80's Ranger 4x4 for the Trails

[MikeG]

Sawzall.

 

[eightynine4x4]

I think I’ll first try using a giant pair of alligator pliers and simply grip the hell out of the bushing and see if I can rotate it. If something breaks free it would be either the bushing from bolt or the bolt will start spinning from clip nut. Either would work. After that I might try drilling a hole horizontally and put a bar through it and try twisting to achieve same goal.

 

[scotts90ranger]

For the body mount, hammer on the side of the body mount bushing, probably forward or backward for the frames sake but I don't think I would worry about it too much...

For the gas tank, that thing had a serious rat/mouse problem in the past! I would skip glues, go to Harbor Freight and grab the soldering iron style plastic welding kit for $15, it has everything in the box to fix that hole, melt in some of the wire mesh then top it off with some of the filler material it comes with, good as new... let the heat do the work, do NOT push hard on it, the shoe is copper or brass so very fragile when hot and it will break off... if it does break off you can run a 6mm die down the shaft to go at it again.

 

[eightynine4x4]

Spins right off when you hack saw it down the middle first !

 

[eightynine4x4]

Almost have all the bed body lifts and clip nuts removed.
Am now planning to tackle the cab body mounts at the same time for consistency. I say consistency because I have a minor fork in the road regarding cab body mounts, which is that a couple of them aren’t looking so hot. On those couple, the hole that the hardware sits on seems a little larger in diameter than the others, starting to wear away. So at some point I’ll want to replace all 6 body mount brackets themselves by popping the rivets and bolting new ones in. I haven’t scoped the cost of 6 replacement brackets yet and am not sure I want to throw that cost into the truck right now. I’ve learned lessons in the past where I dumped new parts into a vehicle only need to bail on the vehicle soon after and pull those parts into a second vehicle or even abandon some parts. So I’m considering just putting in heavy duty washers on top of each mount point. I could see that lasting a few years at least. And the cab on this truck is going to be the one eye sore after I finish the panel work, meaning if this truck is truly a keeper a few years from now I can swap a replacement cab on and then replace the body brackets while I do that.
I would think a beefy 1/8” thick steel washer of the appropriate ID/OD would do the trick. I’d put them in the bed mount points too, to have a consistent body line.

 

[eightynine4x4]

Scratch that, washers will completely remove the security of the bushings since there's a lip keeping them centered in the bracket hole.
I'll just be installing them properly, and if any mount brackets are truly in need of replacement i'll replace just the one or two.

Before i begin planning the general approach to lowering the 3" body lift while also replacing all cab mounts (which is going to be a pretty complicated setup of jacks and stands), i need to figure out what accessory connections throughout the cab and engine bay I'll have to plan for... I know there is usually an extension needed in the steering column when installing a 3" body lift but so far i haven't seen any extension in the engine bay. Someone here suggested that the steering wheel area may have been adjusted to it's own maximum so as to reach the new length. However on a side note there is also a hand marking on the side of the steering wheel that says "93 explorer." So, maybe the steering column was already longer since it was pulled from a 93 explorer for this purpose? In any case, i need to figure out what exactly is going to happen as i lower the cab. How much of the steering wheel system is bolted to the cab and/or firewall? And how do i open up the system to see what adjustments can be made? I have some investigating to do. It would be a bummer to find out that the steering column is truly too long to use. But if it somehow meant that my steering wheel can mount ok but simply be sitting closer to the driver, I'd actually be fine with that and would appreciate the leg room.

What in the engine bay am i going to have to plan for in reverse from the body lift? I assume a whole bunch of stuff will be lowering 3 inches but that the OEM spacing is all still there. Perhaps i'll go through and make sure there won't be any conflicts with some cables sitting in certain ways and getting tugged.

 

[eightynine4x4]

Below is a pic of the upper steering column. I’ve been trying to figure out if this short link piece is an extension for the body lift or if it’s just part of the OEM column and there was no modification for the body lift.
From looking at other pics of column extensions intended for lifts, they all appear to not flip the bolt pattern 90 degrees but instead appear to keep the bolt position and just “repeat it” up the shaft a little. That makes sense since then the wheel isn’t thrown off from center a bit. So this makes me think there is no column extension installed.
I suppose I could just unbolt it and leave it free while I lower the cab back down and see where things end up. I think there is some adjustment possible to make it work, though I haven’t dug into that yet.

 

[Curious Hound]

I don't see any extension there. The lower end of the intermediate shaft should have a part that telescopes. If they didn't mess with it, it will be fine when you lower the body. I recently renovated my intermediate shaft. You can see some pictures in my build thread.

 

[eightynine4x4]

Would it be a good/bad idea to loosen the telescoping segment and let it stay slack while lowering the body? That way the column can adjust itself to be a little shorter and then i can tighten it after the body is mounted ?

 

[eightynine4x4]

Here’s the rest of the column in bay. Not sure i see anything that’s telescoping.

 

[Curious Hound]

See that black plastic collar near the bottom where the shaft below it is a smaller size? There is nothing to loosen. It should just slide.

 

[eightynine4x4]

See that black plastic collar near the bottom where the shaft below it is a smaller size? There is nothing to loosen. It should just slide.

Meaning, it will slide inward on its own while I lower the cab and the steering wheel comes slightly closer to it and collapses the length a little?
Or do I need to disconnect the Universal joint and then do the lowering while detached and then reconnect the u joint by first shortening the telescoping section at bottom..?

My other concern is pivot. As the cab is lowered the column angle gets shallower. Is there something down in lower area of column that I need to loosen to allow for a change in angle?

 

[Curious Hound]

There is a flexible joint (rag joint, most likely) at both ends of the shaft. See the pictures in post #124 on This page

 

[eightynine4x4]

There is a flexible joint (rag joint, most likely) at both ends of the shaft. See the pictures in post #124 on This page

Gotcha. I think I understand now. And yes I had actually already read your thread there. Thank you!
Im very curious about what’s under the black plastic cover at bottom, enclosing what could be a rag joint. I would rather see with my own eyes how it’s connected and also how it adjusts after lowering the cab. I would just rip off the plastic and let it be wide open from here on but I’m assuming the plastic protects the joint from debris.
But overall it sounds like I should just go ahead and assume the steering column will be ok after lowering. In that TRS tech page about the various ranger columns over the years, there’s one pic showing my exact vehicle’s setup which is the 89 4x4. This makes me think my column is OEM and not a 93 explorer swapped in. There is hand writing next to the steering wheel on its side cover saying “93 explorer” but that could just literally be a steering wheel side cover that someone slapped on.

I’ve looked at a few different 3” body lift instructions from different vendors and it seems my main things to consider are steering column length, fuel line length, manual shifter (which I don’t have), and the fan shrowed and fan. I don’t quite understand/see the need to do anything with the fan/shrowd in mine since there’s clearance but i guess i could be wrong. And the fuel line is already reaching so that should be ok to just let have some slack. Overall I’m concerned about pinching a line of some sort as I lower it so will be paying close attention to this. Might even set up the endoscope in a spot as I jack it down if something looks risky.

 

[Curious Hound]

Yes. The big plastic cover is hiding a rag joint. Probably just to keep you from spilling oil/steering fluid on it since it has rubber parts.