Need new entire frame for 2001 Ford Ranger extended or doublecab XLT v8 swapped What are my options?

[Rick W]

Thanks for your reply
I don't believe in kicking a man when he is down.

The man who i purchased the truck from for 6500$ is a talented Mechanic, because my Mechanic said that the v8 swap was the best that he had ever seen done. He is a 35 year Mechanic who left his last job because the person he was working for was ripping people off so he decided to leave. So He is currently not working.

He sold me the truck with frame damage but i don't think he knew the truck had frame damage. The owner before him had caused the frame damage and didn't tell him. So he may or may not have known there was frame damage. Anyway i forgive him either way

I asked for my money back and i wanted to give the truck back along with the 5000 $ i put into it, I was going to just take it as a loss, but He had already spent the money on bills cause hes not working. He offered to fix the truck for free but i don't think he should be spending his time fixing my truck. I think he should be just taking care of himself you know. I like the guy i think hes cool. So that is the real reason i wouldn't want to burden the man to fix the truck.

Plus i am not sure if he can even fix the truck on his own. I don't know if he would have any help to do it. As you were saying it could be dangerous and they could get hurt doing it on there own.

You didn’t grow up around where I grew up did you?

 

[SlugStang8997]

it's not all that hard to remove the bed, then the rear axle, then the rear section of the frame using an engine hoist, a couple jack stands,
and some wood for cribbing plus a bed lifting frame.
it's easier if 2 or more work on it but I can assure you 1 person can do it. full and creative use of levers and other simple tools is required.

any body shop can handle a rear half frame swap.
according to a "reliable source" so can a 71 year old retired guy with back issues, in the rust belt..

frames can be shipped. that auto restoration TV show in Virginia had a 70s chevy frame shipped in from Arizona a few years ago.


I'm not quite up the4 level of some guys here, but this is an example of what can be done in a driveway by 1 guy.


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granted I didn't need to be careful with the old cab, but as the commercial says,,,,, imagine the possibilities

Thanks for your reply
Good job with that work.
Its not that i don't think it's possible, i just don't think they should do it. They need to focus on other things and not be concerned with my truck. Family,job etc...

My brother and i are arguing whether i should even keep the truck. But i can't really sell it in the condition that its in or part the truck out cause its 2 different trucks.

I would like to put at least 10000$ into the truck and just keep it for myself. My bro wants me to just sell it for whatever i can get and move on to another truck. He is older than me and i respect my elders. He doesn't want me sinking money into this truck. Then there is the previous owner fixing the truck and whether or not i should go that route...I don't think i should go that route i think i should just fix the truck and sink my money and let the pieces fall were they may.

I was going to swap that frame and put a remanufactured like new crate engine in while im at it. And make that truck like new. Thats what i was thinking of doing.

 

[Rick W]

Thanks for your reply
Good job with that work.
Its not that i don't think it's possible, i just don't think they should do it. They need to focus on other things and not be concerned with my truck. Family,job etc...

My brother and i are arguing whether i should even keep the truck. But i can't really sell it in the condition that its in or part the truck out cause its 2 different trucks.

I would like to put at least 10000$ into the truck and just keep it for myself. My bro wants me to just sell it for whatever i can get and move on to another truck. He is older than me and i respect my elders. He doesn't want me sinking money into this truck. Then there is the previous owner fixing the truck and whether or not i should go that route...I don't think i should go that route i think i should just fix the truck and sink my money and let the pieces fall were they may.

I was going to swap that frame and put a remanufactured like new crate engine in while im at it. And make that truck like new. Thats what i was thinking of doing.

You’re doing all the right thinking. First, you’re asking a lot of questions before you spend any more money.

Second, be real careful about throwing good money after bad. If you live long enough, you fall in a hole or two. You never get out by digging deeper. And it’s easiest to get out if you have a friend or two pulling with you.

And let me be crystal clear on this one. Don’t spend money on the truck before you replace the frame. And I mean, replace it. It’s the foundation of everything. Once it’s bent, and then you bend it back, it just bends that much more easily. The way the steel is made, and the way the frame is assembled is designed to hold up to tremendous loads. But once it is actually damaged, it’s infinitely easier to damage it again.

If you love the truck, fix it right. Lord knows this whole website is about Ranger worship.

My two cents, hope it helps

 

[bobbywalter]

the new trucks are setup to be able to pull with hvac intact and if that is the case i definitely would do that...hell alot of ac systems are actually electric now and contained.

i have not seen this particular setup in detail. so planning on bingeing and purging the ac if it even has ac is just a thing in the cards.

 

[SlugStang8997]

the new trucks are setup to be able to pull with hvac intact and if that is the case i definitely would do that...hell alot of ac systems are actually electric now and contained.

i have not seen this particular setup in detail. so planning on bingeing and purging the ac if it even has ac is just a thing in the cards.

Thanks for your reply
The AC does work or at least it did work. It doesn't blow very cold anymore...compressor is worn out...

 

[SlugStang8997]

You’re doing all the right thinking. First, you’re asking a lot of questions before you spend any more money.

Second, be real careful about throwing good money after bad. If you live long enough, you fall in a hole or two. You never get out by digging deeper. And it’s easiest to get out if you have a friend or two pulling with you.

And let me be crystal clear on this one. Don’t spend money on the truck before you replace the frame. And I mean, replace it. It’s the foundation of everything. Once it’s bent, and then you bend it back, it just bends that much more easily. The way the steel is made, and the way the frame is assembled is designed to hold up to tremendous loads. But once it is actually damaged, it’s infinitely easier to damage it again.

If you love the truck, fix it right. Lord knows this whole website is about Ranger worship.

My two cents, hope it helps

Thanks for your reply
I really like the truck but i have only had it for a month or so. So i never really got to enjoy it. I bought it with the frame damage not knowing or unknowingly. I trusted the 35 year mechanic who sold it to me and they didn't say anything about frame damage. They went through all the trouble of swapping in a v8 and making the truck CA Legal so i don't think they knew there was frame damage. Or they did know and really needed the money. Either way i forgive them. Times are hard right now with inflation the way it is. The 6500$ i gave him a month ago for the truck is already gone.

So i am just going to move forward and make the best of the situation. I have another car so i am not completely screwed and i have some money left and some money coming in so im doing okay.

I will fix the truck the right way if im going to do it. Im considering dropping a new remanufactured crate engine in while im at it. So im estimating spending 10Gs in 3 months from now on the truck. Unless i change my mind.

So who/or where would be the best place to get a remanufactured crate engine from? I found JEGS and Reman Engines with the engine in my truck. They both offer similiar pricing with a warranty on the motor.
5.0 v8 from 2000-2001 Mercury Mountineer

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Thanks for your reply
I really like the truck but i have only had it for a month or so. So i never really got to enjoy it. I bought it with the frame damage not knowing or unknowingly. I trusted the 35 year mechanic who sold it to me and they didn't say anything about frame damage. They went through all the trouble of swapping in a v8 and making the truck CA Legal so i don't think they knew there was frame damage. Or they did know and really needed the money. Either way i forgive them. Times are hard right now with inflation the way it is. The 6500$ i gave him a month ago for the truck is already gone.

So i am just going to move forward and make the best of the situation. I have another car so i am not completely screwed and i have some money left and some money coming in so im doing okay.

I will fix the truck the right way if im going to do it. Im considering dropping a new remanufactured crate engine in while im at it. So im estimating spending 10Gs in 3 months from now on the truck. Unless i change my mind.

So who/or where would be the best place to get a remanufactured crate engine from? I found JEGS and Reman Engines with the engine in my truck. They both offer similiar pricing with a warranty on the motor.
5.0 v8 from 2000-2001 Mercury Mountineer

If it were me....id get your engine rebuilt over buying a remanned crate motor.

Youll know it was done right, and you can have it built how you want.

As far as frame swaps being dangerous...i wouldnt look to far into that. An oil change could be dangerous if you were dumb enough lol. I plan on at some point pulling the body on my 87 and fully plan to do it myself. A engine hoist or gantry crane...you'd be fine. Hardest part would be the cab.

 

[SlugStang8997]

If it were me....id get your engine rebuilt over buying a remanned crate motor.

Youll know it was done right, and you can have it built how you want.

As far as frame swaps being dangerous...i wouldnt look to far into that. An oil change could be dangerous if you were dumb enough lol. I plan on at some point pulling the body on my 87 and fully plan to do it myself. A engine hoist or gantry crane...you'd be fine. Hardest part would be the cab.

Thanks for your reply
I thought about that 2 doing a rebuild of my engine i currently have. It is supposed to have about 128000 miles on it so i don't think i would need a full rebuild only a partial rebuild. But not sure if i could make any changes to the motor and keep it CA smog legal.

I don't have any paper work on the motor to show the mileage. The swapped motor that is. So the whole truck buying deal wasn't good. No paper work on the donor vehicle just the vin numbers but i couldn't run them because the truck had been crushed so that info is lost. So i don't know the exact mileage on the motor/engine transmission and rear end

So the 128000 is an estimate i came up based on the vin,... running the vin of the truck, the actual truck vin. I got the last recorded mileage on the vehicle before the swap and just added that to what the odometer says now. And i came up with about 128000 miles. Cause the donor vehicle was suppost to have 125000 miles on it originally. With that being said i don't trust the Previous owner as much anymore because they sold me a truck with frame damage so i do bring that into question. The previous owner had the truck for about a year and did the swap.

They welded up underneath that truck i can't see how they missed the frame damage when they were doing the rear end and installing the fuel pump. It is possible they didn't notice and the truck does drive straight and does not pull but that frame is bent up and welded. 35 year mechanic i would think would notice something is wrong. The Bed of the truck was all bent up. But that damage was done by the owner before him who had been in construction.

I had 2 shops tell me the frame was okay before actually getting the frame measured and finding the damage. This situation has been frustrating to say the least and it has stressed me out a little.

So that is another reason to just drop another motor in and start from 0 instead of rebuild

Or just dump this truck all together and start over. But i don't think i will find a v8 swapped Ranger that CA legal BAR certified and passes smog again that i could pick up for 10G's at least not for a long time.

I would like to help the previous owner out some how cause there not doing well and i like them still they seem cool to me.

 

[Thedrill]

Hi to everyone reading this thread.

I am the previous owner who built the Ranger with the CA V8 Bar conversion.

When I bought the truck it had a bit of a Cab lean on the driver’s side that I thought was the body mounts, as the previous owner was in construction and he told me he had overloaded it with his tools and materials.

The original 3.0 was knocking, so I swapped it out for a good running Mountaineer V8 / running gear over about a month or so, doing all the work myself.

Once the truck was finished, It was inspected at the local Bureau of Auto repair and passed a California test, The truck drove well and stopped and steered perfectly straight.

As in the California summer the bills piled up and as I’m not currently employed, I had an opportunity to sell one of my vehicles and being on the Ranger forum, I saw someone wanting a V8 conversion and asked if he wanted to buy it from me, Kevin came over from chino and checked it out and we made a deal.

A week or so after buying the truck He texted me about the bed looking uneven to the cab, I told him to bring it back to me (this is before he poured all his money into it) so I could check out the cab droop and maybe replace the body mounts for him or shim the bed, It had to be something on the driver’s side rear as the gap between the bed and the cab was bigger at the top.

I have asked him many times to bring it back so I can look at it, but to no avail.

Now I know it has a crack in the frame at the rear from the video he sent to me, I have all the tools and the knowledge to repair the frame to a high standard and also Brace/plate the frame to be stronger than original, I have Time to do this as I am not working at this moment.

The offer still stands to fix it for you.

 

[SlugStang8997]

Hi to everyone reading this thread.

I am the previous owner who built the Ranger with the CA V8 Bar conversion.

When I bought the truck it had a bit of a Cab lean on the driver’s side that I thought was the body mounts, as the previous owner was in construction and he told me he had overloaded it with his tools and materials.

The original 3.0 was knocking, so I swapped it out for a good running Mountaineer V8 / running gear over about a month or so, doing all the work myself.

Once the truck was finished, It was inspected at the local Bureau of Auto repair and passed a California test, The truck drove well and stopped and steered perfectly straight.

As in the California summer the bills piled up and as I’m not currently employed, I had an opportunity to sell one of my vehicles and being on the Ranger forum, I saw someone wanting a V8 conversion and asked if he wanted to buy it from me, Kevin came over from chino and checked it out and we made a deal.

A week or so after buying the truck He texted me about the bed looking uneven to the cab, I told him to bring it back to me (this is before he poured all his money into it) so I could check out the cab droop and maybe replace the body mounts for him or shim the bed, It had to be something on the driver’s side rear as the gap between the bed and the cab was bigger at the top.

I have asked him many times to bring it back so I can look at it, but to no avail.

Now I know it has a crack in the frame at the rear from the video he sent to me, I have all the tools and the knowledge to repair the frame to a high standard and also Brace/plate the frame to be stronger than original, I have Time to do this as I am not working at this moment.

The offer still stands to fix it for you.

Thanks for your reply
I am still considering your offer to fix the truck. But i am still consider all my options first. In a few months i would have some money to fix it so i might do that along with some other things. I kinda see this as an opportunity to kinda rebuild the truck. I like projects that never end...I don't really have alot of hobbies out side of bicycle riding so a project truck is good for me. My brother doesn't want me to spend any money on the truck though so i haven't decided what to do yet. In the mean time was looking at a tow hitch for my Mustang so i could get a decent bike rack.
Thanks again

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Thanks for your reply
I am still considering your offer to fix the truck. But i am still consider all my options first. In a few months i would have some money to fix it so i might do that along with some other things. I kinda see this as an opportunity to kinda rebuild the truck. I like projects that never end...I don't really have alot of hobbies out side of bicycle riding so a project truck is good for me. My brother doesn't want me to spend any money on the truck though so i haven't decided what to do yet. In the mean time was looking at a tow hitch for my Mustang so i could get a decent bike rack.
Thanks again

Hopefully im not stepping out of line here...

But if it were me id let him fix it. Honestly if the truck drove good and all that stuff....itll be fine....and it sounds like you really like the truck.

Even IF (big if) the frame were to go out while driving...the chances of it causing some catastrophic incident are pretty low. Yeah its gonna drive funky, make alot of bad noises, etc etc but youre probably not going to go over a cliff in a fireball.

Go watch some tough truck videos where frames break. There is also a video on youtube where a guy bought an F150 (like an 04ish) with probably the worst rusted frame ive ever seen and went out TRYING to break it...jumped it, all sorts of stuff. The point of the video was to show the dangers of a rusted frame...and he pretty much proved the opposite. He even ran it into a tree.

Unless you plan on loading the thing to max payload everyday, and running it through a whoop course, i really wouldnt give it much thought.

Just my 2 cents. Take it as you will

 

[SlugStang8997]

I was wondering if you can PPF fi

Hopefully im not stepping out of line here...

But if it were me id let him fix it. Honestly if the truck drove good and all that stuff....itll be fine....and it sounds like you really like the truck.

Even IF (big if) the frame were to go out while driving...the chances of it causing some catastrophic incident are pretty low. Yeah its gonna drive funky, make alot of bad noises, etc etc but youre probably not going to go over a cliff in a fireball.

Go watch some tough truck videos where frames break. There is also a video on youtube where a guy bought an F150 (like an 04ish) with probably the worst rusted frame ive ever seen and went out TRYING to break it...jumped it, all sorts of stuff. The point of the video was to show the dangers of a rusted frame...and he pretty much proved the opposite. He even ran it into a tree.

Unless you plan on loading the thing to max payload everyday, and running it through a whoop course, i really wouldnt give it much thought.

Just my 2 cents. Take it as you will

Thanks for your reply
LOL haha
Any technical or Mechanical questions should be directed to Thedrill they built the truck....I just bought it...

You sound like my brother, he says just drive it, F it.

But idk, that shop told me the whole frame has got to go. I wish they would have been a little more technical with how bent it is. The cracks in back are a big problem but it is also bent and has rust damage. But after 23 years i would expect some rust damage that needs to be busted.

Might have to do a back half of the frame replacement at least with some straightening of the front. But i don't know about the strength of the frame after that. Might be best to do the whole thing

I asked this earlier does anyone know Fords Standards and procedures for frame fixing vs replacing or when to replace? I would like to read what Ford has to say about it. If Ford ever said anything at all. Is there a pdf manual or something.

I could go to another shop and get another opinion but there not free opinions. Not that many shops have frame machines and deal with frame damage in my area. Most shops seem to not even want to deal with my truck because of its age or because it is modified. Some shops won't touch it.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I was wondering if you can PPF fi

Thanks for your reply
LOL haha
Any technical or Mechanical questions should be directed to Thedrill they built the truck....I just bought it...

You sound like my brother, he says just drive it, F it.

But idk, that shop told me the whole frame has got to go. I wish they would have been a little more technical with how bent it is. The cracks in back are a big problem but it is also bent and has rust damage. But after 23 years i would expect some rust damage that needs to be busted.

Might have to do a back half of the frame replacement at least with some straightening of the front. But i don't know about the strength of the frame after that. Might be best to do the whole thing

I asked this earlier does anyone know Fords Standards and procedures for frame fixing vs replacing or when to replace? I would like to read what Ford has to say about it. If Ford ever said anything at all. Is there a pdf manual or something.

I could go to another shop and get another opinion but there not free opinions. Not that many shops have frame machines and deal with frame damage in my area. Most shops seem to not even want to deal with my truck because of its age or because it is modified. Some shops won't touch it.

You said 2 shops thought it was ok?

Shop #3 might just be trying to sell you a frame job.

Little story, years ago i had a 79 F150. Took it to a shop to have a exhaust flange fixed at the manifold.

Took it in, guy put it on the lift, looked at it, told me 150 bucks. I brought it back 3 days later...same guy, same lift, same shop came in and told me i couldnt drive the truck home because it was "unsafe".

Said it needed kingpins, tierods, and the steering box was falling off the frame. He also pulled the "no customers allowed in the shop" BS when i asked to see it. He said "its not safe i could let it off the rack and the steering go out"

So after some argueing, and threatning to report it stolen if he didnt give me my f***** keys, he let me sign a waiver to take it home. I paid him for the exhaust.

Took it home...yes the tie rods had a bit of slop (but not bad) and the rest was bullshit. He quoted me 1500 to fix the stuff that was "wrong".

So not saying they are trying to scare you into giving them a ton of money...but they might be.

 

[SlugStang8997]

You said 2 shops thought it was ok?

Shop #3 might just be trying to sell you a frame job.

Little story, years ago i had a 79 F150. Took it to a shop to have a exhaust flange fixed at the manifold.

Took it in, guy put it on the lift, looked at it, told me 150 bucks. I brought it back 3 days later...same guy, same lift, same shop came in and told me i couldnt drive the truck home because it was "unsafe".

Said it needed kingpins, tierods, and the steering box was falling off the frame. He also pulled the "no customers allowed in the shop" BS when i asked to see it. He said "its not safe i could let it off the rack and the steering go out"

So after some argueing, and threatning to report it stolen if he didnt give me my f***** keys, he let me sign a waiver to take it home. I paid him for the exhaust.

Took it home...yes the tie rods had a bit of slop (but not bad) and the rest was bullshit. He quoted me 1500 to fix the stuff that was "wrong".

So not saying they are trying to scare you into giving them a ton of money...but they might be.

Thanks for your reply
Sorry that happened to you
I will call that shop and get some more info on how bent my frame is?
Technical info like how bent it really is down to the mm if possible. They should be able to tell me that. I payed them to measure my frame

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Thanks for your reply
Sorry that happened to you
I will call that shop and get some more info on how bent my frame is?
Technical info like how bent it really is down to the mm if possible. They should be able to tell me that. I payed them to measure my frame

It wouldnt hurt.

and yeah...not all shops are out to be honest lol