ForOffRoadDriving's 94 Ranger Build

[Downey]

did you clear coat it?

 

[MountainMike]

It was 67 degrees on sunday so i deicded to take MountainMike's advice (Hey! Awesome) and paint my roof and fender before winter comes.

Looks great by the way

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i didnt clear coat it and i wish i would have, but by the time i got done shooting the color and realized i didnt have any clear coat my store was already closed so ill probably just throw some wax on it and hope it last through the winter.

 

[TheTopher]

Looking good, mate.

 

[idriveafordranger94]

This build is awesome! Just curious, how much has this project costed you so far? Oh, and where did you get those headlights? Thanks!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

so far i have got about $9,000.00 into this build. once i get it painted for good and i get a full set of BFG ATs (including full size spare on matching rim) on my new back bumper ill be looking at around 11,000-12,000. i really never thought i would go this far, but i couldnt be happier with the results. what ive built i could never buy at the dealership no matter how much money i paid them, and to me thats priceless. i got the headlights at www.shermanparts.com part # 576-150P, they are really bright and i like how they throw the light out there (ive got silverstar bulbs in them that i found in the JY when i was looking for headlight retainer rings).

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i almost forgot, last night i taught terra how to drive a stick! she did really good, never stalled it once and didnt send me through the windshield by confusing the clutch with the brake, so im really proud of her. the last time i was teaching her to drive we were in the rescue ranger and that thing is a real treat to drive (not), she did well that time until i told her to drive us home from the parking lot we were practicing in and when we got into traffic she got nervous and couldnt get herself together. we ended up pulling a chinese fire drill at the stop light and i got us home.

 

[TheTopher]

You're on good enough terms with her to let her drive your truck, I'll assume that means you're back with her. I just hope it doesn't interfere with the truck updates. Teach her to

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

its true, were back together again, this time for good. ive finally decided to quit smoking a certain plant which has been the root cause of all of our problems over the last 4 years and i couldnt feel better about life now. i got some more work done on friday and saturday so heres the skinny on it. ive had this rattling noise for the last few weeks, actually ever since i put the air horn on so i decided it was time to investigate it. i pulled the air compressor off the truck and found that the motor body was loosely fastened to the air vein portion, which also happens to be the part that the mounting bolt is secured to, so i took it all apart and tightened things back up. while i had it apart i painted the cover black to help it blend in better and also finished painting the wheels with the winter tires on them.

on saturday morning i hit 3,000 miles on the odometer so it was time to change the oil. i decided to change the fuel filter and the trans fluid just because im really big on maintainence and i knew there was a chance that the trans fluid had become contaminated after the "rear main seal" fiasco (i had that damn trans off so many times that i just kept draining the fluid into a clean container and then filling it back up with fluid from said container, it was $30 worth of amsoil and i didnt want to throw it away!). i had cleaned the gas tank out the best i possibly could before i put the fuel pump assembly in but i knew that the filter could have picked up some extra crap and i just wanted to start fresh again.

i dropped the oil and it had the usual dark color and semi burnt smell, and the fuel filter didnt appear to have any nasty colored gas coming out, so i moved on to the transmission. when i pulled the drain plug i was instantly glad that i had because the magnet was covered in crap!

i opted to fill it back up through the shifter hole instead of using my suction gun which i have used in the past but made a mess with, so i got inside and took things apart and everything went smoothly. when it came time to lube up the driveshaft and steering components i saw something that immediately caught my attention. the axle pivot was very loose and i could see where a bolt that i installed was causing the suspension to bind and eventually worked the pivot bolt loose.

i removed the pivot bolt and the bolt under it and flipped it over, then reinstalled the pivot bolt.

i took my truck for a drive up to work to get some more wiring supplies and my mystery noise had gone away! im glad i caught this when i did or it could have ended badly for me. when i returned i installed my k&n that i had cleaned on friday and oiled saturday morning after allowing it to hang dry over night in the basement above the furnace.

i was waiting for terra to show up so we could go mountain biking for one last time before the snow falls, but she was running late so i kept working on the truck. i figured i would have time to make a wiring harness for the horn so i got to work. she showed up just as i was soldering the connectors onto the compressor end and the ring terminal on the ground wire.

i was just about done putting tools away when i remembered i wanted to put my fuse panel cover on but needed to cut a hole in it to clear my electronic flasher. while the soldering iron was still hot i cut the hole and also made a slot for my accessory fuse panel power wires to go through.

thats all for now, it might be a while till i get some more updates if it gets too much colder out since my bothers truck is still in the garage from his driveshaft incident.

 

[WNY964x4]

trucks looking better and better man , keep up the good work

 

[Downey]

tell your brother to put in the shaft you got for him

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

it sucks that its taking so long to get his truck back together, but in all actuallity it is still coming apart. his auxillary oil cooler was leaking because the lines had gotten a hole rubbed in them where they pass through the core support so i got him a standard filter housing off from a friends spare 2.9l.

he and my dad got the transfer case off friday night (that thing put up one hell of a fight! they ended up having to heat the locator pin until it was red hot before we were able to make it come off, but after being bolted together for 19 years im not surprised it didnt just fall off) and saturday night karl was working on breaking all of the bolts loose on the bell housing so he can pull the trans next to put the clutch in it. his shifter plugs are also leaking very badly so we will be replacing them with dorman 555-018 freeze plugs.

he works at a restaurant so he doesnt get home until 10 or 11 so by then my dad and i are already showered and ready for bed cause we both have to be up early. weekends and his days off are really the only opportunities he has to get any real work done to it. oh well, i plugged the garage up all last winter with my truck so i guess its his turn now.

 

[TheTopher]

Hopefully he'll have as much to show for it this winter as you did from last winter. It's coming along nicely.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

his truck has alot of potential, but it also needs alot of money to make it the ultimate ranger. hes already got the 8.8 and D35 w/4.10 gears, 5sp trans, manual tcase and warn manual locking hubs, vinyl floor and no headliner, my mud tires, and alot of other things i cant think of right now, but its basically a simple rugged ranger with functionality as priority #1.

 

[Downey]

hey man i know you use por15 a lot but have you ever looked at chassis saver