The AT's also last a whole lot longer

 

Yeah, for the type of driving I do where I really need an A/T tire for the heavy snow in the winter, it just fit the bill.

It might see some very light mud on a camping trail or something like that, but no crawling, no wheelin', after all it is a daily driver.


I got a good deal on the tires due to Summit Racing having their Super Summit sale and everything was 10% on your total purchase price. They were originally $195 each, but with the discount it knocked it down to $175 each.

The best deal I still have yet to see anyone beat in terms of price and shipping is onlinetires.com. $680 shipped to your door for four BFG A/T 33's.


Most of this truck has been built between the Ford Dealership, Summit Racing, Autozone and the internet. haha

 

Well wouldn't that be my luck...

Summit had to backorder the size I want and isn't going to have them available until July 9th.

F-that.

I canceled the order and ordered from Onlinetires.com

The exact cost for all 4 shipped from their warehouse (free shipping on these tires) is $687 bucks. Still saving me enough to get these things mounted within the original cost.

 

More good news! For real!

My search for an axle for my 2003 FX4 LVL 2 8.8 Rear has paid off!

I found one in a parts depot in PA about an hour and a half away from me and i found it for 85 bucks shipped! Spoke directly with the parts manager and it was listed as being a 31 spline axle in the ad. He is also going to double check before shipping it out to me.

That is a find. I've been searching high and low for this thing.

 

i dont know much about axles so fill me in...whats the difference between the 7.5 and 8.8? i think my 7.5 has 29 spline but idk what that means

 

Ford Ranger/Explorer 8.8-Inch Axle

RLong31 posted this in a thread I had the other day.

Lots of good info pertaining to the differences between many axles.

 

The 33's just arrived at my house.

Scheduled the truck to get the tires mounted and balanced and aligned today at 4:30 PM.

Will post pics later!

 

The 31 spline axle arrived yesterday as well.

Getting ready to finally get the big items taken care of all at once.

 

Can't wait to see the 33's mounted up

 

Finally rollin on 33's. Drove it today for about an hour. Truck handles it very well with the 4.10's. I can see where it would benefit from 4.56 gears, but it honestly isn't bad at all from a dead stop. Fits perfect with the 3 inch spindle lift and the explorer leafs.

I did pick up a pro comp add-a-leaf kit that will give it another inch or two in the back once it gets put on.

 

From the front:


From the passenger side:

 

^wow looks really good dude

 

@Bazman2008Ranger

Thanks man. I was really pleased with the outcome.

The tire shop was so hesitant to put them on, I had to tell them I wouldn't hold them liable if they didn't work out how I wanted them to. They fit perfect. JUST ENOUGH ROOM.

Surprisingly, I have had NO rubbing. A little shakiness in the steering column over rough bumps, but that is to be expected with bigger tires. Gas mileage definitely has gone down by a good 4 or 5 MPG. I used to get what seemed like 22-24 mpg with my 31's and now I get more around 19-21 MPG. It is kinda noticeable, but I expected that.

I will say however, it is not anywhere near as slow as people on the forums make them out to be. 4.10's will work with the 2.5L and 33's. Is it ideal? No. But does it work? Yes. It works fairly decent too, not bad acceleration at all. Not good, but not like what many people on here make it out to be, definitely driveable still for a daily.

 

Looks good man. Glad they are working out well for you

 

Thanks guys!

I unfortunately found out I have to replace my tie rods....again.

I'm going to inspect this over the weekend.

I'm also going to put new rotors on the front with new pads and check the rear drums.

There is always something that needs done, but I'm going to start focusing on collecting more exterior upgrade pieces.

I'm deciding between the Hella lights or maybe going a little more modern with a 24" LED light bar. That is months and months off tho.

 

I've gone through a couple tie rod ends. Go with the light bar.

 

Go with the LEDs. They're a lot more efficient and will probably last you a lot longer as long as you get a quality bar.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Been look around for good 20"-24" LED Bars.

Still a making together a list of the parts I'm replacing up front as this thing gets even more love (or $, whichever way you look at it).

My CD player also shorted out. Doesn't work and will not turn on anymore.

I'm taking that opportunity to put a MP3/USB player up front and replace the speakers in the door and the ones behind the seats. That is on a budget of $200 or less for the "system". Will be a nice improvement over what is in it now though.

Trying to focus on getting it ready for one more Ohio Winter before painting it next Spring. I'll be on the look out for a new bed come tax time and then the doors will get put on and the fenders too. All that will be left is the cab corners and rocker panels to get cut out and rewelded.

The little project truck that never ends.

 

Been a while since you have updated anything. How's the truck doing?

 

The truck is doing decent.

Still haven't gotten around to replacing my tie-rods yet, but need to do that in the next few weeks. College is taking up a good portion of my time lately along with working full time on top of it.

Planning on tackling the following items here end of Sept/early Oct.

- New rotors, drums and pads all around.
- inner and outer tie rod replacement
- Crown 2" lift springs
- Install of my Pro-Comp AAL kit (1.5-2" lift in the rear)
- Can't afford the bilstein 5100's, but looking at replacing all the shocks on the truck with some Pro-Comps.

I'm sure there will be some other things I do while this is going on.

Aesthetically, I'm thinking more and more of going with a prerunner style tube bumper as well. Spending a little more coin for something a little more unique looking.

^ Gotta get all some of that maintenance out of the way first though!

 

On the bright side, the truck will be lifted a little more, so I'm happy about that.

I probably won't lift it anymore after this though. It'll be at around roughly 5 inches of lift after the spring and aal kit install.

 

What's up, Gents.

There will be no updates until about mid October.

Have the parts lists ready though and will be raising the Ranger another 2-3 inches for a total of 6 inches of lift on 33's. Just right for a single cab.

Stay tuned.

 

Truck looks really good!

 

Thanks a lot.

Hoping to have some more updates and pictures up by the end of the month.

 

$85!? what was the name of the yard?