Wanting idea for my truck
 

Hello everyone, im new to forums in general and i need some ideas for my truck. I have a 1998 xlt stepside, it has a 3.0L v6 with 4x4. i currently have upgraded speaks, a custom sub, tinted windows, and a light bar. Im not looking to break the bank (at least for now)but simple but fun mods. Thanks

sorry for the rotated photos dont know how to change it

Some 06 tail lights and mirrors would look good and are a pretty cheap mod. The 06 tails are a little tricky on a 98 since you have 3 bulbs and the 06 housing uses 2.

The directions on how to put 06 tails on your truck can be found here:
https://www.ranger-forums.com/genera...lights-128739/

Hey thanks a lot man! Really appreciate it!

No problem

Well>>>>>
 

Nice Mighty Car Mods subwoofer there. At least I'm fairly sure that's where you got the idea. Welcome to Ranger-Forums btw. Nice to have some new people here.

06 mirrors for sure are a great improvement. The bigger mirror gives you much better viewing of the sides.

The explorer full length console (second and third gen versions) are very popular, as is the overhead console mod.

A set of aluminum teardrop wheels (the 15 inch versions) would look great, or the tenslots like what I have.

A set of aftermarket headlights and taillights are always an upgrade. Optionally if you don't like those, you can have some fun experimenting with OEM looks.
For example, some have done the expo front end swap, but that requires a lot of skill and a welder. Not for the faint of heart. Some swap their front ends over from the 98-00 version to the 01-03, or 04 and beyond.
From 98 to '12 when the ranger was axed, just about every front end part is a bolt on swap, although in the case of the hood from 04 and up, you also need an 04+ grille due to the hood design.

You can choose to do a complete front end swap from a single year or generation, or you can mix and match. StrangerRanger99, for example, has (I believe) and 04+ bumper, 98-00 headlights, an 01-03 edge grille, and an 01-03 powerdome hood. I have the 01-03 powerdome but with the 01-03 4x4 bumper with fog lights and the 98-99 headlight setup with aftermarket lenses fitted. The options up front are far from sparce.

As far as tails go, I personally wouldn't remove your 3 bulb setup for a 2 bulb, for a couple of reasons. 1, if your hazards are on, you have only your third brake light to tell the person behind you if you're stopping or not, and this can be very bad if you're in a blizzard or heavy fog where visibility is very low. Another driver wouldn't know if you're moving or not, due to the lack of separated brakes and tails.
2, without the parking lights on, your turn signals are much more noticeable. Doesn't mean people will respect 'em, but the more noticeable they are, the better.

If you really want 06 tails, know that there should be an 'empty chamber' on the bottom for you to be able to cut a hole in for a socket to fit into. I've done this on a Taurus and it's actually not too difficult with a 1" spade bit and a file. The 2000 taillights on the ranger share a similar design. From 98-99 they had a three bulb design. Tail, brake, and reverse, being amber, red, and white, respectively. in 2000 they swapped over to a two bulb setup. The uppermost chamber was then molded in red rather than yellow, but the cavity inside remains, only needing a hole and keying to be cut to obtain unique '2000' red turn signals. If that strikes your fancy.....
Of course, the 93-97 tails are also compatible, sharing the three bulb design, merely in a different order, but I digress.

I see you have cargo lights. An excellent mod is to stuff in a set of high powered LEDs for extra light at night. If you desire, you can also easily wire them to come on with the dome circuit. All that must be done is the third brake light removed (two screws easily visible on the fixture) and the black with pink wire tapped into with a matching gauge wire or larger. I recommend solder for this. This new wire you've just added then needs to run forward to the dome light where it needs to be tapped into the black with blue wire, and done. You now have cargos that come on with the door like the F150.

Speaking of dome lights, the mustang dome is a popular plug and play swap.

Swapping out your lights (except headlights and fog lights) with LEDs is also a popular mod, although a bit expensive. I highly recommend buying them from superbrightleds.com. The cheapies from china just don't last. I've tried several batches from different sellers and they all crap the bed the same way.

Another popular mod is to change the color of your gauge cluster. Blue is a popular color, but optionally, stuffing white LEDs in even a stock cluster makes it look much better than those old incandescent bulbs. 30-35 lumens is about what you want for that application, which is about the brightness of a normal 194, if you're curious.

You can also swap gauge clusters entirely. The white face cluster is popular, as is the ever illusive silver face from 03' xlt Rangers. I have one in my dash if you want to see one.

Under hood lights are also invaluable. I recommend the units found in chevy blazers. They take 1156 bulbs and are ultra bright with built in mercury switches and can be easily mounted to existing hood hinge bolts with little effort. I've installed two and I love them.

Auxiliary reverse lights are also well worth the work. These in tandem with upgraded reverse light bulbs make reversing with tint at night a pleasure.

Explorer visor mirrors with lights are also a nice upgrade, along with explorer seats if you're feeling ambitious.

Different HVAC panels can also be fitted from crown victorias (like mine, shameless plugging abound), explorers, explorer sport tracs, and explorer sports, found in white, alternative black (crown vic), and silver much like the silver face clusters.

If you're daring, you can also install and EATC but that's so not for the faint of heart. Dont' say I didn't warn you...

Steering wheel swaps from expos and rangers are also done, with leather and 04+ variations, including eddie bauer versions from expos.

Edge rangers also have fiberglass bed covers too that match the fiberglass hood, if you're into that.

There's also the foglight highbeam mod which allows your fog lights to stay on with your highbeams (check your laws about this).

There's the turn signal mod which allows that dull corner light to alternate with your existing turn signals (with park lights on), and in sync (with park lights off).

If your carpet is nasty like mine was, you can also use very flexible indoor-outdoor carpet for cheap to put in brand new carpet, or you can put in the vinyl flooring from later Rangers (01-03, maybe later).

That just about covers what I have off the top of my head. Check out some build threads here and see what some others have done, too.

Thank you so much! Cant wait to take some of those and add to my truck!

Jesus Cam lol. Do you watch Mighty Car Mods?? I'm a fan of their vids

@jcw: You're welcome. Looking forward to seeing what you wind up with.

@Sam: If there's one person out there that thinks up mods for fun, it would be me, lol. There for a little while I was obsessed with learning everything I could about the Ranger and Explorer, mostly about swappable parts and whatnot.

And yeah I like to binge on MCM once in a while. Not sure if a guy actually learns anything valuable, but their antics puts a smile on your face. Those two actually remind me a bit of myself and a friend of mine, in the respect that neither of us are serious for more than 10 minutes at a time, lol

Breezer makes a removable back glass for the Rangers. I got one when I broke mine out. Took about 4 months to get it, and the guys there are less than helpful, but it was worth the money and wait. I don't have AC, so it helps keep the truck cool in the summer, especially when I take my doors off.

Another thing that is pretty fun to have are quick disconnect steering wheels, if you don't have cruise control. It gave me a little extra space in my 2 door. It takes a while to figure out exactly how to set it up and make your horn work, but you can do the whole kit, wheel included for like $125.