My 98 Ranger

I follow.  I'm not a fan of tips hanging under/below the bumper anyway, so hiding it away if not cutting a clearance hole is a good place for the exhaust in my opinion.  I wanted to do a single pipe out the middle of my roll pan on the Blazer, but there really isn't room for it with the stock fuel tank.  Current plan is to use a factory shape tailpipe, but cut it short, so it is hidden up behind the rear bumper side.

I could cut my bumper and run the pipe tucked under the corner of the bed to run it straight back, only problem is that it would interfere with the suspension to run the pipe. Everything I wanted to do or try I can't because of where things have to run. So best place I figure is gonna be tucked under the fender in front of the tire. Not to mention, it's different. Don't see that too often

Alright folks, here's a before shot (click for video):


Out with the old!  (The crappy Harley muffler) I cannot fathom why one of the previous owners though this was cool. It was restrictive, and sounded like ass.


Horrible in-progress shot


Finished shot.  It's not exactly where I wanted it, it was actually gonna interfere with the suspension after all. Oh well.


First fire up (click for video):


Loop around a parking lot (click for video):


In cab of same loop around the parking lot (click for video):


And best of all, highway clip (click for video):

That certainly sounds better.

Runs so much better too. There's a long, relatively steep hill on Hwy 12 north of Lake Geneva.  65mph speedlimit.   Typically I would have to downshift to 4th, even 3rd just to hold speed. Now I can stay in 5th and hold speed, even slightly increase.  What. A. Difference!




Can't wait until I get the rest of it fixed lol

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)

Thank you Dean, good to see you around.
Eric aka 87wildside

sounds and looks a lot better!

SO in other news. As I explained in my trip thread, truck is receiving all kinds of work lately. New shackle and hanger on the left side, brakes are about to be replumbed, need to pick up a new (used) coil, also have the new o2 sensor and egr pipe that I need to install.

 In better news, I traded my Rockwood and SSL amps and Diamond Audio components for a 12" Kicker CVR and Alpine MRP-M1000 amp. Hooked the amp up so I'd still have a sub working on the way home. Fried the shit out of the Sony XS-LB10S slim sub I had in the truck. Funny shit! Also sucks, now I don't have a sub in the truck until I build a box for the Kicker. Gonna be a bit though unless a sheet of birch falls into my lap. I've got some MDF if I had the room to run a basic square box, but that's not the case. Sometimes having a single cab sucks....like everytime I want a decent sub box or a place to keep my emergency equipment and work supplies in the cab.

 Oh, also got the hitch installed today along with the new shackle and hanger. Guy cut me a tremendous deal. Took about an hour, hour and a half for us to get it taken care of. Had a couple small things hold us up, but in the end I walked out only 40 bucks lighter. I was talking with him about his shop and my company, and my names on his list of potential employees when business picks up. Might be something good in the future

Spent some time with a friend learning how to use Google Sketchup.  Presenting my first finished project, the new sub box for my truck.



It's modeled for the Kicker CVR 12" and Alpine MRP-M1000 I have now, and the Alpine MRP-F300 I plan to pickup later for the front stage. Box is roughly 1.9 cubic feet at 30Hz

I love sketchup, it's what I use for all of my frame and chassis drawings.

Amen, sketchup is my favourite.

Another lame update. Still too broke to really do anything.  However I did get a couple of small things fixed.

Had to run to the junkyard to find a part for my moms truck, came across another Ranger that had to have JUST been dropped off. Finally got the license plate lamps I needed. No more bulbs tucked into the bumper. Plate is properly illuminated.  Looks like Rangers newer than mine got newer bulb sockets too.




Forgot to take a pic of the assemblies back in the truck.

Also got a soldering iron finally. Buddy of mine tossed me one of his old ones. I was able to all the wiring done for the strobes on the truck. 
Here's a pic of the new strobes with the old strobes with my Zippo for comparison. The larger ones are the newer ones.


The larger ones are replacing the small ones at the back, the small ones are gonna go in the grill. All my lights are amber, which is legal for non-emergency and towing/recovery.  Red, blue, and white strobes are fire/ems/police only in Wisco.

Here's a pic of all the wiring finished. For reference, the tiny wire in the middle is what the control box and light heads all used to have. That shit is no bueno to me. Everything now has decent wire and proper connectors. I need to add connectors to the extension harnesses running through the roof, and then dig up some more wire to make harnesses to run to the grill.


Not much of an update, but at least I've gotten something done.

Also sold the Kicker. Need to find another sub and get everything back in the truck. Rolling without bass just annoys the shit out of me.

That's some clean looking wiring.

Wiring is fun to me. I hate seeing shoddy wire jobs, especially in stereo work. Nothing makes me rage harder than going to install a new stereo for someone, or add subs to an existing system, and finding everything taped up, stock harnesses cut, etc.  If I skip or skimp on anything in my own wiring, it's usually only because I ran out of supplies and needed it together before I could get to the store.

In the case of my lights, do it right don't do it at all. I rely on those lights on a daily basis (portable mechanic). I'm on the side of the road, pulliing loads, blocking traffic, etc on a regular basis. If I don't wire this stuff up properly the first time, it can fail when I need it and give someone the excuse that they "didn't see me"

Ok another small update. 

Got my new strobe panels on the truck. I still need to tidy up the wires that go into the cab but it looks decent now. Also got more graphics on the back window. Got the updated StanceWisconsin sticker at the Whitewater meet, and ordered a couple others from Liz @ AXIS Racing (local company).



And a closeup of the stickers from AXIS.


In other news, shop business has been slow but I just picked up some work 3rd shift at a factory in Twin Lakes, so in the coming month or so I can finally get around to fixing everything on the truck and dropping it. Can't wait to lose altitude. Was the highest thing at the Whitewater meet other than a Suburban.

Not much to update.  Rebuilt the front suspension, replaced a leaf spring, bushings, shackle and hanger on one side, need to replace the bushings, shackle and hanger on the other, plus new rear shocks and it's all done.

Tried my hand at tinting a window today. Came out horribly, but at least it's tinted and will reduce light in the cab.  I'm gonna pay someone to redo the doors in a couple weeks when I have some extra cash. I did at least figure out what % the tint is on my back window though.

As you requested, some rough S10 spindle dimensions.  Not to scale, doesn't look much like a spindle, and in metric units.


Blazer Spindle Rough by TheHarley, on Flickr

This project officially hit its end recently.  Traded it for an F250 diesel to better accommodate my shop.  I might log it here, it'll be an interesting read. I've already started a log on EcoModders, as one of the goals of the truck is to match the economy of the Ranger. Will I succeed? I certainly hope so!