I've been looting parts off an 05 FX4 here recently and pretty pleased with the results.
The first thing is my new grille guard.

It started life as a Westin brush guard off the FX4. The truck had been rolled and I honestly had no idea how messed up the guard was until I got it home and tried to bolt it on. As the guard looked pretty straight when compared to the truck. When I tried to mount the guard on my 04 the part that wraps around the pass. side head light was actually hitting dead center of the head light so I knew I was in trouble. I spent about 4 hours straightening it with BFH's and a porta power. I finally decided there was no saving the pass. side head light guard and chopped them off and painted it in bed liner.



The grand total investment was $38. $20 for the guard, $10 in grinding/sanding wheels, and $8 in bedliner. The original upper mounting brackets mounted to the outside of the guard so I'll be modifying them to move them to the inside. I hope they add some rigidity to the guard.

The last couple of things I picked up were a transfer case skid plate and a gas tank skid plate off the FX4. They cost me $20 a pop, which is a tad more than I wanted to spend but not totally out of line considering I got the tank straps and mounting hardware.



I've got a set of 02-04 Level II tow hooks on the way too. I should have them by the end of the week.

 

Oh la la she's a lookin sexy!

 

looks good man

 

Why cant I find stuff this nice at the Junkyard

 

x2 Nice scores!

I want that gas tank skid.

 

Thanks guys. Its kind of fun JY hunting for Ranger parts because you can actually get some pretty good deals every now and then when the yard doesn't realize what they have. Back when I had a 4th gen F-body as soon as you said Camaro you can expect to spend a lot of $$$$$$.

Are gas tank skids hard to come by? There is another yard that has an FX4 in it that may or may not have a tank skid. If they're super rare I can grab another one.

 

seed pm jason there is more than one at harrys and he is going sunday

 

They're rare enough. If you do go back and get it I'll take it.

 

very nice man. btw, you need a signature! i wanted to know what year your truck was, what size wheels you have, etc, but dont know unless you have a sig! Also, looks like me and yuo are trying to go the same route for our rangers. chrome grille w/ stainless hooks, and polished wheels (whenever i get them..lol). i love my LII Tow hooks, but I have the 05+

 

wicked grille guard! im looking for one aswell :)

 

Looks good! Those tank strap mounted ones are a *****. lol. I've got one just sitting ever since I found the bolt-onto-frame style one and tossed it on the truck.

 

My 98 has the t-case and gas tank skid stock. Whoever thinks that t-case skid is useless is crazy. Mine got scraped to hell this passed weekend.

 

Whats the problem with the strap ones? It looks like they might be prone to getting caught on things as they really stick out. I thought it would be a pain to install but it only took me about 15 mins. Drop the driveshaft and the impact made short work of them. I was out of town all day for work so this morning when I got in I found a box on my desk. It has my Lvl II tow hooks and they're in great shape. These things weigh a ton. I always figured they were light weight and flimsy but obviously not. I cant wait to get these things installed. Any tips on the best method of attack? I've never really looked at how you'd get to the bolts on them.

 

The way we did mine a few months ago was ok. I took my grille out and lifted the hood. The top ones are easier to get through the grille opening. You will need a 15mm deep well socket and a 1/2" drive ratchet (a must) They are a PAIN IN THE **** to break loose because there is loctite on them (mine were). You will also need to unbolt trans cooler on passenger side and drop it (do not remove hoses, just move out of way). Basically that takes care of the top bolts.

The bottom bolts, i tried different methods and found that this worked best. you will need a 15mm stubby wrench and a dead blow hammer. just put the wrench on and break smack with hammer. We pretty much had to loosed the bolts almost ALL THE WAY out doing this because a impact gun or ratchet wouldn't do it.

Now just remove all the bolts like above and take off factory tow hooks. And put on new ones and put all back together.

Im not sure, but some guys said that you may have to notch your valance to fit the 01-04 LII tow hooks. Id put them on first and trim as needed if so.

heres mine:

FACTORY:


07 LII Tow Hooks


INSTALLED

 

The way we did mine a few months ago was ok. I took my grille out and lifted the hood. The top ones are easier to get through the grille opening. You will need a 15mm deep well socket and a 1/2" drive ratchet (a must) They are a PAIN IN THE **** to break loose because there is loctite on them (mine were). You will also need to unbolt trans cooler on passenger side and drop it (do not remove hoses, just move out of way). Basically that takes care of the top bolts.

The bottom bolts, i tried different methods and found that this worked best. you will need a 15mm stubby wrench and a dead blow hammer. just put the wrench on and break smack with hammer. We pretty much had to loosed the bolts almost ALL THE WAY out doing this because a impact gun or ratchet wouldn't do it.

Now just remove all the bolts like above and take off factory tow hooks. And put on new ones and put all back together.

Im not sure, but some guys said that you may have to notch your valance to fit the 01-04 LII tow hooks. Id put them on first and trim as needed if so.

heres mine:

FACTORY:


07 LII Tow Hooks


INSTALLED

 

you do know you can take all the bolts out of the tow hook brackets with a socket and ratchet from under the front bumper? not hard at all... just use a propane torch to heat each bolt first and they come right out. none of this removing the grill and hammer crap

 

Yeah I was a tad worried about how tough they'd be to get out as I've heard people say they're a *****. Mine came out super easy and the Level II hooks are on now.

 

I just want to know how you find 05 FX4s at the JY when I can't find a Ranger newer than 1987 at my local yards. That makes me insanely jealous

 

LOL, I know how you feel except I feel that way about Level II's. I know when I first found this 05 FX4 I thought it was so rare and had so many cool parts on it. Then I learned its more or less just some skid plates with decals on the bed sides. I've ran across a handful of 03+ FX4's in the yards now. Why they can't ever be 02 FX4's I'll never know. Now I'm just jealous of these guys that run across the Level II's as I really want a rear end out of one.

 

omg. really? If that's your gripe then you have no idea how good you've got it. I'd kill just to find an 01 XL Ranger around here. But even that's a pipe dream.