cab swapping advice??

[knux511]

Hey, I was wondering if i could get any info from you guys. Last winter it was icy, and i rolled my dads 97 splash, and trashed the cab and bed pretty well. It was the extended cab, and had the 4.0 Auto and 4x4. It was rolled twice at about 55mph. I was wondering if anyone had any advice for swapping out cabs, we have one off of a junker from about a 95. Also, the ranger had the power seats and was just two buckets and a console, not the 60/40 seats... the only ranger that i've seen with this... any help would be appreciated, thanks

 

[knux511]

anyone?

 

[Roger]

A cab swap is a BIG project. I would seriously look for a cab of the same year. I don't know if there are major differences between the 97 and 95 you are working on. But I ran into a TON of problems with my 88 cab onto a 90 chassis. Its mostly done, but I haven't fired anything up yet either.

 

[gotmudd]

A cab swap is a BIG project. I would seriously look for a cab of the same year. I don't know if there are major differences between the 97 and 95 you are working on. But I ran into a TON of problems with my 88 cab onto a 90 chassis. Its mostly done, but I haven't fired anything up yet either.

if you rolled it at 55mph. [twice] i would be checking other things, like is the frame bent or tweaked otherwise you will be spending a day removing one and another day putting the other one on only to find that your mounts don't line up or that it crabs down the road

 

[wvcat]

I've done a few in the 98-2001 year range. The nuts and bolts part is pretty easy. 2 bolts on the radiator support, 4 in the cab floor and a bunch of misc stuff to unhook. Where the PITA comes in is in the wiring, manual/automatic changeover, 2wd/4wd chnageover, and dash. Its not a project for the weak at heart but is definatley do-able. The seats will bolt right in but you will have to figure out the wiring. Its probably best to figure you will have to use every little part from the old cab...lol Ford made so many changes its not even funny.
John

 

[Roger]

Not to mention everything we went through with the 88 cab onto the 90 Ranger, besides swapping EVERYTHING over... The dash mounts were altered, the hole in the firewall for the steering column was made bigger. But the last big surprise was the parking brake cable. The brake pedal is the the same, but the 88 CABLE is much longer... I had ALMOST thrown away the 90 cable. Glad I hadn't though.

 

[87xlt]

just take all the good parts off the rolled truck, and buy another truck. WAY easier, and way faster.

 

[knux511]

meh... no real major problems really..... parted out the old cab, pulled it off the frame (which is not bent, we had a friend of the families who owns a body shop) and put the new one one. As for the wiring harnesses, we reused all of the old ones.... almost left the old one in, until we realized that the power seats (never seen em on a different ranger) wouldn't work with that harness... so we swapped them out too. thanks for the help guys. as for the process of rolling, there was no real stress on the frame, mostly due to the stress on the cab and the snow on the ground. the dash wasnt that hard to swap, pulled out the bolts and switched em, still have to finish the interior, carpet, jump seats and back panels, and gotta get it painted and its pretty much done for now, until we can replace the bed.... stepsides are nothin but fiberglass and crack easily.
-Thanks guys,
-Tim

 

[knux511]

oh, and buying another truck? wheres the fun? or the money...lol as for another truck, we took the insirance money and bought a 98 with it... so once this ones fixed, we'll each have a ranger... my moms black 98 4X4, my 98 and my dads 97 splash

 

[Mark_88]

Well, my 88 Ranger had power seats...so I guess it's been an option for a while...I took the wiring out for it though because it's just another thing that may need attention...besides, I like the high-back seats better than the ones that are in it now...and when I get the chance I'm going to change them...

Good to hear it went smoothly though...it is quite a bit of work when you change everything over...