The crew behind Donut Media on YouTube bought a Ford Ranger back in early February that had certainly seen better days. They set about building the midsize pickup to their specifications, transforming the $500 beater into a $100,000 off-road monster. They ran into a little bit of trouble during the off-road racer’s first major outing, forcing them to call in the big guns to help them out, but got it put back together and pointed back in the right direction. Now, they’re taking a step back on the project, asking themselves the question: did they take this build a little too far?
All said and done, the only stock parts from this Ford Ranger are the steering column and the cab itself – the rest was gutted and replaced. In fact, it’s surpassed the $100,000 mark, and the Donut crew estimates that they’ve sunk about $150,000 into the pickup at this point. But that’s just the nature of off-road racing. Vehicles have to be overbuilt to survive the harsh conditions out in the desert, and they must be tough enough to survive.
Donut acknowledges that some fans thought they went too far with their Ford Ranger build, but a vocal minority thought they didn’t go far enough. The Ranger broke both of its radius arms, which probably shouldn’t have happened given the quality of its build, but Donut admits that it’s entirely on them – they didn’t construct the components properly.
Additionally, the body is held on with duct tape and a promise… figuratively, at least. Portions are lashed down with zip ties. The alternator doesn’t seem up to the challenge, either, and it’s something that needs to be addressed before they try to take on the desert again.
Mechanically, the Ford Ranger is solid, though. Nothing else has broken down yet, even if some components need tweaking before they head back out on track. “It’d be stupid to build a truck of this caliber and not continue to race it,” Donut says. “When it’s working, this thing is a weapon.”
No Comments yet