripe may be too busy (too many stars).

You placed the TRS logo in the same place most people would expect to see a logo, so it's not likely to stand out. Maybe subtlety was the objective, not sure.

If there was something on the front, in the same color(s), it could call out the logo on the rear. That's where the blue stripe comes to mind, it would pull the TRS logo out into the open and differentiate it from the typical logo placed on the rear fender.

You could play with a few mock ups using painters tape. It comes in all different colors now. A dash-to-ditto blue strip with a white pin stripe along the edges, going across the hood and partially down the fender (between the wheel well and door) might work to pronounce the rear logo and pull it out in the open. It doesn't have to be skunk stripe wide. Use the tape to find the right width.

Bring some blue into the front of the truck. As the eye moves from front to rear, the blue stripe in the front should cause it to catch the blue logo in the back and bring attention to 'TRS' over the usual logo in that position.

Just throwing it out there.

I vote for blue duct tape and a thinner white tape of some kind, maybe surgical tape. That will draw attention!

 

[Ranger850]

Here's my submission

 

[Mike-in-Kingston]

Man your truck looks awesome. And the write up you did throughout the build is great. I hope my truck looks that good when I get my FabTech 3.5in lift and BF Goodrich KO2s 285/70/18's in a couple of weeks. I'll have to post some pics up when that happens.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Thanks!

I've done more mods but I'm not going to post them until after our Kentucky trip next week

 

[sgtsandman]

Thanks!

I've done more mods but I'm not going to post them until after our Kentucky trip next week

After he had to roll it back up right.

 

[Jim Oaks]

TRS Fender Stripes:

So I made the decision to add the white, red and blue stripes as fender racing stripes. I arranged them in this order because TRS-1 and TRS-2 are blue over white with a red stripe in between.

I did some research on this and found that racing stripes on fenders were introduced to help teams with matching race cars identify them as they went by. It was easier to identify them by the color of their fender stripe than trying to read the number.

Someone had said that the TRS logo wouldn't be that noticable on the bedside. I think it stands out. I also added "TheRangerStation.com' across the windshield.

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In the picture below you can see that I also added a TRS logo to the tailgate. I'll be redoing it in the next few days.

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I'm really happy with the ways it looks.

 

[Fast Eddie]

TRS Fender Stripes:

So I made the decision to add the white, red and blue stripes as fender racing stripes. I arranged them in this order because TRS-1 and TRS-2 are blue over white with a red stripe in between.

I did some research on this and found that racing stripes on fenders were introduced to help teams with matching race cars identify them as they went by. It was easier to identify them by the color of their fender stripe than trying to read the number.

Someone had said that the TRS logo wouldn't be that noticable on the bedside. I think it stands out. I also added "TheRangerStation.com' across the windshield.

View attachment 99086
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In the picture below you can see that I also added a TRS logo to the tailgate. I'll be redoing it in the next few days.

View attachment 99090
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I'm really happy with the ways it looks.

Yeah, that was me and you sort of did what I was thinking. It does look good and a lot cleaner than what I had in mind. The stripe across the hood would have been too much after seeing what you've done.

If there was something on the front, in the same color(s), it could call out the logo on the rear. That's where the blue stripe comes to mind, it would pull the TRS logo out into the open and differentiate it from the typical logo placed on the rear fender.

You could play with a few mock ups using painters tape. It comes in all different colors now. A dash-to-ditto blue strip with a white pin stripe along the edges, going across the hood and partially down the fender (between the wheel well and door) might work to pronounce the rear logo and pull it out in the open.

For some odd reason, when I look left to right the rear logo pops but not so much in the other direction? That one's definitely on me. Time for an eye exam

 

[Jim Oaks]

Building A 2021 Ford Ranger Winch Bumper:

Back in 2019 when I was at Overland Expo, Calmini had a 2019 Ford Ranger there with a winch bumper that I was in love with. I met the owner of Calmini and he said he'd like to do a build with me.

Fast-forward to this spring, I contact Calmini and talk to the owner who agrees to build me the bumper that was on the Ranger at the show. Some time passes. I check in and find that the pieces are cut but he's waiting on his welder to weld it. More time passes and I call but he doesn't call me back. I email but don't get a reply. He's ghosted me. I had been warned that they weren't reliable, but I really wanted to give him a chance.

With our fall adventure approaching I was forced to build my own.

A couple of years ago I had purchased a Westin Max Winch Tray for a F-150 from amazon for $100 and free shipping. I was going to put it on my F-150 but never used it. I decided to build a winch bumper around that.

I looked at the possibility of removing the front bumper and building a whole new bumper from scratch. I just couldn't come up with a vision, didn't have all the tools I felt like I'd need, and not enough time to get it done.

I looked on Facebook Marketplace and found a Ranch Hand grill guard from an older Dodge Ram listed for $50. I liked the simple hoop design for the headlights, knew Ranch Hand built some beefy stuff, and couldn't pass up the price.

I went to Home Depot, used the $50 gift card I had received for Christmas, and bought a Lincoln Electric 140 welder for $600. This thing will weld 1/4" steel and uses a normal household outlet.

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The frame brackets for the winch tray bolted to the stock frame bolt holes. There were tabs on them that go up along side of the frame that I had to bed back. There wasn;t room for them on the Ranger.

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I want to go back and weld on a side plate that will bolt through the frame, not just under it.

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Here's the frame brackets bolted on. The winch plate will bolt on top of it. I will have to drill new holes since the frame spacing is narrower than the F-150's.

For the grill guard, I'll cut the side plates off, remove the top and bottom bars, and the metal mesh between the top two bars.

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Wish the side plates off, I can start mocking them up onto the winch plate. It's all 1/4-inch steel.

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I actually notched the side plate of the grill guard to slide over the side of the winch plate. It's slid back about an inch along the side of the winch plate. I'll weld both sides of the side plate to the winch plate.

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I briefly contemplated whether or not I wanted to modify or reposition the side plates so they didn't stick up so high but liked the uniqueness of them. Definitely one of a kind.

With both side plates in position, I could now measure the middle section so I could cut it to fit.

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I also had to take a grinder and flapper disc and remove the left over tibing and welds from the initial cut.

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It's all ready to weld up.

I tack welded it all together and then removed it and laid it down to weld it. You can see the green ratchet strap where I had it all pulled together to tack it in place.

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I added an addition brace behind the push bumper / side plate of the grill guard and welded it to the winch plate. The brcing is 1/4" x 1-1/2" steel angle.

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I also added some light tabs to the front of the winch plate for my fog lights, and a piece of angle across the top. I was originally going to just add light tabs there too, but decided to add a full piece of angle so I can have a mounting point if I change light bars in the future.

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I had to cut the tabs for the skid plate off of the tow hooks. I bolted them back on the skid plate, put the skid plate back up in position, and then marked and welded them on to the back of the winch plate frame mount.

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Above you can see the skid plate mounting tabs welded to the winch tray frame mount.

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When I bolted it all back on to the truck the drivers side was a 1/4-inch lower than the passenger side. I checked all the measurements to see if I made a mistake, and found that for whatever reason, the winch frame mount sits lower on the driver side. My quick fix was to add these 1/4" thick Grade 8 washers to level it up.

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Here it is all together. I'm loving it!

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The winch plate has mounting holes on the side of it. I'm thinking about make a piece that will drop down in front of the bumper below the driving light to protect the front corners of the bumper.

It's not the Calmini bumper, but I built it for under $200 and it's unique to me. Nobody else will have one like it.

In case you're wondering, this is what it looks like looking out over the hood.