I did Kenson 55watt 6000k

Thanks!

 

Ended up pulling the trigger on a chrome Westin Safari Bar, mounting kit, and opted to go for the Hella 500FF driving light kit instead of the fogs.

Haha, maybe not the most original look, but a good one for most 98-2000 Rangers!

Was surprised at the size of the safari bar. A lot bigger than I thought.

Will post some pics probably soon and plan on having it on the truck sometime in December.

 

FINALLY. Some big updates.

This pic is from yesterday's work. My mechanic Shawn got the old, brittle core support out and is working on getting the new one in.






That's not all though...


I gotta run up to Summit Racing tomorrow to pick up this stuff.

Figured the truck would become part of the double-lifted club while in the shop.





I'll be sure to post some before and after pics.

With the body lift the truck should be sitting somewhere around 8 inches of lift.

 

Also forgot to note that I got the last Ford OE Radiator Support in stock from Rock Auto for only $102 bucks.

 

Right on man. Gonna look killer when it's all done

 

Thanks, man.

Been awhile since I was able to make an update post.

Cannot wait to see what it looks like.

Def. cannot ignore getting the body work at this point going forward though!

Things are getting thick with this little truck's build, but I don't give up on it because I truly enjoy the thing.

 

Ordered a new chrome bumper today. This time I ordered one without the holes for the plastic pads.

It'll change up the look a little more in the front and make it a bit "cleaner" I'd guess.

Also ordered a brand new valance that is a 4WD valance without the fog light holes. Pretty much the same thing that I have on there, but my valance is thrashed.

Hopefully picking that up from Summit this Thursday when they receive it.

Also gonna have the safari bar thrown on when the new bumper is put on I think.

 

Sorry for quality of pics. I'm using my cell phone and I kinda cracked the front camera lens.

Anyways...

More progress being made.



Got the Energy Suspension mounts on and got the bed off to continue installing the body lift. The bed is completely shot. Gonna def. need replaced within the next 12 months at some point, but my mechanic is gonna make it structurally work for the time being.



I'll post some pics of the bed at some point soon to show all the rust and just how we are gonna box it with some sheet metal to create a temporary fix for the body lift mounts. If we don't do this, we run the risk of the mounts punching straight through the paper thin layer of metal remaining in the bed floor. I don't have an extra 800-1200 bucks for the kind of bed I am looking for right now, so this is meant to just get me through until I can go to a southern state and pick one up.

The truck looks like a monster though right now.




Here is a comparison of just how rusted out the radiator core support is.

The old one next to a brand new Ford OE Rad Support. Picked up some new bumper brackets as well from Rock-Auto.



The frame though, is virtually rust free with the exception of some surface rust. The body is a lot less rusty than I originally thought and I was informed I might not have to do a complete floor replacement which is great news.

 

Will be sure to try to take some better pics with my Nikon next time and not this potato camera on my cell phone.

 

Gonna keep the 33's or move to 35's?

 

Definitely looking forward towards putting 35's on the truck in the future, but there are a lot of "what ifs" going on with the build right now.


The biggest "what if" my mechanic and I are discussing is the motor swap. I've flip-flopped between a 5.0 and a 2.3T swap for the last few years.

A 5.0 donor explorer/mountaineer in decent enough shape to be a donor for the powertrain and steering column (my truck is not a PATS truck) looks like it is gonna run anywhere from 2500-3500 bucks.

I've researched that a 2.3T SVO motor weighs nearly the same as a 302 V8.

I'd really like to keep the current 5 speed in the truck as it is a great transmission, but if I do a 5.0 swap, I'm most likely going to have to get a manual transmission from an F150 and I'm not too sure about how much fabrication I'd need to have done to make the pedal set swap in easily enough.

I only really want about 200-220 HP from the motor anyways.

A 2.3T motor swap would allow me to keep my current M50D-R1 transmission. The tranny makes the truck really smooth to drive and is a large reason why I enjoy driving it so much.

Always thinking about what is next for this truck...

The reason I bring up motor swaps is because I'm not sure I want to stress the little 2.5L motor with 35x12.50x15's.

The tie rod ends should be able to handle it, but I also know I need to re-gear from my current 4.10's to something a little more suitable.


I'm most likely going to stick with BF Goodrich A/T's and sell my current set for cheap.

35 inch tires are at least 1.5-2 years away for this truck, as bad as I want them.

 

Getting everything put back together.

Definitely looks a little taller!

 

This truck is officially part of the double-lifted club. Picked it up today. This is a pic from my mechanic.

Will post better daytime pics in the next day or two.

Very pleased and it feels really fun to ride in.

 

Here are some better pics as promised.

We had a small snowstorm this morning.












My brother's stock 2000 4.0 XLT 4x4.

 

I love the stance it has. Your mechanic did a nice job on it as it looks level all the way around. Congrats on a nice lift project!

 

Thanks a lot! He put some good work into it. He has an Atlas lift, but he still did it alone and it was his first time ever doing a body lift.

My mechanic is a former 20+ master Ford ASE tech that gives me a super cheap labor rate. I've been having him work on all my vehicles for the last 3 years now and we have a very solid business relationship.

I've rambled a lot about motor swaps and body work in this thread and now I'm finally getting around to those things.

 

Looks good bud

 

Thanks, man.

 

Holy **** that's tall! looks great!

 

Haha! Thanks, dude.

I'm trying to avoid it, but my girlfriend is only 5 ft so I'm having to think about getting the most discreet looking step hoop I can get for both sides. LOL

 

Haha f that man. Just make her jump lol

 

Just pick her up and set her in the seat... she will think that is the coolest move EVER!

 

LOL! mhoward and 00GreenRanger


I showed her your responses and she laughed.

She then proceeded to ask me, "Well, if you don't want steps on your truck, I don't mind. I can jump in."

She was dead serious. Hahahaha

She supports my car/truck/motorcycle habit to the fullest.

 

^ I need a girl like that. But then again, that might be bad, having someone who's encouraging me to spend money

In all seriousness though, awesome truck.

 

She sounds like a keeper to me! Hang on to her!