88 Ranger Short bed onto 92 explorer frame

[Soul]

Is the above possible? Long and short of the store is I picked up 2000 explorer motor + trans and complete harness (body harness aswell). I been wanting a v8 ranger and AWD ranger sounds like fun. Going to be a street truck, no off roading. Might put a blower on the setup at some time. So key points

88 ranger onto 92 explorer frame,
are the body mounts in a close place, or is it that bad to knock them off the 92 frame and reposition for 88 ranger cab and bed and is the frame same length?

2000 explorer t-case and explorer rear and front driveshafts
Will factory explorer Drive shafts work or is this custom job?

I appreciate the help guys, been wanting a V8 ranger but last motor I built ended up going in my T-Bird (my dad talking me out of putting a 331 stroker in the ranger as he thought it would be impractical, LOL). Thanks and I'll make sure to take pics and document the setup, if it happens.

 

[Soul]

OK went and seached for like last 2 hours, found a truck named Chester II looks like it is a straight forward affair except for the bed. So remaining question is the drive shaft, and are there lowering kits for 4wd explorer that any one has used? I know rear I can do an axle flip.

 

[Snoranger]

I know rear I can do an axle flip.

Why ? do you want to lift it?

The Ex axle is already spring under. Flipping it would lift it.

With AWD (or even 4wd) you cant lower it much. Maybe about 2", after that you would run into problems with the front shafts wearing out quickly or binding.

Blocks in the back and a "reverse" torsion twist would get you down some.

 

[Soul]

I guess the shafts would wear due to angle?

Thanks for the insight on axle flip, didn't know they were different then a ranger.

Again just curious if any one had info, I found several threads but questions I had weren't addressed.

Thanks for any and all replies.

 

[Snoranger]

I mis-read the original post. I thought you were going to use a 2000 chassis. That changes things.

The rear stays the same. The front is TTB. I wouldnt use the TTB for AWD. I would try a 95+ explorer chassis.

As far as an 88 body on a 92 chassis, the rad support and front cab mount are in the same spot. The rear cab mount prob aren't.

 

[Soul]

Thank you,

I have the 88 ranger and 92 explorer already, engine and harness came from someone who parted out an explorer for another project but lost interest. What would be the issue with the torsion setup being AWD?

Basically I'm deciding if this swap should just stay 2wd but I have all the parts to do both, wanting something to DD so I can do more mods to my T-Bird.

 

[gribly]

You're getting confused, TTB does not mean torsion. It means twin traction beam, it is an off-road 4x4 suspension that doesn't handle for shit on pavement, it uses hubs and the axle is disconnected for normal street driving, whereas the 4x4 95+ explorers have a independent torsion setup where the wheel hubs do not disconnect when not in use, and the differential is always spinning anyways. In short, the TTB would be terrible for an awd street ranger, and the IFS setup would be the hot ticket. I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying that the results would not be very good, especially lowered.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The reason the Ex is spring under in the rear is because the springs are mounted under the frame as opposed to being mounted beside it like a Ranger/BII. Since we all know the spring pad difference is the same between a Ranger and an EX... that means at least the rear frame is wider by a couple inches per side... probably 4-6" total.

That way the bed would be a fairly easy fix, the cab would be a little tougher.

 

[Soul]

This is the info I wanted, I appreciate the info guys. Looks like I'm going 4r70w in my T-Bird and figure out what to do with the ranger later. Thanks for the info.

 

[Soul]

So to revisit this, I ended up not using the trans for my bird, but the bird is running and driving. below are some glamor shots.

I ended up selling my 02 ranger and miss having a 4x4 truck so will be revisiting this in the summer. Plans are v8 with either c6 or that 4r70w trans with controller. Also, I was wrong it is actually an 87 ranger and 91 explorer. I scored more junk yard parts and think I have everything to do the swap minus the adapter for the trans axle. Again I appreciate the feed back, sorry for the delay in response also. I've changed jobs, moved, and had some family health issues crop up but when I start this I'll try and keep it updated.