My 98 Ranger

Ok my bishes, I can't keep quiet anymore.   Time to post this.   As some here know, I'm here because I was supposed to get an S10 but it fell through. Still liked the place enough to offer it a more solid home (and I apologize deeply for any downtime we have had here, little though it may be).

I'm honestly a Ford guy through and through. I live, breathe, and bleed Blue.  So in that spirit, I came across a GREAT deal on a 98 Ford Ranger when I needed a shop truck for my repair service (6 SPEED Auto & Small Engine, Elkhorn Wi.)

Pictures before I made the final purchase








Kinda ugly, high mileage, well used.

Once I got it home, first thing I did was buy some tires. Got a steal, 200 bucks for a newer matching set of 4 and a spare pair beyond that.


Since then I've washed the hell out of it, pulled the seats to clean the carpet, and Purple Power'd the hell out of all the panels. It looks halfway decent now. Also replaced a bunch of burnt out lights, disassembled, cleaned, and regreased my dimmer switch, and now all is working and well.

Other things I've done to the interior are to replace the factory shift knob with a black B&M t-handle, install an audio system, and replace my 93-00 side opening armrest (massively prone to failure) with an 01-03 rear hinged style with cupholder. 

To install the B&M, I had to cut the splined section off the shifter, drill and tap the hole for 1/2-20, thread in a cut down stud, and install the handle with a couple of locknuts (one for the stud and one for the handle).  Solid as all hell and gives me a much better grip over the standard ball.



These aren't my pictures, but they illustrate the difference between the old style and the new style consoles



The stereo isn't much to see, a Clarion in the dash until I can get the radio I really want, some Infinity Kappa 5x7's in the doors which are about to be replaced by a set of Diamond Audio components once I get the adapter plates made and wire in my 2 channel SSL amp, and then a slim 10" Sony sub rated at 1200w which is running on my old school 400w Rockwood amp rather nicely.  It doesn't suck the air out of my lungs like I'd like, but it sounds rather good in the cab.   I'm not 100% committed on the final equipment yet, but the end result will be a different sub, the enclosure of which will double as an amp rack, midbass in the doors with tweeter and midrange pods on the back of the mirror plates and on the a-pillars, along with one of the high end Kenwood decks.

For now here's some pics of the wiring, and why you don't see any of it.

The power cable for the amp runs from the battery, through a fuseholder (which will get changed for a different model at a later date), then down the inner fender, along a bodyseam inside the rockers, up through a body grommet, and out behind a panel where it goes into a distro block and out to the amps. Since the pictures I've added a few holes to the seam to ziptie the power line to.  At a later date I'll be replacing all this with better cabling and using loom to help protect it. The ground cable is run from a spot on the frame (utilizing an existing bolt), up through the same grommet as the power, and runs with the power cable to a distro block of it's own. Only have a pic of one distro block at the moment. Cabling isn't the colors I'd prefer, but I had all of this laying about from other projects and it turned out to be a sufficient amount for this truck.







The patch cables are ziptied together every few inches, and run from the radio, along the inside of the dash, down the kickpanel, along the floor under the carpet, where they come out the trim panel opposite the power and ground. Only one pic to show here, it's the only place you'll see anything right now.


Once I have the new audio (a while down the road), the new enclosure will cover the entire back wall and hide what little bit of cabling is currently left visible.

Moving on from there, to the outside.   I've got some shop signs made (magnet type) and on the doors, installed my emergency lighting, started sticker bombing the hood, and am repping a couple sites I spend a lot of time on.


The sticker bombing is just getting started, I need a lot more stickers. The end result will be to have the hood and roof both bombed out.

StanceWi is my local stance site, CustomFighters is a motorcycle site that I am heavily involved with (due to both my own projects, helping others, and the local services I provide)


For my emergency lights, I got some magnets that OEM's like Ford now use to hold headliners up, and am using those to  hold the lights in place. The controller is mounted in the pocket below the radio, the wiring is zip tied every few inches and is run through the dash, up the A-pillar, along the roof panels, and out through the CHMSL gasket.  My love of clean wiring is ever apparent as even with these there's almost no wiring to be seen anywhere.  I tend to be on the side of the road a lot, so these are kind of a necessity. These are some cheapo eBay lights, but they're actually bright enough to be seen in bright daylight from behind, so I'm pretty happy for now. I will end up with some quality items later on.
Don't mind the wires in the first pic, I took this one while I was still doing the install.



Money shot of the good side



For right now I'm trying to finish fixing it up. It needs a couple sensors, new exhaust, windshield, drivers fender, refresh the front suspension, replace a rear shackle, and the tailgate is rusting out the bottom.

Plans for the future are
16" Ford meshies (winter)/18" Kyowa meshies (rest of year)
Mustang Cobra disc brakes
8.8" rear axle with traclok, and gearing close to what I have now (3.45 I think), though with the 4.6 I could afford to go a little deeper, like a 3.27
4/5 drop
poly bushings
Bronco 2 rear sway bar
aftermarket seats and center console
refresh the interior
add a couple factory options (power mirrors, power windows, power locks)
later model bumpers
4.6 and 6 speed trans
hydro ebrake (I intend to drift this thing once in a while once it's completed)


I'm looking forward to seeing what all I can do with this thing once I've got it all done. Should be a pretty feisty truck

Glad to see you back at work on something!

Ok, some more updates.  Replaced the old 400w Rockwood amp with a 1kw Sony amp, and then polyfilled the sub box. It sounds damn good in my truck now. I think I'm happy with it.  I still need to install the Diamond's, and I'll run those off the Rockwood amp. Still need to make new mount plates and pick up some more wiring.

I still need to tidy the wiring, but here's a general idea.




I also got some rims for free. Friend of mine has had them in his backyard for forever, finally dropped them off for the Ranger. Only got three of them though.  Trying to sell the stock set so that I can pick up a fourth rim and set of tires.  Looks a little mexican in this pic, but will be pretty nice once on the truck, especially once I lower it.



Haven't gotten much else done yet, as I've been out of town the last few months.   Lets see what happens from here!

Ok, another update.

I'm in the middle of what will be a free upgrade when all is said and done.  My buddy gave me the three Mustang rims for free. I picked up a full set with center caps for 50 bucks, and a set of Definity EX600 (made by Cooper for PepBoys) tires for 100 bucks.  Mounting and balancing will cost me about 60 bucks.  thats 210 all together.   I've got my old set (6 wheels and tires in all) for sale for 250, have a guy who might come and buy them this weekend.

In the mean time, me and my bro got bored tonight, went to the bar, had some beer, played some pool, and came home just as bored as when we left......so......shit happened.  New wheels are on the truck with the shit tires still on them.



The old set should hopefully be sold this weekend, and I can go get the new ones mounted and balanced. The new tires are actually a little taller than my old ones, so my speedo should read closer to correct.  They are a touring tire in a 215 width, my old set was an A/T in 225. I should see an increase in mileage from that change alone.   1am wheel change....because Wisconsin drunks have nothing else to do XD


Also, I found a guy that did almost exactly what I want to do to my Ranger. Check this out



Needs late model factory mirrors and to be green, but looks pretty mean otherwise.

That is certainly the baddest ranger I've ever seen!

Not much of an update. Truck has been down for about a week to fix the clutch issues I've been having. New master cylinder will be here tomorrow, and I should hopefully have it on the road then. I've gotta scratch up some more cash, there's an exhaust for me over at the Pick N Pull that I want. Then I still need to get my tires mounted on the Mustang rims. That and replacing the broken leaf shackle will probably wrap the truck up for winter. Once the snow starts coming and I get customer calls, I can't afford to have the truck down for anything.


I'm hoping to save up the money to start buying a bunch of Explorer parts for it. I want the hood hinges, center console and front seats, double visors, EATC (the digital auto climate control), disc brake rear axle w/ traclok, and dash panel from a newer Ranger that has the updated headlight switch w/ integrated foglight switch.  Newer headlight switch should be a simple rewire, the EATC will be a multi day project from what I hear.  Most of the rest just bolts in, save for the center console which needs a bracket installed.

Trying to arrange a 2 week working road trip to a friend's place, where he's got a set of Chrysler Sebring rims that I think will look pretty good. No idea if/when that will happen though.

man, that red ranger looks badass.  sucks he lives in a state that requires front tags.

We got front tags here in Wisconsin as well. Truck hasn't moved an inch in over a week, almost 2. Been trying to fix a clutch/shifting problem. Finally ordered a new clutch master cylinder, it came in and that didn't fix it. Installing a new slave cylinder tomorrow. If that doesn't fix it, I'm gonna cry like a little girl cause those are kind of the only two things to replace lol.

Also got a set of fender markers from a Volvo. Made by Hella, clear lense over a black backing. Should look pretty good on the fenders!

Finally got the tires mounted on the Mustang rims. They look good on the truck wrapped in fat tires.   Damn snow screwed up my night picture lol

Did a photoshoot today, here's the truck back on the road with it's new rims and tires

Nice air freshener!

Picked up an old Coleman cooler from a friend of mine. Works great as a cargo box. It's an old metal casing unit, metal latch and all.

My buddy's brother redid the exhaust on his Contour SVT after it fell off. He was running dual Magnaflows, and when he redid it he only ran one. He gave me the other one last night. SCORE!!

Gonna pick up the rest of the piping I need probably next week and hopefully have the exhaust done in short order

Went outside to get some ideas where I want the muffler.

Before the wheel


Before the wheel, tucked under the fender


Out the back


Out the back, off to the side



Thoughts? I'm thinking either out the back to the side or out the side tucked in the fender. Leaning more towards tucked in front of the wheel (pic 2)

My only real thought is: You're laying in or next to snow. Snow is frozen water, and thusly, really fucking cold. I don't know how well I'm going to do in Colorado, lol.

You think that's bad? Imagine spending a couple days on your back like that while doing brakes and other bits on a rusty as hell F150.....in the same ice/snow. That was the fun I had last week lol

We've both changed our screen names inside the last week-ish, we should really consider changing a couple of other key people's names so no one can tell who is doing anything for a while.

damn, who the hell is 6 spd?

either way, so far ALL the work i've done on the zr2 has been in snow/ice/hail/slush.

I'd go out the back, but tucked in the fender is clean too. Well your wheel and tire won't be clean, but yep.

damn, who the hell is 6 spd?

either way, so far ALL the work i've done on the zr2 has been in snow/ice/hail/slush.

I'm the guy that made this site go from dead every 2 minutes to fully alive (except for when it drops when I'm out of town...oops)

I'd go out the back, but tucked in the fender is clean too. Well your wheel and tire won't be clean, but yep.

I wash the truck on a regular basis, so getting the muffler tip dirty in the wheel well doesn't bother me that much, The bedsides are fibreglass so at least I dont have to worry about them rusting lol.   The reason I'm leaning heavily towards tucking it in the fender is that I don't like how it sits under my current bumper, either straight out or to the side, and I think that out the side in front of the tire is kind of played out.  In the fender gives it a place to vent out from the truck, it's seen but not seen, I don't know it's hard to describe lol