new guy in need of some help

[bruster]

hey guys,
i joined this forum because there seems to be some knowledgeable people on here and i need people that can give me some inside intel. A few months ago my little brother past away. we closed his casket on his 19th birthday. after words i was given his 2001 ford ranger xlt 4x4. in his memory i am building his truck into something he would of killed to own. he like myself was a gear head. so far his truck has been completely dismantled. frame sand blasted primed and painted. i bought a 350 block had it bored .40 over and completely machined square to the world. i plan on stroking the motor and i will not be happy untill im at 500hp. i am now in the rebuild stage and i want to convert it to a 2wd. currently my questions are.... can i put 2wd spindles on the 4wd suspension? or is there an easier way of going about this? also the street rear end [8.8''] is going to be set up with 4:11 gears and i also bought a 9'' that we are going to set up with a spool and 5:26 gears for the strip. any ideas for trannys? to many options. thanks

 

[luftwaffle]

Sorry about your little brother man. I cant really help on your questions but that thing sounds like a beast. Any pics?

 

[RonD]

Sorry for your loss.

Since this is the introduction forum you might get a faster response to the Ranger questions in the general discussion forms
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2

There are people looking to convert 2wd to 4wd so you may find a local suspension swap partner

 

[adsm08]

Sorry to hear about your brother man, that sucks. Stick around here, ask good questions, search and read, and we will help you build on BA truck to honor his memory.


Now I have to get some quick clarification on something. Do you have a 350 (Chevy), or a 351 (Ford)?

If you have a 350 Chevy I'd get a turbo 350 or 400 auto. Those are pretty beefy transmissions.

If you have a 351 a trick-shift C6 would be nice.


Converting to 2wd will be a bit trickier. The knuckles are not the same. The 4x4 setup doesn't have real spindles, it has a bolt-on sealed bearing and hub assembly, and the front suspensions are different between the two. The easiest thing to do would be get 2wd Ranger Edge knuckles. The Edges were generally 2wd (I have seen a few 4x4s though) but had the 4x4 spring setup.

If you want to keep the 8.8 at all I would ditch the existing axle, look into the Explorer 8.8 swap. If you want to constantly change gear ratios between street and strip setups, I'd just get the 9" and two 3rd members. That is the real advantage of the Ford 9". The 31-spline 8.8 is actually the stronger axle.

 

[bruster]

i gotta a few of the tear down and getting the frame primed and painted but i gotta get them on my computer yet. when this is all said and done this will be a ten second truck or better. not being egotistical just determined.

 

[bruster]

adsm08

i have a 4 bolt main 350, and i plan on building two rear ends, the 8.8 for the street and the 9'' for the strip. figured it would be nice to have a back up instead of just switching gears, thanks everyone