4wd to 2wd conversion

[desertrunner]

well i bought the truck, got her for 500 bucks, got there and i brought a battery and some gas with me and some various tools to see if i could get it runnin atleast before i bought it, after playin with it she wouldnt accept power, the truck has been sittin for 2 years so im positive there has got to be a ton of corrosion on everything. havnt had a chance to get into in yet as ive got a 5 month old and im currently on baby detail but i felt really comfortable still buying it cause the guy i bought it from seemed honest and the truck is a 1 owner so that made me feel pretty good about it too.

my main reason for buying this exact truck is because my stepson (17) has a 90 4x4 ranger that is bone stock and he wants to do some stuff to it but he is dead broke as most teenagers are and cant afford anything so i figured it would be good because we could put all the 4x4 stuff on his and then i would have a good platform for my prerunner build. after getting it home though i got to thinkin if it is a decent running truck maybe after i get it running i could sell it and make alittle money off it and get a 2wd, all depends though, if it runs like crap im not gonna sink a dine into the 4.0, just gonna pull the driveline and make her a prerunner

heres a few pics of it, i have the front 35's but they are in the garage, had to put the lil fellas on the front so i could strap it down on the dolly, no way the dolly straps were gonna go over 35's. other than the front fenders the body is really straight, paint is drasticly faded but i dont really care, tryin to formulate a plan on a rough riders paint job that wouldnt make me a complete "wanna be" so to speak.

dave - i wasnt the guy that stopped by, i was askin where u are located cause i thought i read u were in riverside area and thats where i got the truck at, was gonna see if you were available so i could of brought it by so you can give me your thoughts on it. no biggy, im sure there will be plenty of time for that. im definately interested in seeing what you have to offer, as i stated before im 100% brand new to the prerunner sceen but not to 4 wheel drives, ive got a 79 cj5 that ive had for 14 years and ripped apart and rebuilt it 3 times, couldnt even count the cash ive got in it and its prolly worth about 50 bucks. had a 88 f150 that i built, 6 inch lift, trimmed fenders with bushwackers, 38 swampers, 5.13's etc. just put a 8 inch lift and 38s on the wifes excursion. blah blah blah

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-01

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-01

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-01

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-01

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-01

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2008-12-22
f150

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-01
my cj5

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-01
my wifes hot rod

 

[desertrunner]

well doesnt that suck, i guess im not able to post pictures, hum maybe i did them wrong, lemme try and edit it

 

[desertrunner]

figured it out, i posted them wrong, lemme edit all of them, tell me what you guys think about the ranger...good deal for 500 bucks???? ill try and get some better pics tomorrow when i get the front 35s back on

 

[fastpakr]

Yeah, BII's and Explorers are a direct swap 4wd-2wd, Rangers have different engine crossmembers, but since you are pulling the 4.0 anyway, I don't see that big of a deal... For some reason Ford made it harder for Ranger guys... I'd just buy a junk 2wd truck and swap it all over...

Explorers are the same 2wd configuration as the Rangers with no dummy transfer case. Bronco II's are as you said (except for some of the late '90 models) though.

 

[Beanmachine7000]

I meant you didn't have to swap the cross member... I didn't clarify too well...

 

[fastpakr]

Eh? Far as I know 2wd Exploder front crossmember is identical to the Ranger configuration.

 

[Beanmachine7000]

Nope, an Ex is just like a BII, except with no dummy t-case, just swap out pass side beam bracket, and get a 4wd tranny and a t-case and you're golden... Guy on Explorerforum.com has done a bunch of swap... I'll find a link...

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1674044

 

[desertrunner]

got some updates for todays progress...

the first thing actually made me feel like a turd. so i hooked up some jumper cables to the battery and everything had power so obviously my battery was dead. i didnt think anything about it and just grabbed the battery out of my jeep and went to the truck and tried to start it with a dead battery. the guy i bought the truck from said he had no idea what could be wrong and i said i dont either cause i know my battery is good, and come to find out the whole problem was a dead battery.

next thing is i couldnt get the truck to turn over with the steering column. the truck had this little chip on it that the guy said the dealer he bought it from installed and sometimes it acts up, so i removed the whole thing, it had 6 wires total, 4 went to ground and 2 acted as a jumper for the ignition wire, anyhow i just butt spliced the wires and that was that. the truck turned over fine by jumping the solenoid.

i sprayed some starter fluid down the intake and with enough juice she spuddered, sprayed some more and she started for a split second. so i wasnt getting any fuel, turned the key back and forth and never heard the pump, checked all my fuses, checked for voltage at the fuse holders and also checked the impact cut off switch to make sure for some reason it wasnt triggered. everything checked good so that leads me to the fuel pump itself, so i start looking at how to remove the fuel tank and im kicking myself because i just put 10 gallons in it yesterday before i got home, but since it has the 3 inch body lift i started thinking maybe i could pull it out if i only had alittle more room, the thought crossed my mind to cut a hole in the bed to access the fuel sending unit and fuel pump since its gonna be mostly cut up anyways once it gets a full cage but i still didnt like that idea. so i removed the 6 bolts holding the bed on and then put the rear 2 back in finger tight so it is still lined up and doesnt fall off the truck, i then used my cherry picker to lift up the front of the bed. worked perfectly and to anyone who might have to change a fuel pump any time soon i highly recommend this because it was so flippin easy compared to droppin the entire tank. i got under the truck and had plenty of room to work and pulled the sending unit/fuel pump, once i got it removed i was about 90% sure the pump was the problem as it had about a 16th of rust covering the majority of it. just to be sure though i checked the wire connector that plugs into the top of the sending unit for voltage and it was good. so i went to autozone and picked up a fuel pump for just under 80 bucks got back to the house and reinstalled it. i then turned the key back and forth a few times to prime the system, and she fired up on the first bump. she ran really rough at first as the whole engine was shaking and it was spittin out this rust lookin water out the pipe. that didnt last long though, maybe a full minute to a minute and a half and a few bumps of the throttle, she now runs just as smooth as can be and the exhaust has completely cleared up. so i let it run for the duration of time that it took me to put remount the bed and it seemed to run better and better. taking it through the rpm range it knocks about 2500-2800.

i then remounted the 35s back on the front and took her for a spin around the block, she drives really good actually. brakes feel good, clutch feels good, drives straight and doesnt pull. got back to the house and parked it, while i cleaned up all the tools and put everything away i monitored it to see if it had any leaks and nothing. took it for another spin, this time paying more attention to the transmission, it makes a strange noise in first and second, third it makes a totally different noise, 4th and 5th it completely goes away. i dont have the first clue what thats all about.

tomorrow im goin to the local junk yard to see about getting a new steering column, my turn signals dont work as well as my starting with the column issue and im hoping i can find one for cheap that will take care of both of those issues. im also wondering if my starting with the column issue might have something to do with the neutral safety switch. will look more into that before i go to the yard.

sorry for such a long posting, was a pretty eventful day.

heres a few pics of the day

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-02

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-02

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-02

 

[desertrunner]

if you want what dave has you better get to be goooooooooood friends with dave

Not sure what you mean by this can you explain?

dave - reading over that again does this mean you only build stuff for your buddys or what? if so thats cool ill start looking into the camburg stuff in i guess. just let me know, thanks

 

[dave@threat]

dave - reading over that again does this mean you only build stuff for your buddys or what? if so thats cool ill start looking into the camburg stuff in i guess. just let me know, thanks

No I actually do this for a living. Thats why I asked him what his comment was suppose to mean. Only thing I can think of is he thinks my stuff is expensive so you need to be a good friend to get a deal???

 

[desertrunner]

in that case we are best friends right dave?

went to the junk yard this mornin, they have a few mid 80s bronco II's and rangers. they also have a 94 and a 90 explorer. both explorers are drum rears and are 2wd, what parts do i need to pull for the 2wd conversion? im confusing myself by reading about the crossmember, do i need it or no? the beams etc im just gonna hopefully get my best buddy dave to build so i dont really see much point in getting junkyard beams or other stuff unless they are parts i will end up using for the long travel setup.

also are there any other better parts i could steal off the explorers for the ranger or is there no real benefit in the other stuff?

they want 50 bucks for a fender so i think im gonna pass on that since ill end up flared fiberglass in a matter of time anyways. they also want 50 for a steering column so im gonna wait on that till i troubleshoot it alittle bit more to find out if thats my problem.

 

[84projectFORD]

in that case we are best friends right dave?

went to the junk yard this mornin, they have a few mid 80s bronco II's and rangers. they also have a 94 and a 90 explorer. both explorers are drum rears and are 2wd, what parts do i need to pull for the 2wd conversion? im confusing myself by reading about the crossmember, do i need it or no? the beams etc im just gonna hopefully get my best buddy dave to build so i dont really see much point in getting junkyard beams or other stuff unless they are parts i will end up using for the long travel setup.

also are there any other better parts i could steal off the explorers for the ranger or is there no real benefit in the other stuff?

they want 50 bucks for a fender so i think im gonna pass on that since ill end up flared fiberglass in a matter of time anyways. they also want 50 for a steering column so im gonna wait on that till i troubleshoot it alittle bit more to find out if thats my problem.

If your gunna have dave do your beams id jsut have him build the same equal lenght beams he is building for his buddy.

If you want to have bolt on beams from a 2wd ranger you WILL need to swap out crossmembers. I really recommend the equal lenght beams though as they jsut work better over all as dave has talked me into for my race truck. Oh and by the way, daves stuff is priced for the workin man that wants to go play on a buget .

 

[bobbywalter]

i dunno dave....have you seen your work?


pretty impressive stuff....at least to me anyway. he states he is long term po boyin' it' and i figure if he wants what you can do being a friend wouldnt hurt.


i know what i would pay for your truck, and i am a usually a cheap fawker.... but cheap does not cross my mind after gawking at your pictures..

outstanding is to weak a word.


where are you located? i would like to see it if that is ok?



the suk is i was thinkin of buying a decent 88 last weekend and changed my mind after i got ganked on a seperate deal and then seen these pics of the 500 dollar cali stuff again.


the pain.....yu guys just dont know how well you have it.

 

[desertrunner]

If your gunna have dave do your beams id jsut have him build the same equal lenght beams he is building for his buddy.

If you want to have bolt on beams from a 2wd ranger you WILL need to swap out crossmembers. I really recommend the equal lenght beams though as they jsut work better over all as dave has talked me into for my race truck. Oh and by the way, daves stuff is priced for the workin man that wants to go play on a buget .

ok im understanding now, equal length threat beams i dont need to swap out the crossmember but if i go aftermarket beams such as camburgs ill have to swap out the crossmember for sure, correct? if thats the case the truck is a keeper and ill use this one for my prerunner platform

 

[desertrunner]

ya i dont think she is too bad for 500 bucks, i didnt buy it for the engine/trans so its just an added bonus that it runs and drives which will definately help out while the build is in progress, im thinkin i might start on the suspension first and do the engine/trans later this way the truck will be mobile 95% of the time, im thinkin at bare minimum im gonna have a month or longer of it not being mobile while i do the engine/trans swap. i really desire to stay efi so im expecting it to be quite a chore.

i didnt get any further troubleshooting the truck not starting with via the key in the steering column, anyone got any suggestions, i contacted the previous owner and he said he never had a problem with it not starting with the column so it doesnt make much since, he did say that the clutch pedal had to be pushed in hard for the neutral safety switch to activate, is this adjustable? i havnt looked into it yet, its on the to do list tomorrow.

i didnt do much more today after the junkyard, i did take off the drivers fender and straighten it out the best i could with a rubber mallet, i couldnt really justify spending 50 bucks on another fender that is just going to be replaced anyways with flared ones so i just removed the fender i have and straightened it out the best i could, then i went to the car wash and tried to get her clean, must of cost me 20 bucks in quarters, there was some sort of film built up on the entire truck from sitting so long i guess, i got about 80% of it i believe, the paint looks alotttt better, dont get me wrong its not gonna win any car show awards but compared to it was it looks alot better.

tomorrow i think im gonna swap the tires around, gonna be putting these 35's on my jeep and i have some good 33's that im gonna put on the ranger, after that im gonna work on removing the body lift.

few pics...

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-03

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-03

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-03

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-03

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-03

By badass79cj5, shot with DSC-P200 at 2009-03-03