Lone Ranger

The battle for best-selling 4WD ute is currently a neck and neck battle between the Ranger and the Hilux at the moment, and this week the TJM Hunter Valley workshop has had the pleasure of putting together a big build on both. We’d have to say the amount of Rangers coming through our doors at the moment topples the scales on the debate and this black beauty is one of the nicer examples we’ve put together.

Owner Richard was after a functional all-rounder that was comfortable to drive but also eye catching as it was having to display his company logo. The result was spot on the money and this is one Ranger that can do the hard yards in the rough stuff and look great doing it.

We started with fitting a Fox suspension kit using the 2.5 Factory Series coil-overs with dual speed compression. This is one of Fox’s best performing shocks running a 63.5mm alloy shock body, remote oil canisters and the ability to be able to fine tune the shock settings (both high and low speed compression) simply by turning the adjuster dial with no tools needed. Shock fade will be absolutely non-existent on this ranger, even in the toughest of conditions.

For those times when Richard needs to tow the work gear around, we’ve fitted a set of Polyair air bags with an Airbag Man onboard dual air control unit and in-vehicle monitoring. This will allow him to adjust the pressure to each bag individually to cater for any uneven or obscure loads from the comfort of the cabin, whilst still retaining a comfort ride when being used for the daily shopping trolley duties.

The Redarc Tow Pro Elite brake controller was also installed to handle the towing duties as well as a dual battery set-up using the TJM 25A BC-DC battery charger and a Century 100A/hr deep cycle battery for those weekend trips away for power supplies.

We fitted up the Rhino bull bar and under body protection that Richard supplied with some cool looking camo vinyl wrap which really set the look of the Ranger and we supplied a set of Mickey Thompson MM-245 in a 17x 9 with Mickey Thompson ATZP3s in a 295/70R17 giving the Ranger the ultimate all-round traction and a look that certainly turns some heads.

Owner Richard couldn’t be happier with the results and even all the boys in the workshop were impressed with the end result with the guys putting in 110% to get the job done. Stay tunned to eyeball the Hilux build that this Ranger shared the workshop with.