Hello all.

I purchased a 99 XLT that the driver had ran up on top of a guard rail. The frame is pushed in about 3 inches right just behind the rear frame mount for the lower control arm.

The strike also broke the knuckle where the tie rod mounts, so steering was lost on the right side.

Very hard to find the pass side knuckle for the 99 with vacuum actuated hubs. But I'll find it.

As far as parts I've either ordered or still need to order,..

Torsion Bar
Lower Control Arm with Ball Joint
Radiator
Condenser
Bumper
Oil cooler
Accumulator
Knuckle
Tie Rod End
Upper Control Arm with Ball Joint
Trans Cooler
And I'm sure many other items as I get into it.

My question is around pulling the frame back out 3 inches or so.

Included are pictures of the truck itself, and some of the impacted areas, and couple extra pics circling the impacted zones.

I'm not totally against taking it to a frame shop, but I have zero idea what they would charge for the work, and let's be honest, I'm already upside down, haha.

I'm curious if something along the lines of a 10 ton porta power may be successful in this frame adjustment. I have no torches, so I would be attempting this with the porta power and heavy logging chains wrapped around the frame without heat.

Thoughts on the best way to do this?

I'm not afraid to do the work, just want to work as smart and economical as possible to wrap this up.

Thanks in advance for the input.










We had a 93 ranger years ago, and I've never heard the end of the grief from the wife after selling it. She loved that truck, and hates driving any of the full size pickups here. Since then, I've been looking for another deal on another when I ran across this one on CL for $500 in very good condition. So I figured I'd take a shot at a happy marriage again.

The truck has been sitting for about a year, and we couldn't get it to turn over with a good battery, but it was in such good shape, I took the woman's word for how well it ran. Upon getting it home, it either has a broken shift cable, or the accident disconnected it in the column, because the shifter isn't affecting the transmission and wouldnt allow it to shift into neutral or park for the starter to engage. I went underneath tonight, removed the cable, and manually shifted it into park, and it started and ran for about 10 seconds before I shut it off.

Best

 

Frame damage is the worst. Only way to get that corrected would be at a body shop that can get the frame true and straight. That or find another donor and pull the frame.

 

Welcome to the forum

Not saying you can't do it but it will be pretty tough to get all the damage on the frame corrected, and true, vehicles that can't have 4 wheel alignment are basically junkers
Ranger 4x4 frames are boxed up front unlike 2WD, made to be less flexible, lol

Whats the engine?
3.0l V6 or 4.0l OHV V6

If you could find a 1998 to 2000 Ranger 4x4 with matching engine/trans but bad engine and/or trans that $500 would be well spent
Other body parts look sellable, so parts truck
If interior is in good shape it can be swapped

Not sure I would trust the front axle???, and PVH would be swapped out for manual if it gets that far

2001 and up wouldn't work
1995-1997 could work
1994 and older wouldn't work without computer and wiring swaps

 

Thanks for the response.

It's a 3.0L automatic (wish it was 5 speed)

If it comes down to it, there are frame shops around here that can address it, but I'm cheap. Since it's only $500, I might shop around. The challenging thing is it has no right wheel steering with the knuckle broke away at the tie rod end mount, So, if I decide to take it around to a few shops for estimates, I'll need to temp weld that cast just to move it around a parking lot and on/off a frame machine.

I just wonder if a 10 ton portapower could even move the frame. Part of me doubts it would be up to the task.

 

Just rent a u-haul 2 wheel car dolly for a day
Drop the rear drive shaft, its hard on an automatic to spin in Neutral when pump/engine is not running, no lubrication

Frame shops can give an estimate by just looking at it
And they may say they need to replace the frame in that corner, so you may say NO, as that means ALOT of labor pull everything out, like the engine and front axle, lol

 

Yeah, the one thing the bent impacted zone has going for it is it's got direct access in the wheelwell, straight shot to pull it back to spec. I really couldn't care less if it isnt too close to spec though. Close enough to hang panels on it, set the toe and let it go as they say. I've done frame swaps on full size chevy trucks, and I'm not doing anymore of those, too long and involved of a process.

I'll take a picture tomorrow behind the tire so you can see what I'm talking about regarding location of the bend. I called one shop, and described where the frame was bent, and he seemed to think it wouldnt be too bad to pull out 3 inches, but who knows.

Thanks as always for the replies.