ForOffRoadDriving's 94 Ranger Build

[cargs]

as long as i dont use reverse during any of my trips i can keep the use of my turnsignals, but as soon as i click reverse the voltage gauge drops down around 10v and the fuse pops, then the voltage returns to 14.2v.

do you have a trailer wiring kit on your truck? one with a black box to convert separate turn signal / brake lights into combined turn/brake lights for the trailer?

i had a similar thing happen to me, it was the trailer lights black box. I broke it open and it was completely corroded inside, shorted out my brake light wiring.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i do have one of those converter boxes on there, but its only a few weeks old (i put it on when i started working on the bike trailer). ill try unplugging it though and reconnecting my factory harness and see if the trouble goes away, thanks cargs!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i got the distributor on and timed it and its running like a top again. it took me a little over an hour to get it back together, set the base timing, and re-oute my spark plug wires so that they looked neat and werent touching anything they werent supposed to. i spent the next 3 hours trying to solve my reverse light short, but once i found out that it was in the factory wiring i just unplugged the switch and taped up the connections and ill get to it another day. heres some pictures since i feel like i shorted you guys this last month.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

more progress to report on, the orange fog lights are gone and in there place are 2 more hella comet 500s with silverstar bulbs. i spent most of the day working on my neighbors ranger for some extra cash, so i was only able to roughly fab up some brackets to make the lights mount in the limited amount of space i have to work with.

(its nice to have a funtioning hitch on the front bumper, it makes moving trailers a breeze)

i still want to do some slotting to the brackets so that i can tuck them in as tightly as possible.
once i had the lights mounted it started to rain so i switched gears and started working on the trailer again. i got out the welder and put together the wheel chock for the bed of my rtuck, then i welded the front support on the trailer and marked my boards for the holes that needed to be drilled. i also removed the fenders so they wouldnt get damaged, intially i was just trying to tighten them but the bolts were so rusted that they snapped when i applied pressure to them. i only managed to get one board mounted and afterwards i was tired and out of patience so i took a bent up wrangler bumper i had in my stock pile (my cousin hit a mail box with it and it gave in like a virgin on prom night) and turned it into a sturdy wheel chock for the trailer. i was originally going to make 2 chocks, but the channel was so twisted that i just put the other half back on the pile incase i need it later.

 

[Andres629]

I made something similar for my old F-150. Although, it was a little different, same general idea!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i snapped a few more pictures on my lunch break, here they are:

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

I had a productive lunch break today, i finished making the wiring harnesses for the hellas on the bumper and got them installed, then i took the brackets off the lights and slotted them so now the lights tuck in much tighter to the brush guard tubes. ill get some pictures tomorrow and post them up. now i just need to install the switch in the dash board (need to find a good spot first) and wire it up to the factory plug.

 

[Andres629]

I love the bumper on that truck! So wicked.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

thanks man, im anxious to build the back bumper for it but money seems to be the hold up for now. i tried to wire up the hellas on the bumper to my factory fog light outlet, but apparently i had the wrong outlet since i couldnt get any of the wires in the plug to pass current to the realy. after looking at the write up on how to "fix" the factory fogs so that they dont go out with the high beams on, the plug i was trying to wire to looks nothing like the one shown in the write up.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

heres some pictures i took before work this morning; we got snowed on the last two days and despite that my motivation is finally coming back to me again. heres the pedal covers im going to make since my feet and the rubber ones dont seem to be getting along too well (the rubber keeps falling off and the grooves are worn out of them anyways).

i slotted the light brackets a few days ago and im happy with the way they fit so the next step is some POR15 on them.

its been a tough couple of days with all the rain turning to ice and then getting a nice coating of powder on top of the frozen stuff, not to mention the insides of my tires are BALD! its kind of like ice skating, i just hope i dont "fall down"!

 

[Andres629]

Haha, I ran BALD Dick Cepek FCII's all last winter... let me tell you, that was some kind of interesting! I wish I had a picture of how bald they were, it was insane. Good luck in the snow.

 

[Downey]

i ran mud rovers last winter that were worse than them and i got stuck once

 

[TheTopher]

That's a good idea on the pedal covers, I might have to do that.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

maybe im just being to hard on the skinny pedal or i need more weight? im running 240lbs in the back right now and my tires are at 40psi, maybe i should add another 120lbs or drop to 35psi? im hoping to get the pedals cut out and filed smooth (around the edges) and then paint them when i do the reverse light brackets and front bumper light brackets. depending on how much money i have and how big of a mess i want to make i may just paint the trailer and everything else at the same time?

 

[jaymegriffiths]

maybe im just being to hard on the skinny pedal or i need more weight? im running 240lbs in the back right now and my tires are at 40psi, maybe i should add another 120lbs or drop to 35psi? im hoping to get the pedals cut out and filed smooth (around the edges) and then paint them when i do the reverse light brackets and front bumper light brackets. depending on how much money i have and how big of a mess i want to make i may just paint the trailer and everything else at the same time?

drop psi to 32 works great on ice. mine are at 29 but im running no weight. ill be stepping up to prolly 450 pounds and up to 32 psi for winter seems to be the sweet spot. i keep the front on 29 tho
wonder why ur tires are wearing un-evenly?
nice build btw looks great