WRC Urban Rally Ranger

[97BlackBetty]

I too have been following the saga that this thread has become.

Im kinda interested in your idea thoug, it is something that i have thought about and would consider designing. In northern Michigan we have a lot of two tracks to tear down, my buddys Subaru flys and the only way for me to keep up is to make sure i swing the ass end wide, otherwise i roll it.

So i would like to help you and assist wth ideas, but dont knock em'.

Like said above you are gonna be looking most likely for an extended cab, 2wd. With this base i would probably look at bobbing the bed (shorten it, smaller yet), and as you stated you dont want to worry about pot holes or anything that gets in your way. 15 INCH WHEELS, alluminum alloy=light. Probably a tire in the 26-28 inch range, enough side wall flex and protection for your suspension and your wheels. They are also a small enough tire to keep your rolling weight low.

Suspension your gonna have to figure on your own, all i can say is HUGE swaybars. If i were to attempt it i would take a look at patoV6's truck, he used real soft springs which settled the truck low, and yet had large amounts of available travel. (Do a search on the site for his name and take a look at whats he did.) For shocks i would use a multi shock set up to better dissipate the heat. Keep in mind that for multi shock set ups you need to use smaller shocks.

An engine is gonna be to your discrepancy, in the tuner world its all about small displacement and high horsepower, but your wanting to use a truck for your base thats twice the weight if not more than any ricer. You need TORQUE! As has been stated before a big turbo diesel pickup will smoke most cars because of a simple thing called torque, however a diesel truck aint gonna take a corner at 35 plus, at least not well. I would use something like the 4.0 or a 302. Depends on what you have access to. For me its all about a 5 speed, the ability to choose your gears in an environment that can rapidly change is key, however an auto is generally smoother and faster.

Now im guessing looks are going to be important to you seeing as how your in an urban setting, hell their important tome and i take looks into account anytime i consider a mod, its my dd after all. Weight, as im sure you know is important, it needs to be kept low, so anything thats in their if you really want it to go fast has to be functional or it has to go. For me that means no stereo, not gonna fly in a dd so think about it before you put it in.

Thats all i have for now, if you got any questions go ahead feel free, got any ideas im more than willing to listen. The only other thing im wondering is what year your planning on using for your base, pre 97' would be my choice, i like the ttb in 2 wd and 4wd versions. The IFS may be more suitable for your knowledge base, its your choice in the end.

Justin

 

[dirtraider]

wow, i think this thread might be worthy of the pirate bulletin board.

good luck!

This thread no, the topic, yes, but do not ever compare this place to pirate. However i would love to see what kind of input they have for you on the topic. (They are over at www.pirate4x4.com if you'd like to post up about it)

and 97 you have no idea what you are talking about so i'll just stop there, if you honestly think that sidewall protects your suspension and that pato's truck is low because the springs he used, then god speed, you and rider have a nice talk and i'll be waiting to watch the hilarity that ensues a year from now.

 

[97BlackBetty]

Your right, i just read waht i wrote and holy crap im retarded, it was also 3 a.m. I appologize for posting any of that.
Justin

 

[rider68642]

Wow, thanks a ton 97, but is there any advantage to the extended cab over a regular cab? My Ranger is a 2001 short box, regular cab, 5 speed xl 2.3 liter. Its currently my daily drive and pretty much as basic as it gets. 7.5 inch rear with 3.73 and an open diff soon to be swapped for an 8.8 axle or at least just a Ford Racing Limited Slip for the 7.5.

 

[Maverick]

The advantage of the extended cab is the longer wheelbase, which will make handle better all the way around.

 

[97BlackBetty]

Like Maverick said, its just gonna handle better.

You also stated that its your daily driver, hate to break it to you, but unless your a magician doing large amounts of custom fabrication to a DD is not easy. Unless you have everything required to do the mod. and a lot of buddies and too much beer for even them to drink, you may want to consider purchasing a secong platform to do your modifications to. Its not ideal but neither is having a project DD.

As to the model year, like i said i prefer the pre 97 with a TTB, however if you would like to use a later model with IFS ill see what i can learn about their specific characteristics to better aid you in making decisions.

Justin

P.S. the real reason im helping you is to learn as much as possible as i can, whether your idea will truley be feasible or not, i guess you will find out. Shoot me an e-mail with the specifics of the build, how you are planning on using it, and what specific terrain you want to use it on. nisbet3@mbx.nmc.edu

 

[littleme13]

Rider, your best bet is to PLAN PLAN PLAN PLAN!!!!! this isnt a bashing or any type of discuragment. but i have learned that plaining is the best way to go about this. my reasoning for this is simple; with a complex setup like your talking isnt just a lets throw this together and hope it works. most of it can be figured out on paper. design your suspention build it see if it works then what doesnt go back to the board and tweak the little things until it does. a little constructive critizism thou, a year is a stretch for something like this. ive been planning a build that im about a year and a half into and just this winter might have enough figured out to start. and mines not as near a technical as yours. mine just comes to the fatc i dont know much about fuel injection and ive spent the last 3 months trying to figure out how to get my turbo setup to work. and everytime i think im almost done i come up with something i want to change just because i think it will work better. but i havent wasted any money only a few hours while my kids are asleep of my time. not much to know its gonna be done right if you ask me

sorry for the long post but i wanted to make sure you know what your getting yourself into

tony

 

[Jason]

Seems like a great deal of narrow-mindedness and bashing on this board. I like the idea and ideas are the basis of ALL custom vehicles. I would expect you guys here to know that. I am however displeased to point out that I am instead disappointed in the way people here responded to a fresh idea.

I am more than aware that this is the internet and people argue, but this shows me that TRS has too many of the people that make the internet the PITA that it can be. I only hope that it's an isolated incident as I was looking forward to a board full of people that shared my admiration for the Ranger. As things are looking from this thread and the "stupid kids" thread I see a few cool people and a bunch of closed-minded rednecks.

 

[littleredrangerhood]

Yeah, ideas are great but there are a lot of guys on this board who just talk out of their ass about the stuff they are going to do and future plans and then nothing happens. Talk is cheap.

 

[littleme13]

redranger you are very correct and its not just this board many boards have the same problem. but a lot of times it is someone wants to install a aftermarket lift or some other bolt on upgrades. even if he doesnt build it in the next year finding out all he can about what he wants to do now might help him build it 5 years from now. or maybe he will realize what he wants to do is beyond his capabilities. but the questions he askes might help someone with a crazy idea they had. thats the great thing about boards like this is the person who really wants to build something might stumble across an idea that has nothing to do with what they want to directly but a link to a website that has info they needed thats how i found most of the info for my build. at least its not the same question the last 90 thousand people asked just because they didnt want to search or take the time to read a few posts. those who want to create something unique will find a way. those who just wanted to sound cool will give up not knowing they had a great idea.

 

[littleredrangerhood]

good points there

 

[canyoncritter]

you might want to take a look at the pikes peak trucks also for some ideals.But as with the CORR trucks, not much if any of the factory truck is left under the body panles.Most are tube frame wonders etc.

to get more than about 2inches of bump travel your going to have to ether lift it, or notch the frame out. or bend the beams and relocate the beam end to bring back down the ride height.Sorta like what the drop beams do.But that could end up in some nasty camber and caster angles at bump.Word of caution if done something like this, you could pull the spindle snout right out of the knuckle.Some desert trucks have had this problem on dirt let alone pavement.if you plan on defying gravity
another way I can think of would be to fab your own beams using the old f150 equal length kingpin beams. As they have a kick to them that would help keep the ride height down.And possibly allow for some extra bump travel.Other than being able to fab the beams, the hard part would be finding the correct spindle to keep the bolt pattern for the ranger ,front steer and correct kingpin size of 7/8th...they only came on 2 years of trucks.80 and 81 f100's.

I have never done this, so I dont know what the over all out come would be, but just some of my "stupid" desert truck logic as some here say.Just trying to throw out some ideals..

IF you do end up lifting the truck a bit, dont just use the camber bushing to adjust for it, or you will be going threw balljoint,there are not meant to ride at such angles.And forget about lift/drop brackets, they would be evil in this app. you could end up dragging the pivot mount if you compressed the suspension all the way out. can we say endo ala on the roof.



If you do plan of seeing air time or would like a stiff chassie, I would suggest a very well thought out cage system, tip to tip.And if you do notch out the frame it would be a good ideal to plate the frame tip to tail also.

shock and spring wise, your in for some money here as well.
multiple shocks I dont see the need for.a single 2.5 body resi, or piggy back race shock should be up to par,unless you plan on running 200 plus mile rallys. you have multiple choices here, coil overs, smooth bodys, bypass's etc. If this was truly going to be a daily driver, I would suggest a bypass, that way you could open up a tube for a fair ride for getting to the store etc.And be able to close the tube back up for play time.

"and no guys a rancho 9000 or mx6 is not a bypass type of shock or work very well in such a truck"

since your going to be pretty limited on bump travel I would also suggest a hydraulic bumpstop on each corner as well.

sway bars and travel reallllyyy dont go together to well but can be done.its just "money" and able fab things right...the parts are available off some race shops shelf's but it making them work right and have the skills to do it..

To do something like this right, to make a full on REAL rally truck, your looking at as much money to build a full on desert race truck, and alot of the same tech......

To be honest, this would not make for a good project on your only daily driver as it would not be a 6hr bolt on install type of thing.

I'm just curios what you think your overall price tag will be for such a built truck.....just in parts....

shocks alone are going to run about $2500 on a mid rate scale....cage work if you bend it and weld it yourself is going to be some loot, 200 ft plus of DOM tube at aprx $4.00 per ft.
custom set of rear springs pretty close to a grand.
suspenstion seat's $500-$900 for a pair on the mid rate scale once again
5 point harnes 125 ish ea

IF you dont want to get so cutsom in the front end I have a few ideals on a pretty low ride height ranger.But Im next to affraid to say what it is, as I might get banned from this board, due to other members getting a hissy over it.As it would NOT included drop brackets! and it could be done in ethier 2wd of 4wd.4wd would have some advantages over 2wd in a true rally course that was dirt or gravel etc.think subaru all wheel drive. corner huger rather than a ass slinger.

 

[BLOODBANE]

One thing anyone has yet to mention is........Get a good CAD program, learn to use it, and design what you are wanting. Thats all the input I will give you. What you basically are wanting to do is street race(you have said this yourself

My question is, has it been done yet? Is there a market for fabricating trucks like this? Would you buy the parts if I started a company that builds the parts to build a truck of this street caliber?

Just imagine how fun it would be to be able to smoke everyone with a pick up that just hammers through whatever you throw at it. Of course, the motor build is up to you, but I'd keep my four banger with a hearty build up to be a boosted and snarling beast. I'm thinking downpipe cutout that dumps out right behind the front passenger tire.

.)
I will not condone street racing anywhere, at any time!!!!!!!!! Its just plain stupid and you will end up killing either: a) yourself, b) someone else, or c) yourself and a family. If your racing at a track, good on you and good luck, but I don't believe you are. Be safe and please don't come back and tell me how safe you are when you race. If you are racing on the public streets its never safe.........................BLOOD

 

[ckblum]

EDIT: Sorry didn't realize how old this was, that dang search tool.

 

[dburton07]

just spent the last hour readin this whole thread......

so wheres the progress?????????

its been almost 4 months since the end of the thread, if you're really doing this lets get an update!