ForOffRoadDriving's 94 Ranger Build

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i got the cables made up yesterday, i definitely got my fair shair of soldering practice in for the year. when i made the new cables i doubled the size (Gauge) of each wire, so the 4GA. became 2GA., the 8GA. became 4GA, and the 10GA. became 6GA. i was originally going to use solder on battery terminals, but when i went to pre assemble the ground side there was just too much cable to fit into the terminal, so i went a different route and used military grade terminals and soldered eyelets to the ends of the cables. i figured this way i can easily add more accesories to the battery later, such as a winch or amplifier for my stereo. Ok, on to the pics!

when it was all said and done i ended up spending 9 hours building and installing (some bull shitting and lunch time was included) and i spent $65.09 on materials to build both cables!

I also installed the front bed pocket bull rings, which required removal of the roll bar, but with my prior planning (using the bed bolts to secure it) it came apart quickly and easily.

having the bed liner gooped in the pockets made this a rather big pain in the ass, but after the first one finally went in i had gotten the hang of how to wiggle and twist it and the second on was a breeze.

 

[Doom's Day Custom]

i got another set of the bull rings for the front bed pockets today, but i need to remove the bolts on my roll bar and lift it up about 6" so i can wiggle them into the holes.

thumper is also developing a weird cooling problem, once it gets up to temp and runs for a while it will start making a "popping" and "wooshing" sound, like coolant transfering from the oveflow tank to the radiator of vice versa. it had this problem before i did the rebuild and after i rebuilt it things were fine, but apparently its back again. all my hoses are warm and i dont seem to be overheating or underheating, so its got me stumped.

Where did you get those bull rings from and how much where they????

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i bought them at walmart, they were $25 for the pair. heres a link to an online vendor http://www.pickupspecialties.com/tiedowns.htm. they have a 1000lb. capacity and i put the spring on them so that they automatically retract when not in use and they dont rattle either.

 

[Doom's Day Custom]

oh okay and thank you very much and you really have a nice truck !!!!!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

thanks for the compliment dooms day, i did make a small amount of progress on an otherwise lazy day off. i smoothed out the diamond plate pedal pieces and also contoured them to fit well. i plan on painting them with duplicolor spray on bed liner to keep them grippy in wet conditions.

i also took some teaser pics of my subwoofer idea which will be coming together sometime in the future, when my pockets are fuller and my motivation is higher.

i plan on building a box onto the back of the seat to enclose the sub woofer with, you can bet ill be sacrificing alot of cereal boxes in the process!

i stayed over at terras last night and when i got home i noticed that my passenger side door handle had been busted off! someone wanted in my truck and was dumb enough to think that iff you pull hard enough on a locked door you can get in.....WRONG! now i have to get a new handle and spend my time putting it in while trying to figure out how to use my dual battery set up to shock then next F***ker that wants to try to get into my truck.

 

[koda6966]

Cool idea. If your getting rid of the seats completely, you should look for a cabinet to place in the area. The sub will look a lot better built into it and you will already have a clean cavity. You could check XL Rangers to see if they have them. I looked around for a picture of mine but I didn't see one anywhere. I've only seen one other truck that had them.

I read though the whole build, somehow I fit it in today. I like how you went through the whole thing and made it durable to both abuse and time. I would like to do the same to my Ranger, which is a '93 2wd. I just don't have the funds to start such a project, so I will probably run it into the ground and then use it's parts on my next Ranger. As much of the truck as I can anyway.

And when they ripped off the door handle, they may have heard about the little hole that magically unlocks Rangers and they were looking for it.

 

[TheTopher]

I'd just replace the door handle and not worry about it. There's easier ways into a ranger than the door hole trick. I can actually get my ranger open and started in under a minute without the key, and it's in perfect mechanical condition. Mods fear not, I have no intention of posting these methods on the open forums. Best thing you can do is keep any reason for them to break in out of sight.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i got new OE ford door handles coming in on monday, theyre $30 a piece (compared to the cheap $3 taiwanese ones i had put on previously) and ill be able to get them on monday, so i should have more pics then. i think they were either jealous of my truck and wanted to break it or they wanted the empty box of camels on the floor? ****ing kids!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

after thinking about the broken handle for a couple days i guess its not really a bad thing (some one did brake my shit and that still sucks), it gives me a good reason to take the door speakers out and clean any shit off the magnets, solder the connection between the speaker wires and factory wires (i think they still have the twist and tape method applied from when my brother drove it?), and adjust the rod in the latch system so that the new door handles have that nice crisp 'pop' when you lift up on them. plus since ill have it in the garage ill probably mock up the pedals and drill the holes in them so i can finally paint them and then install them for good! ive been using my stuff hider alot lately (the little 'tarp' that pulls out of the back of the cab and hooks behind the seats) to keep my stuff out of sight, hopefully it works well to deter future thieves.

 

[Andres629]

Mind if I ask... and it may be kind of a dumb question... but seems like you know eff about some eff. Haha. How does one go about removing and replacing the lock mechanism on the door? Without ruining it, of course. I need to replace the ones on my truck, but I can't figure out how to get them off in the first place!

Also, sucks about the attempted break-in. At least they didn't get in and steal your stuff... or worse, your truck!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

if youre talking about the lock itself that you put the key in i believe its like a tool box lock (if youve ever seen the back side of one), its just got a little U shaped clip on the back side that holds it in place. ill explain it as if youve never taken the door panel off so i dont skip a step. in oder to access it you need to roll the window all the way up, then pull the plastic back on the window crank and use a T20 torx to remove the screw that holds it on, then remove the 2 screws in the bottom of the door panel, the 1 in the arm rest, and the 1 in the plastic trim around the interior handle. use a panel popper or large flat blade and work your way around the door to pull the 'christmas-trees' loose, then lift up on the panel and it will come off. there will be plastic covering the door so you can either try to peel it off gently or tear it off and throw it away (ive done both and recommend being gentle and re glueing it afterwards). you should now be able to access the back side of the lock, unless the rods from the latch are in the way, then youll need a T27 to take the 3 bolts out of the latch from the jamb side of the door. this will let you push the latch mechanism out of the way and the rest should be an easy swap out. hope this helps you out a bit.

 

[r1hatman]

Awesome pics dude Keep up the good work! Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[Andres629]

if youre talking about the lock itself that you put the key in i believe its like a tool box lock (if youve ever seen the back side of one), its just got a little U shaped clip on the back side that holds it in place. ill explain it as if youve never taken the door panel off so i dont skip a step. in oder to access it you need to roll the window all the way up, then pull the plastic back on the window crank and use a T20 torx to remove the screw that holds it on, then remove the 2 screws in the bottom of the door panel, the 1 in the arm rest, and the 1 in the plastic trim around the interior handle. use a panel popper or large flat blade and work your way around the door to pull the 'christmas-trees' loose, then lift up on the panel and it will come off. there will be plastic covering the door so you can either try to peel it off gently or tear it off and throw it away (ive done both and recommend being gentle and re glueing it afterwards). you should now be able to access the back side of the lock, unless the rods from the latch are in the way, then youll need a T27 to take the 3 bolts out of the latch from the jamb side of the door. this will let you push the latch mechanism out of the way and the rest should be an easy swap out. hope this helps you out a bit.

Awesome, thanks! I figured it wasn't too terribly difficult, but once I got the panel off, I didn't know what I was looking for to get it off, so I just put it back together. Haha!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i got a good bit of motivation last night after talking to my coworker about the sub woofer idea, and i ended up getting the jump seat hole cut out (i borrowed his rotozip, but ended up using the cutting torch after i found out the rotozip just wasnt up to the job) and then cut the fabric out and got the sub mounted into the panel and bolted back into the truck. i havent made an enclosure for it yet but i still need to get the amp wiring kit and check out the audio forums for ideas on where to mount the amp. on to the pictures:

he also gave me some speaker box stuffing to try out, so once i get the amp hooked up ill know whether i want to add more stuffing or take it all out and build an enclosure.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

Oh yeah, the delivery driver from the Ford dealer was here today and brought me a door handle, but it was the wrong one! they looked it up for a 2004 instead of a 1994, which sound nothing alike when you say them out loud "nineteen-ninety-four........two-thousand-four". oh well, i have wendesday off and they are supposed to be in on tuesday so its not a big deal i guess.