88 ranger pro touring truck

[Carson]

Starting the build on my road race/ auto-x ranger. Sneak peek at what the build has in store

 

[jhammel85]

Welcome! Truck looks good. Im very curious to know More about it

 

[stmitch]

This is going to be good! Looking forward to following this one.

 

[Carson]

Thanks! Heres a little more info on it todate.

88 ford ranger, its got drop beams in the front with 2" lowering eibach coils. Interior/ under hood etc stripped of anything not important ( trying to put this heavy thing on a diet lol) 8" wide 15" rims with hooseir 28x10 racing slicks.

Engine: 2.9l frankin v6. Converted to carb, has a holly 2 barrel on it. Arp rod bolts, some type of camshaft ( was already in when i got it) mid length headers into a single 3" ext. makes some pretty good power, very throttle responsive. Heres my todo list for the start of race season.

Chassis: swap out the welded 7.5" for an expo 8.8 with 4:10's and lsd with carbon fibre clutches and disk brakes. Up grade front and rear pads to something a little better. Build some front brake cooling ducts aswell. Also want to get a 6/8 point cage in, will really stiffen up the chassis so it wont fold up like a noodle in hard corners any more lol. Other than that get the race seats mounted and 5 point harnesses in.

In the long term im split on either a 2.3t or 5.0. I already have a 5.0 with a t-5 behind it so i think i know the route ill be going. Also goin to start on some fiberglass parts once its up and running.

 

[stmitch]

Just an FYI, the disc brake Expo axle is going to be significantly wider than your stock axle. My Memory says about 1.5 inches per side, but it may be 1.5 inches total (its been awhile since I was doing research). Judging by the lack of tire-to-bedside clearance in the pic, that could pose some problems for you, unless you are planning body mods to accept wider tires.

 

[Carson]

Yep cant stay all skinny and narrow forever lol

 

[Carson]

Plus the d/s bed sides still stock, the p/s it pulled about 2" so i should be fine once i pull the d/s

 

[RangerSVT]

3" exhaust is hurting you on the 2.9, drop down to a 2.25" size, you'll find more mid range torque, where you need it. Might want to swap in the 2.3 turbo setup for lighter weight, but swap the turbo for a supercharger for instant boost. Think about going with an IRS from a thunderbird, cougar, or best bet a cobra if you can find one. More weight out back, but benefits are better weight bias and better handling/suspension tuning. Later on I'd add coilovers up front for better tuning as well.
Project is awesome. Progress Looks great so far!

SVT

 

[Carson]

Thanks! Yea im sure a single 3" into a 40 series is a bit much for the 2.9 but i had all the pipe and muffler left over from another project. If i find the 2.9 isent cutting it ill try some 4:30 or 4:56 gears, or just swap the engine at the end of the year for something a little more reliable/ user friendly to get aftermarket parts for. Forgot to mention ive got a 60L fuel cell thats getting mounted behind the rear end to help out in the weight bias dept. coil overs in the front will be nice to, just gonna wait and see how well the tib goes. Ive bin tossing around the idea of fox body mustang front susp. In the future. In the mean time check out " targa truck" its a 70's full size 8' bed chevy truck that was the first truck ever in the newfoundland targa. It did suprisingly well for not havin a crazy susp. Set up, got second place in the classic division ahead of a porshe and a vette. Thats were my inspiration started for my ranger build

 

[RangerSVT]

The crown vic front suspension is also a popular swap, and probably a better option/easier find in the junkyard...

SVT

 

[Carson]

Well got the truck fired up after a long winter. Need to pull my distributer out and do the 10* advance mod since im not running the computer anymore. Also dropped the stock tank and getting ready to pull the bed and install the fuel cell

 

[thmpsn70]

i have an 88 standard cab short bed with a 5.0/T5 has the 67/68 mustang triY headers juice clutch if you go that route i can tell you what you need to get it working in your truck, the explorer disc brake rear is 3" too wide but when you pick it out of the junk yard grab 2 short side axles and have 2 7/8" taken out of your long side tube and it will be pretty close to your 7.5 in width

 

[bobbywalter]

 

[Carson]

Thanks for the info! It would be nice not to make it to wide, hardly fit the rear tires on as if after i pulled the box sides lol. I will mostlikely be running my 5.0/t-5 in it, how do thoes headers fit? It would be nice to not cut up the frame/ headers. Few small updates in the truck, swapped on a vac seconday holley 600 4 barrel, seems to work nicer that the 2 barrel 500 holley. Right now working on the fuel cell and puttin in the holley pro-150 electric fuel pump. Bit over kill for the 2.9 but will feed the 5.0 just fine. Next step is the roll cage. Pics soon

 

[bobbywalter]

2wd pro touring?


all i can see is 2.0 ecoboost.

i am quite surprised this board is not chock full of the 2.0 ecoboost swaps.


they are ruthless little bazzturds.

i can say that, if i had an interest in a 2wd truck, i would really be hard pressed to not have that setup.

of course i figured by now there would be dozens of 2.0 2wd swaps..i never expected the 3.5 or 2.7 to go because of the ford politics...2.0 though is ready to go.