Has Anyone put a Hitch Receiver on the front of a first gen 4X4 Ranger (1983-1988)??

[GingerKing13]

hell yeah man very nice, the bump steer won't be too bad if you keep the sway bar however, if you drop the sway bar like I did and do not like constantly fucking with the wheel going down the road then grab a stabilizer kit from rough country or skyjacer. I also went with rough country 2 inch springs in the front and N3 shocks all the way around with a custom leaf pack in the rear to level from a tacoma. I too want a 302 but I just rebuilt this 2.9 so ima drive her in the ground before I kick my ass swapping all that shit over. Do you plan on going carbureted or Fuel injected? I also don't know which trans I would swap to I currently have the FM146 and its been a damn champ, I learned to drive stick in it 6 years ago next month.

 

[tw205]

hell yeah man very nice, the bump steer won't be too bad if you keep the sway bar however, if you drop the sway bar like I did and do not like constantly fucking with the wheel going down the road then grab a stabilizer kit from rough country or skyjacer. I also went with rough country 2 inch springs in the front and N95 shocks all the way around with a custom leaf pack in the rear to level from a tacoma. I too want a 302 but I just rebuilt this 2.9 so ima drive her in the ground before I kick my ass swapping all that shit over. Do you plan on going carbureted or Fuel injected? I also don't know which trans I would swap to I currently have the FM146 and its been a damn champ, I learned to drive stick in it 6 years ago next month.

I went all out with skyjacker 6” brackets and springs up front. Skyjacker 6” springs out back. Wish I’d stuck with 4” out back to level it. She sits too raked for my liking. Injection would be nice but it will depend on the size of my wallet. She originally had the FM146 but the bearing were rattling. Swapped it with an explorer flywheel,clutch,starter and M50D R1 trans. Seemed to actually run thru the gears better with the new trans. Love a manual trans. Aka millennial anti theft device. No offense intended. Sooo many people now day have never driven a stick.

 

[GingerKing13]

HAHA none taken friend I've only ever driven manuals except for an 85 s10 and I hated the damn thing. The M5od-R1 has different gearing than the FM146 and lighter fluids which should equal less drag, I have heard mixed things on the M5OD-R1 same with the FM146 but it hasn't given me any major issues yet so were still in the clear other than an issues with the clutch master cylinder they're such a bitch to bleed.

 

[tw205]

Tryin to keep the fluid in the trans on the M50D is the biggest problem. Sealed the rubber caps with RTV. So far so good. Been fortunate on the bleeding thing. Cussed and swore for a minute and that seemed to fix it. Who knew?

 

[GingerKing13]

Tryin to keep the fluid in the trans on the M50D is the biggest problem. Sealed the rubber caps with RTV. So far so good. Been fortunate on the bleeding thing. Cussed and swore for a minute and that seemed to fix it. Who knew?

My pedal is very soft and it doesn't seem to engage until the pedal is 3/4 of way out on a brand new clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel. When I crack the valve on the slave cylinder to bleed fluid just would not come out. The clutch still works for now but I am not sure how much more wheeling I will get out of it before it quits engaging.

 

[Shran]

one last question on building my own, How long was the 2" receiver tube you used? Im think 9" or maybe 12"? Im leaning more toward the 12" I guess I could always cut it down if needed but just curious on what you used.

Oh boy, I really don't remember. To be completely honest I'm not sure it was even an actual receiver tube... I think I had two pieces of angle iron that I welded together in a square and drilled a hole in the appropriate spot. Like I said, homemade, lol. But I would imagine 12" would be better, you want it to stick out a ways to get the pin through, or have it be recessed and the mount far enough away from the bumper that you can get your hand in.

 

[tw205]

My pedal is very soft and it doesn't seem to engage until the pedal is 3/4 of way out on a brand new clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel. When I crack the valve on the slave cylinder to bleed fluid just would not come out. The clutch still works for now but I am not sure how much more wheeling I will get out of it before it quits engaging.

Much like brakes you need someone to push the pedal as you open and close the bleeder. I’ve heard the high reservoir leads to the air in the line just going up. I’ve seen others say removing the line from the slave and elevating it above the reservoir but I’m not sure how to get past the bleed back valve. If you don’t have any trouble getting it into first and reverse at a stand still you should be good. When there is a problem that’s what it will do. Not engaging would be more of a clutch disk issue.

Edit. I think I said that right

 

[kunar]

find yourself an old reciever hitch, chop the brackets off and make it fit your needs. i did this one like 12 years ago