Just a "TOY"

[Phantom]

So it's been about 2 months of admiring everyone else's rig in here, I thought I would post a little bit about mine..
Purchased this b2 about 2 months ago with no transmission and taking the guys word for it that it ran for $800... This is how it looked after a quick wash..

After stacking the torque converter on the first tranny and acquiring a tranny that had a 2 pin instead of a 3 pin connector valve body I have finally installed the correct tranny and got it to move, only to find out the left tire rubs when turning sharp to the left... After looking at it and not catching it upon purchase I found the left side radius arm and bracket has been pushed back.. Most likely from being jumped.. The James Duff long arm kit along with the 2" body lift shows up tomorrow... Just wanted to share a little history of the projects, and now for the pics of the progress done today... Decided I needed a safari rack, on board air plumbed to a 5 gallon tank, and put the Goodyear 33" MTR's on it...

Safari rack in the build



On board air





The 33's


The way it's sit's today which will be changed this weekend, due too the parts showing up..


Thanks for reading and inspiring me on what I want to do next... There will be many of more options I will be adding to this "TOY"
Let me know what you all think..

This is not and will not be a daily driver it will be built for the trail...

 

[4.0B2]

subscribed.

 

[integman]

well, looks like time for dana 44 lol nice rig

 

[Phantom]

well, looks like time for dana 44 lol nice rig

I'm a bit indecisive on the axel situation, have a d30 sitting, but leaning towards buying an explore complete for the 4.0, D35, 8.8 rear with discs... The d44's would be an awesome addition though...

 

[Surrey]

d30 is nice, but if your gonna go through the work of a SAS, might as well go big or go home right?

Also, I think the d35 is technically stronger than the d30.

 

[Phantom]

I like the way you think... However the the Duff long arm kit just showed up, so I'm thinking it will the d35 ttb next.. My brother has been trying to talk me into going d60's, but I can't seem to talk my wife into letting me spend 6000 in axels just yet....

 

[jhammel85]

Nice!

 

[wildbill23c]

Damn nice B2. $800 and you had to put in a tranny, not too bad. Given it being an 88 model it has Overdrive I would assume? Seems once they put those overdrive automatics in the rangers and B2's is when they started having transmission problems. Can't remember which transmission was in my 84 Ford Ranger but it wasn't overdrive just the 3 speed automatic, it towed a 16' travel trailer all over the country and never had a problem.

That onboard air is a great feature to have, and the new tires made a huge difference. I like it.

 

[Phantom]

Yeah it's the a4ld auto with overdrive... Not too wild about the tranny but we will see what happens. Just finished the 2" body lift, I'll post pics tomorrow, now I start in on the Duff long arm kit... Can't wait to hit the trail....

 

[bIIjr]

nice bII looks like mine before I started hacking at it the oba is a awesome feature I love it

 

[4x4junkie]

Put an external auxiliary cooler on that A4LD and it'll likely be fine. Insufficient factory cooling is what leads to a lot of failures and them having a bad rap.

Also, I think the d35 is technically stronger than the d30.

Yes, stronger ring & pinion and housing. The D35 also has larger axle u-joints than pre-'95 D30s (same as D44, or post-'95 D30s).

 

[Phantom]

So here it is after the 2" body lift and the James Duff long arm kit... I will take better and more pics in a few days, as for now I am beat!!!

 

[Phantom]

So picked up this little trailer for the b2, only 600$ and should be perfect for short get aways... Now for the lift on the trailer, thinking 31's will look good under it.... Plus I added the external tranny cooler to the b2.. The first thing I did along with the explorer rad....

 

[wildbill23c]

My grandfather's 93 Ford Ranger A4LD had the external tranny cooler added when the tow package was put on and the transmission still failed in it twice, so the cooling isn't the whole problem, the transmission is just garbage.

Stay out of overdrive towing that trailer and you might be ok. After that 93 Ranger I refuse to even look at a ranger past the early 80's with an automatic transmission, seems after they added the electronics and the overdrive the transmissions went to crap. My 84 B2 had the TK-5 manual and it seems to pull pretty well even with oversize tires, can't wait to get the right size tires put back on it, that may give it even more of a power feel.

Your B2 looks really nice, and I'm sure you will get many years of use out of it. I really like my B2, even with all of its issues I toss around the idea of selling it when something goes wrong, but for some reason I just fix things as they happen and just keep driving it. I saved it from the wrecking yard, and by looking at it that's probably where it should have gone, but I drove it around when I first looked at it for about 45 minutes and it ran and drove great, so figured a little body damage here and there isn't gonna hurt it, eventually I plan on slowly fixing the damage and get it repainted but until then its my beater daily driver.

 

[Phantom]

I know all too well about ford transmission I'm on my fourth one in my 2002 7.3 super duty.
I have a 40' fifth wheel toy hauler I pull with it... Finally built a mostly billet internal transmission... Mostly due too my fault of not down shifting to lock the torque converter up.. This won't be towing this trailer often.. Thanks for all your guys input....

 

[wildbill23c]

Ouch 4 transmissions, I think I would have thrown the truck away after the 1st. If the transmission can't hold up to towing the truck is useless to me. Sounds pretty common the new trucks though unfortunately. Don't understand it because my grandparents had a 1988 Ford F-250 4x4 460, 3 speed automatic and towed a 21' travel trailer all over the country, put well over 200,000 miles on the truck never had a transmission problem or any major mechanical failure for that matter, my aunt and uncle has the truck now and still drive it all over the place.

 

[Harley]

So here it is after the 2" body lift and the James Duff long arm kit... I will take better and more pics in a few days, as for now I am beat!!!

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that looks great!! how much lift did you see from the front kit?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

My grandfather's 93 Ford Ranger A4LD had the external tranny cooler added when the tow package was put on and the transmission still failed in it twice, so the cooling isn't the whole problem, the transmission is just garbage.

Stay out of overdrive towing that trailer and you might be ok. After that 93 Ranger I refuse to even look at a ranger past the early 80's with an automatic transmission, seems after they added the electronics and the overdrive the transmissions went to crap. My 84 B2 had the TK-5 manual and it seems to pull pretty well even with oversize tires, can't wait to get the right size tires put back on it, that may give it even more of a power feel.

Your B2 looks really nice, and I'm sure you will get many years of use out of it. I really like my B2, even with all of its issues I toss around the idea of selling it when something goes wrong, but for some reason I just fix things as they happen and just keep driving it. I saved it from the wrecking yard, and by looking at it that's probably where it should have gone, but I drove it around when I first looked at it for about 45 minutes and it ran and drove great, so figured a little body damage here and there isn't gonna hurt it, eventually I plan on slowly fixing the damage and get it repainted but until then its my beater daily driver.

The dinky little factory tow package external cooler isn't worth it. There are two keys to keeping an a4ld healthy and that is to put as big of an external cooler as you can fit in the front and the other is regular fluid and filter changes - either every 30k miles or whenever the fluid shows the slightest sign of no longer being that classic ATF red/pink color.


But to the OP, that is a nice looking BII, wish mine looked that pretty! Keep up the good work!

 

[Phantom]

that looks great!! how much lift did you see from the front kit?

The James Duff kit didn't and any lift, just longer travel to front end... It has a 4"suspension lift with a 2"body lift... Sits really well... Unfortunately I have been so busy with work I haven't been able to do any wheelin.. As soon as it sees off road I will post new pics... And I sold the tent trailer decided to buy a short 5th wheel (21') to pull doubles with the super d...

 

[Shadow Convoy]

I noticed it didn't have a roof rack before you added the safari rack. Where did you get the standard roof rack you mounted too?