hello I am trying to do a ranger 4bt rebuild. I have a 4bt and a nv4500 tranny out of a dodge 2500. I am thinking about putting my 1979 ford 150 front and rear axles. what is it going to take to make this happen. will the axles be a good match? will the factory radiator work on the engine?
why would you want a 4bt ranger?
that is a serious question as it is a seriously brutal engine. it is the proverbial bull in a china shop. regardless it is full of potential either way. the answer to this will drastically affect my advice.
with hot rod shop experience and working on jets, i am impressed you would even ask questions, so i assume your trying to save time not reinventing any wheels. i can appreciate that.
with your full size axle swap intentions, this will be ridiculously easy if you have a decent ride height in mind. i mean patently ridiculously easy.
if you want to stay real low your in bad shape as the damn 4bt/6bt things are as tall as a tree.
with 6 inch lift incorporated with the axle swap i think its doable with no body lift and custom k member, though the trans will be a bit lower then stock as well and up travel may be a bit limited depending on actual axle used. so it is important to know your motivations and goals to do this.
where are you located.?.? i may have some time off...made some other offers but no bites yet.
if those axles have 350 gears i would say your in great shape if your building this truck to drive the hell out of it and have allot of fun. 33-35 in tires will be pretty good with a mild hop up package on the 4bt.
stick to coils/coil over set up out front...leaf set up leaves no room (for anything!) lol. That is where I hit my SAS snag. Soon to be resolved
wow, leafs actually offer the most usable room in most cases, i want to stay leaf for turbo and intercooling purposes that may come in the future.
on the front coil springs would I be able to use the 79 f150 coil springs or would I have to do some mods on the upper arm on the ranger? if I use the front axles will I be able to hook up to the steering box easily or do I need to do mods there too?
these are relatives.
you can custom bucket and incorporate stock coils into the build no problem at all if that is what has to happen.......but this is all relative to your actual final ride height goals as to what the best component selections will be.
myself, for steering i prefer over rail steering box units to maximize space. but that is not always necessary.
as to steering linkage and actual links, these too are relative to what your starting with and where you want to go. and what ride and drive qualities are acceptable to you.
say for instance of example, you have a 92 4.0 ranger and want to drop a d60 in it. most will say 3-5 grand minimum. that can be true.
so can 6-800 bux though.
this can be a ultra easy and brutally effective 6-10 hour swap with one custom part......
...... or a 2 year ordeal in build thread land.
on the margins and minimums...
you want a 70's era 60. it puts the pumpkin in the sweet spot
--free-1500?
soft brake line or two(long trailer) from frame to axle
--10-30 bux
some j truck or waggy leaf springs
--free to 300 bux?
and box tube, angle and channel for mounts.
-- free to 80 bux
1/2 in bolts
-- 30 bux
the custom part is a hi steer arm from say koz/cooter off road, punched to the stock longside ranger taper.
thats 50-80 bux
cut off wheels/drill bits
20 bux
shackel setup
free to 60 bux
hi side
1500
30
300
80
30
80
20
60
2100ish to swap in a dana 60 on the hi side. assuming your ok with say stock 410 gears. with a diesel in mind and wanting to do road miles one would want 350 gears though really....and those are real easy to find with dana 44's.
will it be a perfect d 60 swap....no.
it will have sway/roll on the steering with no trac bar but can be all configured as a bolt in with the stock steering box. and operate acceptably. not perfect....as the stock steering longside draglink arm from the ttb is not too stout.....
but its brutally effective. and as time and money allow, easily upgraded. a call to ruffstuff fixes it right up.
in your case you can do similar, just run the hi steer arms with a ruff stuff kit on the 44 or just the ruff stuff kit if you cant get flat tops. no biggie.
you can live with the stock steering box in the stock location on a ttb chassis and simply built a custom k member to fit your 4bt engine that will allow the best maintenance/access and installation parameters....likely no body lift if you can live with a little extra ride height. if the stock steering box hampers it just go to an outside rail box
.
this is one of my steering configurations during testing.
this is what my engine looks like next to a small block
this is my current steering setup
this is it on 42's
so when i say a 4bt in a sas application should be cake.
i mean good moist yummy delightful cake.
and a bag of chips....maybe an amber bach or two.
theres allot more to it them that depending on hydroboost verse vacuum brakes....cruise control........ac......powerdickwasher......shit like that.
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...so i am asking for it
