ForOffRoadDriving's 94 Ranger Build

[ForOffRoadDriving]

thanks RSH, i appreciate the compliments!

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i went over to my buddys house last night and came home with a new license plate frame. his dad works for ford and one of his friends that recently retired from ford BUILT all the jigs and molds in his home garage and hand made these for his friends still working in the plant. i couldnt get the bolts out of my plate when i took the picture because all i had to work with was a quarter to turn the screw and my fingers to hold the nut but that shit was already rusty.

 

[4x4b2]

lol nice license plate ring, truck looks really sweet

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

ive been getting ready to go riding up north next weekend and one of the things on my list was to get my trailer lights replaced and make guards to mount them to so they will be protected from my brother and other dangerous objects. i still need to make extendable outer tie down spots, but its coming together quickly.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

after driving around for a few weeks with only one back up light working, i decided to order some slimmer halogen lights and mount them flush with the hitch. they are yellow but i figured it would be less blinding to others while still allowing me enough light to see where im going.

 

[nate09]

after driving around for a few weeks with only one back up light working, i decided to order some slimmer halogen lights and mount them flush with the hitch. they are yellow but i figured it would be less blinding to others while still allowing me enough light to see where im going.

youre so thoughtful

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

youre so thoughtful

well..... kinda. theyre wide beams so one will be aimed low to the ground so i can really see, then ill pull another average sized car about 1 car length behind me and aim the light carefully at the drivers windshield, that way when the next dumb girl in her prius is talking on her cell phone and gets so close to me that i can see her past my spare i can "show her the light" so to say.

 

[TheTopher]

I too am diggin' that plate.

 

[TrexMex]

I too am diggin' that plate.

What... Customs and Border Protection??

I haven't seen you 'round here ...

 

[nate09]

well..... kinda. theyre wide beams so one will be aimed low to the ground so i can really see, then ill pull another average sized car about 1 car length behind me and aim the light carefully at the drivers windshield, that way when the next dumb girl in her prius is talking on her cell phone and gets so close to me that i can see her past my spare i can "show her the light" so to say.

hmm, now thats a good solution to a problem i get a lot too.

What... Customs and Border Protection??

I haven't seen you 'round here ...

hes referring to the other boarder, those canadians are a rowdy bunch.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

hey guys, ive been gone for a while but im back now and i brought pictures! my dad and i spent the last 4 days up north at our property in Atlanta riding trails and having a good time together. over the course of 3 days (it rained too bad to want to ride the 4th day) we rode 130 miles of ORV trails (the ones that are 50" wide or quite often less, and that curve left and right and up and down and over fallen trees and other debris). ive got a feeling ill be sore for a few days to come, but after 3 days of motorcycle therapy i can deal with it. heres some pics of our trip for you to feast your eyeballs on;

this first one is actually just my dad paying around with his bikes before we left, the moto count is up to 15, now we just need more room to adopt more so we can save them and then ride them like they were meant to be.

the first thing we had to do when we got there was steal the valve core out of a spare inner tube so we could replace the leaking one in the cap of our water tank (my dad is digging through the bike box), it was leaking faster than the pump could compress the air so there would have been no showering if we didnt cure that problem.

some pics of camp and Thumper

breakfast!

lunch!

our wet riding gear on the line after getting caught in the rain

the evening entertainment, drinking beers and reading magazines. we brought a portable DVD player, but my dad grabbed a handfull of movies on CDR, which wont play on the DVD player. oh well, i read the newest issue of petersens 4 wheel (wahlstrom's truck is bad ass!) and also caught up on some cycle world.

pre-ride pictures (i dont know why i look so short and funny in this pic?)

on a bridge

in the middle of no where

getting ready to say good bye

 

[bobbywalter]

you ever ride ambrose between st helen and rose city? do you go to traverse area at all? black lake area....nice riding...


those old school bikes you have are neat.

i ride a klx 650....its a friggen cow a huge fat cow from hell on those deeeeep sandy trails. its pretty much trashed like my ranger or i would have traded it towards a tw.

worked atlanta area alot when i was younger drilling oil and gas wells in the early 90's.....had my ranger stranded many times in that area


need to 4x4 that thing too

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

yeah it was a blast, im just glad we werent riding the old twin rear shock bikes on those trails, there were wayyy too many whoops! i recall the first time we rode up there (it was actually 10 years ago to the week) i was on the blue 1977 yamaha IT175 in the picture and my dad was on a 1970 suzuki ts90 with a dual range gear box. we rode the skinnies and the orv routes and by the end of the day my dad was beat from riding that little bike and i was whipped from trying to keep that big bike rubber side down. fun times..........

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

so i got a pair of 07 ranger mirrors to put on my truck, since the drivers side mounting platee for the power mirror is floppy and vibrates when i drive, making it impossible to determine whether the car behind me is a cop or if it is just an impala with a ski rack. im just debating whether i really want to drill holes in my door to make some newer mirrors fit or if i should be patient and hope that the autobody place i get parts from will get the gen 3 mirrors back in stock. opinions?

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

no opinions huh.... oh well, i decided to do it anyways i read through the article in the tech library a couple of times and decided to give it a go, although my timing wasnt exactly perfect (it was already getting dark when i started and it ended up raining on me when i was reinstalling the mirrors and door panels) and the wiring colors that were listed in the tech article didnt match the wires on my truck so i couldnt hook up the power funtion until i had more time (and light) to spend on it. so heres my mini write up on how to intall 07 mirrors on your 94 ranger.

tools youll need:
hack saw & vice
drill with 1/2 drill bit
phillips screwdriver
T20 torx driver (if you have manual windows)
11mm socket, 3" extension, and a ratchet
wire strippers, solder & shrink tube
soldering iron, heat gun

materials youll need:
2 - sway bar link bushings
2 - 2007 mirrors

so first thing first, remove the 3 screws in the door panel and take the torx screw out of the window crank, then lift upward on the door panel to remove it. take the 4 screws out of the speaker and disconnect it and set it aside, youll need to be able to put your arm through the hole to put the sway bar link bushing bits on. un plug the harness to the power mirror, its connection is just inside the speaker opening in the door. using the 11mm socket remove the 3 nuts holding the mirror on and remove the mirror and harness from the door.

now youll need the drill with the 1/2" bit to enlarge the mounting holes, which is necessary to the clear the mounting studs on the new mirror. it should look like this now

now test fit the mirror to make sure everything lines up, if it doesnt enlarge the holes to the next size larger and re-fit it. now youll need the sway bar link bushings and the hand saw, and youll need to cut them in half, effectively making light weight, rust proof spacers.

the next step is to cut the wire harness off the old mirrors and strip,solder, and shrink tube them onto the new mirrors (make sure to leave as much wire as possible so that the plug will still reach its original position). this is the step that got me hung up the first time i installed the mirrors since the tech article listed different colors for the wires than what i found on my truck.

on the drivers side the ford wires are red, yellow, and blue and the 07 mirror wires are green, yellow, and purple. the red goes to the green, the yellow to the yellow, and the blue goes with purple.

the passenger side almost matches but not exactly. the ford harness has green, purple, and white, while the 07 mirror has green, purple, and yellow. the green goes to green, the purple to purple, and the white to yellow.

now that youre all wired up reinstall the mirror but only put the top nut on and leave it loose for now. take the bushings you cut in half, reach inside the door through the speacker hole and place them on the studs.

now plug the mirror in, check that all positions on the switch work, then tighten the nuts down, reinstall the speakers and door panels, then crack a beer cause youre done