Cars from out west and cars from the south are worth a lot more here for sure. They command a premium in the used market.

 

I second that

 

Looks good man!

 

@00GreenRanger

Thanks dude. I plan on getting some hi-res photos up this weekend after a quick rinse.

 

Here are some better pics of how the truck is sitting now. Needs cleaned up.

Side Note: My steering wheel is turned just a tiny bit so the front wheels are slightly turned.

Got the new bug shield and window vents on as well.

Finally gonna start focusing on taking care of the rusty bed and replacing body panels in this next year.

 

Headed back to the shop at the end of the month for a radiator core support replacement...Kinda sucks because I was hoping that I wouldn't have to replace it until I could get the fiberglass fenders, but oh well.

Gonna have the A/C recharged as well.

 

Hey everyone!

Probably won't be any new updates for awhile. At least until middle-to-end of Summer. Saving money for a new bed and rust repair. Also deciding if I want to have a pre-runner style tube bumper fabbed up at a local shop for about $400-500 bucks.

Throwing the idea around of also putting a 3" body lift on it, but wanna wait until the rear end is re-geared to at least 4:88's as I plan on upping to 35's if I were to do a body lift.

Main focus right now is getting money saved for rocker panel metal replacement, cab corner replacement and a newer, rust free bed.

The truck is running great though! The 2.5L is pulling strong.

The whole 2.3T vs 5.0 swap battle continues to dwell in my head for when the body work is complete, but I'm starting to think more and more that a turbo 4 in a ranger like this would be sweet and a little more unique. Also been considering a rebuild on a 2.5 with help from Stinger Performance and Esslinger Engineering.

A lot of info on Turbo Ranger Forums has been very helpful too.

The turbo swap would also mean I wouldn't have to worry about the spring rate of my lift springs with a 5.0 as they are meant for a 4 cylinder.

 

What's good man? If I were you I would get a trail gear bumper and weld some mounts to the frame to get it all set up. How are you liking the 33's? I got some of the 32x11.5 ko2's and I love them. I think 33's would have been a tight fit for me.

 

The 33's are just dandy.

Wearing evenly and slowly for how much I drive! Seriously haven't had a good tire like this for awhile and will probably choose them again when I need to replace my 33's with another set or something bigger.

My power steering pump on the other hand might not be liking them so much. It is a little noisy, but nothing beyond normal.

I actually just gone done replacing the alternator and battery recently too.

Biggest thing I need to do is keep saving some cash on the side for the rocker panel and cab corner repair.

Overall, the truck is still kicking and running great. I attribute that to all the preventative maintenance that I have put into it over the last two years. It runs reliably and solid.

I gotta have a new radiator core support welded in, so I'm not sure if I wanna take the opportunity to change headlight style over to the 01-03, as I have grown pretty fond of the 98-00 front end look and want to rep it for a little while.

Also have been looking into a small LED light bar to mount to the front bumper, but that is a ways off yet.

 

Haven't thought about that. Is that what you did for yours? If I recall from your thread, your front bumper was for a toyota? Wouldn't be a bad idea at all. Been actually thinking about a new front bumper. Always been a fan of the tube styled stuff. Love the look of a Ranger Pre-Runner.


I've had a hard time finding any specific 98-00 Ranger Pre-Runner bumper that you can just buy and put on.

I found one company that I might go with though.

They go by the name of Millers Fabrication, but I'm not sure how legit they are, if they are operating, or anything else like that. No phone number is listed, but they look like they make a decent bumper for cheap.

Millers Fabrication

Here is a pic of it. Price is $450 bucks w/o shipping.

 

Yeah mine was made for a toyota. I had to modify the frame horn and weld on some steel tube to the sides of the frame to mount it. And then I also tied it into the cross member.

 

LOL. I'm getting so annoyed just looking for one. There isn't too many off the shelf you can buy at a reasonable cost.

Part of me just wants to replace the chrome bumper, say f-it, and throw a Westin safari bar on.

Regardless, I'm at a turning point with the truck where all the body work is gonna be the true test of what to do with it.

 

Can you weld?

 

Nope. Can't weld. Right now I'm throwing some different combination ideas around in my head.

Wouldn't mind to try out a 2001-2003 bumper while keeping the 2000 headlights and grille with either a safari bar or a waag bar to mount some KC's to.

I'm kinda open to almost any idea at this point.

 

That bumper from miller fab looks pretty cool. Personally, I'm really happy with my tube bumper. As for ranger stock bumpers, my favorite is the 01-03 with the round fogs hands down.

 

I think in order to keep the truck moving forward in terms of progress, I've settled on the idea of the original 98-00 front. I'd like to eventually be one of the cleaner 98-00 body in the area.

I will be replacing the chrome bumper with a new one and will be refinishing the existing plastic valence to look better.

To continue to keep cost down I'm going to just get a Westin safari bar as I originally planned and pair it up with either a set of Hella 500's or KC fogs.

I gotta keep in mind what the truck has been built for and that is to be a strong running, 2wd 4 banger that can handle a ton of abuse (meaning, the incredibly rough Ohio streets filled with potholes that tear suspensions apart.) so as much as a tube bumper would be sweet, that might be something more for the future.

The truck will be having the radiator support finally replaced during the end of my mid-term here in late October along with the serpentine belt and a new exhaust put on because my Dynomax one has rusted where the hangers are, essentially causing two huge holes in it. Dynomax exhaust suck. It is a cheaper exhaust for a reason, lesson learned.

So, there will be some updates coming and a more "spruced" up looking Ranger.

Can't wait til the body work is handled...I've got a 2.5 turbo build on the mind lately, but I know that isn't until 2018ish probably at this rate.

 

Recently the other night around midnight, I nailed a sewer grate or dog or something in the middle of the road sticking about 8-to-10 inches out of the ground at about 30-35 mph.

The impact was absorbed very well by the tire, but the suspension bounced up and both front wheels came off the ground. The impact of coming back down took the bumper off the make shift bumper support bracket on the passenger side, broke the clamp off of the cv boot on that same side, and then somehow caused the reservoir cap on the power steering pump reservoir to pop off and some of the atf fluid to go everywhere.

I spent a little time fixing all these issues.

Got a new cap and replaced the fluid with Royal Purple Max ATF fluid which is also listed at as direct replacement that is acceptable in Ford vehicles that use the Mercon fluids. Power steering pump is quiet again during operation and actually probably a little quieter than before.

The bumper has been secured again, but is just a tiny bit off. About half an inch probably.

A new cv boot clamp was purchased and re-installed.

While under the truck I noticed how roached my lower control arms were. Still solid, but rusty. I also noticed that my radiator support was pretty rusted at the bottom, but still did it's job and was solid at the near the top with welds still intact.

I noticed how both of my rocker panels need complete replacement and the truck needs a complete floor replacement at this point.

It needs a complete new bed that is mainly rust free.

SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH, the frame is still good. Only surface rust and no prior repairs in either the back or front frames.

Part of me is unsure of whether to continue putting any money into the Ranger. I love it very much and it is a very dependable and fun little truck, but it will need a full face lift. I think I just like it so much because I feel like I have helped keep it alive and get a kick out of keeping it run...

I have a friend's dad who runs a Maaco in Akron and he told me to drop by. I explained that if I that I would be providing the replacement body panels to him directly and was going to prep as much as I could myself. I'd also pay them to do the correct body work needed, but it would be his dad that did my truck personally. Gonna price some of this stuff out right now...

I hate putting a figure on this kind of stuff as I always tend to overshoot it, but as long as it all could be done within the ball park of $3500-3800 bucks, then I'd be cool keeping the truck.

Not sure what to do...Keep fixing it up or maybe call it a day and sell it?

 

I could never sell mine. So far, I've gained the philosophy of "Love your ranger, and it'll love you back", meaning that you'll get your money's worth out of it in the end, unlike other vehicles on the road.

You could consider picking up a second ranger as a body panel donor for your existing Ranger. If you find one with the same engine and all that, it could be used as a parts donor too, save you some cash later on if something goes out.

I wouldn't get rid of it, personally.

 

Yeah, it still runs so amazing for the amount of driving on it and friends and random people will comment on either how solid it feels when riding in it or how good it looks for the age.

It does make me proud.

And it is amazing at how much punishment the truck takes. I reward it by doing my best to stay up on everything.

I'm planning on ordering the front end stuff for the 01-03 bumper swap here soon. I figured if I did that I would commit to fully doing the body as planned.

The most costly part of this rust repair is going to be the cab, for sure.

The plan is to have 18g sheet metal welded in as a new floor and the rocker panels and cab corners cut out and replaced with rust repair panels.

In the mean time, I've succumb to the fact that a good, quality used bed is going to cost at least $800-1000 from what I am seeing in the market around me.

Throw in a basic base coat/clear coat "signature" paint job of Toreador Red from my buddy's dad at his Maaco and I figure that to be another $1200-1400.

I cannot justify a "real" paint job on the truck. I bought it for far less than what I have into it and am neglecting my other ride at this point. I have a 95 z28 that is getting a transmission rebuilt in the near future too, so I'm pretty $treched between projects right now.

I figure it like this:

$1000 - floor repair
$1000 - Rocker panel repair
$500 - Cab corner repair
$1200 - Base/Clear Coat Maaco job

$3700 - Total

Of course, like I said, I hate putting figures on stuff like that because it creates expectations and when you don't hit those expectations, it can result in disappointment.

I already have two rust free doors off of an 08 Ranger and I will have the 01-03 bumper stuff already on the truck so the cost doesn't include those items.

I could probably go buy another Ranger with the amount of money willing to be spent here, but part of me doesn't want to.

I honestly want to get done with the body work so I can start getting more serious about the engine and a possible re-gear of the 8.8.

The amount of rust and harsh Ohio environment is the reason why body work must take a priority over everything else from now through early Summer for the truck, aside from basic maintenance.

 

Here's a thought for you. Put on the new panels and have your guy line them up so it all looks good. You could save some money if you're willing to lose the current color you have. You could repaint it a simple flat black, like I've seen other people do to their other cars. If done right, it can actually look pretty good. That would save you a ton of money.

Of course, flat black isn't your only option, but you see where i'm going with this. For something like this, though, I'd recommend doing it with a gun and not spray cans.

The bonus of doing it this way, means that if something happens to the paint later, it can be cheaply fixed.

So, there's another option to consider.

 

Well, I don't wanna "cheap" out on it as I have always been fond of Rangers and I'm looking to keep this as a daily or spare vehicle.

I go to meet with my buddy's dad in the next week and he is getting me a specific cost on the rocker panels and cab corners.

I'll probably just quit bitching about it and hold on to it, but man...sometimes it gets discouraging trying keep things up to the level that they should be maintained at.

Appreciate all the people on here encouraging me to keep on truckin' with this build and not give up, though!

Next post will contain photos.

Believe it or not, Articwolf, I'm swaying back and forth on the 01-03 bumper conversion! hahaha, I have seen a few trucks with a really clean 98-2000 front and powerdome hood that looks nasty.

Yuke's old truck is a BIG influence on my own build.

 

Well, to each their own. I haven't seen his truck, yet. I oughta check it out....

 

Headed to Summit Racing tomorrow to pick up a chrome Westin Safari bar and a Hella 500 fog kit.

Finally have time to get some things rolling!

Will probably post up some pics when that happens.

 

I highly recommend putting some hids in those hellas while your at it. Did this to mine last weekend and its a huge difference
Before

After

 

You know, I actually was thinking about adding HIDs also to my headlights, but didn't think of adding them to my fogs. Not a bad suggestion.

Not sure on which manufacturer I'm going with at this point though.

Nice truck, btw!