LA GORDITA BLANCA ( Linked Ranger on buggy tires)

[_Cole_Taylor_]

Well as some of you know I sold La Pinche Gringa and was wanting a bronco or a ttb ranger but got the opportunity to buy this 01 ranger that has some history with Tyler TNT and a handful of other people was to good of a deal to pass up! So here’s the progress since I’ve had it, meet LA GORDITA BLANCAthis is current state of the truck and yes I know they look identical to the untrained eye but that was kind of the point..

 

[_Cole_Taylor_]

This was the day that I got the truck it had been sitting for a while with no cover and windows down was pretty hammered when I got it just used and put away wet. had a no exhaust and a really bad misfire along with a laundry list of things before it could be desert ready. Over all I knew it had potential and good bones just needed some love

 

[_Cole_Taylor_]

Wasted no time getting to work! I knew the shocks needed some love bunch of shock shafts were pitted/rusted from sitting so off they went to Roy for a new lease on life The back half of the truck was pretty smoked out from sitting in the sun/surface rust every where luckily my good buddy has his own business called dustless blasting so he was able to blast the whole backhalf which saved me a ton of time on paint prep went at it with the rustoleumAnd of course I had to run the best wheel and tire combo for a ranger so wasted no time getting rid of the junk general grabbers for the good ol tensor 37s I had on the old truck

 

[_Cole_Taylor_]

Next up was gutting the interior and moldy carpet as I got the dash out there was so much extra wire coiled up and things running everywhere I opted for just getting rid of all the wire to avoid electrical gremlins later. I knew the truck would be running an Spod so it only made sense to start fresh. So I got to wiring!I thought I was going to run these sol teks but opted for 3 lp6’sRed some lights…..Had to make a mount for the Spod Sort of got everything ran going back togetherAlso had to make a mount for the dual battery switch.Then put a bunch of kilmat down and did my best at putting carpet in this thing Came out good enough for me it’s not perfect but it’s also not a luxury prerunner. Also never putting carpet in a prerunner again

 

[DP_Tundra]

Even the asking price in the RDC ad was a smokin deal for this much truck! Glad someone who knows what’s up bought it.

 

[_Cole_Taylor_]

The goal was to have the truck ready for the off-road expo or “ready enough” luckily Roy was kind enough to let me work on it at his shop for a little while this was right after got all the shocks back on and was ready for it’s maiden voyage.Went out to watch the pci 300 and put some miles on the truck. I was blown away at how well it worked right out of the box. I have ridden in a lot of linked trucks but never driven one before stoked was an understatement. Had to put a new rack/ ps pump before the expo cause they were both junk but everything else checked out when I did a once over. Bolted some fenders on and off the the expo we went!Posted up with one of my all time favorite rangers Jolene! @marcytechEven got featured on RDC pretty rad!Picked up this boujee ass brake light from my boy @marcytech @cutlessdesigns

 

[_Cole_Taylor_]

Next up was a Mojave trail trip I had planned for a while I was super nervous not having a ton of miles on the truck yet but just sent it anyway and once again was super stoked drove it all the way to Laughlin with zero issues while getting 17 mpg and did the trail all the way back to out side of Barstow. Truck didn’t skip a beat. Once we got back on the highway I could tell my 3rd member was making a lot more noise then before so I just cruised it home and we made it!of course stopping at Barstow del taco on the way home.

 

[_Cole_Taylor_]

Once all home and cleaned I knew it was 3rd member time so got to work.and while I’m at it I might as well just prep the entire back half right? That escalated quickly…..

Everything got some fresh paint and all new properly shanked hardware! all the heims checked out so that was a score!Didn't get the 3rd member back til late on Friday so thrashed on the truck to get out to the dez late that night.Ended up having to borrow some nitrogen from a buddy out there cause the bottle I had at home didn’t have enough never fails…..Saturday was going super good til it wasn’t truck just decided to die out of know where instantly thought it was the fuel pump so towed it back to camp and Then realized that the voltage was super low so it must be the alternator right? Had someone bring out a new one swapped it out and still had the same issue. Ended up being an old sauder that someone had done the only thing holding it together was the heatshrink easy fix!

 

[_Cole_Taylor_]

At this point the truck is working good but I know the shocks can be better I kept sending videos to Roy asking what to do but was almost like chasing my own tail so finally we just setup a day to go out and tune the truck.

 

[WW_RANGER_X]

Wait, did you buy this off a guy named Dalan?

 

[_Cole_Taylor_]

Wait, did you buy this off a guy named Dalan?

No my buddy Erik did and then I bought it off of him.

 

[WW_RANGER_X]

No my buddy Erik did and then I bought it off of him.

Gotcha. Small world. When Dalan had it, it was up here in Visalia. Ran around the desert with him a couple of times. My buddy did some fab work on it but not sure exactly what he did.

 

[WW_RANGER_X]

Just talked to the guy who did some work on it up here. He did the rear bumps and a cage tie in under the back of the cab.

 

[gascapkevin]

How does the front end compare to the beams on La Pinche Gringa?

 

[_Cole_Taylor_]

How does the front end compare to the beams on La Pinche Gringa?

I was honestly worried about switching to A arms and going from a steering box to a rack but so far it’s been good definitely a way different driving style. Also having a bypass up front helps. Beams are by far superior to A arms unless you go full center mount IMO

 

[KaiserJ]

This thing is just perfect

 

[96f-u250]

Beams are by far superior to A arms unless you go full center mount IMO

Guess we finally got our answer.. Only took a few years and a couple forums.

 

[_Cole_Taylor_]

Guess we finally got our answer.. Only took a few years and a couple forums.

There’s a couple different reasons why I think this, you can run a bigger shock package on a beamed truck (stroke wise) which means more fluid capacity, which also means less shock fade. I know everyone complains about camber/ caster change but most A arm trucks aren’t great either . Also like mentioned before a steering box is much better than a steering rack IMO. All of this is just my experiences / preferences also learning a lot from Roy and Dean, so I might be biased . Let’s just say I wish this truck had beams on it……

 

[RW81]

love this truck! i want to do the Mojave trail with mine when it’s done, cool to see something similar capable

 

[Chimi]

This thing sick