anyone ever made a ranger into a dually??

[Kdawg532]

has anyone ever made a ranger into a dually??? if you have or found someone that has post some pics i would like to see them,
and also how hard would it be to find/fab a rear end to work??

 

[snake]

I've seen a few-I don't have any pictures, and most were older than gen 3's. But they were professionally done.

 

[JohnnyO]

J.C. Whitney has a wheel adapter kit and flared fenders that use your stock axle.
Seen 'em, looks silly IMHO, but whatever.

 

[Will]

I have a whole bunch of pictures. I like the look, but it weakens the axle. Neither the lugnuts or the wheel bearings will like it. A real dually has a longer axle housing and offset rims with the inside one flipped backwards. That keeps the load centered over the bearing with no lever-arm between the tread center and the bearing. Also, a full-floating axle has a much larger bearing than a semi-floater as the bearing fits over a hollow spindle with the axle shaft running through it and is only loaded with the weight of the vehicle, not also in torsion as a semi-float axle is. If it's a toy then it would probably be fine. I would rather find a Toyota dually axle from one-tons and use that. Beware of early Toyota motorhomes because those originally had adapters on a single-wheel axle. It was only after numerous axle failures that Toyota started sending dually axles to replace the weakers ones and paid more attention to what the purchasers were using the chassis for. Lots of old dually motorhomes have had the real dually axle swapped in, but not all. I occasionally see the dually flatbeds on Ebay too.

 

[lil red]

theres a guy making a dually adaptor on here
go on rbv projects and find project apple bottom
i dont know if he did it yet

not to jack your thread but:
how did you do that to your truck
that thing is awsome looking
(and im the only one at my firehouse without a huge truck,so y not make my beastly tonka truck a dually)

 

[Will]

Me?

Das not my truck. It's a picture of someone elses truck. On a 'stick somewhere I have a bunch more of other trucks like it. I really like the idea, I just won't do it with spacers.

An option I have promoted is to use a full-size truck axle and those flares with a wide tire. It would give the same impression and a real HD axle as well. I have seen dually pickups with a "super single" in the back and it looks cool. It's much more practical for a Ranger.

 

[Greenpig4#4]

if i was to create a parking lot whore it'd be a 302 dually

 

[fabman_52]

I got the adapter kit from JC Whitney, used it on an 84 put well over 20000 on it and never had a problem. When I sold the truck I kept the adapters and plan on using them on my 87. I also have built 8 of the adapters for others. So far so good. I have found it to be a simple kit that has worked well.
The problem I have with the JC Whitney kit is the cost. Building it myself saves me about 100.00 per kit.

 

[Kdawg532]

dang that looks nice, i am thinking of make a flat bed dually but i have to get a project ranger first.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

the adapters are crap...they'll shorten the life of your axle in the long run and are not even the slightest bit functional.

if i were to do it, i'd use an older toyota dually axle. they are true 1-ton axles, full floaters, and about the right width. the main drawback is there is almost zero aftermarket support for them...sooo good luck changing gear ratios.

 

[predator]

if you want to do it then grab a dana 60 rear, narrow it and install longer wheel studs, bolt on dually rims/tires


if you want to keep the 5 lug then do it with a nine inch and get the rims made for it and slap some aftermarket shafts in for extra strenth....



the jcwhitney kit is for people that honestly believe that stickers create horsepower...

 

[fabman_52]

the jcwhitney kit is for people that honestly believe that stickers create horsepower...[/QUOTE]

Believe what you want! Like I said I've been using mine for well over 20,000 mi. and have never had any problems at all, never!

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

a 7.5 is rated at 2700lbs. a single 6-ply tire is rated at around 2,000lbs. times that by 2, a pair of 6-ply tires can carry 4,000+lbs...over a thousand pounds more than your axle is rated to carry. add to this the fact that those wheel adapters increase the payloads leverage on your wheel bearing and axle shafts (thus DECREASING your axles usable payload) and its easy to see that you arent accomplishing anything by adding dual tires to your stock axle.

you may have driven 20,000 miles with the adapters installed, im not saying you didnt. but you didnt drive 20,000 miles at or near maximum payload with those adapters installed or else the axle WOULD have failed.

the kits are 100% aesthetic and shouldnt be confused as anything but.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

work as a tech in an automotive repair shop for a few years....you'll come to learn they ALL suck

 

[kunar]

I thought ford was the best???

why did you leave out the part about little to no aftermarket support?