started bagging the Ranger

Looks like a good start!

i shaved my tailaget b4 i bagged my trucka nd i was lowered for 2yrs and a yr and a 1/2 on stockers.... it just takes time and this baggin my ranger thing has been a pita... 7 weeks and its ALMOST time to put it back together and still gotta pull th ebed off and yank the gas tank to put my fuel cell in in the next few weeks! Wont drag until that fuel cell is in!

CJ...i know what ya mean about the tank. im having a dilema what to do with mine. my choices are:

1. move stock tank to bed and place behind cab. i dont like this idea of gas being right behind my head too well.
2. move stock tank to bed, get longer lines and mount tank to rear of truck near tailgate
3. get a tank from a Tracker/Sidekick since they will pretty much mount to the frame rails. NAPA sells them for $109 brand new.

i think what i am going to do for now is go with option 1 for now then in a few weeks go for option 3.

Day 2:

day 2 started off slow. me and my room mate got to the shop and i started to grind on the frame to get ready for the notches. after grounding we test fitted the notch to see how it would look and the proper placement of it. pic below of test fitting notch:



after doing some measuring and making sure the notches were level and straight, we tack welded them in and removed the clamps. after tack welding them, we then welded them good and solid and then added the top piece of the notch after we had to cut them down to make them fit. pic below of welded notches:



we decided to take a break and just for something to do, one of the guys in the shop has a set of 13" wire wheels and decided to put one in the wheel wells of my bed since the bed was off. it doesnt look bad but im not much for 13" wire wheels. heres a pic of what it looked like:



after goofing off for awhile, it was time to cut the frame where we put the notches at using a sawzall. heres a picture of my buddy Jason doing some cutting on the frame:



and heres what it looks like after cutting. you cant really tell much in this pic but you can sort of see it:



and while we were doing stuff to my truck, we started shaving and relocated the tailgate handle. we were running out of welding gas when we were doing the welding on the filler plate. anyway, heres a pic:



we still have plenty left to do, but my room mate said something about getting some lowering blocks so the ass end will get on the ground before we mount the bags. i coudlnt get those because i didnt have the money to and so those will have to wait till this coming weekend. thats all we got done this weekend. i think we got quite a bit done and im satisfied so far. more to come this weekend after we do more work.

great work man, looks like its coming along...def keep us updated

Nice. Can't wait to see more.

Day 2.75 (monday evening):

got the inner part of the notch welded in and then my room mate decided to just cut 2 holes in bed where the notches are and painted my notches green (which i wish he painted black but fuck it). well i drove the truck for a week, and where the differential sits, every time i hit a bump it would hit the underside of the bed. after a week of driving it put a nasty dent on the underside of the bed and not to mention is quite nerve racking to hear it hit when i drive down the road...LOL.

Day 3 (friday night):

well day 3 went kinda slow cause i didnt wanna do anything hardly...LOL. i had my room mate cut out the middle section of the bed so the differential wouldnt hit it anymore and added a breather filter for the differential. heres a pic of it:



after that was done, the tires (which wer rubbing something really bad in the bed) me and my friend James took out the inner fender guards and my room mate Wes found what was hitting. there is a lip that had to be bent up and small tab on the fender taht had to be trimmed off. got those done.

me and James decided to mount the brain part of my switchbox up. i took the drivers side seat and he took the center console out so we could remove it to mount the brain for the switchbox. got it and took and screwed the brain onto the back part of the console that sits closest to rear part of the cab. James then put the console back in with the switchbox brain attached and then i put the drivers seat back in. heres a pic of the switchbox brain:



thats all we did that night.

oh and last week i also mounted my gauges and gauge pod. heres a pic of those since i forgot to post about them:

looks liek your making awesome headway.. wish my truck was goin that fast... almost there got most the plumbing done and working on wiring and puttin the bed on soon... go project: "ALMOST THERE"

i know how that is CJ. just look at it like this: perfection takes time!!

anywho, heres another update:

Day 3.75 (saturday night)

late start again. im used to it so oh well. anywho, pulled the bed off again and decided to work on a way to mount the tank and compressor. after a few thoughts, i decided to use the tie downs on the front inside part of the bed as a mounting spot so i didnt have to drill any holes in my bed. started measuring some 1" box tubing and proceeded to cut out the sizes i needed. after cutting them out and drilling the mounting holes on the ends, we mocked everything up, made sure everything was lined up good and tack welded it all together:



after tack welding it together, we pulled it out and welded it all together:



after welding it all up and let it cool down for a bit, we then put in the bed and bolted it down in the stock tie down location. its sturdy as hell. after mounting it up, we mocked up the pieces for the compressor to sit on. got it all aligned, tacked in, removed the whole assembly and welded the compressor mounts on. after that we mounted the whole thing back on the truck including the compressor and tank. well the tank is just sitting on there for now but the compressor is bolted on:



after that we messed with the fittings to see how everything is gonna go together, figured it out and those are gonna get mounted onto the tank bracket assembly.

more to go but thats what ive got done so far!!

lookin' awesome. I really like the tank/comp. mount.

thanks!! a buddy of mine actually came up with the idea to mount it using the tie down location as a mounting point for the whole thing to bolt onto. pretty good idea even tho i didnt like the idea of the tank sitting above the bed a little bit but its kinda growing on me.