Hey all. So I have been reminiscing about the ol' gall alot lately and i have been thinking.. When i get back from afghanistan, the F150 will be paid off. I have thought about lifting it and whatnot, which Is fine, and would make the 150 more capable offroad, but being so dam big its still got its limits.. Soo.

I am thinking about just throwing some 35's on the F150 and calling it a day and getting another Ranger to lift and use as a dedicated trail/offroad rig..

What do you guys think? and what years would you guys suggest.. I loved the '00 and loved the tourqe of the OHV 4.0 but they have the week head problems.. and the SOHC have the timing chain problems..

sooo let me know what you guys think!!!

 

Or should I lift the 150, through some 37s on it, lock it, gear it and just mod the hell out of it?

 

stick with the f150...itll be paid off

 

You know the SOHC timing problems were only from in 01, 02, and early 03. If you get a later 03 or 04+ you would be good to go.

Or if you want a trail rig since the F-150 is too big get an old CJ or something.

 

If your going to just be using the Ranger as a dedeicated trail rig I would go with the 93-97 rangers with the ttb setup in the front. You can find one in pretty good shape for $4k and under over here, and you can get one with the 4.0 and twinstick if you can find one.

 

If you want an IFS then go for an 02 - 07 fx4 L2.

If you want a capable trail rig and want to be able to lift it then go with a 93-97, Really 96-97 so you have the odbII port, 4x4 4.0 OHV. If you go this route then you can do an SAS Using a long arm travel kit to a xj/tj as well as use a wrangler dana 44 front axle.

My set up is a long arm kit for an xj with a G2 low pinion Dana44 with an e locker up front. This will allow you to use the stock spring buckets and steering. In the rear Ihave 5.5" EB springs and skyjacker's 6 inch leafs on an Fx4 L2 axle. I have about 6 inches of lift and run 33's. Bilstien 5150's all around. I don't even have sway bars and it rides smoother than the 03 L2 I had.

 

I agree with HarryTasker. Go with a old ranger, mod the crap out of it.

Your exactly right, the NBS 150s are just to huge to wheel hard without body damage. Use it as a tow rig and build a badass ranger! You can easily build a very capable first or second gen ranger for a the same price you'd spend lifting and locking the 150.

 

Get an old Ranger for a trail rig. Something you can mess up and not worry about.

 

i second this motion!

 

Yeah, Thats what i am thinking.. I mean, I would LOVE to be able to lift the truck and wheel it, i just cant see having a 20K dollar truck(even if it is paid off) as a trail rig haha. I mean ill take it muddin every once and a while, but id rather have soemthing i can use as a toy..

ive thought about getting a Jeep, but I had both in German, the Ranger and the lifted TJ.. and honestly I had more fun with the Ranger, I think mainly because I got soo many compliments, stares and curious people.. You dont see very many lifted Rangers on the road, jeeps are a dime a dozen.. and for mudding personally i feel that the Ranger was more capable. Trails, the jeep had a SLIGHT advantage over the Ranger but if the Ranger wouldnt have been open diffs, I think that It would have no problem keeping up.

So how much do you guys think it would be to get a say 97 4.0 4X4 and lift it enough to put some 35's under it? or are 35's not a good idea with the TTBsetup?

 

level the f150 if it isnt done already throw some nice meats on it and youre done with that,it's a dd right so why make it huge,i say say get a very cheap mid 90's ranger sas it and put 35's on it and mod it along it along the way as you break stuff lol

 

yeah the Fiddy's already lifted, just gotta throw some bigger meats on it.. Might do some engine stuff to it, but havnt decided yet..

 

solid axle on a mid 90s ranger and 37s.if you can go 35 what is another inch to make clearance for?

 

haha a Ranger on 37's would be BA

 

I wouldn't put anything over 35 on a non SAS Ranger. If it it is TTB.

What I would do if I was shopping for a older Ranger is start looking for 96-97 4.0 4x4s with twin sticks. You are in no hurry I assume so you should be able to find one eventually.

If you can't find a 4.0 twin stick I wouldn't keep an engine swap out of the question.

 

The twin stick stock will be near impossible to find. Don't discount the 4.0 ohv it isn't that much less powerful than the 5.0 v8. Once you loko at the work and headaches done to swap the engine the cost of upgrading the ohv isn't unreasonable, and is alot cheaper than having a shop do the v8 swap for you. Not to mention if your state has emissions laws keep the stock engine makes it alot easier to deal with.

 

yeah i liked my 4.0OHV. it had some power to it.