I have a 2000 Ford Ranger off road that came with the skid plate in the front and i want to get a grille guard for it. But each one that i find says that it fits all the rangers except the off road which must be because the skid plate is in the way. Does anybody know of a grille guard that will fit my truck with the skid plate still on?

 

I just order a Grille Guard for my truck...

But i dunno if it will fit...it just where the skid plate is mounted to

EDIT: I think you have have a FX4 or is someone make that skid plate for you...

 

Ive seen one other ranger around with a skid plate like mine. Its like the skid plates on the fx4's except mine is Polished aluminum while the fx4 has a black one. So i guess i have to choose between a grille guard, or a skid plate. Which grille guard did you order?

 

I don't have a skid plate....

Just the 4x4....

I order the grille guard from the ford dealership....

But i can remember what the gille guard name was... ( I think westin)

But if you wait into tuesday or wednesday i've post pics of mine tho....

 

Alright thatll be sweet. btw, how do you post pictures?

 

98-2000 all the 4x4s had an "offroad package" which included I beleive, a hitch, skidplate, and tow hooks. I'm not 100% sure just noticed those that my friends have and it seems to fall in line, it had nothing to do with the model "trim" ie XL, XLT

 

Ya thats what mine is, i wish it came with a sohc
i need the power!

 

There's a huge difference... the main reason I won't buy a 4.0 OHV.... it's a DOG compared to the SOHC

 

ya, tell me about it. o well ill just have to work for my power. lol

 

I have a Manik brush guard mounted on my truck. My truck is an '03 Ranger FX4 LII. The stock plate would not fit between the guard mounts.. although no one bothered to tell me that until AFTER I bought the thing and was trying to install it! My solution was to take a grinder and cut the front plate. Basically I had to cut about 1" or so off each side of the front leading edge. The plate is somewhat trapezoidal in shape and I cut the ends w/ the tips of the acute angle. I have some photos of the modified plate on my cardomain..

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/390404/5

 

Also for future reference, the skid plates that came on 1998-2000 model years were Stainless Steel and it was an option, not all Rangers in those years with 4x4 Offroad had the front skidplate or the LS differential...basically Ford did the samethings when they updated the Ranger for 2001-2004 you could get the Offroad in 2001 which again had optional skid plates and LS diff's (my friend has '01 with no skid or LS...he hates me for that reason) 2002 they came out with FX4 package which today is the same as a Level II on 2003 and newer Rangers...upgraded with TorSen LS and Front Skid plate standard as well as Bilstein shocks and cool black interior.

My FX4 2003-2005 models comes with Ford LS differential and NO front skid plate.

Ford and their infinite wisdom basically has no rhyme or reason to their application of certain "upgrade" parts.

 

Of course there is still possibility for variation even under those "parameters" of parts Ford puts on from the factory...you can still never be sure until you look for yourself.

Also the black skid plates are supposedly a heavier carbon steel while the SS model is thinner and more suseptible to damage ala Griggs Rig, I just ordered an OEM Carbon Steel plate...will let ya'll know exactly what it is when I get it...who knows it might be plastic! LOL :)

 

All of the FX4's (non LIIs) I looked at (in '03) had a clutch type LS, but no metal plates, only the plastic protector jobies of the same shape and placement. My truck was the only one (of hundreds) on my dealer's lot w/ metal plates. Although that was in '03..

 

ahhhhhh but that stainless steel skid plate just looks so darn good

 

I got my gillie guard today...

Just got to find time to get it put on....

Damn work...

 

I would just buy the guard you want and modify your skid plate to fit as NHBubba did. The stainless skid plate is only worth about one hit anyway. My 2000 ranger has it. However I don't think the OHV is that much of a dog. I think it gets up and goes pretty good. But a lot of that is also in the 4.10 gears.

 

bigwill, what brand bar is that? It looks like you've got the extra strap/mounts that go between the bottom of the grill and the top of the bumper, like the Waag bars I've seen have. My Manik bar doesn't have those..

 

Oh i know, i dont think its a dog either, i cant get enough of that low end pull i just need to figure out the best set up for exhaust.....

 

It a westin...

I got it for 375 dollars...

 

Check around with some other owners. I think they said that 2.25 pipe was the best for the OHV and that the 2.5 pipe doesn't give enough back pressure so you lose your low end torque.