Yea, this truck usually puts up quite the fight. But, if everything went well, what would I have to bitch about? Lol. Thanks!

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Between Easter festivities and other family commitments, I didn't get a whole of time to mess around with the truck this weekend, but I got a few hours in here and there.

Body mounts still haven't shown up (I spoke with nice lady at Tasca and she assured me they would ship out that day. We shall see) So, I forged ahead with the coilover swap. Got the drivers side painted, got the passenger side shock tower gussets and limit strap mounts welded on, and got the passenger side painted. Also did a final mock-up on the drivers side and ran across a few issues. The holes in the brackets are over-sized for a 1/2" bolt, so I ordered some 5/8 O.D. by 1/2 I.D. bushings for the brackets. Also, I seem to have ended up with the spacers for the brackets (too narrow). But, the bushings are 1" long, so I should be able to cut them to make up the difference. Also found out my lower limit strap mount is dangerously close to the CV boot. It clears, but barely. I think I'm gonna let it ride for now and see what happens. I'm gonna have to clearance the upper control arm as well, as it rubs the coil at full drop. There really isn't a lot of space in there.


Some pics:


drivers side painted and assembled





Not a lot of room by the CV boot


Passenger side gussets and limit strap mounts on. Don't laugh at my welds, I know they're ugly lol






Passenger side painted






Hopefully the body mounts and the bushings for the brackets will be here by next weekend. Not sure how much time I'll have to mess with it though, as the daily needs rear wheel bearings and pads/shoes. Goal is to have the truck buttoned up before summer semester, as that's when all the free time goes away. But, we'll see how it goes. haha

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Great setup man

Sent from my Prime10ES using Tapatalk

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2000 Ford Ranger 4x4 | Lv2 31 spline 8.8 | Eaton E-locker/Rear | Bw 13-54 manual t-case | Torsen diff./Front | 12,500lb tuff stuff winch w/synthetic rope | Cosmo Racing CAI | Pro-Comp Es9000's | Logan's Metal 4x4 Front Bumper | 285/75/r16 Hankook Dynapro ATM's | Hellwig 7/8 Sway Bar | SAI Diff. Cover |

Thanks!

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More coilover progress this weekend. Pretty much wrapped them up, just gotta finish up the brake lines. The passenger side is done, but I broke the factory hardline on the drivers side, so that's gonna have to wait until next weekend. The reducing bushings for the coilover brackets worked out great. They were even the right length to center the rod ends in the brackets

Tasca finally got around to shipping my body mount insulators last week. They showed up yesterday, so I'll be able to get back to the core support next weekend. Assuming I can remember where all that shot goes. Lol.

Pics:

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Well, its been wet week here in Ohio, but shes back on the ground and nearly derivable. Still need to get the bumper on, get the fender liners in, add some preload to the drivers side shock, and get it aligned. Also need to get a new battery, as it looks like my old one finally gave up on me. Looking at going with a group 34, but not sure on brand yet (open to suggestions here).

Some pics and things:


New brake lines. No pics, but ended up having to replace the drivers side caliper after I broke the bleeder off. Also had to reorient the brake line at the calipers and bend the hard line to keep it away from the coil.







Found out that POR-15 doesn't adhere very well to bare metal. Had a few spots on the frame that cleaned up pretty well and the POR-15 started flaking off when you touched it. Ended up stripping these areas and priming/painting them with rustoleum.





Cleaned up the battery tray/inner fenders/front hitch/fenders and painted those as well. Front fenders had some pretty bad cancer starting over the wheel well. Looks like I caught them just in time.









Had to pick the front of the cab up a little to get the core support to line up. The house jacks were probably a little overkill, but they worked.






New core support and cleaned up/painted condenser bracket




Things got a little hectic during the actual core support install, but here's what it looked like all welded in.











Got the front hitch back in. Upgraded the two bottom bolts to 1/2" grade 8. Still not completely happy with how its mounted, but it'll work for now.









Header Panel back on







Picked up a new set of LED lights for behind the grill and had to come up with a new mounting bracket. Nothing to exciting; bolts to center post of the header panel.





Lights and grill back on




Back on the ground

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Looking sexy man. I never had a problem with the POR-15 adhering to metal, did u use there metal prep they also have? It removes grease and such and supposedly allows for better adhesion. I didn't have a problem with it flaking off of my skin that's for sure! Lol. Great job btw. I know how much work you put into it. Congrats

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2004 4.0 Ford Ranger XLT- Project Rustoration - coming soon.

I've had pretty good luck with it on rusted/pitted metal, but in a few spots the frame cleaned up really well (a rarity on this truck) and was pretty bare. This is where the POR-15 seemed to struggle.
As far as prep, I've just been knocking the loose shit off with a wire wheel, wiping it down with brake clean and a rag, and then applying 2 coats of POR-15.
And yea, it seems to have no problem sticking to skin. I'm still trying to get it off my hands. Lol


Thanks!! Couldn't have done it without your brackets/coilovers.
It's been a journey, that's for sure. Haha. Just need to finish up some odds and ends, then hopefully I'll be done working on it for a while.

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I just used por 15 on my truck and sandblasted the frame down to bare metal and applied it without any flakes. Wonder why yours didn't like it

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2004 ford ranger xlt. Torsion bar crank, AAL in the rear. 265/75/16 hankook dynapro MT's 4.0 liter, 4.10 gears. K&N cold air Intake,K&N performance fuel injectors,throttle cable mod. Herculiner bed liner. Leer truck cap.

I'm not sure, as the more I read about it, the more it seems like others have had good results applying to bare metal as well. It probably has something to do with my surface prep. It was an older can of paint that had lived in the garage for awhile, but it adhered to the rusted/pitted material just fine. (For now at least. Haha).

I saw a similar issue when I replaced my floor boards, but I just assumed that was because I didn't get all of the oil off the new sheet metal.

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Checked a few more things off the list today.

Got the new battery in. Ended up going with a group 34 diehard advanced gold. Read a lot of good things about the advanced gold series, and it seems like they are rebranded Deka batteries. Sears had them on sale, so I got it for 160 bucks with a 3 yr warranty, which was cheaper than what I would've paid for the Deka-branded version. The group 34 battery fits in the tray fine, but I had to come up with a way of holding it down. Ended up making making some j-hooks out of some round stock with a piece of thread rod to the top, and running a piece of flat stock across the battery. I had to drink a pair of holes in the stock try's for the hooks to grab. I think it came out alright. Not the prettiest thing in the world, but the battery isn't going anywhere.

Also set the ride height up front. It's sitting level left to right, and has about an inch of rake, which is about where I was before.

Once I was done playing with the ride height, I went and had it aligned. I was expecting a fight from the guys at tireman, as they always manage to find something "wrong". But, for once, it went pretty smooth and they got it done pretty quickly.


Also got the skid plate and bumper back on. Bumper isn't lined up well at all, but that's a problem for future me.

Technically this was yesterday, but I also made up a new switch panel. Plan is to re-due my half-assed wiring, but I'm not sure when that's gonna happen.

Pics.

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Those are great batteries, never had a problem with them!

Sent from my Prime10ES using Tapatalk

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2000 Ford Ranger 4x4 | Lv2 31 spline 8.8 | Eaton E-locker/Rear | Bw 13-54 manual t-case | Torsen diff./Front | 12,500lb tuff stuff winch w/synthetic rope | Cosmo Racing CAI | Pro-Comp Es9000's | Logan's Metal 4x4 Front Bumper | 285/75/r16 Hankook Dynapro ATM's | Hellwig 7/8 Sway Bar | SAI Diff. Cover |

Well, shes pretty much all buttoned back up. Put about 300 miles on her since the coilover swap and core support replacement. Went back over everything today and made sure it was all still in order. Had one lower bracket bolt loosen up a little, but other than that all is well. I've gotta drive it back to Cincinnati (giving the focus to my mom while her focus has the dual clutch auto trans serviced for the 3rd time in 50,000 miles), which is the longest trip the trucks made in a while. Hopefully everything holds up for that.



Finished the wiring last weekend. 'Ive probably mentioned it in here before, but I despise doing electrical work on this truck. Its always a pain, and no matter how much I plan everything, it always comes out looking like a rats nest lol

Ended up moving my aux panel inside the cab. There was enough space in my expo console to hide it and the relays.









I made up a mounting plate out of some sheet metal and aluminum angle. Worked out well and stiffened up the console a little









Also mounted my switch panel to the side of the console. Yes, its in the way of the seat travel, but I only loose about an inch of forward travel. I'm the shortest person that drives the truck (5'6" on a good day haha), and there's enough travel left for me, so I'm ok with it.










Here's what it looks like with all the wires run and the relays mounted. Kinda messy still, but its out of the weather and less half-assed than what I started with.













Previously, all the auxiliary wiring exited the cab through the same hole and the hood release cable. But, I was getting some water leaking in and it looked pretty bad. So, I drilled a new hole in the fire wall and used a piece of 1" conduit to direct the wires up and out of harms way.









This weekend I took care of some other odds and ends. Got the inner fender liners back in, ran the wire for the winch back out to the bumper, got my f250 horn mounted, washed it, and loaded it up for her road trip. Horn Was a tight fit with the factory bracket, but it worked.









Random pics of the truck from this weekend.

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Nicely done, love the conduit. Thanks for sharing!

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Thanks! The conduit worked out pretty well, and it seems to have eliminated the water leak.

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