Jason's 2021 - SCT SEMA '19 Clone - Build Thread

[Mirage775]

I'll start a thread on it after I get back from the holidays, showing what the car is like stock and what I've done, if for no reason other than to show the differences between the US and Aus specs, without hijacking your build thread.

Cool, but it's a truck, not a car!

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[Rob09]

Cool, but it's a truck, not a car!

It's not a truck, it's just a ute, mate!

 

[Mirage775]

It's not a truck, it's just a ute, mate!

That's not something in the US, LOL! But in my opinion, if it's got an open bed, it's a truck. If it's an enclosed bed, like an Explorer, it's an SUV. If it's electric, it's junk! If it's a Mustang, it's a Sports Car

 

[Doc]

I also ordered 2 more "Ecobeast" emblems, like the one on my tailgate. Was thinking about putting one of each side of the hood scoop or putting a 2.3T on each side of the hood scoop? What do yall think?

or this decal in all Black

or one of these 2.3T emblems

I'm thinking about the blacked out 2.3 turbocharged stickers and maybe sticking the Ecobeast emblems somewhere else?

I also finally ordered the Rear Dog Seat Cover, Tailgate Seal and G2 Gloss Black Caliper Paint. I really need to get my shelves put up in the garage tomorrow afternoon too.

Only other things I'm buying are just small things, except for the tuner

I have the 2.3 on my tailgate ..

 

[Mirage775]

I have the 2.3 on my tailgate ..

Cool! I'm debating on buying the blacked out 2.3L turbocharged stickers, so I can stick them on the scoop and they'll be sort of hidden >

I need one of the forum stickers too!

 

[Mirage775]

Well, I got my Control Freak front suspension drop this morning and when I got home from work, I started to assemble everything. Everything was going smooth until 2 of the heim joints, that go into the new control arms, messed up... One was so boogered up, I had to cut 1/4" of it off to get it to start into the new control arms and the other threaded in about 3/4"-1", then stopped, then didn't want to come out. I put my 14" pipe wrench and a cheater bar over it and got the heim joint to back out a little bit, then stopped dead still!

I called Al at Control Freaks and let him know what happened... I'm very disappointed with the control arms so far, well, the heim joints at least, but I assume that's just poor machining. The new arms look great though! The coilovers seem very nice though, so I'm going to attempt to lower it with just the coilovers, until I get new arms...

So, with my 6 day weekend, starting this Wednesday morning, I guess I'm going to drop the rear of the truck 4", instead of 6" and use the Control Freak coilovers, with my stock control arms and hope to get 2.5" drop in the front, instead of my plan of 4"? I can always lower it the rest of the way once the new stuff comes in

 

[Mirage775]

Al emailed me back and is going to take care of the issue but I have to wait until the 1st or 2nd week of January

 

[Mirage775]

A somewhat good note though, I put my freshly painted tailgate emblem back together. There's a couple of smudges on it, since the super glue seeped through a little bit, but I polished it up and I think it looks decent enough.

I can always touch it up later, but there's no more chrome showing, so that's good enough for me

 

[AzScorpion]

Wow a lot has happened since I was here the last time, it's coming along really nice! Looks like you're going into the detailing business? ? Trust me you can never have to many microfiber towels. lol Can't wait to see what you get done in the next couple days.

 

[Mirage775]

Wow a lot has happened since I was here the last time, it's coming along really nice! Looks like you're going into the detailing business? ? Trust me you can never have to many microfiber towels. lol Can't wait to see what you get done in the next couple days.

I blame @Trash Panda for all the detailing stuff and also myself, since I read up on the "Polishing Shadow Black thread".....

Really bummed out that I have to wait 2 more weeks before I can get my new control arms, but that's just going to have to be how it is I guess... Then, I'll take it to get aligned mid January 17th, from an awesome alignment guy at my Mazda dealer.

Talking with Al yesterday, sounded like aligning this kit is gonna be hell... There's one bolt on the upper arm that goes all the way through, you have to take it all the way out to adjust the upper control arms, then put it all back together and check it again...

Just the small amount of work I did last night whopped me, LOL! I'm getting too old! I went to bed a little bit after 9 last night, couldn't eat my dinner beforehand, was just hurting from fighting with those control arms, took some Alieve, laid down, before I knew it, the 4:50am alarm was going off this morning and now I'm about to go to work :'(

When I get home later today, I'm going to pull the truck in the garage and start the process of dropping it and I'll probably be worn out again for the next several days....

Stay tuned! Be there or be rectangular!

 

[Mirage775]

Teaser pic while I recover from 24+ hours of working on the Ranger... I'll post more info perhaps tomorrow?

 

[Mirage775]

I guess it's time for an update, since I'm definitely not a worn out as I was yesterday...

So, Tuesday afternoon, about 3:30pm, I went out to the garage and started the rear drop process.

First leaf spring pack out at 4:22pm, since I sent this pic to my stepfather I did one side at a time, but this flip kit wasn't really as complicated as I was expecting, since it's my first one ever

Done with both sides here at 6:02pm. Everything but the shocks are installed on both sides here.

4" drop holes. I'm probably going to drop it to the 5" hole down the road. This pic is before I put the truck back on the ground and tightened and torqued everything.

CCB Modification.

Everything installed. 7:06pm

Belltech Street Performance Shocks.

This spacer is about 1/4" thick and was on the stock Left Rear suspension. I assume it's for the height of the driver and fuel tank. Belltech doesn't mention if you're supposed to reuse it, but I kept it, because I assume you do reuse it? Does anyone know for sure?

I had no words when I took this pic, other than childish giggling and goosebumps, LOL! This pic was taken at 7:44pm.

So, I got the whole rear OEM suspension removed and replaced with the Belltech rear 4" flip kit in about 4.25 hours, start to finish! I had to stop a few times to clean up and get some bolt torque specs, since Belltech doesn't include anything and they're instructions are pretty shitty! Just an FYI for all the novice guys wanting to do this

I used 2 large jackstands, 3 smaller jackstands and 2 floor jacks. I used a plethora of air and hand tools. Just take your time and you'll be able to do this in 4-6 hours, assuming you do all of your own work, like myself?


Leftovers.

I have to keep the rear shackles, in case I want to drop it 6". The rest of these parts are no longer needed, unless you plan on raising the truck back up? I'll probably box all these up and keep them I've made the mistake in the past of throwing stuff away, only to realize down the road that they're either discontinued or super expensive, if you can even find them?

 

[Mirage775]

So, before I put my new wheels on, I was surprised when my new hub-centric rings fit the Method wheels, but not the hubs and after further research, I discovered why....

OD 111.86mm on hub-centric rings

Hub 92.92mm

ID 77.96mm on hub-centric rings

I order the correct size through Stage 3, but was unhappy the ID of these rings was this much smaller...

The lug nuts that came with my new wheels are so much smaller than the OEM ones. They seem to be holding them on, but I ordered some different ones from Stage 3 as well.

I'll try to take some pics of the current lugs vs the OEM ones today.

 

[Mirage775]

That same Tuesday night, I decided to start working on the front suspension. I knew I wasn't going to get it properly complete, but I wanted to get as much done as possible.

"Story is, my Control Freak front coilover setup with adjustable upper control arms, kinda messed up on me, during assembly, Monday afternoon. Coilovers went together fine. Control arm assembly did not... 2 of the heim joints decided to stop midway through the install and froze in place wherever they were at and they're not coming out, period, trust me...

Anyway, I have to wait until the 1st week of January before I get the new arms. Al @ Control Freaks is going to pre-assemble them for me."

So, I started the front end stuff at 8:23pm.

Got the OEM front suspension removed from both sides and as much of the Control Freaks suspension installed at 10:39pm.

CF didn't include any bolts, washers or nuts to install the upper coilover mount to the frame, so this ended my progress on the suspension swap Tuesday night. I emailed Al, to let him know I was missing a bag of hardware. Wednesday morning, he emailed me back and said nothing was missing and to use the stock hardware, off the OEM suspension.... I sent him this pic of the stock suspension...

I told him I couldn't use the stock "bolts" and I was going to buy the correct parts at Lowe's/Home Depot.

Things must've changed between early 2019 and later 2021 Rangers, since mine were installed with something more like wheel studs...

I came in the house Tuesday night at 11:15pm... I was so tired, that I didn't even eat any food, just took some Alieve and passed out...



So, Wednesday morning, around 9am, my stepfather picked me up and I luckily found 6 M10 Class 10.9 bolts and nuts and 12 flat washers at Lowe's. We came back home and I finished installing the coilovers. I torqued everything to specs and adjusted the coilovers so that 2 inches of threads were showing below the locking ring.

We put the front wheels back on and mocked up my Air Design Fender Flares and pulled the truck out of the garage and took some pics about 5pm Wednesday afternoon.

Truck sits sweet now! But, I couldn't turn my front wheels much....

 

[D Fresh]

Lookin good man!

Your truck puts all the Air Design pieces together well. I think it's the black, they look more subtle with their matte black against the gloss black. On lighter colored trucks they "pop" too much, I think, making them look a bit ricey.

Looks like your plan is coming together nicely. Looking forward to seeing your final stance. I don't think I've seen another SCrew dropped around here. They all seem to be SCabs.

My FX-4 is totally different. But I really like the lowered trucks. I'd love to build a sport truck one day.

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