General Ranger Frame Swap Question.

[Johnson]

Hey all, I haven`t been on much lately. I`ve had a lot going on in my life, still do. When this is all settled, I may find myself a ways from home. I`ll stop going on about me now.

Anyway, my daily driver is a `90 Ranger with a 2.3L turbo in it. I like the engine, but the truck needs to be lower. What it really needs is better sheetmetal. I am thinking a mid 30`s ford truck would be right at home.

So, anybody know if a ranger frame is a good platform for a body swap? I would keep the fuel injection and the turbo. It is a five speed, and I`m planning a disc brake 8.8 swap, and a 3"/4" lowering. Don`t worry about the IFS for looks, I want to keep full fenders and the bed.

I figure I`ll set the front wheels where they should be and move the rear wheels to match where they should be. Set the height the rest of they way via the body mounts or a channel if needed.

Just curious if anybody has done anything like this? I`d love to have an old daily driver has decent mileage and performance. Keep in mind, this is a future project and the ranger can be cut up once everything is ready for the swap.

Thanks guys,
Jake

 

[FlatbedAndy]

Supercab?

If your ranger is an Extended cab (supercab) it will have a nice level frame with no kick up till back behind the cab , But a regular cab truck frame starts it's kick up under the floor and at the rear of the cab the frame is now 4 to 6" higher. So the reg cab truck frame will not fit an older pickup cab well. There are a lot of better frames to start with than a Ranger, I am working on a '96 Explorer that has an 8.8 rear with disk brakes, the front is A frame suspension with tortion bars , and a nice level frame. The best part is the 5.0 it had since new.

 

[Johnson]

I`m aware a ranger is not the best to start with. I was not aware of the frame differences though. Mine is a regular cab, short bed. I believe most supercabs had 8.8 rearends as well, though they would be drum brake versions. I really want to keep this engine, it has the fun factor of being a fairly powerful turbo motor, with the reliabilty and parts availability of a stock motor. I`m growing attached to the shorter wheelbase as well(with manual steering a long wheelbase would be a real pain to park/turn around).

I`m sure I could handle making some clearence for the frame at the rear of the cab if necessary. I`ll take a look at it tomorrow. Again, as long as it can be workable. I already have the truck, so it saves me some time/money. Plus I know that everything works. Ok, almost everything Thanks for the response.

-Jake

 

[rex1927]

Go for it

You can make most anything work if you want it bad enough.Go for it,you can work it out somehow.Use what you got.That`s my motto.[

 

[Willowbilly3]

The only way to lower it right is with lowered I-beams. I think your time would be better spent on a different frame. Just because you like the power train doesn't mean you have to use the frame rails it's sitting in.

 

[Sam_Fear]

Is it possible to Z the frame on those?

 

[Johnson]

Willow:
I know, the front ends are hard to get really low. I don`t need to scrape the frame on speedbumps, so a set of drop beams should get me where I need to be. I mostly want to keep it a (relatively!)quick project. I`ll have to take another look and see how difficult it really would be....

Sam:
I don`t know. I don`t think I`ve heard of anybody trying.

 

[Sam_Fear]

Go over to the website 'Ranger Power Sports'. They have a forum section dedicated to static lowering. I know they Z the later 98+ Rangers, but I don't know if it would work well with the earlier version. The motor might have no room, steering clearances, possibly the trailing arms....

If you only want 2", then different beams are probably the easiest.

 

[Johnson]

There would be a lot to Z`ing one of these for sure. I`ll check it out. EDIT: I don`t like the RPS forum. Their formatting didn`t play nice on my computer, so the text under their names came into the posts sometimes, and most of their picture links are broken. Some good info though.

I`ve read quite a bit on lowering them. It`s not as scary as it sounds at first. The beams give about 3",that plus with lowering springs(or cut coils) and the right eccentrics(camber bushings), you can get it 5" lower with decent camber. I would probably need to clearence some places to keep the suspension from hitting. I`m sure the steering would need addressed at that point as well.

However, a 5" drop in the front of my ranger could mean a harsh ride and the possibilty of not making it down some back-country roads I frequent
It would depend on the body I was swapping to whether a 5" drop would be liveable.