Prerunner Ranger?
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Prerunner Ranger?
I've been thinking of a truck that is reasonable on fuel, reliable, fun to drive at high rates of speed on rally style fire roads, will haul my mountain bike to the trail, lumber home from the yard, and still be commuter friendly. I've looked at Subaru's and Toyota's but I think what I really want is to build an 80's ranger prerunner style. I'm thinking 302 conversion with a 5 speed and beefed up axles, A moderate lift (enough to improve wheel travel over mild jumps and stutter bumps but not enough to make 4 wheel drifts aroung gravel turns a bad scene). Please give me your input. A new off road vehicle cost's $24,000 and has all kinds of options I don't need. I think I can build a truck that is more capable, more reliable and more fun to drive than anything I could buy at the local dealership, and not have to deal with a leach in a suit to boot. Am I deluded? Or is it possible to build a truck for a highspeed hillbilly?
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Joined: May 2004
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From: Long Branch, New Jersey
find a solid straight chassis and a decent body to start with and have at it
an older Ranger makes a great platform and you can put in just what you need and nothing extra
put in some tall gears if you are looking for mileage
with a V8 up front you should have no problem getting it off the line even with some tall gears and tires up to 33 inches
an older Ranger makes a great platform and you can put in just what you need and nothing extra
put in some tall gears if you are looking for mileage
with a V8 up front you should have no problem getting it off the line even with some tall gears and tires up to 33 inches
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A prerunner is a high-speed off-road truck usually used to "pre run" a baja style race course. Usually built on a two wheel drive compact truck platform, with IFS. I would like to build one with 4wd. I've been doing a little research. I'm thinking axles from an Explorer, a 289 engine, fuel injection, with a 4 speed overdrive transmission. I would like to build it on an extended cab chassis with a custom flat bed and integral rollbar. I'm thinking a skyjacker lift with the super runner steering set-up. I'm still not sure if I want a lsd or a manual locker, I'm thinking manual locker. I plan on using 2wd most of the time with 4wd for snow and getting unstuck I'm not going to be doing any Crawling so I think just the rear locker is plenty. I'd like some advice on lift's for maximum wheel travel. Like I said I don't plan on doing any Crawling so I'm just looking for nice plush travel, not ground clearance. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I've seen Autofabs big travel kit with Fabbed axles but I don't think I'll be catching quite that much air. Is Skyjackers 4" lift more like it? Sorry if this is the wrong forum. Most of this seems pretty Ranger specific to me.
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From: Kommifornia
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