General questions from a general newbie.

[mercuryseven]

Hello everyone ~

Yet another Ranger owner has been created with my recent purchase of a 2002 Ranger EDGE V6 SuperCab. I bought this truck from it's original owner, a seventy seven year old man. It's got 40K original miles on the 3.0L and is 2WD.

This is actually my first post, I found this forum shortly after buying the truck just last weekend. I have extensive motocross experience and screwed around with sand-rails for a stretch but I have almost zero four wheel off road experience aside from many weekends riding shotgun in my friends Rubicon. I know lines and I know terrain but when when it comes to what works on a truck - what's functional and what's essentially useless - I simply don't have any idea.

Here are my intentions for the truck: A capable and fast pre-runner that will spend it's OHV life mainly on open desert trails in southern California and Baja. I was specifically looking for a 2WD, much to the dismay of my transfer-cased friends, so I'm aware of it's limitations and intend on keeping this realistic.

So far I've done essentially nothing except dropping in a K&N filter, switching to Mobil 1, installing NGK Laser plugs....the basic stuff. Oh and thanks for the Throttle Cable mod....I had about 3/4" slack in that cable.

First order of business: Tires. Any recommendations? Hard pack trails, gravel and clay mainly. This truck is a driver, so nothing too extreme for pavement obviously. Should I keep the stock rims for now? I see no reason not to but maybe I'm missing something....

Next up would be the suspension. I realize the only good way to do this is going to require a couple thousand dollars and more than a weekend - so this is for down the road - but is there any benefit to slapping on a set of Bilstiens or Ranchos to replace the stocks or am I not accomplishing much with that? Any other light mods that will make a big impact before I do a proper suspension rebuild?

I could go on an on here asking a million questions I can find answers to in this forum if I look, but I'm sort of after a condensed primer on a ranger pre-runner, such as what to simply replace, what can be upgraded or modded and where the major performance secrets are. I'm tempted to pull the engine in favor of a 4L, but I'm hearing that a sweetened and cold 3L is a pretty quick motor for my needs; again, I have no idea.This is a 40K engine; all of those Sunday church miles.

So lets hear some thoughts - is this a good base to start with or are we a little weak? I have two "knowledgable" and biased friends with two different takes on this: One says "waste of money - buy a v6 taco or v8 sierra - either way, must be 4X" and another who say's "If you've got around 7-10K, I can build that into a Full Stock Score truck you can handle the 1000 in...." Neither of these theories I believe but we'll see....

Thanks for any info and this resource, which I'm sure I"ll be glued to for a while....

 

[RangerSVT]

Tires, IMO, hands down the BFG KM2's. Quiet on the road, good on and off road manners, good traction just about anywhere, and long lasting for a mud tire. Suspension, I'd do the 63 flip swap out back for wheel travel, and Bilsteins on all corners, if its in your budget coilovers up front(You can get creative with this, as you can get the 14 or 16" travels and build you a hoop to support them up top, and later use a cantilever setup or swap your C/O's for longer ones). As far as power, your cheapest and easiest route would be to locate a 99-01 V8 explorer and swap the V8 into the Edge. It's about a 99% plug and play swap, especially with the auto trans (you didnt specify)... To recoupe some or all of your funds, I would grab the entire explorer as a donor, then swap the 3.0L into the ex and put it up for sale, or sell the 3.0L outright...When I did mine, I ended up with about $150 out of pocket for my V8 swap....You can't beat that. At the very least I'd do a 4.0L swap, I wouldnt invest a dime into the 3.0L, but thats my opinion on it...
SVT

 

[straycat]

Welcome, Bro. Post this in the Prerunner section. We have a great section for Preunners only (not just the 2wd lifted look). There are some great photos and discussions. It will cost a bunch to build a real prerunner for what you say you want to do. I am talking big money, Bro. You want to do the jumps and the rough hoops with crap stuff??? No Way, Jose!!! Check out this section.

 

[mercuryseven]

Welcome, Bro. Post this in the Prerunner section. We have a great section for Preunners only (not just the 2wd lifted look). There are some great photos and discussions. It will cost a bunch to build a real prerunner for what you say you want to do. I am talking big money, Bro. You want to do the jumps and the rough hoops with crap stuff??? No Way, Jose!!! Check out this section.

Thanks, I'll do that!

I think BIG money is relative but I'm hoping ten grand will get me at least moving along....fast.

 

[mercuryseven]

Tires, IMO, hands down the BFG KM2's. Quiet on the road, good on and off road manners, good traction just about anywhere, and long lasting for a mud tire. Suspension, I'd do the 63 flip swap out back for wheel travel, and Bilsteins on all corners, if its in your budget coilovers up front(You can get creative with this, as you can get the 14 or 16" travels and build you a hoop to support them up top, and later use a cantilever setup or swap your C/O's for longer ones). As far as power, your cheapest and easiest route would be to locate a 99-01 V8 explorer and swap the V8 into the Edge. It's about a 99% plug and play swap, especially with the auto trans (you didnt specify)... To recoupe some or all of your funds, I would grab the entire explorer as a donor, then swap the 3.0L into the ex and put it up for sale, or sell the 3.0L outright...When I did mine, I ended up with about $150 out of pocket for my V8 swap....You can't beat that. At the very least I'd do a 4.0L swap, I wouldnt invest a dime into the 3.0L, but thats my opinion on it...
SVT

That engine swap sounds appealing. Since we went down that path, I have a crate 302 - intended for YAM (Yet Another Mustang) but I'll probably drop it in if it's not a major hassle. Problem is, it's pretty stout - and analog

Hawaii Racing Built Ford Motorsports 302 Block bored .30 over. Brand New Casting
Ported and polished GT-40 P heads on Crane Cams rollers (All ARP hardware)
Edlebrock Performer RPM IM/Performer 650 Carb
Keith Black Rods and Pistons.
Ford Motorsport Crank - Comp Cam Magnum 282
Griffon Radiator

It's a crate motor, still in plastic and rated a 360-390HP depending on config.

Additionally, I have a 9" Ford built by Currie, Plumbed and mounted cross-drilled and slotted discs. It's a true locker.

Any of this is usable?

I like the Exploder idea though, seems a ton of the parts are interchangeable. And yes, my Ranger is auto.

 

[06RangerXLT]

That engine swap sounds appealing. Since we went down that path, I have a crate 302 - intended for YAM (Yet Another Mustang) but I'll probably drop it in if it's not a major hassle. Problem is, it's pretty stout - and analog

Hawaii Racing Built Ford Motorsports 302 Block bored .30 over. Brand New Casting
Ported and polished GT-40 P heads on Crane Cams rollers (All ARP hardware)
Edlebrock Performer RPM IM/Performer 650 Carb
Keith Black Rods and Pistons.
Ford Motorsport Crank - Comp Cam Magnum 282
Griffon Radiator

It's a crate motor, still in plastic and rated a 360-390HP depending on config.

Additionally, I have a 9" Ford built by Currie, Plumbed and mounted cross-drilled and slotted discs. It's a true locker.

Any of this is usable?

I like the Exploder idea though, seems a ton of the parts are interchangeable. And yes, my Ranger is auto.

yea the 9" will work, and so will the 302. get a build thread up in the RVB under construction section. mines there if you want some ideas.

 

[rangerbum]

That is an awesome start. The 302 and 9 inch were made for each other. If it doesn't offput your stang, use it. Will need to Fab spring perches for the axle, figure out what suspension you want, make sure you have the best tranny for the job, then, figure out what to do about the front suspension. It will take some math to do this right.

 

[93greenbomb]

if the truck has an 8.8 under it why cahnge my bro has an 86 ranger with a built 351 Cleveland in it and an 8.8 no problems!

 

[hoosier1104]

I have a 5.0 under the hood if you have questions.