Going a bit too fast I reckon.
Has this ever happened to anyone? Once I figure this out I'm definitely making a skid plate. What is this piece of frame called and does anyone make a bolt on replacement part? It's welded onto the frame.

 

i don't see whats bent...

 

Wow.. You must have hit something really hard really fast. That is not an easy fix. It's welded to the frame above it. I imagine your alignment is way off as well. I know a guy that did something similar.. he was always wearing out front end parts/tires prematurely and couldn't get it aligned properly afterwards.

 

Yeah it's pretty gnarly. I'm going to hammer on it a bit today and see what happens I guess. I might find a scrap frame, cut this out, and bolt a new piece on as straight as possible.

 

For all that work might as well look at doing a solid axle swap

 

Just discovered sas. Have a lot of reading to do.

 

Wow SAS is a deep rabbit hole.
It is also an expensive one.

Can anyone direct me to a thread on budget SAS build?
Has know one dealt with this problem before?

I really don't have $4k to spend on my truck. If I had that I would buy a better truck.

 

Budget and SAS don't go together, especially when the subject is a Ranger newer than '97. Here's what I'd do, take it to an alignment shop and have it checked to see if it's still aligned. If it is then don't worry about it, if it's not then see if they can get it into spec. If so then great and forget about it. If not then consider other options.

 

This is where you should start, if that does not work I would remove the lower a arms and steering rack then heat the area and try and form it back into shape.

You won't be able to reliably bolt anything in there that crossmember is essential to the frame stiffness and drivability of the truck