2001 Ford Ranger Build Thread

[thethePete]

^ Both of those things. The lights are easy to pull apart using the oven or a heat gun. Use Glad "press and seal" to mask the reflectors. Even 30-day painter's tape will peel the reflective coating off.

The upper on our bumpers is metal and easy to drill through and is a rock solid mounting point. We threw a pair of 500s right where Ultra has his on my buddy's Ranger.

 

[TheFutur]

Oh nice i do like the look of the blacked out lights.

And that would be a good spot to mount the lights.

Ill have to think about it thays for sure! This month is my official "saving month" so once i replenish my truck payment fund ill have to think about the lights. Definitely planning on doing the headlights though!

Not sure if i would do thr hellas or a light bar though.

 

[UltraHDGames]

To me hellas look much better but light bars are typically brighter, I'm planning on putting hids in all 4 of my hellas, that should be more then enough

 

[thethePete]

They're brighter in the foreground, but they don't throw usable light as far. Baja Designs and the Vision X "light cannons" are the only ones that have optics to really pitch the light downrange. But that's a conversation for a different thread.

HID conversions work well, or retro them for 100w bulbs by upgrading the wiring right to the bulb. Super easy to do, and no warm up time when you turn them on; nicer for the rural highways. I used the Certified brand bulbs from CT. Never had one burn out, in years of offroading with them, changed them once a year or so just for the filiment dimming. They're like $10.

 

[Comanche Scott]

These are some good looking Rangers!

With your rear springs, front T-Bar crank, and new tires, What is the ground clearance like under the vehicle?
I've been considering a Ranger as a replacement for the JKU. Since we have some pretty good sized rocks on a lot of the better trails, ground clearance really matters.

BTW: I've had a good opportunity to work the S/T Maxx tires hard off road. Very happy overall with their performance. They do chip a bit due to the high silica content, and I've got some longitudinal cuts in the tread blocks from spinning on sharp rocks, but neither have affected the performance or looks, and they flat out rock in the snow!
Hope yours work out as well, and better. :beer:

 

[TheFutur]

I believe to the bottom of my rear diff is 10" at street pressure, bottom of shock mounts is 11" and everything upfront is 11"+, i think even more.

Ill go measure later and confirm.

T bars do hang down a bit, unsure of the clearance but it hasnt been an issue yet.

Of course if you go with 33's youd get a bit more clearance than with my 32's.

 

[32vsnake]

T bars do hang down a bit, unsure of the clearance but it hasnt been an issue yet.

Coil over conversion will take care of those low hanging and rough riding T-bars. Getting rid of the T-bars was the best mod I ever made to my ranger and I made plenty of mods

Truck's looking good

 

[Comanche Scott]

If you wouldn't mind, that would be greatly appreciated! :beer:
It seems like the "break over point (for getting high centered) is pretty close to the back of the front door, so that is where ground clearance will be most important.

The Ranger would be an awesome rig for someone (like me) who needs a truck, and an exploration vehicle. All the work you and others have done shows just how good they can be. :beer:
Just need to think about that break over angle issue.

The JKU Rubicon has 10" of clearance under the fuel tank (stock). I was consistently bashing in the fuel tank skid plate right below the rear of the passenger door before lift and tires.
With the lift and 35" tires, it's a whole lot better at about 14-1/2", but I still scrape every now and then.
I'm all about picking the easiest lines, and bypasses when ever possible, but sometimes that just isn't possible... lol

You've got an awesome build going. :victory:

 

[TheFutur]

So i did some measurements.

Starting at the front:

10-12.5" clearance on the front control arms and the cross member. 12.5" being the middle of the cross member and 10" being the end of the control arms right by the tires. You could add 3/4" to this by cranking the t bar to its max.

13" clearance to the bottom of my tbar skids, once again this could go up a bit.

12.5" to the bottom of my transfer case skid which is about 6" forward of the center of the breakover angle. This would be the biggest issue.

17" clearance right at the middle of breakover angle.

15-17" on gas tank skid. 15" at the front of it and 17" at the rear. Gas tank starts 6" behind center of breakover angle.

9.5" at rear diff

10.25" to bottom of shock mount

13.25" to the rest of the axle tube.

Thanks for the kind words! Im absolutely loving this truck!

To further increase ground clearance you could get the superlift which is a 4" lift kit, tbars remain at the same height sadly but thats not the end of the world, at least for me.

 

[gwittman]

I agree, the biggest issue is the clearance at the transfer case skid. I have bumped it lightly a couple times. That happened with 32" tires. It has not happened with 33" tires yet but I am sure it will happen sometime again now that I know I have more clearance. I have not contacted the T-bar skids or the gas tank skid.
.
I think I also have a little scrape on the exhaust pipe that crosses over from the driver's side to the main catalytic converter. I am careful with the differentials and make sure I drive over any higher objects with a line that put those objects on either side of them. The area that I hit most is the hitch receiver. It is tucked in pretty well but with the overhang in the rear it gets scraped sometimes on steep departures. It has not been hit hard enough to cause damage.

 

[Comanche Scott]

So i did some measurements.

Starting at the front:

10-12.5" clearance on the front control arms and the cross member. 12.5" being the middle of the cross member and 10" being the end of the control arms right by the tires. You could add 3/4" to this by cranking the t bar to its max.

13" clearance to the bottom of my tbar skids, once again this could go up a bit.

12.5" to the bottom of my transfer case skid which is about 6" forward of the center of the breakover angle. This would be the biggest issue.

17" clearance right at the middle of breakover angle.

15-17" on gas tank skid. 15" at the front of it and 17" at the rear. Gas tank starts 6" behind center of breakover angle.

9.5" at rear diff

10.25" to bottom of shock mount

13.25" to the rest of the axle tube.

Thanks for the kind words! Im absolutely loving this truck!

To further increase ground clearance you could get the superlift which is a 4" lift kit, tbars remain at the same height sadly but thats not the end of the world, at least for me.

Awesome measurements. Really tells the story, and the story reads good! :victory:

Yep, you certainly should be proud of the build. It is very inspiring... now I"m off to Craigslist... :elkgrin:

I agree, the biggest issue is the clearance at the transfer case skid. I have bumped it lightly a couple times. That happened with 32" tires. It has not happened with 33" tires yet but I am sure it will happen sometime again now that I know I have more clearance. I have not contacted the T-bar skids or the gas tank skid.
.
I think I also have a little scrape on the exhaust pipe that crosses over from the driver's side to the main catalytic converter. I am careful with the differentials and make sure I drive over any higher objects with a line that put those objects on either side of them. The area that I hit most is the hitch receiver. It is tucked in pretty well but with the overhang in the rear it gets scraped sometimes on steep departures. It has not been hit hard enough to cause damage.

Yeah, this makes total sense. Scrapes and scuffs come with the territory.
When I had the old K5 Blazer, the rear hitch made a great skid/slide plate... lol


Thanks again for the great help guys! and for letting me jump into your build thread. :beer:

 

[TheFutur]

Awesome measurements. Really tells the story, and the story reads good! :victory:

Yep, you certainly should be proud of the build. It is very inspiring... now I"m off to Craigslist... :elkgrin:



Yeah, this makes total sense. Scrapes and scuffs come with the territory.
When I had the old K5 Blazer, the rear hitch made a great skid/slide plate... lol


Thanks again for the great help guys! and for letting me jump into your build thread. :beer:

No worries! Always glad to help out! If you do end up with a ranger post a pic here when you get it!

 

[TheFutur]

Got out and had some fun today.

Decided to practise some self recovery since my friend was around to pull me out if my knock off max trax failed.

 

[kojackJKU]

Awesome rig. The setup you have there now is really good! Just reading through the comments of everything, and if you get a set of 500s, insteall a 4300k 55w HID kit into them all those light bars will look like childrens toys. I have this setup on my Jeep and I am putting the same thing on the rest of my builds as well. It just works great. If you go any higher than 55w, you run the risk of blinding yourself if you use them as animal spotters on the roads with reflective signs. As of right now, I have a set of Bosch pilot 4x6 rec. lights on my f150 and I am putting 130w halogen in them.....For now......This is a quick fix until I get around to getting more 500s. I would keep the ranger as is now and just add stuff like lights, and accessories for camping etc. screw pulling apart your headlights too, I used to be at that back in the 90s with the import cars, and they always leaked afterwards....NOT WORTH IT.

 

[TheFutur]

Yeah im happy with the way it is for now. Still thinking about bedlining the fenders cause they are getting beaten up badly by rocks since i got the tires.

I probably wont be able to do lights till next summer as im about to head back to school for my last two semesters meaning money will be tight for the next 8 months..

Id also like to replace the speakers in the next little while, the stock ones are starting to go i think