I own a 2002 2wd Duratec XLT already, that is my daily and commuter, but I stumbled across another ranger on craigslist that I thought was a hot deal.

I bought a 1998 4.0 5r55e 4x4 XLT with all the power options, bed liner, straight body, and a rebuilt engine all for 900 bucks. Kicker was the tranny was toast. Lost reverse and slipping real bad in all forward gears. I drove it home ~ 30 miles and put it on ramps and started tearing into removing the trans. Then - I - Saw - It. The front cross member is all kinds of beat up. I bought the truck at night (bad, I know) but he had others interested in it right behind me. The title is clean, and it drove straight, didn't pull, or make any funny or awkward noises, but it sure looks rough:






The owner said that he drove it like that the entire time he had it, and the owner before him was the one who had to have done the damage.

I don't know much about welding, so I really don't know what can be fixed and what cant. I don't plan to jump stumps with this thing, it will mainly be a road vehicle.

Can this be fixed, does it look ok to drive on? How could I fix it? What kinda money am I looking at?

Thanks, appreciate the help guys ::icon_welder:

 

Invest in a Oxy/Acetylene torch and go to town? Welding some gussets or supports would be vital in preventing the weakened metal (mainly from heating and bending) from bending up again.

I don't know enough about 97'+ to know if the lower arm (LCA if that's what it's called) is fixable or not.

Hopefully someone with frame straightening advice will chime in.

 

Thanks for the advice!

I could buy a LCA new, or pull one from another truck, I'm not too concerned about that. I'm more concerned with the cross member and beating it/welding it and having everything align up.

 

I'd buy a new LCA, and just fix the crossmember. It shouldn't be too hard.

 

How would you go about it?
If you could shed a bit more light on it I'd appreciate it.

If things go right, I'd have a truck with a rebuilt engine, rebuilt trans, and it's pretty straight.
I just don't want to be putting a ton of work into a nightmare..
I really like it tho..

 

Wow, that thing is torn up.

 

It is, it's rough.. but it drove well. I think everything else is in fair shape..

I don't know If it could be repaired.. or a new one welded in with the new LCA?

 

Heres a few pictures incase your eyes aren't sore enough..

 

buy a new lower control arm and then have a welder fix the mounts shouldnt be to much

 

would he be able to remove the front cross member without a torch?

what does the rest of the truck look like?

 

its welded in. so either way it would have to be cut off....which is very labor intensive because the steering rack is connected to it also....along with all the rest of the suspension.

it does not look fun.....good luck.

 

I'll get some pictures of the rest of it later, it's real ugly outside now..

 

solid axle swap.

 

They must have hit something or the front end must have come down on something very hard to do that. I've never seen that before...

 

Ya new control arm and any frame shop can fix that if you can't weld

 

time for a sas

 

Yeah, whoever was driving must have hit a rock going pretty fast.

The more I look at it, the more do-able it looks.

I might do some running around seeing what kinda money shops would want for the job. I'm also contemplating on just heating it up and trying to kinda fold it back into shape with a hammer and some love.

What do you guys think?

 

it's not that bad... i have seen worse... i would just hammer and crowbar as much as you can... being that it still drives straight, it can't be too bad...

any running vehicle, up here, is worth $1000 minimum, you're in good shape... new LCA, and have a shop take a look at it and straighten up the mounting point for the LCA a bit...

it looks to me like someone hit a concrete wall, like a retaining wall type deal... i did it on my mustang, but didn't hit it, i went over it, and the road dropped away from under me, and i got hung up on it... didn't do quite that much damage though

 

yet another example of mr. james' outstanding driving skills!

 

oh yes, because i'm sure you have NEVER hit ANYTHING with any vehicle you were driving...

lets try to keep a thread on topic for once though eh?

 

you are right for once, i dont drive over retaining walls in cars... duh

 

others are right

this is a good candidate for solid axle swap

 

Well solid axle swap is out of the picture, I just don't have the time. Thanks for the advice guys! I think I'll try beating it out. Can't do a whole lot now though, I have the car on ramps for the transmission removal. Once the new trans goes in, Ill begin! Thanks!

 

Are your tow hooks bent lol

 

^^ lol X2!