97 reg cab trail rig build

[97-cobra/ranger]

Well I decided I'd make a build thread to try to get some answers/advice on mods to my truck to get it to the point I want it. I bought the truck last Dec for a daily driver. My other toy is a 1997 mustang cobra(built motor, supercharged, 6spd, e85, 515rwhp/515tq). I was in to off roading before I got into mustangs so it was hard to resist putting a lift and bigger tires on it.

Here's a pic of how I bought it. 190,xxx miles, 4.0, 5spd, 3.73 with l/s.

I bought a pieced together 6" lift kit off of a member on here local to me, I think his name is deciplerocks. Here are some pics of me and some buddy's putting it on and how it looked.

 

[97-cobra/ranger]

more pics

I put some of the autozone shackles on the rear and it helped level it out. I got some front shocks from Greg(97trailrigDD) and bought some james duff shocks for the rear and removed the front and rear sway bars.

I bought some rims off craigslist soon after the lift was on. They were a little more fancy than I was looking for but couldn't beat the price so I bought them. My Dad had a brand new 33x12.50x15 procomp M/T at the house so I bought 3 more to match and got them mounted up and on the truck.

 

[97-cobra/ranger]

While doing the suspension work I was also slowly working on making a front winch bumper. I was originally wanting to do a full tube front bumper but since I was making it at school I was running out of time before the semester was over so I simplified it.

I added another bar a couple inches above that bottom one, but I don't have any good pics of it. you might be able to see it in the other pics. the top bar is removable so the winch can be removed. I still need to add some front and rear tow hooks and a fairlead for the winch, but its mounted and wired up now.

 

[97-cobra/ranger]

I finally got a chance to take it wheelin' for the first time a couple months ago. Me, 97trailrigDD(Greg), and another buddy in a Toyota on 33s went up to Interlake in Lynnville, IN.

Here is a pic of right before we headed into the woods on one of the trails

And this is about 30 mins later after Greg dragged me out after one of the junk auto hubs let go.

After that I went home and a couple days later did the warn manual hub conversion.

 

[97-cobra/ranger]

It had been really dry and dusty this summer so I didn't have a desire to get back out there until last weekend when we finally got some rain. Me and a couple other buddies with Toyotas took a trip out there.

before we hit the trails

The green toyota only has half bald 31" A/Ts for right now, and other than a suspension lift is stock. The red toyota has a sas with leave springs in the front, 35" tires, but stock gears and open diffs.

Here are a few pic of us on the trails when we stopped for breaks.

those trails were pretty tame but still a lot of fun for us. I didn't get stuck and didn't break so it was a good trip.

 

[97-cobra/ranger]

My buddy with the green toyota and I made another trip out to Interlake this morning. We got a little more rain last week so it stayed decently muddy out there, but not bad. We ended up on a more difficult, tight trail than we took last week. Much more of a challenge for our mild trucks, especially his with his tires. And we both got a little body damage.

It looks like the fender flare was torn off but it also dented in the bottom of the bed in front of the wheel well. Once again I didn't break anything mechanically, so I can't complain about a dent.

 

[97-cobra/ranger]

Now I'm to the point of figuring out what direction I want to take with my truck. I've decided to sell my mustang and pick up another daily driver so I can afford to have down time with the ranger so I can build it, break, rebuild, and repeat. Basically the front end needs rebuilt(all 4 balljoints, steering is junk, and I'm sure bearings too) and I need to gear it. I have a disassembled expo 8.8 with no diff or gears sitting at home to that I plan on building. Right now I'm trying to decide if I want to put money into the dana35 or just go ahead and solid axle swap it. I know I'll want to step it up to 35s and front and rear gears and lockers so I'm really leaning towards a dana 44. I don't really want to go full width tho so I'll probably narrow it once that time comes. Also since the truck has the original motor and trans and is nearing 200,000 miles I'm trying to plan ahead for when it finally goes. The 4.0 just doesn't seem to have much hp or tq that I'd expect, even when it had the stock tires. I would really like to do a fuel injected 5.0 swap and keep a manual trans behind it. Thats probably a ways off tho.

I'll keep it updated as the mods start rolling in!

 

[jhammel85]

The truck looks really good! I take it all is well engine / transwise with 190K on it? I really like the wheels alot. They go well with the green....looking forward to the rest of the build!

 

[97-cobra/ranger]

The trans doesn't grind and shifts fine. It also has a newer clutch. The engine doesn't make an noises or anything but it does need upper intake gaskets. It also sounds like it has a burnt exhaust valve and doesn't feel like it has the power it should.

 

[Bennybooster]

I would SAS it if you have another DD

 

[brinker88]

If the TTB's holding up well for you, ya might want to look into buying/building a set of extended radius arms, F250 shock towers and flexier coils.

 

[kris97ranger]

^ this. rock the ttb itll hold up to 35s has a better ride then a solid axle plus its already there. lock the rear axle and get good sliders. with the agressive tires you should go anywhere

 

[brinker88]

Look through my build thread if you want some ideas.

 

[97-cobra/ranger]

^ this. rock the ttb itll hold up to 35s has a better ride then a solid axle plus its already there. lock the rear axle and get good sliders. with the agressive tires you should go anywhere

If the TTB's holding up well for you, ya might want to look into buying/building a set of extended radius arms, F250 shock towers and flexier coils.

That's the debate I'm in with myself already. So far the only thing thats broke on the ttb front end was the stock auto hubs, but I knew that was going to happen. I've only been out in it 3 times since owning it but have progressively ran tougher trails and pushed the truck harder. So far so good. I'm kinda leaning towards rebuilding the stock dana 35 with all new bearings, seals, 4.56s, and aussie locker and running 33s like I'm doing now. If so then I plan on getting extended radius arms, flexier coils, and maybe the f-250 shock towers like you mentioned. To me, if I sas and 5.0 swap it kinda takes away from it being a ranger. Plus most of my buddies that I go wheelin' with are on 33s or 35s with stock style suspension.

 

[brinker88]

Exactly. I love my TTB lol