RESCUE RANGER ~ ForOffRoadDriving

[ForOffRoadDriving]

This is my build thread dedicated to my first ranger and the evolution it has gone through.

The Rescue Ranger started life out as a $250 truck that i bought in high school (2004) that needed a clutch. I learned the "tricks of the ranger trade" on this truck and it also started me down the path to custom fabrication of everything.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

I had gotten everything the way i wanted it when tragedy struck. on my way to work one winter morning some careless owners took my ranger away from me. in an instant i found myself locking up my brakes and doing a 55mph slide as i saw not one but two horses jump out of the bushes only a few car lengths ahead of me. i closed my eyes and was suddenly stopped by the first horse, and then somehow managed to slide over top of the second horse leaving a chewed up mess of guts and poop. it turs out the owners had a habit of NOT locking their gate so that the horses could freely raom the yard and come up to the kitchen window where the owners would feed them table scraps....WTF!? heres what i was left with after the wrecker brought my truck home

 

[fordwheelinman]

Cant you sue them on grounds of misconduct or recklessness or something???

 

[ZMan]

man thats pretty messed up.

 

[Bronco_Chuck]

man i did that identical wheel lock slide in my B2 yesterday due to alot of rubber necking CO drivers. but luckly i didnt hit anything but a small brush. thats too bad about the truck but now you dont have to wory about dents on the trail any more. and are you alright, i mean im sure it couldnt have felt good hitting something that big that fast?

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

luckily things were going my way the previous week and i was able to pick up this nice genII for $60!! it had a worn out 2.3l (puffing black smoke) and a blown A4LD but i figured it would be a good parts truck.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

after the the run in with the horses i was pretty distraught but i quickly sucked it up and started ripping everything apart to build myself a "new" truck. this was my first real "car project" as my plans were to do an engine swap (crashed motor into the new truck), A4LD to M5OD swap, rear axle swap (4.10 gears from the auto truck to 3.73 from the manual), along with other odds and ends that i had yet to know about.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

the first step in the build was to cut off the hood because it was smashed shut and the latch was destroyed.

heres the clean and 140,000 mile blown out 2.3l

heres the 170,000 mile crashed but still functional 2.3l

and heres where i spent alot of time!

Ill trade you one blown A4LD for a working M5OD.........ok deal!

and the leftovers:

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

after everything was working right, it was time to do some suspension upgrades. new brakes, dot 3 fluid, and shocks and springs gave me a nice tight ride again.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

my bumpers were not in the best of shape after my original paint job, so i redesigned the "horse whisperer" and gave it a coating of underbody spray (that stuff was way too soft and peeled off easily)

i also got some new mustang seats and the junkyard and decided to get rid of the stained up fabric on the door panels and make some custom diamond plate door inserts to replace them.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

took some pictures of my interior with those seat covers on (i really dont know why i liked those things, they look so tacky now) , a new pioneer head unit,and my new light switch configuration.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

heres some pictures of the center console speaker box i made for the truck. the box is divided into separate ported boxes via the bottom board of the cubby hole. it has 2-8" pyramid audio subs and an 200w MTX road thunder amplifier.

 

[BlackBII]

I like the diamond plate!

Sucks about your truck man.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i made a "cold air intake" by making a template for the MAF sensor and welding it to a piece of 3" aluminum pipe. it was cool for about a week, when i realized that becuase it was louder i kept putting my foot into it to get the sound and my gas milage went down a bit. then deciding factor to ditch it was when i went 2 tracking and drove through a big puddle and soaked it.

this was after my 2 track adventure and 15 or so miles of back road.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

a few pictures of the interior on a random day

random pictures on another random day