tmr416's '99 XLT 4.0L 4x4 Build

[tmr416]

Hi everyone,

I've owned this truck for over 6 years now. I've driven it up and down I-5, around the Northwest to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and back, and back and forth across the country. I bought it in December 2018 with about 194,000 miles on the clock, and now it's at about 225K. It's been my daily driver, camping rig, and little off-road companion. It drove my wife and me from the church we got married in to our reception. I love this truck! I call it "Ranger." (Original name, I know...)

First thing I ever did was get a canopy for the bed and build a sleeping/camping platform in the back. Then, between 2020-21 I cranked the t-bars about 1.5-2 inches and did a front/rear suspension rebuild with Rancho shocks all around, Belltech shackles and new leaf springs. I bought some 33x10.5R15 BFG K02's with some black steelies and set off for a huge trip from Seattle to Idaho, Glacier Nat'l Park, down to Yellowstone, then Colorado, and all the way back through Wyoming. All together it was about 2 months on the road. The truck never missed a beat, but, this was where I learned that with bigger tires, stock gears (3.73's), and a stock radiator getting drenched in mud, I meet the limits of the stock cooling system.

I had a bummer of a moment trying to make it up Imogene pass in early August 2021 where I knew I just wasn't gonna get to the top without overheating. I felt frustrated because the truck was completely capable, the temps just kept rising too high. I vowed that I would learn as much as I could and build this thing into a proper off-roader one day!

In early 2022, I moved back to Boston where I grew up to go to graduate school. My wife and I drove the truck down to Utah and New Mexico and then east across Texas through Nashville and up to Massachusetts. I obsessively cleaned the underside of the truck through TWO Boston winters, and then drove it back across the country in the summer of 2023, this time, staying up north along I-90.

I've done all the maintenance, replacing wheel hubs, suspension, fluids, etc. etc. all myself over the last 6 years and have kept the truck running. This year, however, I knew I was living on borrowed time and that the time would ultimately come where I'd need to cut into the truck to keep it running.

Over the years I've done the following mods:
- Belltech 2" shackle lift
- Rancho shocks all around
- Affordable Offroad front winch bumper
- 33x10.5R15 BFG K02's
- 1.5-2" torsion crank
- Multiple camper builds in my canopy

The current restomod plan:

- Pull the engine and transmission, send the engine to the machine shop for a rebuild
- New-to-me transmission? Transmission rebuild? Need to investigate this. The trans is having issues - hard, grinding shifting.
- 4.88 gears front and rear, deliberating my options for lockers (just front? just rear? both? limited slip? true locker?)
- 5 inch Rough Country lift kit
- 3 inch body lift
- Power Stop Z36 brake kit
- 35x12.5R17 BFG K02's
- Badland Apex 12,000lb Winch
- Skyjacker rear 4" or 6" leaf springs

Of course, I daydream all the time about all the things I'd like to do to this truck longer term -- front coil over conversion? solid axle swap? All kinds of interior and camping mods... We all know we'd love to have unlimited time and money to build our dream trucks. I realize people always say "build your truck one time the way that you ultimately want it, and you'll save the most amount of money in the long run..." My ultimate dream would be SAS with 37's, but I don't have the skills yet to bring that to fruition this year. Maybe one day I will AFTER I've developed them through this build process.

Below are some photos of Ranger dating from when I first bought them through to the current day stripping them down in my garage.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[SenorNoob]

Nice ride. I look forward to more of it.

 

[DRanger024]

I would maybe think twice about the body lift. It’s going to get really tall for camping out of with an 8” lift. Im pretty sure you can squeeze 35’s under a 5” lift with the right wheel offset.

Nice truck!

 

[SenorNoob]

Honestly on that style, and considering you wanna go solid axle later. Maybe just the body lift for now? Shouldn't that clear the 35s with the big round wheel wells?

 

[sgtsandman]

Concerning the lockers, the Dana 35 SLA front axle the 1998 and up Rangers have don't handle lockers and big tires well. The axle itself is strong enough, it's the CV half shafts that tend to snap.

So, I wouldn't do more than a limited slip in the front. You need to get on a waiting list for them, unless you plan on going the Powertrax route, since places like Torsen only do limited runs on them every year. A front locker has limited use case scenarios anyway. Most times you will have it off because of the binding and greatly increased turning radius.

Putting a locker in the rear is a good move. There isn't a lot out there for the 8.8, 28 spline but there are some. You can get a lunch box locker, auto locker like one from Detroit, or and air actuated air locker from ARB.

 

[tmr416]

I would maybe think twice about the body lift. It’s going to get really tall for camping out of with an 8” lift. Im pretty sure you can squeeze 35’s under a 5” lift with the right wheel offset.

Nice truck!

Thanks for this tip... I was at the garage today and was just thinking about that. Plus, with 2 inches of lift and 33's I only had 6 inches of clearance to get in and out of the garage, so, I gotta make sure it can get out when I'm done working on it

 

[tmr416]

Concerning the lockers, the Dana 35 SLA front axle the 1998 and up Rangers have don't handle lockers and big tires well. The axle itself is strong enough, it's the CV half shafts that tend to snap.

So, I wouldn't do more than a limited slip in the front. You need to get on a waiting list for them, unless you plan on going the Powertrax route, since places like Torsen only do limited runs on them every year. A front locker has limited use case scenarios anyway. Most times you will have it off because of the binding and greatly increased turning radius.

Putting a locker in the rear is a good move. There isn't a lot out there for the 8.8, 28 spline but there are some. You can get a lunch box locker, auto locker like one from Detroit, or and air actuated air locker from ARB.

Very helpful, thanks for this info! Will probably do some research/shopping on those three options for the rear and pursue one of those options.

 

[tmr416]

Been working slowly but surely. My first time doing a project like this, so I just spend my Saturdays and Sundays taking my time and keeping track of all my parts and hardware as I go.

Since the last time I posted I've disconnected electrical, vacuum lines and exhaust. 99% sure I'm down to the stage where I can unbolt motor mounts and bell housing and be ready to pull it. I wanna pull the engine and transmission separately.

Only thing is the f*****g fan clutch nut won't come off!! Think I'm gonna have to get a cheap air compressor and air hammer and figure out a way to knock it loose once the motor is pulled. Any advice welcome.

Pulled the front diff. Honestly it looked better in there than I thought. The axle seals weren't in the greatest of shape and I was worried dirt or water might have gotten in there.

Ordered the Rough Country kit and it came in the mail! So my pile of parts is growing.

Next on my list is to wash all my parts and go through what I want to keep and repaint, or replace. My upper and lower control arms are fine, just need new bushings and ball joints.

After, once I keep stripping things from the frame and drop the rear axle, I'll get a wire wheel on it and start prepping the frame for paint. Any recs on how I should paint the frame are welcome - POR15?

Excited!

 

[sgtsandman]

Not to be a smart alec but are you turning the nut in the right direction? I believe the Ranger clutch fan nut uses a left hand thread.

 

[tmr416]

Not to be a smart alec but are you turning the nut in the right direction? I believe the Ranger clutch fan nut uses a left hand thread.

I think so? I'm pushing the wrench counter-clockwise when I try to loosen it. Should it turn clockwise?

 

[sgtsandman]

I think so? I'm pushing the wrench counter-clockwise when I try to loosen it. Should it turn clockwise?

Yes. I'm pretty sure that the threads are reverse thread from if you were in the driver's seat, not from where we would be normally facing while working on it. Opposite of the rotation that the engine makes when it's running.

 

[DRanger024]

Normal right hand threads on 4.0 ohv fan nut so counter clockwise to remove. I’m pretty sure my fan shroud even says it’s RH. I take mine off with an air hammer.

 

[tmr416]

Honestly on that style, and considering you wanna go solid axle later. Maybe just the body lift for now? Shouldn't that clear the 35s with the big round wheel wells?

I think I'm gonna go for the rough country lift... I pulled the trigger on ordering it after a couple beers last week (lol) and it just came in the mail. I might just keep my 33's, and save the money on new tires for a front axle one day? Think I'll just sell the body lift kit, too.

 

[tmr416]

Alright, another update to log. Pulled the engine and transmission this weekend! Felt super accomplished. It was my first time ever doing this kind of project on a car. My friend Mario has been helping me and I wouldn't be able to do this without a buddy to help out for sure.

Started off by scouring the engine bay and making sure everything connecting the motor to the body/frame was disconnected. The last ground, fuel line, and starter got removed. Disconnected the clutch line for the transmission and got the shifter off in the cab (took me a while to figure out how to get the lever off... used the M50D shop manual here on TRS but had to do my own process of thinking to figure out to wack the bolt out of it, HARD, after taking off the retaining nut). Then, Mario and I dropped the trans without a trans jack lol. We used to floor jacks and I basically bear hugged the thing and got it down.

We mounted up the 2 ton HF crane I got to the motor and got to yankin'. It took some finessing. Since the f******g fan is still on, I had to sawzall a few of the fins to make room so the back of the motor would clear the A/C lines. It was probably about 15 or so minutes of maneuvering the engine in the bay and going slow to get it hoisted, but we did it!!!

Spent the whole day there yesterday so after, we were pooped. Went to Easter service with my wife last night, came home, and passed the F out. Went back today after spending Easter morning with some friends and cleaned up the shop and got everything re-organized and cleaned up since Mario and I left last night dirty and dog tired.

I'm keeping all my hardware in different sized sandwich bags with labels. I think I'm staying pretty organized even though I'm usually not that great. Anyways, that's enough journaling on this for the night. Here's the pics! Thanks for tuning in you guys, I appreciate it!

The crane after we got it built up

Figuring out where we wanna bolt it up to the motor

Dropped the trans! This thing is heavy AF (anyone know how much they weigh?? My guess is at least 185 with the t-case on...)

Motor up and out! This thing is fiiiiiillllthhyyyyy

Empty bay

Resting place til we get it mounted to the stand for teardown.

Next up, removing rear axle and ordering diff parts. As a matter of fact... I have lots of parts to order... funny how these projects progress and one doesn't think about how much $$$ they're getting themselves in...

 

[JoeLeFou]

your disassembly seems to be going out perfectly!

This thing is heavy AF

the tranny is fairly light but the t-case is HEAVY, emptied it on mine and removed one at a time. slighty harder to manhandle in the dirt tho

funny how these projects progress and one doesn't think about how much $$$ they're getting themselves in...

I don't know about you but just in tools I probably spent a couple Canadian grands expensive passion to have but very well worth it IMO especially when you have the opportunity to share it with friends and family