Ranger TTB to solid axle conversion advise wanted

Mini-Stroke...

Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2013
Location
NC
Hello all, newbie here and trying to learn as much as possible.
As the title says, I am wanting to convert my first gen ranger to a solid axle front end. This truck is a DD and sees mostly highway time, but does go to hunting camp and takes me to fishing holes that would otherwise require a longer hike than I care to take lol.
Is there anyone around Burlington, Greensboro, or somewhere relatively close by that has done a conversion like this or can point me in the right direction? I am still in the research stage and have not started to gather parts yet. I want to learn as much as possible before I start this project.

I am thinking of using a Dana 30 for this conversion for parts availability and ease of maintenance, I'm just not sure which jeep I need to be looking for in the junkyards. Tires will be no taller than 33's, and that is only dependent on wether or not that much lift is required for axle clearance. Current gear ratio is 3.73, but is subject to change (I kinda want to go lower for a little more low end umpf)

I know that I am missing some things, just not sure what I'm missing that needs to be addressed yet.

Current truck specs:
1987 Ford Ranger 4x4 regular cab long bed
3" body lift
235/75r15 tires
Engine: 2.3L turbo diesel with a whopping 86hp lol
Fm145 trans
Borg Warner 1350m transfer case
 
Sounds like you need a d30 from any year zj grand cherokee. 3.73 was standard in those. I remember reading some one's build thread of exactly that but they linked the front axle. If you leaf it then its all a matter of measuring and welding brackets then steering set up. I can't see too many problems coming up. Good Luck!
 
Getting ready to do the same thing to a 91 explorer. I am going to use an ironman 4x4 fab longarm kit and make a new crossmember to mount it to... Basically copy a Cherokee and you will be golden.... They work other than having no frame(unibody).
 
Thanks for the replies, just wondering how much lift will I need to make it work without smashing the differential on up travel iof the axle lol. I still have a lot to study on before I start this project tho.
When are you planning to start your conversion Snappy?
 
Mini-Stroke... said:
Thanks for the replies, just wondering how much lift will I need to make it work without smashing the differential on up travel iof the axle lol. I still have a lot to study on before I start this project tho.
When are you planning to start your conversion Snappy?
Click to expand...
Mid December
 
Cool deal, if you are ok with it, give me a shout when you get started and if I'm off work I would like to take a look at what you do to it and HOW lol
 
Trim the cross member and re plate, I did mine and gained a bunch of room. Lift depends on tire size and fender trimming or not. If you can move the axle forward some. You can get a lot of fender well room by trimming vertically but these have more issue rubbing the firewall area at full bump. I ran 35 15.50s super swampers with full cut out flares, 3 body, 6 inch suspension. 3 1/2 inch duff coils and a 3 inch spacer on the axle. B2 same front end and frame. Full compression got into the fire wall so I had to smooth it out a good bit. On my Ranger I Currently run 35 bfg muds no spacer and 4 inch (no name used coils) and 3 body same amount of trimming and identical lengthened ford radius arms and a little more fender cutout. Axle is pushed forward about 2 inches; but i'm running full hydro now, with no rubbing. These coils bring the suck and doesn't flex well. Both ran the same Classic Bronco width 44-nine combo with 2 inch wheel spacers and offset wheels. Full width will help some but still get into the firewall. The old pin strip line makes a great place to trim from to get a feel for how far you can go without ruining the look, mine has no inner fender and has been narrowed 15 inches in the front. Vertically I could clear maybe 38's but they would never turn or clear the fire wall.
32 x 11.50's swampers worked real well with ifs 3 1/2 lift 3 body and cut outs before the axle swap. These trucks need a ton of lift to clear tires due to the fender well shape. Hope the info helps. A friend ran 6 inch suspension 3 inch body to clear 33 thornbirds way back in the day (he really hated those tires:shaking:) on his Ranger.
 
First thing to do is decide what type of suspension you want to use, coils or leafs. If you decide to go coils, understand one thing: Do NOT use the factory coils. Leafs are much more simple, coils are much more fun; I say that because it takes more fab work, and I enjoy fab work. Yj leak spring axles are still available at many junk yards, coil spring axles are much more prevalent since XJ's, TJ's and ZJ's all used coils. TJ axles are expensive (try up to $1200 from a JY) XJ axles are cheaper (around $400-$500 at JY). If you do leaf springs and are worried about hanging shackles while off-roading, you can find leaf spring sliders. If you want to do coils, check out James Duff, they have swap pieces that are meant for D44's, but could be adapted to work with a D30.

I have done a lot of research on this in both suspension forms. If you want to pick my brain on what I have discovered through the years of research, PM me and I will do the best I can. If you want some really good build threads and ranger/explorer specific information check out: www.therangerstation.com and www.explorerforum.com
 
The plan is to use coil springs and modify the stock coil buckets to work with jeep springs. And then use a long arm kit like the Iorn Man kit. I haven't studied the steering or the track bar setup yet. What are y'all's opinions on that part so far?
 
Check out james duff for a track bar mount that you can use, then just make a custom bar. As fas as the steering goes, i have a dana 30 from an XJ that i am trying to get time to put under the front of my explorer, and i was gonna look at re-using the factory y-link style steering from the explorer, but most people usually go with custom heims, johnnys, or 1-ton TRE and dom steering in the traditional drag link/tie rod configuration.
 
So....
I put a set of 31" km2's on the truck yesterday....
Now I really wanna go and try them out lol!
- side note, I needed tires anyway
 
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