Looking into getting a front bumper from affordable off-road. With winch openings Baja wings and lights… my question is has anyone purchased one of these… and are the lights worth buying or should I just get the cutouts in the metal and install my own. Yet I don’t have tools a garage or much knowledge. But ample to learn lol YouTube university

 

You plan on doing a lot of off-roading?

 

Yeah, I live in Oregon and plan on making this truck my lifer… gonna get a canopy to camp in and such with only 2x4 capabilities so I wanna make sure I put something quality on my quality rig.

 

I don't have the exact one you're talking about, but I do have an Affordable Offroad bumper and it's been good to me. The only gripe I have with it is that the "wings" are a little floppy. They work great against small brush but I wouldn't hit anything thick with them because they will bend right up into your fender.

 

first off… beautiful ranger! Mine is black! That bumper looks great! I was thinking about getting the Baja wings. I want the Baja look. You answered my question perfectly sir. You put your own lights on? And the skid plate looks great too, that from the same company and is it half or full plate?! And what tires are you clearing with or without a lift? Thank you!!!! I’ll do some before and after pics when I actually do something
ps… you down south? I haven’t seen them bushes since FL

 

Thanks! I've had this truck for almost thirteen years now.

Yes, the lights are from Tractor Supply. I drilled through the bumper and bolted them on. I wired them to the factory fog light wiring so I can turn them on with the factory fog light switch even though they aren't really fog lights.

The skid plate is actually part of their body lift bracket kit. It's needed so the bumper doesn't sit low on trucks with a body lift. Makes the bumper really beefy even with a body lift.

My tires are 35x12.5 on 17x9 wheels. The truck has a 4" suspension lift and 3" body lift so it clears them without issues.

Florida is exactly where this photo was taken.

 

Hella, thank you so much for the info! Gives me a lot to work on with A TON of questions answered without being asked! I didn’t even think about the bumper sitting so low… sounds like I have some work to do and some funds to save up.
I didn’t really want a lift that much, but if I want the proper Baja look and feel I’ll need new suspension as well.

Good ole Oregon. We have dunes here and trails.. so I want to be capable for both

 

I was happiest when my truck had just a 4" suspension lift and 33's. 35's pretty much require a re-gear, and I'm running 4.88's to help the 3.0 spin them. They can also be hard on the tiny bearings that come on these trucks.

If you're looking for the dunes and trails, don't bother with a body lift, just focus on the suspension lift and 33's at most. I think you'll be more than happy with it.

Nice truck! Mine actually started life as a 2003 Edge like yours. Looks way different now though.

 

Need to do the same with my Sport. Been looking at my local P&P for 4:10 8.8 rear end. the stock 3:55 with 33" are not doing it.

 

My truck had factory 4:10s and I felt it was fine with the 33's. I doubt I would have even noticed a difference between 4:10 and 4:56.

Wish you were looking a few years ago, I had to junk my old rear axle because nobody wanted it. Only thing wrong was that it was an open diff. It was pretty low mileage too.

 

yea, I did not have the truck a few years back. Did the numbers and 4:10 will correct the speedo and give me back some much need power. Open or posi really not that important.

 

It’s like you read my mind… yeah I don’t think imma do anything rough since I don’t have a shop or any tools yet haha. I’m so excited! I’m gonna tear the bumper off, mid flaps and fender flares (maybe just the front) and see if it’ll clear 33” before a lift. If not, lift first then. Might have to wait till 2024 for the bumper!
seen someone with diamond plate around the bed which I think looked really good and got me thinking about chrome tint as well… thoughts? All black rims tires body and such but chrome up top for bed and windows or stick with chrome rims if I was gonna do the chrome tint?

 

I ran 33's with no lift, and remember only having to do minor trimming on the fender flares and front bumper. The only difference is that I was running #1 code torsion bars and had my torsion keys cranked a little, so that may have helped me clear them better. I was also running 15x10" wheels.

 

Sounds about right. Like I said, it sits level so I believe someone cranked the torsions! Imma stick to it! 4” suspension lift and 33”s haha might be able to do them both in the year. I’ll see what schwabs says bout my 33”s before a lift. I appreciate the specifics, thank you. I know I said no customization yet…. But I couldn’t pass this up! I



Im fn elated… keys to the door, gun compartment and roof rack! Fully clothed as well!

 

Looking good....

 

thank you sir! Terrible photo… but y’all know a ranger! Just wait! You already know how she gonna look!

 

That by itself is going to make a huge difference. I wish I had done that on my '99 years ago. I had a torsion twist and 32s on my truck for a long time. For my usage then the tire size was perfect, still looked small on the truck though and I didn't want to go bigger. Back then I always wondered why I'd see other Rangers with the same size tires, and they fit those trucks well but looked small on mine. Now I know why!

I never realized that just having the flares would make that much difference until I saw my own truck both ways with the same tire size.

At this point I've dropped back down to near a 30" tire, close to stock size but a little wider, and still have the torsion twist and slight lift in the rear. The rear is lift block deleted, Explorer spring swap, and lift shackles if that gives an idea of current stance.



Well the other week I was investigating routing some wires behind the DS fender so removed the flares on that side. Was surprised at how much bigger the small tires looked without the flares. Still need to pull the PS side flares off. ​​​​​​​



Back when I still had 32s on it, I would have liked it a lot better without the flares. Trucks is still getting dropped down lower, with larger wheels (17-18") and possibly an inch or two smaller tires so the flares NEED to go.

I feel you on the money thing. My goals are a facelift to your style grille and headlights, combined with an 06+ bumper. Then lower the truck to atleast stock 2wd coil spring height, maybe a hair lower. Upgrade the front axle to live axle (like yours has if 4x4) with the 12" brake upgrade. Maybe someday a 5.0L swap.

Suspension work isn't going to cost much more than an alignment, atleast initially, and tires can wait a bit since these have atleast 2-3 years left in them. The grille parts and bumper are going to cost a bit, the alxe and brake upgrade parts too. Somewhere in there I've got to figure out how I'm going to afford paint, and try to squirrel away an Explorer donor.

That's on top of two other propject vehicles I need to get some work going on.

 

Yoooooo thank you for the info! That definitely improves tire looks somehow… maybe the less grey on black illusion? I’m lucky having a black truck and the holes not sticking it too much if I were to remove them. Was just thinking about doing the front ones to keep an aggressive front. Did you have plastic push pins in the bottom as well? I thought that was the only things holding them in hahah. I might not now.. or get jeep sized fender flares for that Real aggressive Baja look! The possibilies!

 

Honestly, I don't remember. Panel side was definitely plastic clips, I don't recall the bottom in the front, bottom in the back was mostly christmas tree clips. If I think about it, I'll let you know when I do the other side in the next week or so. It was either the christmas tree clips, really small screws, or a mixture. Probably the latter.

Those pictures don't show it, but it also helps with how wide the tires look.

 

The biggest reason I put flares back on my truck was because I hated how visible the holes were on a white truck.

 

The holes do bug me a litte, but my end goal is a repaint. Knowing that makes it easier to live with until I get ready to patch them bewfore paint. I've considered going ahead and patching them, then trying my hand at a little touchup paint. Even with the paint as rough as it is, I think my touch-up job would look worse.

 

So you said you had an 03? Yeah that means my 02 has those holes too huh? Guess I’ll take one off and see if I can give two ***** haha. You can put em back on pretty easily?
@ Josh T patience if you want it done right bub… I think your ride is gonna look awesome as described!!!!
y’all are rad and I appreciate all the input like no joke. **** reddit
🤘😎🤘

 

Yep, your truck will also have the holes behind the flares. They are held on with push pins on the bottom, and the backside has a unique clip like shown below. The two "flaps" need to be pressed in to get them to fit through the holes. You might be able to yank on the flares to get them off, but it's not a guarantee if the flares haven't come off before. Be forewarned that you may have a scratch in the paint from where the flares rub into the paint. This is the other part that bugged me about not having the flares.

 

That makes a lot of sense about the paint… thank you so much for the info. I might put bigger ones on in its place…

 

Yep, that happens too with the flares. There is a clear arch scratched in my paint everywhere that the flares touched, so basically the whole outter edge of the flare. Given the overall condition of my truck, I still think the scratches and holes are preferred to having the flares.

My 99 used the same clips. For removal I used a plastic trim clip tool between the flare and body. It caught enough of the "flaps" to press them in and pop out of the hole. I've got a larger trim tool set from Amazon, but they sell the same tool in the smaller kits at the local auto parts store.

Running a tall, wide tire on a wide wheel might look good with larger flares. My widest was a 32x11.5R15 on a 15x8, the current ones are stock wheels with a narrower (but wider than stock) tire. A 33x12.5 on 10" wide wheels would probably push the tire out further and look better even with the stock flares.

I'd probably try it with the flares before I removed them. On my style of flare I think a 33 would rub on the hard plastic mud flap made into the rear of the flare. Just my thought here, but flares with out that mud flap don't seem like they would have the rubbing issues. The flares themselves really don't seem to affect the inside of the wheel well that much, just the mud flap that drops stright down behind it.