High School 04 Ranger build (new update pics)

[59sled]

Starting a little build/spec list of my kids 04 Ranger Prerunner. Putting this together for the BLGT Off Road Expo booth. Hopefully you all thinks its good enough to put in the booth.
So its an 2004 Ranger XLT with the awesome 3.0

The day he got the Ranger in 2016. Rocking an RCD lift with 31's.


Still in 2016.
As with most broke high school kids. It starts off with new Methods and 33" BFG tires and some Maxtrac spindles. Bumper valance delete with the sweet bent back front plate. Rear angled cut bed. And a rear tube bumper made by his my brother his uncle.


Now its 2017.
Now comes the 1" front wheel spacers and 3" McNeil fenders. Also he got a bumper fabbed up from a shop that I don't remember the name. Unfortunately the guy took advantage of a 17 year old kid on part time job money. And never tied the bumper into the bottom. It just hanging off the front frame rail. Of course me/Dad didn't know better either. I wanted it bolt on and didn't think twice about it needed to be tied into the bottom. Added a Chinese light bar to the grille.


Now 2019 -2020
In the beginning of 2019 my kid bought a BTF Basic long travel kit off of Craigslist. The guy selling it never installed it. So my kid bought some new 2.5 x 8 King coil overs and was slowly building up other parts as his funds would allow. The end of 2019 kid went off to lineman school for 4 months. In that time I noticed he had some bad front camber on one side. After some inspection I noticed his stock lower arm was cracking by the ball joint. Welp it happened because dad/me had to cut some of the arm to install the Maxtrac spindles. Well instead of making a curved cut. I did a 90 degree cut. And that's where it was cracking.
This is where Mikey at @the_fablab_ comes in. I got a hold of him to put in the BTF kit. Which most know it was a coil bucket Ranger. So that was a lot of work. This is right after the the kit was installed. Also Mikey added light tabs to the bumper and did his signature vents in the front skid plate.

Still 2020-2021.
Added Advanced Products 4 inch front and rear fiberglass. My bother helped him do this. We pulled the bed so we can do it right. Also my brother welded angle iron to the top of the bed where the bedside lip rail attaches. This way it gives you the strength to sit on the edge of the fender while in the bed.

Lets not forget the bed mounted spare and ammo can storage boxes. and the one rear chase light on the bed. And the CB radio.


Now its 2022
By this time myself and my brother installed the Deaver F31 pack and Kartek hangers and dropped shackles.
Kid got full time job. So its back to the @the_fablab_ to get the rear bed cage done. Went with a simple bolt in bed cage. Cage was V'd at the front so my kid could wedge a dirt bike in there. Added some Baja Designs lights to the cage. At this point, my kid and I added a 99 Ranger 8.8 rear end.




July of 2022 it was time to jump up to 35's


August 2022
Kid bought some Vision Manx faux beadlock wheels. and had the ring powder coated black.


Now 2023
Truck stayed like this for a bit. Added little things like the Milwaukee pack out storge and ice chest.
Oh yeah. added the BadLinesGoodTimes sticker to the rear tire holder.


Now 2023.
Kid gets some of the first set of BTF fabricated Dana 35 spindles for the basic long travel kit.
Time to test the new front spindles. Also around this time. the kid switched all his lights to Baja Designs. And he added the small S1 lights to the mirrors. Bottom of the front bumper was tied into the frame by my brother.

 

[59sled]

Part 2
Still 2023 -2024
Time to test out those new BTF fabricated Dana 35 front spindles.

 

[59sled]

Part 3 .
Now it 2024 - 2025.
Now we see there is a reoccurring trend that every 2 years the truck goes to Mikey and Jesse at the @the_fablab_
This time it was for:
Solo Motorsports full cage tied to the bed cage.
PRP seats
Sidewinder gated shifter
Camburg 3.5 fabricated rear axle thats 6 inches wider than stock with 40 spline axles, disc brakes and a spool.
3.5 x 18 King 5 tube Bypasses
Giant Motorsports Link Killer. @Giant Geoff
6 inch McNeil fiberglass. Front installed by me and the rear was the fablab when he did the rear end.

I'm happy that the only hands on this truck has only been by My kid, his brother and myself. His uncle and the @the_fablab_

 

[Motiracer38]

That's a classic progression of a typical Ranger, love it! Solid parts with solid fabrication put together into a clean package should make for a fun truck. It's nice seeing so many local spots are still being used.

 

[FENDERFAB]

Very nice build and tastefully done!

 

[95_Bluwhale]

This is exactly what I had planned in my head when I wanted to build a truck but I wanted a suv to store my tools for work, any future plans?

 

[Crusty]

Very cool progress over time, you and your kid did great job.

 

[59sled]

This is exactly what I had planned in my head when I wanted to build a truck but I wanted a suv to store my tools for work, any future plans?

He really wants to do a race front kit so he can get a bypass shock up front. But that mean the front engine cage would have to be redone. And he plans to V8 the truck. Which would also mean the front cage would have to be redone.
But now he realizes that he can probably beam the front for the same cost it would be to just by the race kit. Front A Arm race kits are about $6000 just for the kit.
So I think next year he is going to beam it and V8 it at the same time.
Also I think he is going to jump up to 37"s and real bead locks by the end of the year.

 

[96f-u250]

NOW WE'RE TALKING!

 

[95_Bluwhale]

He really wants to do a race front kit so he can get a bypass shock up front. But that mean the front engine cage would have to be redone. And he plans to V8 the truck. Which would also mean the front cage would have to be redone.
But now he realizes that he can probably beam the front for the same cost it would be to just by the race kit. Front A Arm race kits are about $6000 just for the kit.
So I think next year he is going to beam it and V8 it at the same time.
Also I think he is going to jump up to 37"s and real bead locks by the end of the year.

Both good choices but yeah the beam route is a good one with the v8 especially with recouping some funds from the first kit

 

[59sled]

Kid got another piece to the Prerunner puzzle.
His Ranger officially became a trailer queen now.
Monday he picked up 20 x 8.5 trailer for it.

 

[59sled]

Finally got around getting some pics of the rest of the kids truck for a Off Road Expo build thread.
Some interior shots and a little better shot of how the Milwaukee pack outs are in there.




Just as important as accessible fire extinguishers for anyone to grab.
So is the 1Life Trauma kit.

 

[59sled]

For air system. We really like this Milwaukee inflator. For us it works fine. It will fill a 35" tire from 23 psi to 32 psi no problem. After filling all 4 tires and still have 4 bars on the battery. We prefer a mobile unit instead of a onboard air system. This way you can grab it and bring it to the tow vehicle, their dirt bikes or someone else who might be a little harder to get to.

To keep it out of the elements in the back of the bed. We mounted it between the cage behind the seats.
We used a American Adventure Lab quick release.

 

[59sled]

For the Rugged Radio install. We choose the race radio with the remote intercom. That way there was one less box to mount in the cab that's accessible.

Temporary spot for the Race radio.
Will have my brother fab up a console that will go from the bottom of the dash then down at a angle to the edge of the stock black console part.
Then we can flush mount the race radio and then put a small back up camera monitor under the race radio.




For the volume controls for the remote intercom. I mounted the on/off and volume controller in the center console. This way its accessible for both driver and passenger. The intercom remote module unit is now mounted out of the way in the dash where the passenger air bag was.



I made a bracket for the headphone jacks and mounted it behind the console. This way the head phone cables run behind your shoulder and not in front of you to the dashboard.



Then for the drivers push to talk button on the steering wheel. I put that jack in the factory Ranger cigarette light hole in the dash.
This also gives enough length to hang the steering wheel without disconnecting the push to talk button.

 

[59sled]

So I decided to try the spare tire weights that I saw someone else do on Facebook. We had to go with two 35 lbs weights. The 45 lbs weights are 16 inches in diameter and my kid is still on 15 inch wheels. Where as the 35 lbs weights are 14 inch in diameter.
The other post I saw bolted it to a wheel spacer then to their spare tire.

I going to try and run one 1/2 inch bolt through the center for a quicker removal. And use one handle to remove them.
THIS IS JUST A MOCK UP. I'm having a friend machine me some mounts up the the rim and the weights. I will start a separate thread for this once I get the pieces back from my machinist.

My plan is to have a insert mount made that has a big enough lip to hold the weights but then has a 3 1/2 inch long extension the same inner diameter of the weights. Then you can stack the weights on the a shaft. This way the weights will not shift side to side and will keep them centered.
Then the same concept for the spare tire wheel. Make a mount a that is big enough to grab the rim but has a piece sticking down the same inner diameter of the center bore of the wheel. This way it will keep it from shifting the rim.
Going to make them out of 7075 aluminium. Not sure if this will be strong enough. Might have to make them out of steel.


I thinking of having my brother weld in a tube that runs down the middle under the spare tire. This way when you have to get to the bottom spare tire. You can just unscrew the handle and drop the weights onto the bed cage and not try and hold 70 lbs.
Also the extra bar will help hold them in the bed cage in case this set up breaks. That way we are not launching a 70 lbs into the desert or bouncing into someone's vehicle.

 

[59sled]

Pic of the Giant Link Killer kit and the Camburg 3.5" fabricated rear end. Spooled with 40 spline axles. 6 inches wider than stock.

 

[desert_steve]

Not knocking the spare tire wheel weight idea by any means, but why not put something under the truck in the factory spare location? That way you guys never have to mess with it when/if you have to use a spare tire?

(unless this was already covered and I missed it, in which case my apologies)

 

[59sled]

Not knocking the spare tire wheel weight idea by any means, but why not put something under the truck in the factory spare location? That way you guys never have to mess with it when/if you have to use a spare tire?

(unless this was already covered and I missed it, in which case my apologies)

Well shoot. I never even thought about that. I just saw the post of someone else doing it on a Facebook and ran with it.
Dumb sheep mentality that we get stuck in every once in a while.

Going to have to look at that as an option now. It would be simple if we would've have kept the factory spare crank too, but unfortunately that's long gone.
Have to see if the weights will fit in that space since we cut off the part of the factory spare tire area that protruded out the back of the bed end. That's the dimpled die area in the picture.
And I can still make it for a quick removal with one handle.

Luckily my only costs so far is the weights. If it fits in there I owe you a beer.

 

[_Cole_Taylor_]

M

For air system. We really like this Milwaukee inflator. For us it works fine. It will fill a 35" tire from 23 psi to 32 psi no problem. After filling all 4 tires and still have 4 bars on the battery. We prefer a mobile unit instead of a onboard air system. This way you can grab it and bring it to the tow vehicle, their dirt bikes or someone else who might be a little harder to get to.

To keep it out of the elements in the back of the bed. We mounted it between the cage behind the seats.
We used a American Adventure Lab quick release.
View attachment 42089View attachment 42090

Might have to steal this idea I love that compressor

 

[-MIKE-]

I understand this is a pre runner and not a race truck but it still seems like a bad idea imo

Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to just find a spot (like filling the rear bumper with/ ) and or just adding some tabs to the rear carrier and welding / securing 1-to a few ammo can boxes and filling them with the lead bead balls used for interior tire balancing… used or for adding weight in specific areas to a vehicle? A 30lb bag is like $100 on amazon.

I always preferred to attach and secure multiple locations using this method that way you can play with the locations while working on shock tuning. The .50cal ammo boxes is what I always used and would just weld them shut. Just big heavy bricks you can adjust as needed. .

Shit even just weighing the two tires before and after filling with tire slime might get you close enough lol… unless the weight plates are just conversation starters.

Dealing with plates on a spare sounds like a nightmare and or an accident waiting to happen, especially for the buddy trailing behind you in dust when next thing you know a 35lb plate comes smashing into your truck lol.

Truck looks rad. Simple yet well thought out