First post-transmission swap little ride ...

[Zorro]

I have spent the last few weeks performing an A4LD to M5OD surgery on my Ranger, and couldn't wait to take it out on the trails.

Today was a beautiful day to go wheelin' ... so we did.

One of many waterholes

Another one ...

Wheelin' buddy and his Liberty.

Jesus doing some water riding ...

Had to winch this guy out. Hydrolocked too, from what he said. For the record, I crossed that same waterhole 4 times ... just picked a better line. . Can you see the Tracker in the background?

Yeah, I had to winch him out too. He had a few inches of water over the seats ... but thanks to his godawful looking snorkel, he was able to fire it up and drive home. I did cross that hole twice to winch him from the front. Again, proper line does the trick.

So how do I like my new manual transmission? I was a bit nervous at first ... but confidence grew and before the end of the day, I can say I love my Ranger 10x more than when it was automatic.

Crawling in low range at idle over bumps, going through mudholes in 3rd taking it easy. I'm absolutely delighted and very glad I went through the whole swap trouble.

 

[kunar]

driving a manual is the only way to do it.... the power to make your truck do exactly what you want, exactly when you want.

my truck had an a4ld in it when i bought it. i swapped it for an fm145, then eventually an m5od.

 

[Ranger_Boi]

did u just bult down ur wench on the stock bumper?

 

[PaleBlue90]

did u just bult down ur wench on the stock bumper?

i was wondering that too

 

[Zorro]

Would I ever do that?




...



Yup, I did. It's only temporary, though. Not super sturdy, but enough to pull me out in case of trouble.
Will mount it straight to the frame soon.

 

[compleckz]

Would I ever do that?
Yup, I did.

wow thats nuts, im surprised the bumper/mounts are that sturdy!

and is that tracker stock? either way, he's in deep.

 

[Zorro]

Let's just say the bumper brackets have some flex. LOL

Tracker is bone stock except for some mud tires and a PVC snorkel. He had water way above the seat cushions ... he thought it was hilarious and drove home completely soaked. They'd been there for a while. There are 3 people in the Tracker picture. Driver, you can barely see his head out of the water next to the truck, his buddy standing and the buddy's g/f in the woods under a 1'x1' tarp (it was raining...) with a tiny fire (you can barely see the orange-ish spot) just left of the trail where the waterhole starts ... hilarious sight anyways.

 

[compleckz]

gotta love stockers wheeling, it really is great fun to wheel a stocker, and always funny to see them stuck too.

 

[danger88ranger]

gotta love stockers wheeling, it really is great fun to wheel a stocker, and always funny to see them stuck too.

 

[Zorro]

Every time it's in the garage, I'm thinking lift, tires, lockers and whatnot ... but then I realize I don't need any of that to have fun on the trails! Better yet, I'd be bored if I had 6" of lift, 35" Swampers and triple lockers ...

Snorkel to keep my engine safe from unwanted water ingestion, a winch when I'm stuck ... and that's pretty much all I need!

I still want a bit more clearance.

 

[BlackBII]

Looks pretty good man!

Don't ya just love the sight of a Yota stuck on the Mud?

I can't wait till I can go wheeling again, gotta get the BII finished, been rebuilding her after these two incidents....

 

[fredfx4]

If im not mistaken that the trail in terrebonne? Those water hole are tricky i killed my old S-10 there.

 

[Dishtowel]

Every time it's in the garage, I'm thinking lift, tires, lockers and whatnot ... but then I realize I don't need any of that to have fun on the trails! Better yet, I'd be bored if I had 6" of lift, 35" Swampers and triple lockers ...

Snorkel to keep my engine safe from unwanted water ingestion, a winch when I'm stuck ... and that's pretty much all I need!

I still want a bit more clearance.

I managed not get very almost stuck today, but I was very unbored with my V7, 6" lift, and 32" swampers, lol.

Ummmm Triple lockers?

 

[Zorro]

If im not mistaken that the trail in terrebonne? Those water hole are tricky i killed my old S-10 there.

Yup! That's exactly where it is. Do you happen to have a grey new FX4? Crossed one out on the trail ...


Dishtowel ... front, center and rear = triple lockers.

 

[Dishtowel]

front, center and rear = triple lockers.

You only have two diffs........

You are 4x4, not AWD.
AWD offroading will get left behind by a equal skill 4x4.