4x4 North

so like an idiot with a problem i was scrolling FB market place and seen a first gen ranger for cheap and bought it sight unseen. was a buddy that had listed it and he picked up in hopes to make a short course truck and never got around to it. the person before him had rebuilt the motor and gutted the thing getting ready to make it a mini stock truck so its a rolling chassis with a near new 2.3 in it.

when i bought it i had zero need or want for a ranger or another project but the body looked solid and it was cheap. sent a picture of it to the GF in hopes she would tell me im an idiot and not to buy it. instead she thought it was awesome and we could turn it into a wheeling rig for her. so now we are building this thing to be here first real wheeling rig and a good all around trail rig while i finish my buggy.

is a 86? ranger reg cab 2wd with the 2.3 and stick.

so plan for this rig is budget build that will be a good all around trail rig we can use all year. so will have full glass and a heater (unlike my last few builds and current buggy build).

was first trying to find a 4x4 trans or divorced tcase so could keep the rebuilt 2.3 and maybe do some half tons and 35s. after no luck finding that stuff i said F it and we are doing tons and a 302. picked up a 1990 efi 302 for cheap and a 10.25 with 4.10s. also grabbed some obs F150 leafs while i was at it.



buddy gave me a 08 Superduty 60 for the project as well.

after looking at the 08 diff and doing a build list of what it needed (did not have 4.10 gears and missing all brake parts ect) and what it would cost to do a nice radius arm or 3 link and some air shocks or coil spring set up i started to second guess it was the diff for this build.

i pulled the trigger on buying a KP 60 as have lots of left over parts from other builds and its just cheaper to build up for now. i know its not as beefy as the SD axle but this is a mild ish trail build and just made more sense to do a KP diff. with going to a KP diff i also talked the GF out of doing a linked set up and running poor people suspension and got another pair of rear OBS ford leafs to run up front.



also grabbed a bronco short tail shaft 1356 while i was getting the D60. going to use my sbf C6 that i have left over from the last rig as well

so with having sort of an idea of what we where doing and having a good pile of parts it was time to start getting those parts ready for the ranger

with this being the GFs rig she is doing most of the work and im just the parts guy and helping out ect. she cleaned up the rear diff and we welded it up so no more 1 tire fire

with the new to us KP60 i went shopping in the shed for parts and we got started on it. 4340 35 spline outers, NWF springless cap and steer arm, diff cover and new brakes. this diff is 4.10 and welded it up as well cause F steering

as of right now we are waiting on last few parts for the 60 to show up then can start stripping the Ranger and getting it ready to swap everything in.

plan for the motor was to do a carb intake and run it on propane as have everything to do it other then a tank. been leaning towards upping the budget and getting another fitech efi set up and using my old fuel cell and pump. the C6 i have already has a full manual valve body and worked well when i took it out of the last truck. the 1356 needs a full rebuild but its the short tail shaft so hope it fits in the frame rails, if not i have a 205 but rather not use it due to the shitty gearing. as far as tires im going to build it to clear my 44s but also have brand new set of 40 stickies and aluminum beadlocks that i bought for my buggy. want to be able to swap tires between the two rigs

You sure you don't want to go propane and save all that money? I've got enough tanks you could fill it up once a year, plus use it to run a BBQ on the trail every time you took it out, and never fear actually running out of fuel.

got the 60 back together other then locking hubs, might just take the drive flanges off the buggy for now

also got the 302 stripped down as it was one dirty motor so doing a re seal on it





as clean as its going to get

oh and im still waiting on my last 40 to show up and they cant give me a real eta of when it will show up so bought my old 39s back

Going to hop the motor up at all? Or just seals?

Scott Cee AKA 2drx4 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 22, 2022 10:51 am Going to hop the motor up at all? Or just seals?

might get crazy and paint the valve covers so that should be good for an extra 5hp

just doing a reseal and keeping it pretty stock, will be getting a weiand intake and headers but thats about it. motor stock made 185hp so ill be happy if it makes 160 now been looking at the blue bottle in the corner of the shop and think this might be the perfect motor to strap it to.

motor is back together and ready for the ranger, still missing a few small things but can deal with that once its in the truck





plan on putting the rad in the box so put a bleeder in the tstat housing to help get air out

had to double check the valve body in the c6 to make sure it was the full manual one



took a look at the tcase i got and it has been sitting with water in it so planetary is pretty rusted up. have picked up another tcase to swap parts from to hopefully make 1 good case

Painted the oil pan and the valve covers? Damn. Is this a SEMA build?