Just a quick discussion of what I consider the "right" way to do a 5.0 swap into a Ford Ranger. I discuss the few issues I had with the project, mainly involving the EVAP emissions differences between an Explorer and Ranger.
That’s a badass truck you got there. It’s not lifted too high, it doesn’t have crappy low pro street tires. It doesn’t have all of the god awful mall crawler look to it. Would love to have a truck like that myself. Great job 👍
I don't these negative comments. Great job on your build man, I know how much work goes into something like this. I swapped a 351w in a 87' ranger in high school. It was a lot of fun to build but more fun to drive.
I appreciate this because you didnt drop a Ls in it like everyone and their mother does, as a chevy guy My nova will have a Ls because that's GM vehicle, my dream car is a 1968 dodge coronet I want put a hemi in it and you put a 5.0 in your ranger. Which is how it should be brand matching like that should be done more often, all you see is a Ls engine in damn near everything so I appreciate the time you put into this because you did do it right.... you didnt Ls swap and that's a great thing.
Very nice job! Good to see somebody take the time to do the small things, that mean so much to those who appreciate attention to detail. I have a Mazda B2300 that I'm thinking of doing this to, if the engine ever goes out. Thanks for taking the time to post this, gave me a lot of great ideas. Thanks, Keith
Placido Coronado Back when I was mud racing my 5.0 BroncoII, a guy had a Suzuki Samari with a rotary engine out of a ....RX7?? it was insane. He would hit the mud at like 15k rpms, and never shift. Skipped over mud like nothing and he was only running like 31x10.5 tires.
I have an 01 Ranger (2.5L Lima engine) that I bought super cheap (body/trans/wheels/brakes EXCELLENT) when he drove through a big puddle, sucked in H20 and hydro-locked a con rod through the block. Not pretty. Looking into it, a 2.3 Turbo Coupe motor would be super easy, and provide almost as much power as a V8 swap while still giving you some efficiency.
I agree with your statement the proper way to do a swap "right" is to do like the factory would. I did this to our brand new 1988 Chevrolet Caprice by swapping in an LS5 454. 13.25 @ 103 mph in the quarter and it would tow anything. Put 200,000 miles on it before it was sold in 2006. Get this...it was my wife's daily driver!
That is awesome dude. Super clean work. I love how everything looks totally stock. I have always kept my vehicles stock looking with all parts coming from higher end models. Very clean wiring. Usually people have a rats nest looking lump of chopped wires everywhere when they do conversion swaps. Very well done
I mean good video and impressive truck. But It would have been nice to hear more technical details, like motor mounts, trans mounts, drivelines, U joints, and wiring instead of about the emissions system most people wouldn't even consider using anyway.
All that is plug and play, motor mounts are rickrangers swap plates and 4.0 rubber mounts, stock ranger driveshaft, stock u-joints, wiring is plug and play. Use the ranger cab harness, use the explorer engine harness. You dont even need to do any of the evap crap.
@@SBS_Auto Is it plug and play for a 1994? Since mine is OBDI, I mean... Looking to buy a 96/97 Exp for a donor, but my truck is manual 2wd, so other than the M50d-R2, shouldnt my swap be even easier? Thanks for your help @SBS_Auto
I just bought those tires from a tire shop here in MT. Goodyear is giving a $100.00 rebate on top of another $100.00 rebate from tire shop. $700.00 for all 4 tires was titties
Use a 96 5.0 explorer engine harness, and u dont have to worry about evap. U just hook the evap line to the charcoal cannister under the hood. U can relocate the charcoal cannister to behind the driver headlight.
hi i know im late and you probably wont read this but you seem to know alot about rangers and i have a 02 4.0 xlt, the cruise control doesnt work, where do i start for diagnosis?
When someone does this swap themselves, they don't really need a mechanic to work on the truck... And it's also just an Explorer still, OBD still scans, and the test procedures still apply. Just his EVAP system is the system they would have issues with..
I still have so many questions. Looks like a body lift was installed to avoid cutting the heater box? If so, what size lift? What was done about the oil filter relocation? How much of the engine/engine parts were actually swapped or changed from the factory explorer configuration in order to make this swap the easiest and quickest? Trying to find the motivation for this swap on a 97 4.0 4x4 with an auto. Seriously considering going to an M50D-R2 or even a ZF5 for the low 1st gear as well as a BW1354 out of an F150. Then i keep thinking about the option of using an auto from the explorer and swapping the transfer case out for the BW4406. I can't justify doing this swap if i won't have the option of selectable 4WD with low range. Any further info would be greatly appreciated! Very clean swap and truck. Wish mine is as clean when I'm done.
My friend did this back in highschool fuckin thing hauled ass burnouts all day...since I've always wanted to do it...how much customization did u need to do? Looks like the engine fits real nice
I have a 99 3.0 and it doesn’t have a tac, was really hard to drive at first because it was my first ever manual vehicle and also the vehicle I learned to drive a manual in
Rangers in early years didnt have tachs (92-97ish) When doing the explorer swap its a nice option to put in explorer gauges because they are plug and play
Probably using the awd transfer case from explorer and used a custom front driveshaft. I heard expedition shafts work. But u have to adapt the tranfercase side of the front shaft because it has different end.
You pulled the guts out of a Mountaineer... I did the same thing with a 351 stroker fuel injected and supercharged, auto trans, 9" rear 3.73 gears in a stepside regular cab. Cobra R wheels and lowered.
I blew my engine in my 02 ranger v6 4.0 I’m really trying to teach myself to work with my cars/trucks and learning all I can. What’s the best engine I could put in it? Any tips would be much appreciated.
So I have a 2 wheel drive 5.0 single cab. But I want to build an extended cab. What all wheel drive system did you use. Was it a direct swap? Also in your opinion do you think you can get the truck low? I’d be wanting to go lower instead of lifting it
My 2000 ford rangers 5.0 is exactly the same way done! Hassle free and my daily driver plenty of power stock I have the 4r70 trans 8.8 31 spline rear end or 32 can’t remember. But hella fun!
Do you wish you swapped a 5 speed or a t56 from a 90s mustang and make it look factory or was the plan to keep it auto? I want to do a clean factory look complete 4.8l 5 speed drive and powertrain swap into a mid to late 90s S10 4x4 reg cab with leather seats and centre console from a 4th gen Camaro/Trans Am. Drive and powertrain from a 4.8L Vortec 1999-2006 GMC Sierra/Chevy Silverado 1500 (trans, engine) target horsepower not being not much higher than 300 hp and 350 tq as it would be a daily work truck and offroad play toy. I would be completely rebuilding the engine and trans. Whats the tire and suspension and how much lift? I want my future S10 project to be the same height and tires as your Ranger. This would be my first project done mostly on my own.
I have a 95 ford ranger splash extended cab 2 wheel drive I would love to put a late model coyote in it but I know there's a lot of fabrication , my truck has the twin I beam front suspension.. Anyone have any idea or has done this kind of swap before please give me some pointers or ideas ,
Done several of those swaps, right. Two Ford engineers were at Two Rivers ford when I went to get a part for it. They looked at it and said it was the cleanest swap they had ever seen. You're right, doing it right is not that hard just time consuming. I had one in Sport Truck magazine, July 1996. Check it out. Thinking seriously about dropping a 3.5TT in a Ranger. THAT would be awesome. You did a good job.
Doing this same swap on my bronco 2 was considering doing awd swap cus I have explorer axles so I can run the abs sensors but I didn't want the abs unit
Hi sir I have a question I would like to do this swap wit a Ford ranger xlt v6 3.0 1991 2wd Do you know if it will work engine and transmission? Thank you best regards.
Im doing it to my 1989 ford ranger xlt, im concerned about the wiring, i striped my truck completely, i wana start wiring but idk if i have to use a 5.0 painless harness or the one from the 1997 explorer, im kinda of lost on this can sumone help out
What trans was used..im getting ready to put a 1990 mustang 5.0 in mine and believe its the t5 manual..my truck is a 4.0 auto and if i can plug and play trans stuff then i would rather do that..
Can anyone help me. I have a crate motor I think jasper but could be wrong 4.6l Triton? It went in my 98 f150..its now salvaged title but engine only has not even 20k on ot and want to make a build. Maybe build it or turbo it and drop it in like a 98 ranger. How easy is it , motor mount kits? Witing harness kits? Etc. Thanks. Also how different is the 4.6 truck.motor to the 4.6 mustang motor ? Just heads and cam and manifold?
Seriously asking because idk, but where are you that they don’t need emissions?? In Maryland we can get away with it with historic plates but the laws are getting stricter. Also, I have a couple evap sensor codes coming up on my car and it causes it to stall. Last time I was doing 80 on 95 and it cut off. This isn’t an issue for the ranger somehow? Honestly curious cause I also have a ranger I’d like to build
The Ford Explorer gained the 5.0 liter in 1996. Out of curiosity do you know if that year had the same EVAP fuel pressure tank sensor as the 1997. Basically I'm curious if Ford had a 5.0 at some point that used less advanced sensor technology so it could be paired easier with the ford ranger. Also I'm really curious about this ranger being AWD? That is super cool and I'm seeing that in 1996 the V8 explorer also gained this AWD feature. AWD is so much different than 4WD it just makes me wonder how you addressed that on the venerable TTB Dana 35 ranger front end and what needed to be done to the transfer case.
elanaceblood i believe the 96 was the same as the 97 as far as evap system is concerned. The transfer case it straight out of the explorer. The ranger front end worked fine with it. This truck has an explorer disc brake 8.8 rear end. The only problem i had was due to the lift. The front driveshaft angle was too severe so i kept breaking rubber boot that covered the ball tyoe joint on the explorer type front shaft. I solved this by using an aftermarket shaft with traditional style u joints
tap a T or cut a sleeve in to the filler hose of the tank and bam, your sensor is as close to source pressure as basically being inside the tank but with no fab and only slight modification to stock. Then just run your wiring. next best thing is as you mentioned to tie into the vent line near the vapor cannister. Killer build and keep up the good work !
The ranger comes in a v8 trim doesn't it? Ive got a Mercury mountaineer awd v8, 97 model year. I'm happy to see you went with the proper race manifold. I'm assuming mk2 heads as well? Did you rebuild the motor or legit swap it? PS a valve solenoid that reads pressure should be able to replace the tank sensor so it runs a bit more smoothly. Keep the cap vent system you've got ofc.
That is weird that you cannot shut the EVAP system off completely on that particular computer setup. On a lot of the tunes we do with Ford we can shut them all off, but I have never done an Explorer, Mountaineer system. That sucks. Also if it is reading that code how does the check engine light not set? Just wondering for my own personal knowledge. Otherwise that is a beautiful build. I know I can't see everything just over the computer, but it looks great from what I can see. Nice work my friend, and I'm sure you will get that one issue ironed out if you were able to do everything else. One minor detail left, no big deal. Good luck and thank you for sharing with us
My Ford ranger wiring harness just took a shit. I have a 2002 3.0 v6 2WD automatic, can I get a wiring harness out of an 06 ranger with a 3.0 v6. 2WD automatic? The year and motor and trans line up but the year doesn’t, is this okay? Or does everything need to be the same
