I want to install a rear bumper back on my Ranger. I do not have the factory frame so the brackets are not a issue since I plan on building my own. I found a rear bumper from 01 Explorer and was curious if it would work on my 97 Ranger.

 

Well I bought the explorer bumper today. Fifty bux it was hard to pass up. Shouldn't take too much to fit it on there really the only difference is the plastic step part. A little trimming and it should fit like a glove. I plan on making it fit tight to the body.

 

Post pictures when you get it on!

 

I will, i'm working on it as we speak. so far so good. Just working on the fit then time to fab the brackets.

 

Love to see how it turns out. I've been thinking about doing a bumper swap myself.

 

x2

 

So far I have trimmed the plastic so that it matches the body and then you have to flip the brackets. They are roughly 41 inches apart on the bumper but since they are bolted on you remove and move them to the oppisite sides and then you end up with them roughly 31 inches apart which should be very close to the right distance for the Ranger frame. My truck is full custom frame so I don't know how far apart the factory frame is spread exactly so if someone has that distance that could be helpful for others if you can post it.

I will get some pics up as soon as I can.

 

Sounds good.

 

cant wait to see how it looks

 

I am thinking it should look pretty good. The only thing is if you have your license plate on your bumper you will need to mount it someplace else as there is not a space on the explorer bumper. Its not a prob for me as I have mine Frenched in on my tailgate.

 

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS)

Well? Where are the pictures?

 

 

I know I know. Here you go! It took me awhile the wife left town yesterday so I been chasing a three year old since. So that said I haven't got much further.

This first pic is the first trial fit after soem trimming of the plastic step piece.


You will notice that the bumper does have a slight curve in it. It pays to make it fit close as possible so that the curve is not as noticable.

Next pic I took the brackets off and switched them left to right making the mounting points closer to each other.


Now this pic is kinda crappy but you can see how much of the plastic was removed to make it fit close the sides of the bed.



I can make a template so you can make these cuts right the first time for those who wish to give it a shot.

 

Also I am debating bring it closer to the body but then I get into cutting the actual metal bumper. However it would look sick.

 

Well I hope to get sometime this evening to get the brackets finished up. Thats the hardest part. Since I am working from scratch on a body dropped truck without any factory frame at all.

Here is what I have so far. Nothing real fancey yet but it will be once I am finished.


With my little helper. LOL.

 

Haha, little man wants to build something too. Looks good and is different too. I had a bumper on mine until dragging got the best of it. Keep up the good work.

 

Looks good, i wanna see some full truck photos!

 

Thanks, yeah I had a roll pan on there. I was just riding low a highspot in the road took care of it. I guess low was a understatment. LOL. I was about an inch off the ground in my dad's neighborhood.

Here is a couple pics. If you want there is more go to minitruckinweb.com search RockeredRanger. It was blue then but pretty much the same.

 

New wheels again?

 

New to me wheels with brand new tires. I sold off all the other wheels. The TSW wheels were nice but needed better tires. Then the blue wheels were just too big for the front and took too much pressure to get it off the ground and the bag was beyond what you would consider fully compressed so they had to go. Sold both sets and got these with new tires and put some cash in my pocket!

 

Looks good. Do you have any more pics from the side?

 

Yup here is one. The wheels are actually from a mustang.

 

Nice choice, man that thing lays flat. Looks fun to cruise.

 

Its alot of fun to cruise. unfortunately i am just getting back from the er. I broke my right hand. The drill got caught and spun around twisting my hand all up. So now it will be awhile before i drive the truck or finish the bumper brackets. i was only using the big badass hand drill cause the chuck on my press broke. ggrrr. This sux.

 

So I might sell the ranger if they say its going to be a long time before i can use my hand. Although I am not sure I want to. They said I might have to get pins put in my hand to fix it