All HREW and flux core, yet less ghetto than before

[TheMoneyPit]

In keeping with the theme of the build, the bumper is equal parts ghetto fab yet also overcomplicated. All out of virgin .120 wall tubing, so I'm re-using tubing from the OG bumper where I can. Upper hoop bits re-bent and spliced together. Don't mind the gap. I'll slip a filler piece in there before finish welding.


Wasted a bunch of time making tabs I should just buy online.


Like the rest of the bumper, the frame mounts and center cross-tube are made up of scavenged 1.75" .120 wall tubing. Frame end caps are threaded and the bumper is attached with 4x 1/2" bolts in the middle, 2x 9/16" bolts at the bottom, and tubing connectors up top.



To-dos:
Finish encasing/wrapping the middle bumper mounts, notch 2x lower diagonals, bend+notch two upper tubes.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

Super interested to see how that bumper turns out.

 

[TheMoneyPit]

Didn't think I'd spend three days building a bumper, but this shit is finally done. Finished encasing the frame mounts, notched lower tubes, and bent/notched the upper tubes.



Fully welded the bumper/mounts afterward. The last notable fabrication project is complete. Only things left to weld are random tabs and the bedside mounts.

Gotta trim the hood to fit tomorrow, pull the ABS/SRS/CEL bulbs, and see if I can slip this thing through inspection.

 

[TheMoneyPit]

Stock Ranger fuel sender reads from 15-156 ohms, and all of the universal senders output the generic Chevy 0-90 ohm readings. Added a 15 ohm resistor in-line, which should theoretically make my empty reading accurate, and the gauge will read ~2/3 when the tank is full. Gauge shows right at half full with 21/26 gallons in the fuel cell.

Just have to re-learn what "full" means, and the gauge should read accurately when empty. Works for me.

Trimmed the hood to fit around the engine cage cross-tube and the bumper tubes. With the inner structure clearanced, the engine cross-tube clears the outer skin by ~2mm. Hood front corners are a bit floppy after the trimming, so I'll need to add some hood pins eventually. Stock latch works for now though.

Didn't even realize this hood was aluminum until I started cutting into it. Sure made the install/removal cycle much easier.

Installed the rear window with butyl tape, door seals/weather stripping, driver's seat/harness, and the bulk of the interior. Wasn't a fan of how close live battery terminals were to the floor, so I threw in a 1/4" HDPE spacer for some insulation.


Installed rear suspension stover nuts, charged rear bumps to 60 PSI, front bumps to 90 PSI, and all shocks to 200 PSI as a baseline. Plugged in the various EVAP system valves/sensors, and that immediately cleared the remaining check engine lights. I guess this year of truck got a fairly "dumb" system that isn't looking for legitimate sensor feedback.

Rear end is 9" from the bumps with zero preload. I'll run it through inspection on Tuesday as-is, but up next is a proper alignment and messing with the front/rear preload. Going to shoot for 60/40 bump/droop in the rear, and the front will likely end up closer to 70/30 bump/droop once it is leveled.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

Looks great man. You said that you were uncomfortable about the wires close to the cab floor... you were right... haha. I caught my truck on fire like that after tightening it all down. It was a small fire but still haha. Smart move on your end.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

Are you going to cap those holes on the the frame horn bumper mounts you made?

 

[michael_gonzalez]

Are you going to cap those holes on the the frame horn bumper mounts you made?

I think he needs to keep that open to unbolt the bumper.

 

[Hunter_mf_]

hope youre to busy out enjoying that thing to update us!!! haha just had to look up your thread to find it lol

 

[TheMoneyPit]

hope youre to busy out enjoying that thing to update us!!! haha just had to look up your thread to find it lol

Nah, I've just been extra lazy lately. I finally finished welding up the bedside mounts and mounted the tail lights. Tail light fitment wasn't amazing with this glass, but it's a solid ten footer. Turned out that a 6" flare wasn't nearly enough, so the bedsides required a further 6" kick to clear the tires.




I had scheduled an inspection before the glass came in for shits and giggles. They took one look at the tube front bumper and refused to even inspect the truck. Four holes in a piece of 2x6 scrap steel later and I've got a legal bumper for my bi-yearly inspection. Adjusted the front/rear coilovers to get the lowest ride height possible, since I was still slightly above legal bumper height in the front. Rear is technically still too high, but we'll see what happens.


Couldn't run a stock glass-mount mirror with the cage A-bars in place, so I picked up a generic tube-mount mirror for legality's sake.


All things considered, it's mostly legal now. Rear bumper is a few inches too tall, and I don't have an emergency brake as of now. If they bitch about the bumper, I'll ghetto rig another piece of 2x6 across the back for inspection days. If they complain about the e-brake, I do have 8.8 brakes so I can run Explorer style e-brake hardware. E-brake pedal got deleted when the cage went in, but I can probably run a Mustang mechanical handbrake with two passenger side Explorer e-brake cables instead.

Everything else is solid, so I'm going to try my luck at another inspection. Actually being able to drive this pile will undoubtedly be good motivation.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

Progress is Progress! Looks great.

 

[Hunter_mf_]

lookin fuckin good dude!!! i cant wait to see the desert patina on those lower shock mounts after a few years of abuse

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

Did you ever finish up the front bumper?

 

[TheMoneyPit]

Did you ever finish up the front bumper?

Nah, still need to wrap that up. Passed inspection and got the truck re-tagged today though. Going to daily it for a few weeks. Break in the gears, figure out which noises need fixed, and which I need to learn to ignore.

Weather has been 95+ consistently here for weeks, so I may have to hook the air conditioning back up sooner than expected if I start hating life.

 

[Hunter_mf_]

I feel the pain was 109 here in vegas today dry soul sucking heat

 

[TheMoneyPit]

I feel the pain was 109 here in vegas today dry soul sucking heat

Gotta love it. 105 peak today here.


Might have to accelerate my plans to throw some more power at this thing as well. I was hoping it would feel a bit peppier off the line after the 3.73->4.88 upgrade, but the larger tires and extra ~800 lbs definitely crushed those hopes. It's still faster than a stock 4-banger Ranger, but that's a very low bar.

Obvious move is building up a basic 347 with some aftermarket heads. The other voice in the back of my head says supercharger....

I've got a complete Procharger kit minus the head unit for my old 4.6 Mustang. Bracketry, intercooler, misc piping, wideband, MAF, etc. Standard 5.0 Procharger bracketry wouldn't fit my engine/chassis anyway, so why not mod the Mustang one. Seems like I could relocate the coil packs and stick the head unit right where the distributor would normally be. Decisions decisions.

 

[TheMoneyPit]

Very minor updates, but I needed to knock a few things out to really enjoy driving this thing. Spent all of last Sunday trying and failing to recharge the AC system. In the end, the rented O'Reilly Auto manifold gauge set was faulty. Amazoned a new set, pulled vacuum, and recharged with zero issues this morning. Ice cold AC is back baby.

Another minor but annoying setback was that I had run a tube directly below the OEM antenna mounting hole. As a workaround, I relocated the antenna to a tab off of the bedcage and blocked off the OEM hole.



Reinstalled the rear engine cage crossmember and lucked out with the hood mounting. Two hinge notches and it closes with all OEM hardware.


Lots of minor stuff left to do, which is traditionally the stuff I am least motivated to finish. The boxes of sound deadening in the corner of my bedroom? Who needs it, just turn up the radio.

 

[dwphoto]

any updates ?

 

[Turboyota]

Bump!