Frame Swap?

[Spootnuke]

I've been trying to discover more and more information about all this. I'm not so sure about doing it until I go ahead and pick up another vehicle for a DD. Here's the quote I saw:

If you go extended cab the ranger body will bolt right onto the Explorer frame. it's plug and play. swap engine harness the body harness mates and all the body mounts are there. if you really want the regular cab you will have to hunt down the 2 door sport from 95.Of course if you go with the 97 Later you get the GT40P heads.

Here's the link to the thread:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/v8-awd-ford-ranger/22358/page1/

I'm very interested in doing this because it takes away from having to perform alot of customization and fabrication to different things. I'm thinking that if I found a good sploder, I could possibly retain the EATC and other wondrous options they contain such as the 302 without having to swap it into mine. Of course I won't cut corners on finding a good sploder, but I'd like to keep the cost of the vehicle under 6K. I'm guessing it's safe to say reversing the leafs to go over the axle would be considerable as well? Also, I know that the box won't mount directly to the back due to the wider frame rails, but I don't really haul much weight in the box so the fabrication needed to keep the holes in the original box for mounting won't be much of a problem. Sooooo.... what do you guys say?

 

[Mac]

What is your goal, a 4x4 AWD Ranger? Been done a couple of times with just using the '98' newer Ranger and the Explorer drivetrain. Been done on a '97' using the Mustang computer and ignition system. Sounds like from that link, people are trying to really make it hard. Don't know where they came up with some of that info about frame swaping, no need to!
Dave

 

[Spootnuke]

I guess what I'm trying to perform is basically taking the Sploder body off the frame and the just mounting the truck cab, bed, front fenders, hood and well... Basically the shell. Then, I could keep the dash with steering column so there would be no need to really make anything stupid hard. I'm not really super mechanically inclined... understand what I'm saying? I'd definitely need someone who's knowledgeable around so that I wouldn't end up killing myself doing something like it. lol.

 

[ChrisR1S]

What is your goal, a 4x4 AWD Ranger?

^This^
Need to know what you want to gain by doing the swap so better advice can be given.

 

[Mr99Ranger]

wheelbases aint even close to the same between a s/c ranger and a 4 door explorer. the regular cab short bed ranger rides on almost the exact same w/b as a 4 door explorer though, but the supercab is a solid 15 inches more. not gonna work bud, sorry.

 

[Mac]

Here is I think what you are trying to do. Even easier with a late model Ranger, '98' & newer.
http://www.v8-ranger.com/blue/blue.php
Dave

 

[cammeddrz]

ok from what i hear the frame rails where the bed are are wider on an explorer than on a ranger, but this guy overcame that and here is his "explanger"
http://broncoii.org/forum/index.php?topic=464.0

 

[RangerSVT]

If you are trying/wanting to do a V8 swap on the truck in your profile (98 mazda), it would be way easier just to do the engine swap. That year and up is 99% bolt in, nothing to mod or customize...the engine bolts right in, the wiring is all plug and play (95+ wiring is same between ranger and V8 explorer engine harness), trans mount, even the driveshafts are bolt up...The only thing you have to do is remove 1 wire in the instrument cluster and relocate it in another connector in the same instrument cluster, which is not hard at all, a lot less work than swapping cabs and fabbing new mounts
SVT

 

[Spootnuke]

^This^
Need to know what you want to gain by doing the swap so better advice can be given.

Well, basically what I want to do is gain the drivetrain of the sploder and other such comfort features without trying to take everything out and throw it into my rig due to the fact that I'm not super motor smart. I don't really know everything I'll need and to know when things are broken or not. I'd like to learn because working on vehicles has sort of become a hobby of mine.

wheelbases aint even close to the same between a s/c ranger and a 4 door explorer. the regular cab short bed ranger rides on almost the exact same w/b as a 4 door explorer though, but the supercab is a solid 15 inches more. not gonna work bud, sorry.

So I guess that guy was full of crap. Well darn, that stinks. Well, my buddy has a regular cab that just happens to be gaining tons of miles fast, maybe I'll pass that on to him. Thanks for the information.

If you are trying/wanting to do a V8 swap on the truck in your profile (98 mazda), it would be way easier just to do the engine swap. That year and up is 99% bolt in, nothing to mod or customize...the engine bolts right in, the wiring is all plug and play (95+ wiring is same between ranger and V8 explorer engine harness), trans mount, even the driveshafts are bolt up...The only thing you have to do is remove 1 wire in the instrument cluster and relocate it in another connector in the same instrument cluster, which is not hard at all, a lot less work than swapping cabs and fabbing new mounts
SVT

So basically what you're saying is that I yank that engine bay clean and just mount everything back up in mine? I guess I'm not that educated on this mainly because the tech articles here mainly outline a B2 swap or older generation ranger. I guess I'll start looking and asking around because my rear 7.5 is going bad. Thanks again!

 

[RangerSVT]

Look at my build thread. Except for the oil pan replacement, this is what you would have. I have done extras that are not needed, but if you can replace a starter, you can do this swap
Remove the ECU from the firewall (still connected to the wiring harness), and unplug the 42 pin connector, lay it on the motor, disconnect the fuel lines (easy with the correct inexpensive tool from any autoparts store), disconnect radiator hoses, power steering lines, AC lines, altenator harness (one plug), tranny cooling lines, cruise control motor from fender, throttle cable, motor mounts, tranny mount, driveshaft(s), and its ready to be pulled and dropped into its new home After I did tons of research I found it way easier than I thought or made it out to be...

EDIT: This is closer to your swap that you want to do
SVT

 

[Spootnuke]

Look at my build thread. Except for the oil pan replacement, this is what you would have. I have done extras that are not needed, but if you can replace a starter, you can do this swap
Remove the ECU from the firewall (still connected to the wiring harness), and unplug the 42 pin connector, lay it on the motor, disconnect the fuel lines (easy with the correct inexpensive tool from any autoparts store), disconnect radiator hoses, power steering lines, AC lines, altenator harness (one plug), tranny cooling lines, cruise control motor from fender, throttle cable, motor mounts, tranny mount, driveshaft(s), and its ready to be pulled and dropped into its new home After I did tons of research I found it way easier than I thought or made it out to be...

EDIT: This is closer to your swap that you want to do
SVT

Hmm.... I plan on probably buying the drive train and slowly try to understand it while rebuilding it, or I'll probably just buy the drive train and have someone else I know rebuild it. I'm not in any hurry to throw it in because I just got a new clutch in for my truck, but it would be nice to have a nice clean rebuilt engine and tranny to throw in. Thanks for outlining most of what I have to do. I'm probably going to look into local listings to see if anyone has a remanned explorer V8. I'm hoping for some price around 1200... I can dream. lol. Anywho, would it be safe to say that 2500-3500 is a good price for doing the swap correctly with keeping everything prepped and ready for 100k miles?

 

[RangerSVT]

I paid $700 for the entire running explorer that was hit in the front end, but was repairable, turned around and scrapped the rest of what I didn't use (including my old motor and trans) and got $560 for it...I would highly recommend you get a complete donor, take everything you need/want, then scrap the rest...This way you don't have to keep going back to hunt for more parts...But yeah, you should be able to get both the engine and trans rebuilt with that budget...
SVT