It’s safe to say that more than a few people throughout the course of history have purchased a cheap vehicle and proceeded to spend more money that it’s worth fixing it up. Sometimes, this practice works out fine and those folks wind up not regretting their investment, while other times – perhaps most of the time – they wind up losing a good chunk of change when it comes time to sell. Regardless, that hasn’t stopped Donut Media from investing eye-opening amounts of money in the Ford Ranger they purchased for a mere $500 a few months ago.
The well-used Ford Ranger was reportedly on its way to the scrap yard when Donut Media scooped it up and decided to give it a second chance at life – this time, as a purpose-built desert racer. However, transforming it into a competitive vehicle of that sort requires a ton of work – and more importantly, a ton of money, and thus, this new video in the build series documents the $18,000 the YouTube channel sunk into the Ranger’s interior, specifically.
As one would imagine, safety is the main concern here, so DM needs to install things like a safety cage, along with racing seats with harnesses, and a full blown communications/GPS system to ensure they don’t get stuck in the desert – and if they do, they’ll be able to call for help. A fire suppression system is another must, and once all of this stuff is installed, the team takes the pickup out for a little test run, where it performs quite nicely.
There’s still some work to be done – mostly on the outside, with new panels and lighting – but thus far, Donut Media’s off-road racing Ford Ranger project is coming along quite nicely. To date, the team has spent a ton of money to get to this point, however, sinking $15k into its suspension, $5k in brakes, and a whopping $50k on its powertrain.
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Data on Ranger for 2025