Question about roll cage for B2
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Senior User
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 159
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From: Fort Carson, CO
Question about roll cage for B2
Hey All,
Leavin Korea soon and goin to Colorado. I am looking for a roll cage for my '90 B2. Everything I see online seems to be for the full size Bronco. All I am looking for is some guidance as to where to look.
Also, I am planning on installing a B&M shifter on the floor and getting rid of the colum(sp) shifter. Has anyone done this to their rig? If so, any complications, pros or cons...etc.?
Any info will be greatly appreciated.
Leavin Korea soon and goin to Colorado. I am looking for a roll cage for my '90 B2. Everything I see online seems to be for the full size Bronco. All I am looking for is some guidance as to where to look.
Also, I am planning on installing a B&M shifter on the floor and getting rid of the colum(sp) shifter. Has anyone done this to their rig? If so, any complications, pros or cons...etc.?
Any info will be greatly appreciated.
Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,307
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From: MARYLAND
i did the B&M floor shifter in mine to get rid of the sloppy automatic floor shifter that was in there. The problem i ran into with buying one at the local auto parts store is that it was a 3 speed auto shifter. The autos in the BII are 4 speed shifts..cuz the trans goes 1-2-D-OD-N-R-P. I went ahead and used it and just used Park as my Reverse and just start it in Neutral. Now come to find out if you purchase the proper shift plate/pattern for it..it will work properly with all gears..I was told to get a shifter for a 400R chevy tranny..this will have the 4 auto gears needed for the Ford auto trans. I don't care..i'm the only one that drives it and only use it for offroading and can use a tree if i need a park gear bad enough if the Ebrake dont hold.
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 199
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From: Blue Springs, MO
Now that we've started talking bout it i'd like to go the other way. I've got an '87 BII with an auto floor shifter and electronic 4WD selector on the headliner. I'd like to clean up the floor area and put an auto shifter on the collum (sp). i had just assumed that all BIIs had floor shifters and was thinking about pulling a collum from a Ranger to swap out. What do you guys think about it and what info (pro & con) do you have for me.
Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,915
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From: Yokosuka, Honshu, Japan
I believe the 89-90 BIIs had column shift automatic transmissions, as did the 91-up explorers and the 89-up Rangers. The only suggestions I would have as far as going from floor to column shift is to make sure you pull the entire shift linkage and column from your donor vehicle and to match up which gear the tranny and shifter are in before you take anything apart (i.e. put floor shifter in neutral, therefore tranny is in neutral, and install new column / shifter and put it in neutral and hook it up to tranny, etc.). Sometimes it's easier to use neutral vice park to do the conversion so that if anything isn't exactly right and you have any adjustments that can be made, you have more leeway for that. Hope this helps.
army,
As far as roll cages go, you'll probably have to fabricate your own or have someone fab it for you. There isn't much available in the way of roll bar / cage kits for the BII that I have found either. One suggestion I can make is that you include through-floorboard-to-frame mounts for the cage. There are a few ways to accomplish this, and there should be information that can be Googled on fabricating your own roll cage.
army,
As far as roll cages go, you'll probably have to fabricate your own or have someone fab it for you. There isn't much available in the way of roll bar / cage kits for the BII that I have found either. One suggestion I can make is that you include through-floorboard-to-frame mounts for the cage. There are a few ways to accomplish this, and there should be information that can be Googled on fabricating your own roll cage.
Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,307
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From: MARYLAND
if you go from a floor mounted shifter to a column shifter i can see a problem you are going to run into..The linkage hook up on the trans...the floor shifter and column shifter are different links. I found this out when i ordered a trans ..which all autos are the same? well umm..yeah..except for where the linkage hooks to the trans. the floor shifters hooked up differently then the column shift. That little thing on the side of the trans takes more then just removing a nut to swap it out. That's the main reason i had to go with the B&M floor shifter. It was cuz the trans i was sent was out of a later model year where they used a column shift. Unless you are good at fabbing and welding then i'd think about that again.
Posting Guru
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,915
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From: Yokosuka, Honshu, Japan
Wow. I guess my last response to this thread (I thought I had made one ??? ) got lost 
Or was this one of the moderated ones that the moderator hasn't "approved" my last response, I dunno. If I remember right, I had mentioned something about the link on the tranny either needing to be replaced or flipped over or a new one fabbed, I can't remember. I believe most floor shifter kits come with instructions on how to install and set them up, or I would think they would. I can ask a buddy of mine about the racheting B&M floor shifter he put in a Early Bronco that was a column shift automatic. I believe that particular shifter used shift cables vice a straight linkage like some others might use, though. I would definitely look in the junkyards for a floor-shifted Ranger or BII for parts and maybe even take pictures to look for differences, etc. I have not personally done this conversion, but I'm sure Jeff (Help I M Stuck) may have more info.
Or was this one of the moderated ones that the moderator hasn't "approved" my last response, I dunno. If I remember right, I had mentioned something about the link on the tranny either needing to be replaced or flipped over or a new one fabbed, I can't remember. I believe most floor shifter kits come with instructions on how to install and set them up, or I would think they would. I can ask a buddy of mine about the racheting B&M floor shifter he put in a Early Bronco that was a column shift automatic. I believe that particular shifter used shift cables vice a straight linkage like some others might use, though. I would definitely look in the junkyards for a floor-shifted Ranger or BII for parts and maybe even take pictures to look for differences, etc. I have not personally done this conversion, but I'm sure Jeff (Help I M Stuck) may have more info.
Rub my Belly
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,093
Likes: 1
From: Lawrence, KS
I've heard of some using Ranger roll cages in BII's Everything from the cab forward is the same as the BII. You would just need to fab up something for the rear if you wanting to protect the back seats and rearward.
