The front suspension and outer side of the frame rail has all been painted, and the front suspension is going in with new bushings and balljoints.
The front locker was reinstalled in the carrier, which was reinstalled in the axle beam. The front locker was repaired with a new side gear, but was not 100%. One of the outer bearings had a broken race. Trying to replace the bearing revealed that the part it was mounted on was no longer round, and the new bearing wouldn't go on. I had no choice but to use the bearing with the broken race.
The Ranger received new Skyjacker M95 shocks (left) all the way around. Here you can see the Skyjacker Big Gas shock (right) they offered for a little while when the lift was first put on in 2004. Not sure why Skyjacker stopped offering this shock and switched to the M95, but someone suggested that the smaller piston allows for more fluid.
The 33x12.50x15 BFGoodrich Mud Terrains were dry rotted, and were replaced with 33x12.50x15
Cooper Discoverer STT PRO mud terrains. I actually purchased (5) of these through
Amazon. Sounds crazy, but I had searched for them locally in PA, and discovered that I could get them from
Amazon at a good price with free shipping. What really sealed the deal was that I could get them and pay for them for 6-months without being charged any interest! Check them out
HERE. I'm an
Amazon Prime member because I buy from them a lot, get free shipping and good deals as a member, plus I enjoy the Prime Video and Prime Music streaming at home. Not saying you should be a member, just that I got a free shipping and interest free offer as a member. You may not see the same offer or price that I see.
As mentioned before, the truck has spatters of red paint on it. I took a wire wheel on a drill to get the paint off the wheels. I knew it would mess up the finish, but their already screwed up. The good thing is that their aluminum. I can wet sand and polish them back to a shine. I got the paint off before the 20th Anniversary Trail Ride, but I didn't have enough time to get them polished up.
The bed and cage was installed, as well as the new
42-Inch LED lightbar to replace the rusty old 6-inch Pro Comp off-road lights. Here you can see where I have applied the black layer of vinyl for the TRS decal on the side of the bed. I used an application spray to keep it from sticking right away so I could position it. I'm waiting for it to dry and stick so I can pull the tape off. Then the red and blue sections will be hand laid over it to get the final look. I cut these on my vinyl cutter back in Texas, and took them with my to PA.
Here you can see the finished result of the logo on the bed, as well as the paint removed from the wheel.
This could have made for a cool photo, but I was getting sun glare.
Here's a couple shots of the 8.8-inch rear with the
Barnes 4WD axle truss, new brake lines, new parking brake cables, and the TRS diff cover repainted silver instead of white with a TRS decal. A lot of parts were bought from Amazon, but the parking brake cables and rear brake hoses came from Rock Auto. The hard line was purchased locally.
Moving to the front, the muddy aftermarket headlights was thrown away and replaced with a new
Dorman 1590207 Passenger Side Headlight and a new
Dorman 1590206 Driver Side Headlight. Some of the
headlight clips were missing, and the local part store didn't have any in stock, so I had to order some of those as well.
The lights even came with new bulbs. Unfortunately, it looks like I need to adjust them. The driver side seems to point to far down. The light hits the pavement before the passenger side does.