Like the title says has anyone done this? Im looking for info on this. ive got a 2000 2wd coil sprung that i want to make awd not 4x4 i want it low. I dont want people knowing what it is or has. This truck will also be getting a 351w heart transplant. I have tried and tried searching on this and came up with little to nothing. Im no stranger to fab work so if the explorer front isnt a viable option please let me know. This truck will be my dd occasional trip to the track but i want a sleeper that hooks and goes like a rocket on rails. I want to wipe the smile off the rich kid in his vette when i launch from the stoplight.

 

Plenty of people have swapped expo parts onto the Ranger before. It's the typical donor for 5.0 engines and some use it for the 4.0 engine as they're (usually, at least for me) cheaper to pick up vs a Ranger.

Most swaps are usually plug and play. Although I'm not sure what challenges you'll face, given you're a coil sprung Ranger. Check out therangerstation, they have a ton of tech articles.

I also recommend having EVTMs for the model and year of ranger as well as explorer that you're working with.

 

Biggest issue you're going to have trying to swap to 4x4 IFS (4wd expos and Rangers had the same front ends up until 2002) is the coil buckets that are integrated into your frame rails. Your also missing the rear torsion bar mounts and the mounts for the front axle. It's gonna be a ton of time money and effort.

 

What about swapping the front frame section from a ranger edge? i cant see the rear torsion bar mount being too much trouble to swap over. my local pic and pull has a edge on the lot.

 

If that's the end goal, you may as well grab a torsion bar ranger and mod that instead. My guess would be there's other issues you'd face as well due to the coil-sprung nature.

 

If money allowed i sure would. Coming up with a couple grand at once to get another truck is alot more difficult than coming up with a couple hundred here and there. Im not in a big hurry to get this done if it takes a couple years it does thats the best part about building somthing is piecing it together not seeing how fast i can get it done. Just saying

 

I see what you mean. If my wallet would allow it, I'd already have an expo with a 5.0 waiting for it's heart to be transplanted into my Ranger.

I'd say that any coil sprung part can be replaced with the torsion bar suspension equivalent. Bear in mind that you also have the hubs and knuckles to deal with as a coil sprung 2wd is very different than one with a torsion bar setup, even if the truck is a 2wd. With the coil sprung Ranger, the hub and rotor are one piece. In a torsion bar setup, the rotor is separate from the hub. I believe the calipers, pads, and caliper brackets are the same, though. That being said I believe the front axel, too, is different as a result of this. The power steering rack and pump as well as tirerods and all that should be the same across torsion bar and coil sprung rangers, although there's a chance of them being different.

See what I mean when I say there's a lot different? Lol. Mostly it's in the front, I believe. I don't know of anything in the rear end that's different between coil and torsion rangers.

Another thing. sway bars, end links and control arms may also be different, too, as a result of the hubs and possibly knuckles being different. Although I don't know if the explorer parts will bolt on or not. They should but I can't promise.