Project Ranger X: Week 2 Build Update
? Go Back to Update #1 | Jump Ahead to Update #3 Ranger X – Build Update #2 New 2019 Ford Ranger, check. Complete teardown of suspension and removal of bed, check. Frame cut and extended 10″to accomodate the Knapheide service box with 136″ wheelbase, check. Nearing the end of our second full week with this truck we’ve made a lot of progress prototyping the suspension. Using a mix of CAD sourced from Ford and raw measurement taken off our Ranger we’ve designed the complete IFS system from the ground up to improve this trucks performance with clearance for the larger 35” BFG tires we have planned to go under it. At this point the prototype crossmembers, differential relocation brackets, upper control arms and FOX coilovers have been cut, welded and are test fitted. This setup will correct the suspension geometry at 6” of lift while keeping all driveline angles…
Project Ranger X: Week 1 Build Update
? Go Back to Intro | Jump Ahead to Update #2 Ranger X – Build Update #1 One week in and the build team is diving in head first to tear this truck back down and start laying out the plan of attack. At this point we haven’t had much seat time in the 2019 Ford Ranger, just a short 2hr drive back from Dearborn to Coldwater and some driving around the BDS test course.Despite the limited seat time up to this point we can already tell its going to be a contender going toe-to-toe with the Toyota Tacoma and Chevy Colorado once it hits the market early next year. We like the styling inside and out and the 2.3L EcoBoost backed by the 10-speed automatic transmissions has some pep. While our tight 5 week build timeline is keeping us from doing a full review on this truck it seems…
BDS’s SEMA Build Announced: Project Ranger X
Project Ranger X Its finally time to let the cat out of the bag. We’ve been holding or tongue for months waiting for the approval from Ford to announce our latest build and on the coat tails of their big announcement we’re excited to announce that BDS is building a 2019 Ford Ranger to showcase in the Ford Booth at the 2018 SEMA Show, located in central hall #22200. Dubbed Project Ranger X, this 2019 Ford Ranger is one of only a handful of the new trucks in existence at this point as production doesn’t ramp up until early 2019. This early production version was built special for us as part of Ford’s Project Vehicle Program were we submitted a concept proposal back in February to build an adventure themed offroad capable truck. After months of planning, proposals, CAD modeling and waiting for production we finally took possession of the…
Kevin Stearns Finishes 3rd in the Ultra4 Racing National Championship
Ultra4 Racing is an unlimited, 4-wheel drive, endurance racing challenge that takes place anywhere from the trails of the Hammers, to the barren wasteland of Nevada, to the hills of Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Kentucky. These are some of the baddest and toughest races on the planet. We are proud BDS Suspension‘s sponsored driver and owner of Tilden Motorsports, Kevin Stearns, who finished 3rd in this race that was at the Wild West Motorsports Park over the weekend. Kevin raced well in this past weekends race. While there were some set backs in the qualifying race, where Stearns had a hand injury, he was still able to come from the back and finish in 6th. In the main event Stearns, again, had a setback where he lost power steering. Stearns continued to push as hard as possible for 4 laps and it paid off as he was able to manage a…
State Congressman, Tim Walberg, visits BDS Suspension
It’s always a honor when we get a special visitor to our home base here in Coldwater, MI, but this past Friday the excitement radiated throughout the town when a Michigan State Congressman, Tim Walberg, came to visit our facilities. Tim Walberg is the State Congressman Representative for the 7th District of Michigan. When he heard of how fast Sport Truck USA and its brands -BDS Suspension, JKS Manufacturing, RT Pro UTV, Zone Offroad, and Posi-Lok 4×4, has grown and is projecting to grow he wanted to know more about what we were doing and how he can help to represent companies like ours. Walberg’s visit also included meeting some of our top leaders within the company: Mark Meldrum, President, Matt Everline, Director of Operations and Engineering, and Steve Rutz, Controller. These three gentlemen escorted Walberg around and were able to give some great insight on the company. When Walberg…
Pitbull Tires’s SEMA Booth Build by Hauk Designs
Hauk Designs has been hard at work on a 6×6 Dodge Truck that they are building for Pitbull Tires to display in their SEMA booth. This vehicle is getting a ’94-’01 RAM 2500 BDS Long Arm kit in the front and Jeep JK rear long arms in the build up. They have completely tore this thing apart. They took most of the original vehicle off and will not be putting it back on. They kept half the frame and the engine transmission, that’s about it. Now this is a very cool build, but it did not come so easily. One of the biggest challenges that the crew at Hauk Designs had was figuring out that center axle. The crew tried a few different things from using a two piece drive shaft and double transfer cases, but to be able to drive this thing at highway speeds is not easy.…