From a tired B2 to a purpose built offroader.

[Kellis135]

Been through a lot of changes in 6 years. Getting better every time I touch it.[emoji869]
I bought this truck for 300 bucks with a blown auto trans and wasn't running. Didn't have much thought to keeping it long but it happened lol. Got another trans and got it running. Found out the 7.5 was welded and thought it was fine at the time. Got it somewhat reliable and drove it for a while, took some back road trips that weren't anything special. Ended up cutting the back half off the roof and thought it was cool until I went through the qualifier at our local off road trails and the windshield spidered. After that I tried to sell it with no luck lol. Finally broke down and went to the junkyard and found a complete cab from an 84 2wd ranger and swapped cabs while keeping all the bronco ii wiring inside and out. Next step was doing a 5 speed swap. After that I didn't really take it off road much as the front end had seen better days. Decided on a Dana 30 out of a yj wrangler and a disc brake 8.8. Worked killer on and off road. Eventually got tired of the fading 2.9 and pulled it all apart again.
I was originally going to run the d30 and 8.8 after the v8 swap for a while but after all the breaks I had with just the 2.9 I figured I should upgrade. Found a good deal on some super duty axles. Dana 50 and a sterling 10.5. Went with 3 link on coilovers after watching what my cousins Toyota could do compared to my leaf setup. I went with foa 2.5 14" with spring rates of 250 and 300 with medium heavy valving.
After some brake line mods I realized that the b2 master probably wasn't going to perform the way I wanted it to. Then i did some research and I picked up a 99 dodge 2500 gasser master and with a bit of push rod modification it bolted right to the booster.
Ended up picking up a whole ranger for 400 bucks that had a running 351w in it. Tore the motor down and did head gaskets, timing set etc. Bought a holley 670 truck avenger carb hoping that it will do well off road. High rise intake, hei distributor, eBay special shorty headers. Deleted the mechanical fuel pump as I plan to run the low pressure in tank pump and a regulator.
I like having a manual but it got tiring trying to shift going through rocky areas so I decided on a c6 out of an 80s f 150. Everything was very tight going in but with some frame mods and plating and cutting the drive train fit perfect.
The next battle was the steering. Tossed around ideas for going around the headers with the intermediate shaft until the guys were drinking in the shop one night and joked about putting a Toyota steering box on. Well, it worked perfect. I was able to stuff it far forward on the frame and with a ujoint up top on the intermediate shaft was able to run a straight piece of 3/4 rod and clear the headers and shock tower with room to spare, well a little lol.

I'll finish this rundown soon.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

This is absolutely beautiful. Gives me hope for mine. Well done sir!!!!

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[Jim Oaks]

Looks good!!

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Looks great!

How long have you had it? Any backstory on it?

 

[Kellis135]

Looks great!

How long have you had it? Any backstory on it?

Had it 6 years, got it as a b2 with a blown tranny. Didn't run. Got it running drove it for a bit and then cut the back roof off. Then couldn't stand how ugly it was so I found the complete ranger cab for 400 from junkyard. Drove it for a few weeks then it got torn apart and a d30 leaf SAS went in with an 8.8. Had it like that for a few years with some minor upgrades here and there. Then the v8 idea came to me and I bought the axles to handle the extra horsepower.

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[Mightyfordranger]

I like this.. Nice and short plenty of power. Would prolly smoke those...35s?? If ya stood on it hard enough.

 

[Grunizzle]

Yep, I love it! I have wanted to do a build like this! What is the wheelbase?

 

[Kellis135]

I like this.. Nice and short plenty of power. Would prolly smoke those...35s?? If ya stood on it hard enough.

38.5 11 boggers

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[Kellis135]

Yep, I love it! I have wanted to do a build like this! What is the wheelbase?

103.5

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[Macneil87]

I like the work you’ve done. Gives me hope that I can get this crap done to my 98 eventually when the little guy is a bit older.

I work on a fleet of fords. Already have my eyes on a 60 out of an 03. We have an odd ball GM or two. We’ll be scrapping one with a 14 bolt FF with disks that I’d like to bring home too.

Any more pics of your 3 link? (Frame mounts, did you use tube and Heims?)


Nice work!


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[Kellis135]

I like the work you’ve done. Gives me hope that I can get this crap done to my 98 eventually when the little guy is a bit older.

I work on a fleet of fords. Already have my eyes on a 60 out of an 03. We have an odd ball GM or two. We’ll be scrapping one with a 14 bolt FF with disks that I’d like to bring home too.

Any more pics of your 3 link? (Frame mounts, did you use tube and Heims?)


Nice work!


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Barnes 3 link kit with 7/8 heims, 2 inch by 1.5 id links and 1.5 by 1 inch id panhard

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[Jim Oaks]

Need some good poser shots off-road somewhere.

 

[Macneil87]

Nice. Thanks!


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