BBR's '88 Ranger. A semi-serious race truck build.

[Captain]

Most Excellent !!

[BBR]

I hit a snag with the axles. The ones I have are Speedway Motors cut-to-fit 31 spline axles. They have a splined section that is 8" long. This is plenty long for the passenger side axle, but the driver's side won't work. The splined section needs to be longer so the axle will insert into the housing farther. It needs about 1" more spline. Luckily, Speedway sells another brand that has a 10-1/2" splined section and luckily I had a $40 credit so I have one on the way.

Also, it seems if you call a 7/16-20 grade 8 bolt that is 7/8" long a "ring gear" bolt, it doubles the price. Haha. Nope. I'll take the box of 10 for $12 vs. $30.

[BBR]

Upper shock mounts are done!

[BBR]

Diff is coming together. Next step is disc brake brackets and axle retainers.

[Captain]

Diff is coming together. Next step is disc brake brackets and axle retainers.

Looks Most Beautimus !
Iron Art. You almost don’t want to see it get painted.

[BBR]

Thank ya! Needs paint to hide the technically fine but somewhat unsightly welds! Haha

[BBR]

Rear disc install.

[BBR]

Man I am all giddy about those wheels. Haha

Outside wheel lip to lip is 62", which is a skosh narrower than stock so these should tuck up in the fenderwells nicely.

Also ran into a problem..... The axle I bought for the driver's side fits great except for one minor thing. The center register is 3.00" instread of the normal 2.75". That means the brake rotor I have does not fit so I had to order another one with a 3.00" center hole. Not a big deal, but certainly something I was not expecting.

[BBR]

I was rummaging through my garage on New Year's and stumbled upon a set of three-way Summit drag shocks that were originally on the original big block Ranger. Low miles. Haha.
So I decided to stick them on here at least temporarily. I also stuck a stock wheel on just so I can put this thing on the ground.

Stock, the outside of the tire to the frame rail is 15". Now it's 11.5"

Also started looking at the driveshaft. Is there anything wrong with using a two-piece driveshaft? I have the original front section from the Nanner pickup and it is a beefy unit that will darn near bolt in. A one piece would need to be in the neighborhood of 67" c-to-c. Yowza.

[Captain]

I would go with the 2 piece drive shaft.
No wonky U joint angles and if you twist that long single on a launch and it starts to "Jump Rope" ....... Bad Visions Here...
You just have to build some type of Drive Shaft Loops for both.

My Nickel.95

[BBR]

Been waiting on a couple of things so I decided to close up the holes in the back of the cab.

Also, Jesse Fox with 3G video and his buddy broke down in Amarillo while driving Route 66. I went and hung out with them and talked cars while they were waiting for a replacement vehicle to arrive. He will be doing a video series of their adventure.

[BBR]

All 4 on the ground. Ride height is looking good.

[BBR]

Fuel sump! And no earth shattering kaboom!

[BBR]

Pressure washed the frame today and shot some flat black on it.

Brake hoses will be here this week. Then I can finish up everything under the bed and start looking at putting it back on!

[BBR]

Whoo hoo the rear tires just showed up. They are just the cheapest 275/60-15's I could find. I will get all 4 tires mounted and balanced tomorrow. Can't wait!!