Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and 
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2001
- Messages
- 8,138
- Reaction score
- 4,536
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Dayton Oregon
- Vehicle Year
- 1990, 1997
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Type
- 2.3 (4 Cylinder)
- Engine Size
- 2.3 Turbo
- Transmission
- Manual
- 2WD / 4WD
- 4WD
- Total Lift
- 6
- Tire Size
- 35"
Could have swore I had a post for this thing but I guess not...
Got the thing in November of '99 when I was 17, was a stock grandpa mobile with a WOOD framed canopy that weighed like 200 pounds, it was all me and my brother could do in our teens (we both played football) to lift the dang thing... anyway, stock 5 speed 2.3L zero options with the much sought after 3.08:1 gear ratio out back... I have a pic somewhere but can't find it... a couple years later I was into the old FordRanger.com forums and happened upon a 3.73:1 rear axle for $15 so that was the first mod, then I put new leaf springs on it. Then a few years later I found a 4x4 4 cylinder chassis that had been rolled on craigslist for $350 so I did a body and engine swap, that was in '05 and I was still very green mechanically at that point but I managed...
Then in late '09 I had gathered parts to do a turbo swap, I was cocky and thought I could do it over the Thanksgiving break, well it got finished on new years
. Again, still green and learning but made things happen.
In '11 I had gathered some used lift parts and a D35 and explorer 8.8 and 5.13 gears and some used 35" tires and a friend offered his garage to do the work, over 2 weekends and some weeknights we got that accomplished, then on our wheeling trip I managed to roll it because the engine stalled at the worst time possible because I failed to ground the ignition module... about July I did the body work and got it to hold a windshield again and everything, pulled the roof skin and everything.
Oh, when we did the lift we rebuilt the transmission and put in a Centerforce clutch, we did all the things...
Ran like that for a while, eventually a rod nut had came loose at 5000rpm and broke an engine so I threw another together with spare parts I had around, that engine is still going, had some oil leaks from dumb things but that's mostly sorted...
I've done some tractor pulls with the thing, went fine on 31" tires but when I did it with 35" tires there was too much axle wrap and I managed to twist and bend the rear driveline, twist an axle tube, bend a leaf spring, break the rear bearing retainer notch in the transfer case and pierced the radiator with the fan... so that ended the tractor pulls for a while, eventually 4 years ago I made up a traction bar but haven't had the nerve to try it again...
Now it's under the knife again as I'm finally making extended radius arms and making a new transmission crossmember...
Since I didn't structure the text well to include pics I'll put them below in chronological order...
I'm missing stuff along the way obviously since this saga is almost 25 years long...
Got the thing in November of '99 when I was 17, was a stock grandpa mobile with a WOOD framed canopy that weighed like 200 pounds, it was all me and my brother could do in our teens (we both played football) to lift the dang thing... anyway, stock 5 speed 2.3L zero options with the much sought after 3.08:1 gear ratio out back... I have a pic somewhere but can't find it... a couple years later I was into the old FordRanger.com forums and happened upon a 3.73:1 rear axle for $15 so that was the first mod, then I put new leaf springs on it. Then a few years later I found a 4x4 4 cylinder chassis that had been rolled on craigslist for $350 so I did a body and engine swap, that was in '05 and I was still very green mechanically at that point but I managed...
Then in late '09 I had gathered parts to do a turbo swap, I was cocky and thought I could do it over the Thanksgiving break, well it got finished on new years
. Again, still green and learning but made things happen.In '11 I had gathered some used lift parts and a D35 and explorer 8.8 and 5.13 gears and some used 35" tires and a friend offered his garage to do the work, over 2 weekends and some weeknights we got that accomplished, then on our wheeling trip I managed to roll it because the engine stalled at the worst time possible because I failed to ground the ignition module... about July I did the body work and got it to hold a windshield again and everything, pulled the roof skin and everything.
Oh, when we did the lift we rebuilt the transmission and put in a Centerforce clutch, we did all the things...
Ran like that for a while, eventually a rod nut had came loose at 5000rpm and broke an engine so I threw another together with spare parts I had around, that engine is still going, had some oil leaks from dumb things but that's mostly sorted...
I've done some tractor pulls with the thing, went fine on 31" tires but when I did it with 35" tires there was too much axle wrap and I managed to twist and bend the rear driveline, twist an axle tube, bend a leaf spring, break the rear bearing retainer notch in the transfer case and pierced the radiator with the fan... so that ended the tractor pulls for a while, eventually 4 years ago I made up a traction bar but haven't had the nerve to try it again...
Now it's under the knife again as I'm finally making extended radius arms and making a new transmission crossmember...
Since I didn't structure the text well to include pics I'll put them below in chronological order...
I'm missing stuff along the way obviously since this saga is almost 25 years long...
Last edited:
