HOW TO GO LOW
The Ranger is now at The Install Company, stripped and ready to go under the knife to achieve the killer stance Dale is looking for
Last issue, I introduced my latest project build, a Ranger King Cab. Now, I know this is not the kind of thing you’ll usually find in the pages of Fast Ford but bear with me because I have big plans for this old farm truck: I’m going head-to-head in a build-off with fellow Meguiar’s man Tom Clarke, who is building a Mk2 VW Golf (VW fans can read about that in our sister title, Performance VW). So it needs to be something a little bit special to beat him.
And it will be special. Last month I showed you the truck I’d bought to form the base of this build, and it was dropped off at Swallows Racing in Somerset, where it was promptly pulled apart and assessed. We even got the tape measure out and did some quick maths to make sure the twin-turbo V6 I plan to run will fit. It will.
Having been given the thumbs-up by the guys at Swallows, the stripped-out King Cab chassis found its way heading north to Phil James in Leicestershire. Phil is one of my best mates, and the guy I always turn to when it comes to fancy fabrication stuff like this. In this case, he was tasked with giving the Ranger the ultra-low stance needed to impress at shows and events, but still have the ability to drive there and back under its own steam.
The answer, like so many top show builds, comes from air suspension. I popped in to see the guys at Car Audio Security – who are once again fully behind the build – to pick their brains about which air-ride kit would be best suited.
Airlift was the brand they recommended, and because we like fancy things with all the bells and whistles, we opted for the full-fat 3H system. It’s a very clever piece of kit, and
Airlift says it’s the world’s first height- and pressure-based air-ride system.
You can use a hard-wired controller in the car, or even use the dedicated app on your smartphone to switch between height and pressure sensors. In real terms, that means you can use the pressure sensors to control ride height when giving it some around a track, but then switch over to height sensors to level things out when you pick up your mates for a Sunday morning cruise. Or in my case, when I load the pick-up bed up with all the show stuff I’ll no doubt be carrying to and from events.
With a full kit of boxes loaded into my Merc, I then trundled off to deliver it all to Phil. Now it’s over to him to work out how to install it all – he does run a shop called The Install Company, after all.
But I do feel a bit sorry for him; this is no off-the-shelf, bolt-on upgrade. Phil has already stripped the truck right back and is busy working out where to nip-and-tuck the chassis to achieve that perfect showstopping stance.
Oh, and just to make his life a bit more difficult, I’ve reminded him that I’ll need to run massive rear wheels to put all the power down, so he needs to leave room for some decent-sized rubber at the back, and the bulky engine with two whacking great turbos at the front.
While Phil was busy calculating things (read shouting and swearing – I’m not sure if it was at the truck or me) I dropped in to see the guys at Cobra Seats. They are supplying a pair of their classic buckets for the build, but like everything on this Ranger, they will be customised before fitting; Hawkes Autoworks will be giving the whole interior a full retrim, but let’s get the thing rolling first, shall we?
Come back next month to see how the build progresses.