Swapping Cabs and front clips
 

Hey Yall,

I just bought a red 2004 Ranger XLT 4X4 with a 4.0 SOHC and manual trans. I bought the truck for the engine and transmission, but I got to thinking it would be easier to put my 2004 cab and front clip on the doner truck than swapping the the engines and transmissions out. (If I'm wrong, please let me know)
I'll need to cut a hole out on my cab for the shifter. I'm assuming the best way to do this is with a cardboard template. Has anyone here done this before? and if so, I'm open for suggestions.

Thanks,

Brian

what year is your truck? it may be worth while to swap cabs, but then again, it may not be. as for the hole for the shifter, under the carpet, there is a metal plate that bolts to the floor. you can just swap it out for the one from the manual truck.

My truck is a 2004 and the doner truck is a 2004.
I think it'll be easier to swap out the cabs, but I still have to tear the whole dash apart to put all of the doner truck's wiring harnesses into my cab and get the clutch pedal.
It'll be interesting ... If anyone has some tips on this ... please let me know.

swapping cabs will require a paint job if they aren't the same color. everything you want to swap should be bolt in, and plug and play. if they are the same color, sure a cab swap may be just as easy.

Might be overlooked but what do you do about the VIN do you have to submit some kind of papers to DMV to swap VINs

i'm not sure, but i would assume it wouldn't be a big deal to just put the original tag on the new cab. i'm sure body shops swap cabs from time to time. that's a good question for your local law enforcement.

Actually it's not being over looked at all. The cab has both VIN numbers on it and my cab is going to be used. Essentially the cab is the heart of the truck. The cab from the doner truck has to be crushed. The guy that sold me the truck told me that, and he fixes trucks up for a living.
I'm on here looking for some helpful tips, not to have someone rain on my parade.

You're exactly right Troy ... it's not a big deal. Like I said before, I'm looking for some advise here from someone that has done this before.

pm this guy, hes the king of fixing up rangers and cab swaps

Ford Ranger Forum - The Ultimate Ford Ranger Resource - View Profile: wvcat

Didnt mean to rain on your parade.

So, Are you saying that even on a cab that has an auto trans that there's a removable metal plate?

I already beat ya to it Melt :-)
Me and John have been talking about this and you're right ... he is the king of fixing up Rangers and cab swaps. He's really helping me out a lot.

No problemo

i know the gen 3s did. that way they only had to stamp one floor pan for an auto and manual. just the same as an auto truck has the holes in the firewall for the cluster assembly.

The vin is not a problem because your using the cab(and vin and title) to the truck you already have registered. The only issue is the pcm on an 04 stores the vin so your pcm is actually going to come up with the wrong vin if you take it to the ford dealership...not sure if that's an issue but I think they are capable of reprogramming it.

That's very interesting John ... thanks for giving me the heads up on that. I'll really be sure not to take it to a stealership now.

it seems to me that it would be way easier to just take the motor and trans out of the new truck and drop it in urs.....and then just plug everything back in....what wrong with ur motor and trans?

LOL ... You must not know that I'm doing a engine and transmission conversion.
If I was just replacing my engine and transmission with the same engine and trans that's in there it would be a lot easier.
I'm also doing a 2WD to 4X4 swap too.
I didn't plan on switching over to a 4X4, but if it's there, I don't any reason to let it go to waste.
And there's nothing wrong with my motor besides the fact that it's a 3.0 aka 3.slow.

If your swapping to 4x4 too i would deffinetley just swap that cab and stuff over to the new frame :)

Yeah, It's really a no brainer ... I'll be getting a torsion bar frame too which is a +
I'm picking the truck up in Ohio, close to Dayton.
Is Logan, OH anywhere around Dayton?

Nah about 2 hours east of dayton actually, too bad we couldnt meet up for a few

ok...well some info in ur sig would have cleared a lot of that up...not many of us have everyone set up memorized....and if the new truck is 4x4 than i would defiantly put ur cab on the new frame and bolt in ur clutch pedal...from what i understand all the wiring for the clutch should be there...although i have not been able to find it.....check out this thread...my buddy is trying to but a 2002 3.0 auto 2wd cab on a 2004 4.0 5 speed 4x4 truck...pretty much opposite of what you are doing....

https://www.ranger-forums.com/f18/pu...ranger-115604/

I just happened to see a pic with the plate. here you go.

Attachment 94431

I got my new (to me) Ford Ranger back home from Clarksville, OH and now the project begins
Here's a few pictures of Big Red
Attachment 94304

It only has 45K miles
Attachment 94305
It has a manual trans. The shifter knob looks faded.(Do they all look like this after 6 years?) (Can you see the big blue cable on the floor?) The kid butchered up the wiring to the stereo system. They had the blue cables running to the back, I'm assumming they were going to put some 10s in the back then they wrecked it. This truck also has the black radio bezel and mine has the silver radio bezel. Was that an option in 2004?
Attachment 94306
It has the front tow hooks and the frame wasn't damaged at all
Attachment 94307
It's pretty obvious that a 16 y/o kid owned this truck before me(What is TapOut?)
Attachment 94308
Here's the 16" wheels and tires.(The tires are almost brand new. They have 95% of the tread left.) I put them on my 3.weak and it has a hard time turning them.
Attachment 94309
Window Sticker
Attachment 94310

I would have some info in my sig if I knew how to put it there. (Can someone help me out with this?)