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Black Dragon II
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2008
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 0
- Location
- HI and CA
- Vehicle Year
- 1995
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Size
- 3.0L V6
- Transmission
- Manual
Hey TRS boys, I know I haven’t posted much, but I’ve been minus a ranger for about 2 years and finally got a new ride so I wanted to see what you guys think!
2 years ago, I had to sell my 98 4x4 ranger (my first truck) so I could go up to college in CA.
This past summer I came back to Hawai’i and was having serious truck withdrawls so I scraped together and bought this bone stock 95 ranger. Although it was only 2WD, I was stoked. I proceeded to do a college-budget buildup on it. Here’s the progression:
I wanted to be able to fit 31’s on this so I ordered the Daystar coil spring spacers. The rep at 4wheelparts was a little skeptical if 31s would fit.
Here’s before and after pics of the 2” coil spring spacer.
My friend had just chopped an Edelbrock glasspack off of his Olds so I was able to cut my pipe after the cat and weld it up to exit in front of the rear tire. Finally, my wheels and tires came in. Nervous, I jacked the truck up and slipped the 31x10.5r15 BFG KM2 on 15x8 crawlers onto the bolts. When I let the jack down, I was relieved. The tires fit perfect, no rubbing.
So finally I was able to take it out and see how she worked. It doesn’t rub in the front, but I did notice that the rear tires would rub on the rear fenders when the truck was flexed pretty far, but it only happened once on the trail so it wasn’t too big of an issue
After that, My friend and I did the tint. About $30 for 20% limo dark in the front and 5% in the back.
I bought $30 worth of spray paint and gave the truck a little flare. Digital camo is a pain in the ass so think hard before you decide to do it.
My dad put the rack on my truck to get our one-man canoe around but I really don’t like the rack on the cab so I’m in the process of making a light bar/ roof basket. So far its looking pretty good.
Overall, the truck handles great on and off-road, she can go pretty far. The flexy rear suspension holds traction real well, and like with ‘wheeling, dirtbikes, surfing and skating: you just need to find the right line and you’re golden.
So hopefully next break I get I can finish up the roof rack. I’m also planning on making a prerunner-style front bumper for it so if anyone has any knowledge about that I’d love to hear it! I’m wondering how the airbag sensors and stuff should be approached, because I don’t know too much about that.
Also, my friend has a 3.0L ranger and it seems to have a lot more power compared to mine, so if anyone has any tips to free-up any more ponies under my ranger’s hood, or if there’s any known issues with the 3.0L, or any other suggestions in general I’d really appreciate it!
Mahalos and Aloha!
2 years ago, I had to sell my 98 4x4 ranger (my first truck) so I could go up to college in CA.
This past summer I came back to Hawai’i and was having serious truck withdrawls so I scraped together and bought this bone stock 95 ranger. Although it was only 2WD, I was stoked. I proceeded to do a college-budget buildup on it. Here’s the progression:
I wanted to be able to fit 31’s on this so I ordered the Daystar coil spring spacers. The rep at 4wheelparts was a little skeptical if 31s would fit.
Here’s before and after pics of the 2” coil spring spacer.
My friend had just chopped an Edelbrock glasspack off of his Olds so I was able to cut my pipe after the cat and weld it up to exit in front of the rear tire. Finally, my wheels and tires came in. Nervous, I jacked the truck up and slipped the 31x10.5r15 BFG KM2 on 15x8 crawlers onto the bolts. When I let the jack down, I was relieved. The tires fit perfect, no rubbing.
So finally I was able to take it out and see how she worked. It doesn’t rub in the front, but I did notice that the rear tires would rub on the rear fenders when the truck was flexed pretty far, but it only happened once on the trail so it wasn’t too big of an issue
After that, My friend and I did the tint. About $30 for 20% limo dark in the front and 5% in the back.
I bought $30 worth of spray paint and gave the truck a little flare. Digital camo is a pain in the ass so think hard before you decide to do it.
My dad put the rack on my truck to get our one-man canoe around but I really don’t like the rack on the cab so I’m in the process of making a light bar/ roof basket. So far its looking pretty good.
Overall, the truck handles great on and off-road, she can go pretty far. The flexy rear suspension holds traction real well, and like with ‘wheeling, dirtbikes, surfing and skating: you just need to find the right line and you’re golden.
So hopefully next break I get I can finish up the roof rack. I’m also planning on making a prerunner-style front bumper for it so if anyone has any knowledge about that I’d love to hear it! I’m wondering how the airbag sensors and stuff should be approached, because I don’t know too much about that.
Also, my friend has a 3.0L ranger and it seems to have a lot more power compared to mine, so if anyone has any tips to free-up any more ponies under my ranger’s hood, or if there’s any known issues with the 3.0L, or any other suggestions in general I’d really appreciate it!
Mahalos and Aloha!
