'85 Ranger Restomod

[Curious Hound]

Sooooo...

How's the little guy doing?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Sooooo...

How's the little guy doing?

He is doing really good, getting somewhat better at nights although he was kind of a stinker from 1 to 4 last night. As we get closer to his actual due date he is getting a lot more alert and more coordinated at grabbing stuff. We both sat and watched Gunsmoke the other day over my noon hour, he was actually watching it too.

In case anybody is wondering I drove my Ranger to work twice last week and haven't even seen it since. It snowed a Sunday night and they put stuff down so it is grounded for awhile. I am stuck in the soul crushing Edge again and it is too freaking cold to do anything to the Ranger if I had time to do anything it. I kinda dabbled with bumper designs a little last night on my computer though.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have been working on my bumper some more:



Then I got bored at my inlaws over the weekend and I had my laptop with.

An shadetree truck builder's impression of an artist's impression of how this thing is going to look:



I also received my hinge and latch in the mail saturday so now I can actually put numbers to some of it and see where everything is going to fall into place.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I have been working on my bumper some more:



Then I got bored at my inlaws over the weekend and I had my laptop with.

An shadetree truck builder's impression of an artist's impression of how this thing is going to look:



I also received my hinge and latch in the mail saturday so now I can actually put numbers to some of it and see where everything is going to fall into place.

Keeping an eye on this. May have to copycat.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

This BII is kind of my inspiration, he is using the same 4xInnovation latch and hinge as me (currenty on sale @PetroleumJunkie412) and he has it mounted on top the bumper like I plan to.

I want everything lower than it is in my drawing, the carrier itself, the spare and the fuel can, I am still working out what is going to interfere with what though.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The parts so far...

The hinge as recommended by Shran is freaking massive:



Only complaint is the bearings, I think they are really really cheap bearings. The races look wavy:



Actual bearings are no-name chinese. Not like they will be spinning at 200mph but if there is a not to like part of the kit that is it. Seals are probably the same story although I will probably try to find better ones.



The bracket is very substantial:



And the latch kit:



The plate gets welded on the tube, the stub shaft gets welded on the bumper locked it looks like this:





And when you unlatch the lock and pull the handle back it does spits out the stub shaft:



So in short the parts look awesome, I do think for the $$ National or Timkin bearings/seals could have been included though.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Nice… My hinge is on the way. Did you get yours at the sale price? Not sure when the sale started.

Even at the sale price it was $98 for the hinge... agreed... better bearings would be nice.

Hopefully I get started putting mine together in a week or so. Just gonna put the original bumper back on the truck after I figure out placement of the hinge and then put my AOR bumper up on the welding table and get it together.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Nice… My hinge is on the way. Did you get yours at the sale price? Not sure when the sale started.

Even at the sale price it was $98 for the hinge... agreed... better bearings would be nice.

Hopefully I get started putting mine together in a week or so. Just gonna put the original bumper back on the truck after I figure out placement of the hinge and then put my AOR bumper up on the welding table and get it together.

I don't know when the sale started either, I was checking on the dimensions they had in the description and noticed both were $10 off... so basically free freight. I ordered it the 21st and it came in on the 23rd.

I need to order my bumper yet, it should probably wait until after the holidays though... we shall see how well I can hold out.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Merry Christmas!

 

[Uncle Gump]

Cute… one of the many pictures you guys get to share with his future girlfriends.

I noticed in your previous post you are ordering a bumper? Thought you were building one? Which way did you decide to go?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I noticed in your previous post you are ordering a bumper? Thought you were building one? Which way did you decide to go?

Both, I am going to have the local fab shop bend a custom c channel for me and build off that. For $75 (minus a $20 coupon I won at a tractor show) it makes it a lot easier than dabbing the whole thing.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Replaced my sealed beams with LEDs:





More in depth thing here:

GS H4 Lenses and Beamtech LED bulbs

I never really been that impressed by my sealed beams, I even bought a pair of "better" ones like 15 years ago and have tolerated them. I came across these conversion lenses on Amazon awhile back and finally got around to ordering them...

www.therangerstation.com

I took it down the road the blow the mud off the tires after a tour of my bean field and noticed I had a wheel bearing noise... so i ripped a wheel off to check it out.

Well that ain't great...



I think I know where this is going...





Grease looks okish on the inside.



Inner bearing is kinda brown looking too. Without looking too hard at it at least the outer bearing looked ok. I pulled the hub to clean it and look at the races and will throw the bearings in the parts washer at work and look everything over good.

Kinda bummed, I wasn't planning on deep water at all on the trail ride and thus had nothing on hand but a spindle socket to do anything about it after the fact. I figured with new seals I would be ok for a quick dip, I guess not. It got me home though and a little running around afterwards so I guess I can't complain too much (and it is my own stupid fault if I wanted to complain)

 

[Ramcharger90]

This BII is kind of my inspiration, he is using the same 4xInnovation latch and hinge as me (currenty on sale @PetroleumJunkie412) and he has it mounted on top the bumper like I plan to.

I want everything lower than it is in my drawing, the carrier itself, the spare and the fuel can, I am still working out what is going to interfere with what though.

This look good but it drives me nuts that tire isnt in the center.....

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

This look good but it drives me nuts that tire isnt in the center.....

Having it closer to the hinge is less stress on the hinge.

 

[Ramcharger90]

Having it closer to the hinge is less stress on the hinge.

I wonder how it would look molded into the gate.