My 2wd to 4wd ranger project . . . some pics . . .

[treeguy]

This is after I removed the donor Dana 28 axle to put it on the other Ranger. I basically repeated the same steps as before except I had some clearance issues and had to remove the tires to pull out the axle from the front . . . I anticipated this so I placed the jack stands behind the front wheels . . .

 

[treeguy]

Here is the donor Dana/Spicer 28 in need of TLC (I know more like an upgrade!) so . . .

 

[treeguy]

. . . I sanded it and then hit it with a wire brush & sprayed copious amounts of degreaser on it and wiped it down with a clean cloth . . . now its ready for some primer . . .

 

[treeguy]

. . . another shot . . . still needs primer!

 

[treeguy]

All primed and ready to go !

 

[treeguy]

. . . another angle . . .

 

[treeguy]

Now its all painted up . . . I was trying to conserve paint as I will be needing it later when we weld in the 4wd crossmember . . .

 

[treeguy]

Nothing quite like a polished turd!

 

[treeguy]

This is what the 2wd crossmember looks like when you have ground off the rivets and pounded the top ones out . . . kinda fun . . .

 

[treeguy]

This is the crossmember I am after, notice the differences between the 2wd and the 4wd! I admit this would be sooooo much easier if it wasn't for this particular step . . .

 

[treeguy]

This is a picture of my bro-in-law with a torch preparing to 'sweat' or melt out the weld that holds the crossmember to the frame. A quick question . . . I was searching the forum last night and some folks posted that you don't have to spread the frame rails to remove the crossmembers . . . can anybody explain how they did that? I am at that point where I want to do this as quickly as I can as this part is holding up my progress . . . Thanks!

 

[treeguy]

More torching on the crossmember . . .

 

[treeguy]

I had the 14" rims ID opened up a little so the front hub will fit comfortably and so I could use the 4 practically new tires that were on the 2wd . . . its always nice to save money . . .

 

[treeguy]

Pulling the engine to get access to 4wd front axle and crossmember . . .

 

[jhammel85]

A ton of good work!