ranger drift truck build advice

[wgh1311]

im going to be turning my 94 ranger splash 2wd into a drift truck.
im going to installing a rear end with disc brakes and a l/s with 3.73 or higher ratio.
rear brakes will only have one caliper per side with only a hydro brake connected.
the engine is a 4.0 with just over 100k miles (same as tranny)
transmission is an automatic. i do not have plans to swap it. i do plan on fabricating a better way to cycle through the gear limiter
the truck will be lowered 4r/3f inches
i will be making a cage/rollbar for the bed along with steel boxes to better distribute weight


im looking for advice on what else i should do or not do to it to make it into a fun drift vehicle
ik it wont be the best thing on the track, but thats not what im looking for.


thanks.
i will probably post pic of the truck through out the build once i start it

 

[Josh B]

I'm not in the know about a lot of stuff here so don't get the wrong impression about the site, there is a lot of information to be found on it, and if you don't mind my asking, what is a drift truck?

The only winter I ever spent up north was the last "century" blizzard they had there in 77 and I spent most of that on the SD plains about 5 miles from the ND line. The only thing I recall about drifts is that I do not wish to be in one

 

[wgh1311]

I'm not in the know about a lot of stuff here so don't get the wrong impression about the site, there is a lot of information to be found on it, and if you don't mind my asking, what is a drift truck?

The only winter I ever spent up north was the last "century" blizzard they had there in 77 and I spent most of that on the SD plains about 5 miles from the ND line. The only thing I recall about drifts is that I do not wish to be in one

drift truck as in a truck made to drift or slide around a track

 

[Blmpkn]

Manual swap and a spool/locker. Not gonna be a great drift vehicle with an auto and only a lsd. Lowered, stiff rear swaybar.. yeet stickers..

 

[wgh1311]

Manual swap and a spool/locker. Not gonna be a great drift vehicle with an auto and only a lsd. Lowered, stiff rear swaybar.. yeet stickers..

i wish i could do a manual swap but simply wont have the garage space/ time as i have a different build going on rn as well. also ive thought about a locking rear end. is there any locking rear end i can get off a different vehicle that would work?

 

[Blmpkn]

i wish i could do a manual swap but simply wont have the garage space/ time as i have a different build going on rn as well. also ive thought about a locking rear end. is there any locking rear end i can get off a different vehicle that would work?

If you can't do a manual swap... installing a torque converter with a (much) higher stall speed would be super beneficial. I have a feeling such products are probably pretty limited for whatever auto trans you have though, unfortunately. Regardless, go as low as you possibly can with the gears. 3.73 probably wouldn't cut it. 4.11 mabey... 4.56 would be better. A MANUAL valve body would be extremely beneficial too, a basic shift kit would leave a lot to be desired.

I don't believe there's a drop-in axle to fit your truck that has a real&true LOCKER in it either.. a spool can't be much more than 100$ or so though.. and if your changing gears.. the carrier has to come out anyways so.. purpose built rig gets purpose built right?

 

[Ranger850]

IMO the 3.0 Vulcan would be a better drift motor. It is a high RPM motor and would would probably do better with a manual trans, but HEY, you work with what you got.

 

[stmitch]

The auto is going to make controlling wheel speed super difficult.

Definitely get the biggest rear sway bar you can, and maybe even remove the front bar if it's not driven on the street.

Dropping the front should give you plenty of negative camber, which isn't a bad thing other than wearing tires out quickly (but it's a drift truck, so tire life probably isn't a huge concern).

Explorer rear axle would give you the drop you want, and they're pretty easy to find with limited slip difs and disc brakes

 

[2Krngr]

The A4LD are not good transmissions to begin with, it is going to burn up very quickly, they aren't going to hold up to any amount of abuse no matter how many trans coolers you install. You are much better off to just do the manual swap.

The steering gear box is also going to be a major burden, the 98+ rack and pinion is what you'd really want, but would require a frame swap, but you would also gain the SLA suspension and ditching the Ibeams as well which would be a major improvement.

Getting everything off the rear of an AWD 5.0 Explorer is the way to go. 31 spline, LSD, 3:73, Disc Brakes, Rear Sway Bar, 4" Drop, and those models also had Traction bars and lateral pinion dampers that can be installed on the ranger as well which will help control axle wrap and wheel hop. My local yards would only charge about $250 to take every bit of it. (check the axle tags, there are a few of the AWD 5.0's that had 4:10's, but not as common)

Splashes already had drop springs so combining that with a 4" drop explorer axle, you absolutly will need a bolt-in C-notch.

It will be a fun truck regardless, just keep your expectations very low, because a solid axle, ibeam, gearbox steering, auto, low rpm 4.0 is never going to perform close to even a ragged out stock N/A KA S13.