Mugatu's Ranger Build

[Mugatu]

I'm about four years late to the party, but better late than never! I also wanted a place to document the things I've done to the Ranger now that I've gone so far into modding it. As a part time (yet professional) forum lurker, I've certainly found other's ideas and efforts to be a tremendous help in shaping the ideas and modifications that have gone into my rig. I'm hoping my build diary will provide the same to some folks.

Large Photos Ahead!

My Showcase Profile is mostly up to date with the current mods, but in here I will go into a little more detail per item for more context. I need to dig up my photos and brainstorm on the early updates, but I plan to slowly update my journal to present day.

Historical Documents - Quick Links
(clickable/available when published)
- New toy!
- Retrax Pro Tonneau Cover, Line-X Bed Coating, Various Air Designs Exterior Pieces, Bushwacker Fenders & Wheel Spacers, Mirror Autofold, & Misc Ford Accessories
- Lightforce Switch Panel, Autostop Eliminator, DeeZee Tailgate Assist, Yakima Overhaul HD Ladder Racks, Rotopax Gas Can
- Hello APG! Prorunner Series 1 Conversion
- Ranger Raptor Grill Replica, Rear Tailgate Camera Plasti-Dipped, Mishimoto Catch Can, Air Designs Rear Tailgate Applique, McGard Tailgate Lock, Redarc Tow-Pro Elite
- AEM Intake Filter, Intake Box Mod for more air, S550 Mustang Automatic Shifter Swap, Ford Explorer Sport Steering Wheel w/ (working) Paddles Swap
- F150 OEM B&O Subwoofer Upgrade w/ Custom enclosure, Custom Lower Intake box mod
- Another visit to APG: Suspension upgrade to Kings 2.5, APG/Deaver Heavy Duty Progressive Leaf Springs, Mountune Intercooler, Gibson Motorsports Dual Exhaust, Warn Winch M8-S, Factor 55 Flatlink Package, APG Fender lining/Clearance for 35s, Ram Mount System
- Yakima Outpost Bed Rack (non adjustable), Diode Dynamics Ditch Light mounts, a pair of ROAM 95L Rugged Cases
- Adaptive Cruise Control Issues, Relocation to Bumper
- Broken OEM Driver's CV Axle & RCV CV Axle, Cracked oil pan, Bent Front Differential Mounts, Realignement Attempt
- Redline Goods Leather E-Brake Boot, Course Motorsports Phone Holder, Roush Cold Air Intake Kit, Quikr Hitch Mount Bike Rack, Painted Explorer Steering Wheel Trim
- Rear M220 4.70:1 Gears / Ford Performance Diff Cover
- My "pièce de résistance": Bronco M210 elocker (from Sasquatch Package) complete Front Drive Unit differential, Branik Motorsports Custom Length Axle Shafts, BDS Rear Shackle, Switchpro SP-9100
- F150 Raptor OEM Floor Jack w/ Bronco Raptor Spacer
- Ford Performance Air/Oil Separator Kit
- RTR Tech 7 18x9 0mm Offset Wheels w/ Toyo Open Country A/T III 35x12.5 Tires

Thanks for visiting, enjoy!

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[Mugatu]

New Toy!

Brand new (then) 2019 Ford Ranger Lariat FX4 in Magnetic Gray.

IIRC:
- 501A Package
- FX4 Package
- Tow Package
- Technology Package

18" Wheels etc, basically fully loaded.

I surprisingly don't have many photos of the truck unmodified.

 

[Mugatu]

Retrax Pro Tonneau Cover, Line-X Bed Coating, Various Air Designs Exterior Pieces, Bushwacker Fenders & Wheel Spacers, Mirror Autofold, & Misc Ford Accessories

Some of the initial items I bought for the truck to make it stand out a little and prepare me for other accessories down the line. Line-X Coating and the Tonneau cover were among the first pieces I got to keep the truck bed secure and safe from "truck stuff" activities.

I went with the Retrax electric powered unit with the T-Slot Rails to take advantage of accessories such as the Yakima Bed racks etc.

Added a few Air Design exterior pieces that appealed to me from SEMA that year, fender vents and tailgate spoiler. I ended up loosing the fender vents when I converted my truck to an APG Prorunner with the new fender flares etc. I still have the tailgate spoiler however.

I also had installed Bushwacker fender flares and ran a 2" spacer on all four wheels to fill out the dreadful gap left with the fenders installed. You can see the stock wheels pushed closer to the fender in the following photos. I thought it came out pretty well especially with all the Air Design pieces I added.

Not pictured, Auto Mirror Fold Kit, Sporty Metal Pedals (both through RCMUSTANG). Also picked up all weather floor mats, sunvisor shade, and a pair of bed storage boxes (rebranded by Ford) which I still have.

 

[Mugatu]

Lightforce Switch Panel, Autostop Eliminator, DeeZee Tailgate Assist, Yakima Overhaul HD Ladder Racks, Rotopax Gas Can

Picked up the popular Lightforce Switch Panel, although I never got to fully use it I thought it was the best OEM looking aftermarket switch setup. Currently got a Switchpro SP-9100 in place of it now.

The Obligatory Autostop Eliminator, though I'm usually in "S" mode. Also the must have DeeZee Tailgate Dampner.

Yakima Overhaul HD Ladder Rack system w/ optional side rack and rotopax mount kit. Fairly robust and well made (for c-clamp installations), though I felt they could've designed the T-Slot mounting system better. Offroad weight rating is limited to 300lbs.

 

[Mugatu]

Hello APG! Prorunner Series 1 Conversion

I was always a Ranger fan, having owned an 08 FX4 and older models in the past. I have been really excited about the then new Ranger Raptor. I decided to take the plunge and convert my truck to an APG Prorunner after drooling all over it at SEMA.

The conversion is not cheap, BUT you get you what pay for and for the world-class customer service, it's well worth it. I'm really happy with the turn out.

Interesting tidbit: When I dropped off my Ranger for the conversion, a YouTuber Nemesis5Zero was having his truck converted for a magazine photo shoot. Camera gear and a bunch of lighting stuff throughout. Thought that was pretty cool to see.

At the time, I went with Falcon 2.25 Shocks which utilizes the stock coil springs up front and leaf springs in back. They worked great, but I ended up upgrading to King Shocks & Deaver Progressive Leaf springs later down the line.

OEM Fuel door relocated to clear the rise in the fender.

Upper and lower control arms are 3" longer than OEM to provide up to 12.75" of travel.

KMC Dirty Harry wheels in 18x8.5 with a 0mm offset. Tires are Toyo Open Country R/Ts in 33x12.5xR18. Corrected the speedo using Forscan. I didn't see too much of an impact to MPGs and still was able to get up to 21mpgs.

With the long travel front upper and lower control arms, the front wheels have up to 12.75 inches of articulation. No changes have been made to the rear suspension.

The front fender inner liners are designed to clear up to 35" tires as well. The fender flares add about 5" of width each side for a total of 10" overall.

 

[Mugatu]

Ranger Raptor Grill Replica, Rear Tailgate Camera Plasti-Dipped, Mishimoto Catch Can, Air Designs Rear Tailgate Applique, McGard Tailgate Lock, Redarc Tow-Pro Elite

At the time, the Raptor Replica Grills were hot and like most folks I ended up getting one.

For a short while, people confused my truck with a ranger raptor especially with the wide body from APG which I thought was kind of neat. Not many Rangers in my area at the time.

I picked up a tailgate applique from Air Design that covers the back of the tailgate similarly like the various F150 trims do. As part of this install, I decided to plastidip most of the chrome piece of the rear camera bezel.

Much less "blingy".

I felt the camera/bezel kind of stuck out a bit much. With the Air Design tailgate applique it fills the void nicely. Happy with the way it came out.

I picked up a Mishimoto Oil Catch Can. I like the placement of the catch can, kind of out of the way and low key. Though removing the canister to drain can be a challenge sometimes.

It's partially covered by the top radiator shroud, but is still accessible to remove the canister.

I also ordered a Redarc Tow-Pro Elite from my local dealer for when I do some towing. No install photos, I had the dealer do the install to keep under warranty.

Not a fan of where they mounted the controller, but it works. In the photo, you can see the sporty pedals that I got through RCMUSTANG.

I ordered a tailgate lock as well. Pretty straight forward install, though I probably didn't need it.

Picture was right before I tightened everything down.

 

[Mugatu]

AEM Intake Filter, Intake Box Mod for more air, S550 Mustang Automatic Shifter Swap, Ford Explorer Sport Steering Wheel w/ (working) Paddles Swap

Picked up an AEM Dryflow Filter for the stock airbox. Pretty straightforward replacement. Though after looking at the stock airbox, I had some ideas on how to improve airflow that other aftermarket kits don't address. More to come on that.

My next mod is one that I feel proud of accomplishing. I was a little disappointed that ford didn't give the Ranger paddle shifters, but was thankful they at least gave us a knob shift button. But there's nothing cool about that, and wanted to have a nicer shifter lever, and paddle shifters. The F150 folks swap in Raptor pieces to get functional paddle shifters. I noticed the modular pieces between various model Fords that looked like they would fit in the Ranger. At the time, RCMUSTANG was installing a heated element to the OEM steering wheel which led me down this path.

A relative had the 2016 Ford Explorer Sport (w/ paddle shifters) which appeared to have the same airbag we have on the Ranger. The steering wheel components were similar, but not quite the same. The important thing was that they were swappable. From RCMUSTANG's build diary and some question from him, I was able to source the extra wiring needed for the airbag clock spring. Picked up a new Explorer Steering wheel and went to town disassembling the parts to figure out how to get them to work.

For the shifter, I always liked the S550 Mustang's Automatic Lever. I picked up one of those, and also a Fusion lever as an option. Took those all apart and went to town to make sense of the wiring and what would be needed to get them to work.

**Please note, by no means is this meant to be a write up/how to, more of a synopsis of what was done. This mod isn't a bolt on affair and requires a minor bit of modification. Not a difficult mod, but not the most simplest either. Happy to answer any questions of course!**

The S550 shifter unfortunately has a smaller diameter shaft lever, and would require me to increase the opening a few millimeters. I fortunately had the right size drill bit to get me to the size I needed.

I already had made up my mind on the S550 knob, but since I had the Fusion lever, I decided to mock it up anyways. The shaft didn't need to be enlarged, but... I think I made the right choice of which knob to go with.

In order for the steering wheel and shifter lever combo to work, I would need to reroute the manual shifter button from the lever to the steering wheel. There are three wires that actuate the transmission from shifting up and down. One common wire, another one for upshift and the last one for downshift. The plug is mounted on the base of the shifter which I removed. I stole the little connector from the original shifter to create a wire harness that will run from the lever to the airbag clock spring.

Since I had the Fusion shifter laying around, I decided to take the fake leather boot and fit it onto the Ranger bezel which fortunately worked out. I'll likely swap it out later down the line with a leather boot. This boot was still in good shape so I just went with it.

After the wiring and boot was secured to the bezel this was the end result.

Now to start the swap for the steering wheel.

In order to ensure the Explorer Steering wheel would work, I swapped out the buttons from the original steering wheel to the explorer one. As I suspected, they mounted exactly the same. With modern CANBUS pieces, I wasn't 100% sure that the explorer buttons would work with the Ranger properly.

Once the switches on each side were swapped, I had to wire up the paddles. To do this I had to add additional wires to the ranger harness that sits inside the steering wheel. I again referenced RCMUSTANG's heated steering wheel to figure this part out.

From here, I needed to trace the unused pins from the airbag clock spring to make sure they are set for the proper upshift and downshift paddles.

The gray connector on the bottom of the steering wheel is where the 3 wires from the lever are added onto. One thing that was a bit of a bummer, is from what I can tell, the Ranger airbag clock spring (at least mine) had only 3 unused pins. The Explorer steering wheel has the heated steering wheel pads already. If there were more pins available to use, I could've also added the heated steering wheel feature as well.

Once that was complete, I ran into my first major obstacle. While the Explorer Steering wheel used the same mounting bolt, the plug for the airbag clock spring is different. The Ranger wheel is wider than the one on the Explorer which prevents it from mounting properly.

At this point I was already commited, and had to adapt and overcome. Fortunately, the material is soft aluminum, so I was able to make short work of the areas that came into contact with the airbag clock spring. Not too difficult, but was more work than I wanted to do. Fortunately it all worked out.

Had to add clearance to the back plastic shroud as well. A lot easier than aluminum, not that it was tough.

After testing the wiring, and cleaning up my mess, this is the end result.

The illumination and all functions works like a champ! You can see the "+" and "-". Despite being on the steering wheel, they function just as they would on the shift lever.

As nice as the swap came out, it wasn't entirely perfect however. The spacing between the steering wheel and the plastic shroud for the steering column is a little too close and unfortunately rubs a little bit. Nothing bad, but you feel and notice it a little.

By no means does it effect the steering wheel by binding or anything. But in hindsight I probably should've sanded down the back of the steering wheel cover to give added clearance. Something I'll probably do later down the line. I also should've had the steering wheel cover repainted to match the interior of the Ranger. I've since then picked up another cover that I have repainted. I just haven't gotten around to swapping it out.

 

[Bob902]

Braver than I am. Pretty if I tried the steering wheel swap, my truck would have already burned to the ground.

 

[Mugatu]

Yeah it wasn't for the faint of heart. Had I known I needed to cut out part of the steering wheel, I probably wouldn't of done it. But at the point I came to the realization I needed to cut, I was too stubborn to quit. hehe.

The plug and pins for the harness inside the steering wheel that connects to the airbag clock spring is really soft and easy to screw up. Lots of places for human error, I got real lucky.

 

[Colo_Ranger]

Cool build! I really like the details.

 

[Mugatu]

F150 OEM B&O Subwoofer Upgrade w/ Custom enclosure, Custom Lower Intake box mod

I was tossing around ideas of how to improve the subwoofer in the Ranger in the early days before all the options that have come about recently. I found a used F150 B&O subwoofer for fairly cheap on ebay and figured I'd give it whirl.

Ranger OEM Sub compared to F150 Sub, huge difference.

In my initial research, I was curious to see how different the F150 B&O Amp would run in the Ranger. At the time I didn't know it, but the part numbers between the F150 and Ranger are actually the same. I'm sure there are differences.

The F150 B&O sub is roughly 8", but fairly beefy for OEM.

Following a thread from fusseli he has on upgrading his sound system, I picked up a custom cubby hole enclosure from down under via Ebay in an 8" diameter (usually sold for a 10" sub).

End result was the amplification of the already terrible sounds the system made. Shortly after doing this, there was posting by someone who found the code in Forscan to disable the "electric engine" noise that was pumped into the system. That helped, but I since then I think my path forward is to run a seperate amp and sub independently. One nice thing was that the speaker plugs between the F150 and Ranger were the same, so it was plug and play.

After I picked up the AEM oem style filter, I noticed most aftermarket CAI only replaced the filters and not much else. Looking at the bottom of the airbox there's only one opening that seems a bit restrictive for the amount of air the turbocharger could pull. So I decided to drill out a new hole to allow for additional fresh to air to come in.

I picked up an extra factory intake box, and started marking it up to drill a hole through to the fender.

Picked up some Home Depot PCV plumbing.

I forget the diameter... 2.5"?

I couldn't come up with a more creative way to really secure the piping to either the chassis or the box, but ended up cutting the lower intake box into an oval instead to use the rubber's natural position to hold it into place.

From the seat of my pants and a lot of guessing, the final result seemed to have helped. I have no dyno numbers before or after, however I would assume that with the additional air now capable to enter into the box has to help reduce the restriction (of any) of the existing system. Best of all you can't even tell (visually) from the outside. Driving wise, I could hear the turbo spool up which was pretty cool. Reminicent of my ole FC, FD, and SE RX7 days.

Does it make more power? Maybe? Maybe not? Does it sound cool? Absolutely.

 

[Mugatu]

Cool build! I really like the details.

Thanks! Got more to come!

 

[Mugatu]

Another visit to APG: Suspension upgrade to Kings 2.5, APG/Deaver Heavy Duty Progressive Leaf Springs, Mountune Intercooler, Gibson Motorsports Dual Exhaust, Warn Winch M8-S, Factor 55 Flatlink Package, APG Fender lining/Clearance for 35s, Ram Mount System

I don't remember all the details that led me down to APG to spend more money, but I do remember that the factory leaf springs were sagging pretty badly (from my prospective). APG at the time had came out with a specific tuned version of the King Shocks for Rangers. APG also had announced the release of their co-developed leaf spring they had partnered with Deaver on. At the very least I was interested in getting a set of Deaver leaf springs, but must've figured I'd pick up more things while I'm at their shop.

My sagging OEM leafsprings.

New King Shock Suspension.

Not shown in this photo, but the OEM bump stops were swapped out with F150 Raptor bumpstops which are a lot smaller in profile to give the rear end more articulation.

I initially ended up with their Heavy Duty leaf spring, as at the time I was hauling a full bed and a Tuffstuff Alpha Rooftop tent.

After a few months of rolling on the heavy duty springs, it was just too stiff for me. When on trips loaded down, the rear of the truck felt like it wouldn't articulate. Also, my truck was only loaded on trips, so on regular days it was unladen. Not as bad as my ole '73 Dent Side F350 XLT Ranger but was close to getting there. I swapped out the HD springs for a set of regular progressive ones. Much more comfortable. I figure these springs w/ airbags would do wonders for day to day use.

While at APG, they just partnered with Mountune, and were installing their intercoolers onto the newest conversions, so I got one too.

Unfortunately I have the first gen, which has a smaller charge pipe, but not a big deal. I spoke with Mountune and they would sell me the updated part to get mine up to date. Whenever I get around to doing that.

Shortly before my APG spending spree, I was wheeling at a local OHV park in Hollister, and my truck partially slid down on a rutted trail. I unfortunately crushed my OEM muffler, so I asked APG to swap it out with a Gibson Performance Dual exhaust system.

Exhaust looks and sounds great, but unfortunately the driver's side doesn't clear the King Shock properly, and had to rotated partially to clear. As a result the piping is "a little off".

I also pieced together a RAM Mount system that I was inspired from another person on this forum. I unfortunately forgot the thread and the poster's name, but it was from here.

The factory mounting wasn't as stiff as I would've preferred, so I modified the piece with a longer bolt to push onto the floor to give it more stability.

I don't have many photos of the Warn Winch, but APG had installed a M8-S with a synthetic line, and finished it with a Factory 55 Flatlink end.

I don't have any photos of the inner front fender lining update they did for 35" tall tire clearance, but that was also completed while at APG.

 

[Mugatu]

Yakima Outpost Bed Rack (non adjustable), Diode Dynamics Ditch Light mounts, a pair of ROAM 95L Rugged Cases

I didn't like the height of my RTT with the exisiting Yakima Overhaul HD rack, so I picked up a set of Outpost bars which are lower, but are at a fixed height. I also grabbed a pair of Roam cases to add to my overland components.

With the taller bedrack, even at the lowest setting it put the RTT above the roofline causing some howling while driving. With the Outpost version it sits a little below the roof of the cab.

I also picked up a set of Diode Dynamics ditch light mounts for the hood. I paired them with a set of cheap lights I had laying around to get an idea of what it would look like.

 

[Mugatu]

Adaptive Cruise Control Issues, Relocation to Bumper

With the APG conversion utilizing a different bumper, the OEM Adaptive cruise control was moved to the radiator area like most bumper kits ended up doing using the Addictive Dessert Designs relocator.

For the most part the truck drove fine and had some minor issues with false positives etc. I ignored it mostly assuming it just needed to be realigned with the angle that the ADD bracker provides.

At first I thought it was the way it was secured. By default the ADD bracket is mounted to the intercooler shroud which is just plastic. I was thinking that it was moving around too much causing the false positives. APG also mentioned that some folks reported that the ADD bracket location had issues with the Raptor Grills.

On a particular long overland trip, I was in a caravan of tacos cruising on the highway with the cruise control enabled. The highway ahead had a bit of an elevated S curve. Apparently it was just enough to confuse the system into a panic. It got hard on the brake shortly until I was able to disengage the system. Fortunately no one was following me too closely. I didn't like that. So I stopped using cruise, and after that trip I decided to get to the bottom of the issues I was seeing.

I ended up relocating the system to the bumper to get it closer to what OEM was. While I was adjusting it, I come to notice that the OEM one I see in pictures are actually mounted the other way around. The way the ADD bracket holds the sensor is actually upside down. Hmm...

I don't have a photo of the OEM sensor, but do know that the two bolts should be on top. It also does not say that the orientation needs to be a certain way on the back label or anything.

The ADD bracket as I got it from APG, installed as instructed from the ADD manual. (It's upside down.)

I did a bit of research and digging online, and as I understand it, it turns out that this was the problem all along. The sensor needed to be flipped to work properly. And son of biscuit... After swapping it to the correct orientation, the system has been running flawlessly.

Sensor is upside down here.

I surprisingly don't have any photos of the sensor flipped to the correct orientation. I cannot confirm for absolute certainty that the sensor needs to be in a specific orientation, but that fixed it for me.

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