Project fazda the do everything ok rig

[ben10]

So first off, this will be a slow build, due to time and money. If you are expecting a complete winter transformation please look elsewhere.

I guess I should start with some history on the truck. It started its life as a 96 Mazda b4000 which is essentially a ranger 4.0 4x4 auto. The truck was originally built up by a you guy close to my house. He rolled the truck and did a body and cab swap from a 2000 ranger. He did the solid axle swap and a lot of cool stuff to the ranger. Here is the short list

Suspension:

Dana 44 front with aussie locker, spicer 760 joints, 4.88 gears, radius arms from james duff and fox 2.0 shocks with early bronco coils.

Ford 8.8 rear 31 spline with disc brakes, 5x5.5 axles, c clip eliminator kit, power trax locker, 63 Chevy leaf springs with bilstein 5125 shocks.

Body armor:

Custom front and rear bumpers, trail gear sliders, smitty built winch and plenty of rock lights and a light bar up front.

Drivetrain:

basically all stock 4.0 ohv with 4r55e trans and bw1354 t case. Only mods are k&n air filter and flow master exhaust. Both engine and tranny have been rebuilt recently.

It sits on 35 inch Goodyear mtr tires on steel wheels with a matching spare.

That's the basic history and build of the rig, I picked it up needing some transmission work and suspension work as well as some body work. I drove it around for a week and knew it needed an oil pump seal on the tranny and a rear main on the engine. Pulled the trans to find the flex plate completely broken, so while it was apart the tranny freshened up, new shift kit, torque converter, seals, filter, and flex plate were put in. New rear main seal was swapped in while it was apart.

Also the track bar for the front suspension was toast, and I had a local fab shop build me a new axle side bracket and bend up some tube for a panhard bar.

This is where she sits now. And the plans for her are to make it super reliable, streetable and capable. I want to be able to run relatively tough trails, while still bringing creature comforts with us. I also want to do a lot of exploring and camping in the rig. I have a lot of awesome places close by, and would like to find more.

Eventually I would like to do a flat bed with slide outs for tools and a fridge, possibly a rtt on a bed cage, solar charging, dual batteries, doubler for the t case, beef up the axles, maybe 37-40 inch tires eventually, and just have a fun rig to camp, wheel and explore in. Here are some pictures of the rig and things done to it so far.

 

[ben10]

Here are some pics of the rig, the broken flex plate and the new panhard bar setup. And also one of my old rig to show you my background.

 

[ben10]

Got a whole bunch of stuff to put in, including some stereo upgrades, cb radio, huge trans cooler, and some other random bits like a new side mirror and tail light to replace the broken ones.

 

[ben10]

Been slow to get things done, but I wired in more rock lights, actually they are single row 6 inch led bars one at each corner then a few small waterproof led strips under the front end. If I flip the truck at night, you will see me from outer space. Got this cool switch panel with everything pre wired to relays in a box. Just have to put power to the main harness, ground it and I'm going to wire up the acc. Wire to a switch so I can leave the switch panel on with the key off. Hoping to get that installed tonight so i can test it out tomorrow on a nice day trip in the mountains.

 

[ben10]

Got my switch panel wired in and threw the switches next to the cb radio. I covered the unused switches in electrical tape, cause the lights without the decals are really bright. Have the panel wired up to a switch that I can turn off and on instead of wiring to the acc. Now i can turn the switch panel on even with the key off.

Rock lights work pretty well. Need 1 or 2 more under the center of the truck and under the bed towards the rear, but its plenty for now and adding a few will be easy later on.

Taking the truck up into the mountains tomorrow to unwind and get lost in the woods for a day. And then back to the grind.

Also I didn't have much room in the engine bay for the big relay box so I stuffed it in where the driver air bag sensor was behind the grill. Having a huge steel bumper and a plated and boxed frame means it probably wont work right anyways, plus I worry about them going off when we are wheeling, so i pulled the fuse on the sensors, and moved them out of the way.

 

[ben10]

One more pic.

 

[ben10]

Took the truck out snow wheeling on black Friday. Didnt take many pictures but it did awesome. Aired down to about 14 psi and had a blast. Busted a tail light and the cb antenna trying to pack some snow down for a stock Chevy out there. Backed into a tree... oops.

Today I ventured up to lake tahoe in a blizardto pick up a smoking deal on a set of 15 inch beadlocks with a spare non beadlock steel wheel. They are well used and have a few snapped off bolts to drill out but the cheapest I have seen them new is 800 bucks and I got these for 150 with a spare wheel. Hoping to get new hardware and get these mounted up in the next few weeks.View attachment DSC01995.JPGView attachment DSC01999.JPG

 

[Joey83]

More please! :D

 

[ben10]

More please! :D

More what?

 

[Joey83]

More pics

 

[ben10]

Ah yeah I need to convince my wife to come with more often so I can have a photographer on standby!

 

[ben10]

So I picked up a brand new smittybilt rtt for a smoking deal yesterday. Threw it on some 1.5 inch unistrut on the bed till I can build a bed cage. Worked out pretty well. Also got the hardware to install the beadlocks. Just need the time to sit down and install all the nuts and bolts lol.

The way it sits now the front window opening interferes with the cab but I want to do a bed cage raised up about 10 inches which would fix the problem.

 

[ben10]

Got all the beadlocks mounted up. What a long process... they are pretty well centered but definitely not perfect and a few of them leak even after putting rtv around the bead. Didnt air down but I did take the truck and do some mild wheeling. From 35-50 the truck has some minor death wobble then it mellows out above 50. At about 70 you can really feel the tires vibrate from being unbalanced. I'll get them balanced asap and see if that helps at all. May look into a light all terrain to put on the old steel wheels and keep these for more aggressive wheeling outings.

Also I forgot to put a valve stem in 1 tire so I turned the front axle into a bead breaker and got creative so I didnt have to pull the bead apart.

 

[JCWages]

I remember seeing that rig on the freeway around Newcastle/Loomis not long ago. Badass!

 

[ben10]

So I haven't updated in a while but I have been running in circles and not getting much done and I have been busy at home and work.

Ran with the beadlocks for a trip and was getting really bad death wobble, noticed alignment was off and some parts were worn out, so I went ape shit and dumped money into maintenance. I replaced the sub par small heim steering set up with bigger heims and new DOM tubing, got the 1 ton heim steering kit from ruff stuff with 1.5 inch .25 wall dom. With the new drag link and tie rod set up I also got rid of the beadlocks cause I couldn't get them to balance and went back to the regular old steelies. Did upper and lower ball joints on the front axle and serviced the wheel bearings. Replaced my rear pinion seal that was leaking and changed the fluid in the diff.

With all thay done I finally had a chance to take it out and play with some other ranger guys. We headed up into the hills and go to wheel around and test our rigs. Had a blast but I stretched an inner axle yoke and now need a new axle shaft, which I'll be swapping to a set of Tom's bronco parts chromoly shafts.

Been driving around town and also noticed that I'm losing first gear, it is starting to slip really bad under a load up hills... I really wanted an auto for ease of driving, but I'm fed up with tranny problems so I am swapping to a manual. Already have a line up on one.

And the big news is I bought a doubler today, it's being built by behemoth drivetrain back east and should be here in a week. Also got a cable shifter set up and his manual conversion that converts an electric t case to manual with a cable shifter set up. Really excited to have good gearing and manual transmission reliability.

I know you guys only subscribe for the pics so here you go.

 

[Motohead1]

Good call going to a manual trans.

 

[ben10]

Good call going to a manual trans.

I originally wanted to stay auto just due to nicer driving in traffic or wheeling in the rocks it sucks, but I need reliability and I dont think I'm going to find it in this trans. Plus with the doubler I am picking up I have enough gearing to not have issues wheeling in the rocks.

 

[ben10]

So I ordered a set of Tom's bronco parts chromoly axle shafts today with spicer 760 joints. Hopefully I can make these last a while. No word on the behemoth doubler yet which is concerning me but I will call tomorrow and ask for an update.

Tomorrow I want to pull the ranger into my shop and clean some interior stuff up and start building some storage in the back of the cab as well as a carpeted platform for my 50+ pound dog to hang out on since my wife will be riding shotgun.

 

[ben10]

So I got ahold of behemoth, told another week. Hoping he comes through. I really want my doubler.

Came home from work today to my new chromoly axle shafts from Tom's bronco parts. They look great, and I got a new shirt that the dog likes.

Installed drivers side tonight and tomorrow I'll do the passenger side. Way more beef and it inspires a little bit of confidence in the front axle. Plus now I have a set of stock shafts as trail spares! Also gave me a chance to look my front end over and check my handy work since tearing it apart for the ball joints. Everything is looking good!

 

[ben10]

Still waiting on behemoth. He has been lying to me for months now. Pretty fed up with him. At this point he has sent me one piece of the doubler, and promised the rest was coming. I'm about to just cut my losses and get my money back.

Anyways, the ranger front has been quiet while I wait for parts, and I have begun rebuilding an old off road trailer to tow behind the ranger. It's an old 78 pack mule. Made in California and it's been across the baja and the Rubicon numerous times with the old timer I got it from.

Been peeling paint and rust layers off, and got rid of the worn out suspension and axle. Put all new leaf springs, perches, axle and hubs under it and got the bottom of the trailer painted. Now I'm working on the sides and bed, I have new LED tail lights and a wiring harness. Next up is get some 33 inch tires. Hopefully by then my doubler will be done!