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1994 Ranger Questions


backwoods

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Just bought a 4wd 4L Ranger. Got a handful of issues but the body/frame is solid. (paid $800)

I've always been a muscle car guy (got a '67 mustang :D), helped build a few wranglers (had one myself). I'm not too shabby with a wrench and a grinder, but I leave the welding to friends.

Here is my issue.

Looks like the passenger side axle housing is bent, along with the radius arm. Axle appears to be fine. The Axle pivot bushings look shot along with every other bushing on the truck. I"m assuming the shocks need replaced and the springs look original.

The truck has a body lift on it and 32x11.50 tires. Tires were around 6 months old and are crowned something fierce up front. They are leaning a massive amount.

Here's the question that I just can't decide.

Is it worth it to try and repair the stock front end, or should I just jump right in and convert it to a solid axle?

This site has a ton of info, but I can't decide how much I want to invest into this truck. 98% of the driving is gonna be on road for a year then hopefully it'll become a part time work around the ranch vehicle and wheelin rig.

how much money (avg) have you guys had to invest for the swap? Will I regret the swap while driving it on the street? Should I just invest in upgrading the TTB and be happy?

I understand this is more of a personal choice, but I've been driving myself crazy trying to decide.
 


kryptonitecb

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If you keep the ttb all you would need to is find a 4x4 explorer and steal the front axle. I believe everything lines up, check the tech library to make sure. Also there are tons of threads dedicated to sas, do a quick search and you'll get an idea on pricing.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic
 

Freshmeat

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I'm a fan of the TTB. I'm soon going to convert my 4x2 '94 Ranger to 4x4 with TTB. Keep that in mind as you read my response.

I think you should go the junk yard and get a replacement housing and radius arm. At the Pull A Part around here I think it's right around $200-250 for the whole set-up, arms and all. You'll be spending a bare minimum of $1500 on a solid axle swap and that's if you do absolutely everything yourself. Most people are in for at least $2500 on just the front axle.

The TTB is great and can handle a 35" tire well as long as you wheel responsibly. When you do the front end invest another $100 or so in all new bushings then an alignment and you'll be in good shape. All-in you can have that TTB front end very solid for about $500 tops.

Don't dive into the SAS any time soon. Get the truck running with the TTB so you can enjoy it like it is and be absolutely certain you want to go SAS before you begin down that journey... because it'll either be very expensive or you'll give up halfway through and part everything out at a painful loss of profit.
 

Freshmeat

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If you keep the ttb all you would need to is find a 4x4 explorer and steal the front axle. I believe everything lines up, check the tech library to make sure. Also there are tons of threads dedicated to sas, do a quick search and you'll get an idea on pricing.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic
Can't verify what tech said but I was running a very random mix of Explorer and Ranger parts on my '92 Explorer TTB. When I needed something I typically just found the first one at the yard and started pulling.
 

4x4junkie

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It really depends on what your goals for the truck are.

My opinion... if you're thinking of going to 37s or bigger tires and/or huge lift (more than 6"), a solid axle may be worth considering (especially if accompanied with a V8 swap and/or extreme rock crawling).

If you don't think you'd be going that far with it (staying at 35" tires or under, 4" susp + 2" body lift, etc.), the stock D35 TTB axle is generally plenty sufficient. Above 33s I'd probably give some thought at swapping the 28 spline 8.8" rear out for a 31 spline Explorer axle though.


I've had the D35 TTB axle under my rig for awhile now and it's always worked well for me in my travels. I think I've got maybe around $700 total tied up in the steering & suspension on it.
As easy as it is to find another Ranger or Explorer in wrecking yards, I'd just snag the parts you need and fix up what you have. With everything out of the truck, replacement of bushings and the like typically doesn't take up any additional time.


Dang, I must type slow lol :icon_twisted:
Yes, almost everything between '91-'94 Explorer and '91-'97 Ranger frontends will swap between them. '95-'97 Rangers brought forth dual-piston front brakes however, so you'd see some differences in the knuckles there.
 
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backwoods

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Thanks guys, that was exactly the responses/info I needed.

This forum is a gold mine!
 

Andy D

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I'm a Ranger noob. What is TTB short for? TIA :D
 

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