- Joined
- Mar 20, 2005
- Location
- Hendersonville, NC
As much as I loved my Ranger, it had some inherant issues I didn't like. High COG, high entry/exit and crazy poor visibility. As it's chassis and cab were nearing the end of their lives, I called Wide Open Design and talked to them about swapping my drivetrain into one of their LJ chassis. This chassis will give me everything I want and still be roomy enough for me, my passenger an gear. Not to mention a factory hard or soft top still fits the tub.
Back in March I stripped the Ranger and hauled my SBF, C6, Atlas, 60 front and 14 Bolt rear to WOD. We went over the build plan and I had them add a couple of extras. The low ride height would require a DE ram setup instead of my OG single ended. I wanted them to add their ram mount to the front truss. I have never setup a 2 piece front shaft, so they added the mount and the intermediate shaft for me.
The communication was excellent with them from the start. I had signed a build contract and any expense over the agreed upon amount was cleared with me. We're talking a less then 1% increase. That's impressive.
Picked up the roller a couple weeks back. The hung the engine trans, case, trussed and linked the axles and added 14" Radflo coilovers. I'll be documenting the rest. The list is long for sure but I saved and will reuse a ton of parts from my old Ranger.
Specs: 306 long rod SBF, Fritts built C6, 4.3 Atlas, HP 60, 14 Bolt rear, 43 stickies. Wheel base is 118", weight is yet TBD. I'm thinking around 4400 w/o me.
If the build stays on budget, it's getting a whole new color. If not, it'll get a quick and dirty coat of TJ red.
At WOD on pick up day
Front shot of steering and truss
Initial to do list
As it sits now with radiator mount fab as job #1
Back in March I stripped the Ranger and hauled my SBF, C6, Atlas, 60 front and 14 Bolt rear to WOD. We went over the build plan and I had them add a couple of extras. The low ride height would require a DE ram setup instead of my OG single ended. I wanted them to add their ram mount to the front truss. I have never setup a 2 piece front shaft, so they added the mount and the intermediate shaft for me.
The communication was excellent with them from the start. I had signed a build contract and any expense over the agreed upon amount was cleared with me. We're talking a less then 1% increase. That's impressive.
Picked up the roller a couple weeks back. The hung the engine trans, case, trussed and linked the axles and added 14" Radflo coilovers. I'll be documenting the rest. The list is long for sure but I saved and will reuse a ton of parts from my old Ranger.
Specs: 306 long rod SBF, Fritts built C6, 4.3 Atlas, HP 60, 14 Bolt rear, 43 stickies. Wheel base is 118", weight is yet TBD. I'm thinking around 4400 w/o me.
If the build stays on budget, it's getting a whole new color. If not, it'll get a quick and dirty coat of TJ red.
At WOD on pick up day
Front shot of steering and truss
Initial to do list
As it sits now with radiator mount fab as job #1
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