89 Linked Ranger Build (LOTS of pics)

[Mud-Nut]

Thanks!!! And to answer your question..... With lots and lots of patience!! Haha, I used a jigsaw and Dremel tool after drilling all the holes.

 

[TS6034]

Oh gotcha. I bet that took quite a while.

 

[Mud-Nut]

A little bit more progress. The bottom rollbar mounts are all boxed in.

Then we made mounting brackets for a small air tank.

And the truss center piece is tacked into place.

 

[metalmacguyver]

How thick is the tubing that "roll bar" is made out of?

 

[That Baker Guy]

thats so cool and i love the wrench for the stick shift, so creative. love the fab work.

 

[Mud-Nut]

I can't really answer that question... When he bought the Ranger, it came with it. We call it a "rollbar", but it's definitely not saving the truck in a roll over. It's purely for looks and for mounting stuff (spare tire, air tank, lights, gas tank filler, and eventually the rad).

Another update. We started painting stuff!!! YAY!!!

Some of the parts being used to design disc brakes for the rear (all from a D44).

Caliper brackets trimmed to fit over the square-ish part on the axle.

Caliper bracket sitting in place. Next step is to weld them into place.

Coated parts!

The rest of the back half of the frame all coated!!

We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. We can't wait to get out and do some more 4x4ing!!! The question is, how long are we gonna 4x it before it's back in the shop to get the front suspension done! Haha!

 

[Mechanickid]

Is it still a 2.9? beautiful! I love it.

 

[Mud-Nut]

Thanks man. And yes, still the good old 2.9!! Plans call for a 302 swap, when funds allow.

 

[Mechanickid]

Ah but just think when you climb one of the gnarliest hills in front of a crowd and they ask "hey man that things so sick whats under the hood!", and you say the original 2.9. They will be speechless.

 

[fordguy64]

what coils are you guys running in the rear?

 

[Mud-Nut]

Haha, the 2.9 is somewhat underpowered for climbing the "gnarliest hills". But, it'll make a big difference when we do gears (soon hopefully).

And those are stock XJ front coils.

 

[metalmacguyver]

I can't really answer that question... When he bought the Ranger, it came with it. We call it a "rollbar", but it's definitely not saving the truck in a roll over. It's purely for looks and for mounting stuff (spare tire, air tank, lights, gas tank filler, and eventually the rad).

Good. As long as you recognize this fact and dont drive it like its got a cage, you will be good.

 

[Mechanickid]

What gears are you currently running? I'm sure the 2.9 will survive with lower gears.

 

[Mud-Nut]

Good. As long as you recognize this fact and dont drive it like its got a cage, you will be good.

Yup!

What gears are you currently running? I'm sure the 2.9 will survive with lower gears.

Right now it has the stock gears, which I believe is 3.54 or something like that. He wants either 5.13 or 5.38 gears.

 

[Mechanickid]

Sounds excellent! This is how I would build a ranger for play