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Gunslinger
Joined: Sat Nov 4th, 2017
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Dash is back in (about a week ago). Interior remains disassembled otherwise.
I crawled out from underneath it a few minutes ago. The current rear end is completely disconnected. Brake lines, ABS cable, U bolts, drive shaft, shocks, all unbolted/disconnected. It's ready to roll out from underneath.
Not quite sure how I'm going to do that just yet. My jack isn't capable of lifting the vehicle high enough to get the weight completely off of it so I can roll it out. I may have to get another jack (which I've been wanting to do anyway) that is capable of lifting it high enough on it's own.
I'd like to roll the old one out, swap the wheels+tires onto the new rear end, roll it underneath the truck and bolt it all together. That sounds like the easiest way to me. ....Maybe I shouldn't have made that big ol' brownells order just yet. Oops.
Hmm. Maybe a big block of wood between the jack cup and the hitch might do the trick. Another 4" - 6" is all a guy needs. Maybe not even that much.
Oh, my existing U bolts will fit the new rear end. I'll reuse them for now, maybe replace them later. I haven't had a chance to clean them up and take a hard look at them, but I don't see any damage to them right off the bat. They came off easily, so no heat/beating required.
Oh, almost forgot. Driver's side door is bolted on and hooked up. It still needs an alignment before it can be seriously driven, though. Once the new rear end is under it, I plan on taking it to get it aligned.
Once that happens, I'll start driving it to work so that the clutches can break in under the power (or lack thereof) of the 3.0. Even if I'm hard on the 3.0, it shouldn't be too awful taxing on the rear end, compared to the 5.0 or even 4.0
The ranger is a bit of an ugly duckling atm.... A dusty, ugly, duckling.
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1999 Ford Ranger XLT - 3.0 V6 4x4 - Loaded (Totaled) 143k. Rest in Peace, Gold Dust.