project: LEMON LAID

this is my official build thread for my 1995 Ford Ranger Splash nicknamed "LEMON LAID". i gave it that name because its yellow. anyways, on to pics and stuff!!

day 1:
well today i decided to start working on the rear end of my truck to make way for my 20inch Boss 308 wheels. heres 2 pics of it ready to get work done:




i put the tonneau cover over the top of my truck to keep sparks and any other flying objects from hitting the back glass.

next i tuck my finger (lol) and traced out where i wanna cut. i went back over it with a sharpie so i can see it easier when i cut. heres a pic of it before i cut (minus outline of sharpie...lol):


then i decided to do some cutting with my trusty sawzall and heres my end result:


i still gotta do some touch up cutting to make it look cleaner. i just gotta get some longer sawzall blades as i only had short ones. after the cutting, i decided to try a wheel on and see what it looks like on the truck (this isnt a photoshop pic!!):


after i got it on, i was satisified with the way it sat until i looked inside the bed and saw this:


i think to fix that, im going to have to upper and lower bag hat (i dunno what else to call them) off and then grind down on the bag mount so that the wheel will fit. this was only one side and it took me about 2hrs to do. so far im pretty satisfied with the way everything is turning out so far. look for more coming soon! comments welcome

good start.. that's called a rear upper bag bracket trim it for clearance

do bag on bars thats how mine is it rides way batter

yeah i know its an upper bag bracket but theres a plate like thing between the bag and the bag mount i need to remove. but yeah a little grinding will take care of it i think!

The "plate" that's there is probably becuase the brakets are too far apart and the bag doesn't compress all the way when laid out.
I'd yank all that stuff and put your bags on bars...better ride more lift, and IMHO bed looks much cleaner.
Good luck, BOSS rims never had the right offset for my ranger.

do work son

yeah as Dougie(clenzer) said.. its basically a spacer to allow it to lift/compress to a height desired. and you will want to check where the bags are when compressed and make sure they aren't gonna rub the rim/tire as well..

bag on bar is where its at.. or be cool like Dougie and me and go with a KP 6link

Come on you know u want to be part of the cool kids club!

Nice man. gonna be a totally differnt truck bagged in the rear and on them 20s. Good shits man.

it is bagged in the rear.. mono-leafed... it'll be a lot nicer when its linked up

Thanks CJ. I dont know what we all would do without all your wisdom.

yeah im still debating if i wanna run the KP link which is a bolt-on or use the one ive got sittng here which is ok but i cant weld and i dont have a welder access at the moment...

I just confirmed with KP that the ranger kit is still in production...good route to go, especially if you want to do the work yourself.
You're already notched so the rest you can can just bolt in and provided your air management system is already set up could probably do it in a weekend then button up the odds and ends the next weekend (if it's your daily).

Here's some inspiration!



oh, and be ready to clear out that engine bay, loose your heat, AC, overflows, move ABS module, fusebox, fuseplugs on firewall (I got a good tip for that) and some other misc things! The front is where you'll put in the most work...and that's not considering your on beams:(

Nice ranger! Damn.

yeah my air management is all set and installed already. im good on that. im gonna clean that up too. the goal right now is to get those wheels on and link the rear end. that Ranger looks badass. is that yours? send me any tips you have! my email is sipoweredhb@yahoo.com.

Yup, those are old pics of my truck from 05 before the BD....

It looks closer to this now (pic without 13" brakes, ragtop, and misc other things)

day 2:
well not much done today but progress is progress. i got the rest of the inner bed part cut out. i had to buy a smaller hand held sawzall type of thing to get into tighter places to cut. it worked pretty damn good but the blades suck. anyways, heres pics of the cutting:

drivers side:


passenger side:


the plan is to put wheel tubs in the back to cover up the holes later on so it would look cleaner...plus they look good. im also gonna try and find some wheel spacers for the rear to try and get the wheel from hitting the air bag mount. if that doesnt work, then i will have to take the rear bags off and get to cutting on the bag mounts.

more to come soon...

Good progress man. And your right, progress is progress.

another small update...

i got some wheel spacers and put them on to fix the bag mount rubbing issue. heres a pic:


the wheels clear the bag mounts just fine but when i air it down , the outter fender lip hits the outside of the tires just a smidge. im gonna try a smaller spacer to see if that may work any better. cant hurt to try as they are cheap. if that doesnt work then im going to just grind down on the fender lips a bit and that should fix everything.

heres a pic of the truck off the jack stands and on the ground:


thats at 100psi in the rear. i shoulda got a better pic to show the fender gap i have but i didnt think of it. anyways, i took the wheels back off so i can alleviate that other rubbing issue.

also, i ordered the KP Components bolt on 4-link today and hope to get it this week. they gave me a good deal on it and thats going to start going on as soon as i get it.

thats it for the updates so far. more to come!!!

trim that inner lip.. i shaved mine down from that lower bodyline all the way around.

lookin good brian!..Dougies truck is the one that made me want to do a body drop...I am so in love with that truck....

Don't be hittin' sides with that little of clearance!
So u got the 4 link without the cantelever bars? I'm tellin' yah, mount those bags on the bars and you'll love the ride!
Either way, keep up the progress!

Everything Doug said, plus 2. I just brought mine home, but after an inspection 20s are tight on a Ranger. You gotta clear everything out. The KP rear is the way to go if you can spring for it. I had a KP on my FSC also...it is awesome. Once you go cantilever, there is no other way. If you haven't seen Dougs Ranger in person, pics don't do it justice. It stands out, even in flat black primer. His truck is the reason I let Doug and others talk me into a Ranger.

You got a nice start, take pride in doing a domestic that you won't see like every S10. The lines are better in the Ranger, and the reason you don't see more is they a biotch.

lol yeah my days of hitting the sides are done and over with. i may do the KP cantilver in the future but i dont have the money right now to do it. so far tho, everything is falling to place as far as progress and stuff i need to do.

ph and my goal to have everything i want to do is have it all done by Camp-N-Drag.

Lookin at you pics the dif braket might hit your notch x-members.....
Here's an old pic to give you an idea o how high the braket we int my bed.