ForOffRoadDriving's 94 Ranger Build

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i also decided to swap radios between the rescue ranger and thumper since i was tired of not having an aux input in my kenwood. i put in the sony xplod with the thoughts of only gaining the aux input, but when i hooked everything up i realized that it had controls exclusively for my sub woofer as well as a whole slew of other features that my kenwood did not. ive never really cared for sonys products, but for now this one has me satisfied.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

recently i started gathering materials to build a back bumper so hopefully soon ill have some pics of the started product shortly. i bought 80'' of 5"x 1 3/4" channel and a piece of diamond plate 96" x 8" x 1/8" so it will be identical to the front bumper in terms of material, now i just need to come up with a design that looks good and also functions well. its going to have the standard 2" reciever with 2 - 4" worklights recessed into it as well as a built in trailer connector (4 flat as of now, not sure if ill ever need to move anything with a 7 round connector, its a ranger). im still trying to figure out what to do with the spare tire though, a tire swing would be cool, but then i cant use my bed extender cause the tailgate has to be down and the tire would be flopping around.

 

[bahndrvr]

Good lord, just read this entire thread, there went my night, Freaking awesome work man, kudos from hell from me.

I'm at the other end of this with my 72k original Northern Ranger down here in Fl, hope I have as much patience as you, and I'm parting out my Saleen, and building another Stang as well as gettign a house at the same time hahaha.

 

[bobbywalter]

i think the mirrors turned out ok...but i screw mirrors up so much i dont know whats what style wise.

i just like the mirrors big enough to see out of.

hell i have chevy mirrors

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

im loving the mirrors, i can back up my little 2 place bike trailer like a mad man now that i can see actually see the fenders on the damn thing! i started designing the rear bumper but ive come to a bump in the road as far as what to do for a spare tire carrier. ive thought about making a tire swing that will pivot on the passenger side of the bumper, but since i want to be able to drive with the tailgate down and my bed extender on the swing has to be able to latch to the side of the tail gate when its open. this means the swing will have to be short (around 15" long from pivot point to end) and will have to be strong enough to hold my 65lb 30" spare and posibly the highlift and shovel? still making up drawings and trying to work out the numbers, so if anyone has any ideas or pictures of a solution id be glad to hear them.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

its been a while since ive posted any updates on Thumper, but this post shouldnt disappoint! i had a four day weekend starting on friday so i spent 10-12 hours each day working in the garage to create a rear bumper for Thumper. i also wandered into the autometer book at work and got myself a vaccum gauge and a molded A-pillar mount for the gauge. it probably wasnt necessary as its just one more thing to distract me from the road, but its cool none the less. enough blabbing, on to the pics!

i started collecting steel and supplies months ago, but i was finally able to get the important pieces- the channel and the diamond plate. ive got about $100 into materials at this point.

next i lay out the general shape/ contour of the bumper using paint mixing sticks that i have riveted together end to end. they pivot to my desired angle when i hold them up to the truck and then i can put my protractor on them and find the angle that i need to make my cuts at.

now that i have my angles layed out on the smooth side of the diamond plate i can transfer them to the channel and mark where i will make my relief cuts. once the cuts are made the channel is heated and bent until the angle matches the paint sticks. this ensures that both sides match and everything will line up in the end.

now that its bent its time to see how closely it matches the diamond late layout that i made. it needed a few adjustments and then it was good for a test fit.

im happy with the shape and overall look so its time to cut the diamond plate and test fit it.

for the frame brackets im using 3"x3"x3/8" angle iron. i marked my holes and drilled them on the drill press. 4 1/2" grade 8 bolts hold each side in place.

the channel has been tack welded to the angle supports so now its time to test fit the diamond plate again. i need more metal in the back since i didnt notch the angle to fit flush with the top of the channel so i added another angle iron support which will level the plate and give it more bracing (and weight).

time for welding!

this is a pic from intermission day. i took a break from the truck and worked on terras sport trac and on my friends 99 ranger.

heres a teaser pic of whats to come

back to work, my final day off and i have to get this tire swing made! i started around 10am and finished at 3am, what a day!

time for bed....

heres how it looked when i woke up and took a pic before work

 

[Kyle M.]

Your a great fabricator! Love the quality and time you take....and the time you take to snap some pictures! I always think about it when I am doing things, but I never do....just of finished product.

Anyway, great work!

 

[country0001]

Nice bumper

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

thanks guys, im sure theres still some bugs ill have to work out with the tire carrier like a secondary latch for when the tailgate needs to be down to use my bed extender and a saftey latch to keep the tire from bouncing up and out of the t handle catch.

 

[Doom's Day Custom]

What a piece of SHIT














JK Really nice work man !!!!
It came out very nice and looks like a pro made it!!!! I am jealous my truck is broke and siting at my ex-girlfriend till i get my ass over there and get ,It needs a new motor and tranny but i work 80 hours a week for $200 bring home so no money to fix truck..

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

well it rained all day yersterday and since i didnt get to paint it yet it has got a bunch of orange rust on all the bare spots (where i had to grind the mill scale off), so it looks like ill be prepping and painting it on monday and then doing some work on my neighbors 95 ranger w/ 2.3l and ac (plugs, wires, timing belt, and full exhaust) while im waiting for the paint to dry. should be a fun day off

 

[TheTopher]

I'm loving that bumper, mate. How do you think the hinge will hold up?

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

awesome work man! that bumper looks so cool

i didnt knew the power mirrors only had 3 wires per side...intresting, seems like im gonna be gettin some 06 power ones for christmas LOL

and theres a way to install em without drilling btw LOL
http://www.ranger-forums.com/f59/how-install-06-mirrors-right-way-107483/

 

[cargs]

awesome work man! that bumper looks so cool

i didnt knew the power mirrors only had 3 wires per side...intresting, seems like im gonna be gettin some 06 power ones for christmas LOL

and theres a way to install em without drilling btw LOL
http://www.ranger-forums.com/f59/how-install-06-mirrors-right-way-107483/

thats for that post RSH, i'll be doing it that way for sure!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

aww sheit! wish id have seen that sooner..... oh well, they work fine and up until the upgrade i had never removed the mirrors from the truck so hopefully theyll stay put for another 16 years without having to mess with them. topher, so far the hinge is working well i just had to retighten the jam nuts for the first few trips to get the bushings to tighten up. i saw some better idea on a *cough-cough* jeep forum *cough* where they used a trailer axle spindle and bearing kit and then built the pivot off from that. i would definately do that, but i dont have an axle to sacrifice and im not sure where to buy just a single spindle? heres a link to the site- input is appreciated http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f37/rear-bumper-w-swingout-tire-carrier-follow-along-101332/