Prerunner Preliminary Build List

[InfiniteDrive]

Hello!

New to these forums, but happy to be here!

I'll be purchasing a 2001 Ford Ranger XLT 2WD 5spd from my coworker hopefully here in the next few months, and I'm trying to get a preliminary build list started.

The goal for the truck will be a prerunner built for offroad/dune use, and will also be used when the weather outside doesnt allow me to take a lowered car out in. I'm not sure if I'll be launching her off into the air 60 feet but I'd like something that can handle a bit of abuse.

So far I've found the half bumper/skid plate, front fender replacement, as well as bedside replacements I need. As well as a long travel front conversion kit from Camburg with an awesome dual Bilstein shock setup, as well as chromoly tubular arms.

The world of long travel suspension/builds is all very new to me, I currently have a 2016 Camaro SS I'm slowly building and that territory is what I'm most familiar with. I'd really love some proper guidance as to what all I need to replace suspension/chassis-wise in order to make this a proper offroad beast.

Any and all advice is very welcomed and appreciated.

Thank you, and cheers! ✌

Posted this before in the wrong thread list, and couldn't find the delete button.

 

[JOLENE_THE_RANGER]

i believe the kit that runs the dual shocks is only for the ranger edge, not the xlt so you might wanna double check that.

the kit from camburg that uses a coilover will be your best bet if budget permits. 2wd and dunes means you need to keep speed up at all costs and a proper LT kit with a coilover and bypass shocks will help with that. aside from that a 8.8 or 9" (preferrably) rear end with a spool or locker would be a great upgrade to start looking for also. limited slip wont take you far in the sand. also, if its in the cards budget wise their spindle with race hub on it will be expensive at first, but the longevity and strength of the race hub will save you lots of prep time and headaches down the road.
i used to have to repack my factory ranger front hubs after every trip to the desert.

the most important thing pertaining to a prerunners longevity is fab work. tieing everything together and building an engine cage for the shock hoops so things dont start flexing themselves apart. same with the rear. ideally you want a chassis with the engine cage, cab cage and "bedcage" all tied together to minimize flex in the frame. flex makes cracks, cracks makes for more garage miles wish is obviously not the goal here haha.

 

[InfiniteDrive]

i believe the kit that runs the dual shocks is only for the ranger edge, not the xlt so you might wanna double check that.

the kit from camburg that uses a coilover will be your best bet if budget permits. 2wd and dunes means you need to keep speed up at all costs and a proper LT kit with a coilover and bypass shocks will help with that. aside from that a 8.8 or 9" (preferrably) rear end with a spool or locker would be a great upgrade to start looking for also. limited slip wont take you far in the sand. also, if its in the cards budget wise their spindle with race hub on it will be expensive at first, but the longevity and strength of the race hub will save you lots of prep time and headaches down the road.
i used to have to repack my factory ranger front hubs after every trip to the desert.

the most important thing pertaining to a prerunners longevity is fab work. tieing everything together and building an engine cage for the shock hoops so things dont start flexing themselves apart. same with the rear. ideally you want a chassis with the engine cage, cab cage and "bedcage" all tied together to minimize flex in the frame. flex makes cracks, cracks makes for more garage miles wish is obviously not the goal here haha.

The goal will be most likely a build that will take a few years before she's doing anything crazy off road, probably just beach visits and offroading in all honesty, once I have everything installed then I can get a bit crazier, but reliability and longevity is the goal here. Definitely dont want anything breaking on me prematurely lol.

I'll definitely be having to visit a fabricator, luckily there are a few near me that do super solid and badass work, but do you happen to have links to the parts you mentioned earlier?

Budget permitting, I'd like to get solid parts, the Camburg stuff I was looking at looked AMAZING in terms of quality, and 2k for their front conversion kit really isn't badly priced at all.

 

[JOLENE_THE_RANGER]

Yeah totally understandable. going fast offroad is not cheap by any means. i fully support upgrading as you go cuz ive done the same.
camburg makes an amazing product. top notch for sure i have a few friends that work there.
heres a link to the kit im talking about. gets rid of all ball joints on the front end and replaces them with uniballs or monoball pivots as they call them - much stronger
it will accomodate a 2.5 bypass and coilover.
https://camburg.com/shop/suspension/camburg-ford-ranger-xlt-2wd-98-12-l-t-kit/


they offer the same kit with their race hub and wilwood brake set up but the race hub spikes the price a few grand. if youre planning on keeping leaf springs out back and not wanting to link the rear end id say the stock ranger hub will be fine. just prep them often.

 

[InfiniteDrive]

Yeah totally understandable. going fast offroad is not cheap by any means. i fully support upgrading as you go cuz ive done the same.
camburg makes an amazing product. top notch for sure i have a few friends that work there.
heres a link to the kit im talking about. gets rid of all ball joints on the front end and replaces them with uniballs or monoball pivots as they call them - much stronger
it will accomodate a 2.5 bypass and coilover.
https://camburg.com/shop/suspension/camburg-ford-ranger-xlt-2wd-98-12-l-t-kit/


they offer the same kit with their race hub and wilwood brake set up but the race hub spikes the price a few grand. if youre planning on keeping leaf springs out back and not wanting to link the rear end id say the stock ranger hub will be fine. just prep them often.

Haha yup yup! I like buying quality stuff but admittedly I'm not mad rich, just work a lot. Its gonna take a bit but im okay with that. Gives me a reason to be that much more excited for those incoming checks!

For the link that you gave me, is that for front and rear shocks?

Definitely wanted to throw the leaf springs in the trash asap ?

 

[JOLENE_THE_RANGER]

no thats for the front shocks only

 

[InfiniteDrive]

Haha gosh dang. Any idea what I can do for rear? Or is that gonna be all custom fab work?

 

[JOLENE_THE_RANGER]

deaver leaf springs with a bed cage and some bypass shocks would work great for a while. or some sort of 4 link kit. those are much more involved with fab work and needing a fuel cell and stuff

 

[Pappawolff11]

I'm in a similar boat. Looking at the Deavers for the rear as well to keep initial costs down. What bumper and skid plate are you looking at?

 

[voogan]

btf fab has good starter kits (front) giant motorsports had a daily driver link kit, ie keep bed or most of it, stock fuel tank etc. last time i looked (like 4 years ago) was around $5-6k