new guy saying hi -- long post intro haha

[stackz]

just doing the obligatory 1st post here lol.

my woman left for greener pastures and took the mountie with her so I'm truckless and looking.

I figured I'd grab up a ranger since I can get them on the cheap and do a 5.0 swap into it.

anyway, figured I'd ask the noob questions and see if people couldnt help steer me in the right direction. oh yeah, and I'm not new to drivetrain swaps and am not afraid of wiring or hacking/welding so dont worry about that lol.

anyway, I've been browsing the v8 conversion forum and just wanna make sure I've got some things straight...and also wanna make sure I pick up the correct base-truck to start with.

basically, I want a truck to tow my boat with and a car here and there whenever I buy a new project haha.

I'm looking at picking up a 95-99 4x4 ranger as I like the dash layout (reminds me of my mountie sigh). I dont want another mountie as I'd rather have a bed at this point as I'll be getting into some house remodeling, etc.

I want an extended cab truck as well. I'd like to get a flareside but I dont see any. was flareside not available from 95-99 on extended cab 4x4 trucks?? which would be the better one to start with, 2.3 or 3.0 v6?? I would assume the v6 would have a better suspension under it??

was reading in the v8 conversion forum that you can swap the 5.0 and full-time awd transmission from a mountie into the ranger. this is pretty much what I'd like to do and I want to keep it efi and use the awd which I think would help me better on the slick boat ramps

anyway, just wanna get some responses before I go any deeper into this, thanks guys!!

 

[WhiteBroncoII2WD]

just doing the obligatory 1st post here lol.

my woman left for greener pastures and took the mountie with her so I'm truckless and looking.

I figured I'd grab up a ranger since I can get them on the cheap and do a 5.0 swap into it.

anyway, figured I'd ask the noob questions and see if people couldnt help steer me in the right direction. oh yeah, and I'm not new to drivetrain swaps and am not afraid of wiring or hacking/welding so dont worry about that lol.

anyway, I've been browsing the v8 conversion forum and just wanna make sure I've got some things straight...and also wanna make sure I pick up the correct base-truck to start with.

basically, I want a truck to tow my boat with and a car here and there whenever I buy a new project haha.

I'm looking at picking up a 95-99 4x4 ranger as I like the dash layout (reminds me of my mountie sigh). I dont want another mountie as I'd rather have a bed at this point as I'll be getting into some house remodeling, etc.

I want an extended cab truck as well. I'd like to get a flareside but I dont see any. was flareside not available from 95-99 on extended cab 4x4 trucks?? which would be the better one to start with, 2.3 or 3.0 v6?? I would assume the v6 would have a better suspension under it??

was reading in the v8 conversion forum that you can swap the 5.0 and full-time awd transmission from a mountie into the ranger. this is pretty much what I'd like to do and I want to keep it efi and use the awd which I think would help me better on the slick boat ramps

anyway, just wanna get some responses before I go any deeper into this, thanks guys!!

I don't mind being the first to say hello to you I know I saw I really nice flare side extended cab the other day, a 93 or 94 I believe. Personally, I have a favoring outlook to the third generation Ranger, one I like the body style, two I like having an EEC-IV running the show and three I like not having an air bag. Having said that, you can still find get a third generation 95 to 97 with all the great looks and have an EEC-V and of course air bags which may be better for your future project of molding it with a mountie. To answer your question, yes, I do believe that flare side was available from 95-98 with extended cab and 4x4, though if it's not you're going to swap from a mountie anyway.

 

[stackz]

To answer your question, yes, I do believe that flare side was available from 95-98 with extended cab and 4x4, though if it's not you're going to swap from a mountie anyway.

you mean the dash assembly also getting swapped to the earlier years?

I still cant find any extended cab with flareside though sigh...

are the beds interchangeable from the flareside to the extended cab???

 

[mkpecor]

the suspension on all 1997 and older are the same no matter what motor it has, same with 1997 and newer. yes you can change the bed but the truck getting the step side bed has to be a short box IIR. why dont you find a ranger with a 4.0 in it and hop it up with some after market parts and it will tow any thing you want. read in the tech library at top of the page and you will find all that is needed. good luck. and welcome to TRS

 

[stackz]

the suspension on all 1997 and older are the same no matter what motor it has, same with 1997 and newer. yes you can change the bed but the truck getting the step side bed has to be a short box IIR. why dont you find a ranger with a 4.0 in it and hop it up with some after market parts and it will tow any thing you want. read in the tech library at top of the page and you will find all that is needed. good luck. and welcome to TRS

mainly because i hate the 4.0 v6 lol. had one in my old 92 explorer and every year I'd have to head to the u-pull and rip heads off 6 or 7 trucks before I could find one that wasnt cracked between the valves to replace the driver side head as #3 always cracked between the valves....

that and I love my 5.0 engines. got several mustangs I'd like to tow around to various events and why not throw one of my spare engines in the truck as well.