'85 Ranger Restomod

[Lefty]

nice

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Ok new year new truck or whatever the saying is...

Anyway plans for this year:

Install interrupter for the GMRS so I can hear the radio at flank cruising speed with the windows down and the radio turned on.

Finish wheel bearing inspection/repairs. One side is done, stub shaft was replaced also. The other side I suspect will need a spindle also. I did find a used spindle on ebay that cleaned up pretty good so either I can swap out what I have or I have a spare. Knowing what I know now looking at pictures of when I tore the axle apart I am pretty sure both spindles were badly worn when I got the axle.

Mufflers... neither 12 year old glasspacks liked cruising on the interstate. I have a set of brand new Magnapacks I had bought for my old F-150. I fired it up with straightpipes as I was getting ready to install and with four cats it was pretty mellow so I just stuck tailpipes on it. I am going to try to make these fit my Ranger since they were not cheap.

Headlights, I have tried and tried but the LED's just don't have a whole lot of legs on older highways, concrete or gravel. Somehow they are awesome on fresh asphalt. I am going to try to get "better" H4 incandescent bulbs and a relay kit and see if I can better range out of those. It also bugs me the LED's are different color than my Daylighters and I kinda refuse to spend the money Daylighter thinks the conversion kit is worth.

A/C, it works but the compressor doesn't cycle so I don't use it much and I kinda manually cycle it with the button the dash when I do. I am going to evac it and swap to an adjustable orifice tube and see if that helps. Also I need to get a stepper solenoid for my idle. It isn't like it stalls my engine when the A/C is on but it drops RPM faster when shifting which gets incredibly annoying very fast.

Grille guard. I am almost done editing our texas video, once that is done I can switch back over and throw a grid pattern on the outline and mock it up and see where I want holes to mount the sideplates onto the truck and where to mount the brushguards onto the grille guard.

And I am hoping to do the big Vagabond trip this fall... which is a whole 'nuther can of worms.

TRS VAGABONDS

Introduction: Starting in 2024, the TRS Vagabonds are an overlanding group within TheRangerStation.com honoring the original Vagabonds and promoting the Ford Ranger as an adventure and overlanding vehicle while educating and inspiring others. 2024 is the 25th anniversary of TheRangerStation.com...

www.therangerstation.com

I am no stranger to camping and I while I have watched a lot of it on youtube I have never actually practiced overlanding. So I am still trying to wrap my noodle around how to best do this.

So far I have a portable toilet, a trasharoo, mess kits etc.

For sleeping quarters I think I am going to make a sleeping platform in the back of my truck out of plywood and scrap 2x4's. I am going to have it split in the center of the bed so when traveling I can put the rear half on top the front half and have the water, cooler, canopy and other heavy gear on the bed floor at the back. I don't know if extra fuel will be a thing yet or not. How to get everything to fit and not just be stuffed in there is mind boggling at this point. Clothes, food, bedding, spare parts, tools, canopy, stove, camera equipment, how to charge everything... its a lot. I also need to make some effort to seal the bed, it is something close to a dustbowl back there. Sealing off the bolt holes from the rollbar will be a start, the tailgate will need addressed too.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Its been awhile, like 6 years... so today I threw the kid in the truck and we terrorized some snow drifts in my field.





Snow wheeling with a manual... takes some getting used to. But otherwise it is a tank, much better than it used to be. Probably a combo of trading the old mud tires for snow rated AT's and the topper/spare tire for ballast. We were taking snow over the hood and it just stayed right there, I was very happy.





It is amusing how snow doesn't pack in the grille like it does with the Bronco and my F-150, also the wheels don't fill solid as easy either.

 

[bobbywalter]

ford ranger......f in ford ranger.....snow knows better.

 

[Lefty]

Its been awhile, like 6 years... so today I threw the kid in the truck and we terrorized some snow drifts in my field.





Snow wheeling with a manual... takes some getting used to. But otherwise it is a tank, much better than it used to be. Probably a combo of trading the old mud tires for snow rated AT's and the topper/spare tire for ballast. We were taking snow over the hood and it just stayed right there, I was very happy.





It is amusing how snow doesn't pack in the grille like it does with the Bronco and my F-150, also the wheels don't fill solid as easy either.

Its been awhile, like 6 years... so today I threw the kid in the truck and we terrorized some snow drifts in my field.





Snow wheeling with a manual... takes some getting used to. But otherwise it is a tank, much better than it used to be. Probably a combo of trading the old mud tires for snow rated AT's and the topper/spare tire for ballast. We were taking snow over the hood and it just stayed right there, I was very happy.





It is amusing how snow doesn't pack in the grille like it does with the Bronco and my F-150, also the wheels don't fill solid as easy either.

The lower frame and suspension components look like they have been painted white.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Got the R&D department fired up this afternoon since it actually got above freezing and did a little figuring.



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So now I can plot the mounting points and for the brush guards.

 

[RobbieD]

Doesn't the rudder go on the stern, Cap'n?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Doesn't the rudder go on the stern, Cap'n?

I am going to try to take some material out of it so it doesn't look so massive...

My inspiration is the factory Ford winch mount, but my receiver hitch structure makes changes the profile a little. Factory winch also sits a little higher so it is approach angle vs more leverage on mounting too.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Part of the parking brake cable system broke and I have been trying to recreate that with a turnbuckle, I did get them reset and working yesterday.



Perfect!



Noticed I had something dripping up front since it was sitting on cement for the first time in forever, I think it was the upper radiator hose seeping. I snugged it up and it was far from tight, hopefully that is it.

Substantial progress has been slow for multiple reasons... but I did wash the pig for the first time this year. The mud was getting pretty thick on it...

 

[Shran]

I used a turnbuckle for the parking brake adjuster on my Explorer and found that pushing the pedal down creates enough force to spread open the eye bolts on the turnbuckle - if you have those on yours it might not hurt to tack weld the eye bolts shut.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I used a turnbuckle for the parking brake adjuster on my Explorer and found that pushing the pedal down creates enough force to spread open the eye bolts on the turnbuckle - if you have those on yours it might not hurt to tack weld the eye bolts shut.

Yeah, I discovered that too... it is tacked now lol.

 

[sgtsandman]

Part of the parking brake cable system broke and I have been trying to recreate that with a turnbuckle, I did get them reset and working yesterday.



Perfect!



Noticed I had something dripping up front since it was sitting on cement for the first time in forever, I think it was the upper radiator hose seeping. I snugged it up and it was far from tight, hopefully that is it.

Substantial progress has been slow for multiple reasons... but I did wash the pig for the first time this year. The mud was getting pretty thick on it...

You got awful young looking all of a sudden... What's your secret?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You got awful young looking all of a sudden... What's your secret?

Subcontractor.

 

[sgtsandman]

Subcontractor.

Small business?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Small business?

Very small, accepts payment via cookies and juiceboxes though.