I'm not 100% sold on the swap yet. I'm planning on doing a Factory Tech valve body along with a deralle thermostat and play with the tuner and see if that makes any difference. With that being said... I do miss driving manual and of the offroad stuff I've done with buddies Jeeps the manual seems to allow you better control over almost every aspect.

 

I agree from my limited off road experience. When you are talking super duty, the ZF6 has a low ratio of something around 5.72:1 which I think is double that of the auto. Combine that with low range in the t case and you are set. No need for an Atlas t-case or anything fancy. I can see the advantages to auto, but the hydraulic clutch in the ZF6 was so light in my opinion, it would be well worth it.

 

Well I went out to Rausch Creek in PA for a shakedown/proof of concept run. Only prep work I did was removing the steps, mud flaps and the front sway bar. Truck did amazingly well. With the tires aired down to 25 in the front and 20 in the rear I had no noticeable traction issues. Wheel base and belly clearance came in to play in a few hill climbs but nothing serious. Did a mix of green and blue trails with some time down in lake Christie.

But here's some pictures





















Based on how the truck performed I ordered a 2" hanger leveling kit from sky off-road as well as poly urethane leaf spring bushings for the front end. Need to figure out a skid plate for the front end trans lines and such but I am really happy with how the truck performed.

 

Looks like a damn good time Is it still your DD?

 

It was quite fun. Except when the fiance was driving . White knuckled the entire time. She did great but I don't really like other people driving my truck.

Yea it's still my daily driver. Currently getting it ready for a 1500+ mile round trip to Tennessee for the Bristol NASCAR race in a few weeks. New plugs, new bilstein 5160s in the front, and re routing a few wiresin the cab from the dash cam radar detector and new sound system.

Because it's still my daily I'm not as hard on it as I could but at the end of the day I still need to make it home.

 

Looks awesome, glad to see your still around.

 

I've been down that road before with my wife lol.

I still DD my Ranger. I don't go offroad much because I don't want to break it or get stranded lol. And often times I just don't feel like fixing more than I need to...

Have a nice safe trip!

 

Finally got around to installing my leveling kit. I was attempting to get everything done in time for this weekend, but the local off road shop has a 3 week lead time for work.









Next project will be compressor and air tank on the passenger frame rail. Going to use this for inspiration. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...d-love-it.html

 

Nice truck. Curious if you could post a couple of pics of how you mounted the lightbar to the grill.

 

Well I've taken another step down the road toward being an off-road rig. I installed RuffStuff specialties 3/8 plate covers front and rear.





Also had my old aftermarket set of 16x9s powder coated satin black.



And picked up a set of 315/75r16 Cooper STT Pros. Truck looks much better on 35s and on black wheels.





Next up after the new year I need a new steering stabilizer setup. At the off road park the stock one just didn't cut it.



I'm pretty set on the PMF dual steering setup with bilsteins again because it would bother me if I had the kings with the 3/4" rods up there. For now I have an older Bilstein that I took out and replaced because I thought it was dead.

 

I tried searching through my phone and can't find any pictures. So I'll have to take some new ones. What did you want pictures of? It's mounted to the header panel, upright bars are cut out, and the grille is notched so the grille slides up around the mounts.

 

That truck looks perfect

 

Looks awesome man! Since my F150 died I think my F250 is going to be my work/off road rig and this is getting me excited to finally get my *** back into gear working on it lol!

 

Thanks! I am really getting excited for the hopeful end project. After having the tires on for a few days I think gears might be in the future as it doesn't pull hills like it used to, but I'm excited I'm getting to take it out on the trails with my buddies and eventually will be the recovery rig.

 

Yes gears definitely would help, my 35s made the truck pull terribly. Even on my expedition I just put the stock tires/rims on for winter and noticed a huge difference and that was only a 1.5-2" diameter difference lol.