Now that the mechanical is done, let us work on the aesthetic.

Never did like pinstripes on single tone.

So we are going to use this nifty thing to erase the pinstripes.

Muuuuuch better; can not say that for the wheels and tires though, can I? Originally I put the fronts on to pass NCSI but the rears are just as bad as the fronts I took off, so four new tires it is.

Just a different angle. The torsion bars are cranked 5.25 turns. Sits just a bit tall in the front as is evident in the previous picture. Hopefully .05 turn /- will take care of that. Would you believe it actually rides better? At least in my opinion. Feels like it has a suspension now instead of just floating over everything.

What a difference. Antares SMT A7 tires in 265/70R16 flavor. Chosen since Bridgestone does not make the Dueler A/T (non Revo) in that size.

Really need to do something about that dent in the door.

Front bumper is pretty messed up. Does not look bad in this picture but it is falling apart.

Trying to straighten out the front bumper. Note to self: paint that grill.

Done! Looks a lot better. Had I known that the factory bumper was textured and not smooth as it looked, I would have painted this one before it went on.

I am going to need to paint those flares; thinking matte black...

Yeah, that is...wait, whose headlights are on my truck?

What happened to my truck?!
10 bolts across the top and 6 clips on the bottom and the front end comes off. Probably not completely necessary for the headlights to come off but being as this was the first time I have pulled this generation Ranger apart I was not taking any chances.

What is going on here....

Ok, I am intrigued.
No masking paper or newspaper? Try shopping bags. Easier to work with around corners/bends too.

Hmmm.
Sidenote: The honeycomb grille CAN be separated from the whole unit but I chose to just mask instead of risking breaking anything.

Looking good.

Freaking awesome; SO much better than the blotchy, patchy faded gray factory color.
3 coats of primer and 4 coats of Duplicolor Low Gloss black later. 20 minutes between each coat and 1 hour of baking in the sun on a 90* day.

Just because.

I do not understand why Supermotors rotates the pictures. Three different ones and all turned like this one. Anyway. Two of a Hella 500ff bolted to the upper grille support.

Let us find out if these cheap Chinese things will work in my driving lights or not.

Nothing extravagant.

Looks like they work fine to me. The headlights are 9007s from either JDMastar or Superbrightleds.com (can not remember). Halogen on the left and the cheapo LEDS on the right. Might be alright.