converting 2wd to 4wd questions

[turtle]

hi,im new here and this site is great,i have a 1995 exy cab 2 wheel drive im looking at turning it into a 4x4 with full size axles whats the best parts to look for and what all do i need from donor vehicles? anyone have any suspension pics?im fully qualified as a metal fabricator and have built full size trucks and jeeps just never a ranger. any help or ideas?? thanks in advance

 

[turtle]

i also forgot to mention i was thinking of just dropping the ranger on a full size frame,this seems like it might be easier?

 

[Captain Ledd]

Everything posted are big "if"s. Though for the most part it's fairly easy, get a bunch of 4wd stuff, swap the 2wd junk out and install 4wd components, being careful to check things like locations, angles, and movement. But since you are qualified fabricator, hopefully we can skip that part

It likely would be easier suspension wise to swap the body onto a fullsize frame and fine tune the rear axle location and driveshaft lengths. You may have to fiddle with the engine location a tad too.

best thing to do is search and search. look a pics, look at the proposed axles and suspension setup and shoot for something similar.

 

[bobbywalter]

thats just to wide open.

i think its easier to swap the axles if your keeping the stock engine trans. then again what axles you need depends on what you plan to do with the truck, if your gonna wheel hard with 35 or bigger tires and have some power 60's are a minimum imo for axles. if you want a big block, then modding the fullsize chassis to work with the rbv body is a good way to go.