Owner: Jordan C. Ray
Ride: '03 Ford Ranger Edge
Location: Denton, Texas
Jordan Ray from Denton, Texas, is one mini-trucker who stands up - or shall we say, lays out? - for his right to drag. After cutting his teeth building a prerunner Ford Ranger with bulged fenders and long-travel suspension, he moved on to lower ground. Sticking with the same platform, but upgrading to an '03 Ford Ranger Edge, Jordan started cutting, grinding, and welding his way closer to Mother Earth.
With the help of the crew at Crash Works in Krum, Texas, the stock Edge suspension was reengineered to hold Firestone 'bags. Up front, the guys took a set of FBI hardbody 'bag mounts and modified them to fit the Ranger's setup. The front frame horns were then Z'd 3 inches to set the front crossmember even with the frame. New motor mounts were fabricated to keep the oil pan from touching the ground and avoiding an Exxon incident. Out back, the leaves were ditched and Jordan made his own two-link rear suspension. With the suspension in up-and-down working order, Jordan took his Edge out for a night on the town.
What happened next comes right out of the Murphy's Law handbook. Cruisin' down the strip, Jordan was ready for the maiden drag session, and with a tap of the switch, the rearend dumped down and started throwing sparks. What Jordan didn't know was that some of those sparks were coming off of his fuel tank. You guessed it - he dragged a hole right through it. Moving over to the side of the road, he went to check out why the fuel gauge was headed toward the big orange E. Well, the situation was confirmed with the smell of gas fumes flowing into the cab. Yet this is not the worst of the story. Just as he got on the shoulder, a five-o pulled up behind the truck, lit him up, and proceeded to write Jordan up for destruction of property. How's that for adding insult to injury?
Even after all that, Jordan wasn't turned away from the scene. Instead of throwing in the towel, Jordan took things to the next level by adding a set of bigger wheels and a flashy paintjob to draw more attention to the truck and himself - what a way to stick it to the man. Back at Crash Works, the fuel tank was repaired, then raised up to prevent further damage. The new 17x8-inch Eagle Alloy wheels were rolled into some Kumho rubber and bolted up. Then the guys started smoothing over the Edge. The door handles, fender flares, and emblems were all ditched, and the respective holes filled. Jordan, not wanting to be left out of the bodywork, took charge of the welder and installed the FBI rear skin.
Once it was time for paint, a solid black would not do for this mini-trucker. As he was searching for some color to bring the black to life, Jordan's boss John Whaley walked in. John is an easily upset kind of guy, and when he's feeling a little on the stressed side, his face turns a deep red. Well, as we all know, sometimes that's all it takes to be inspired, and Jordan had his other color. He conveyed this decision to Crash Work's in-house paint squirter, and with a mad flurry of tape and paper, the truck ended up sporting its new tribal two-tone you see here.
The final thing on the to-do list was the inside of the cab. Jordan skinned the doors and headliner in tweed and swapped in a set of Saturn bucket seats minus the headrests. A center console was handbuilt by Brad Wellman to house the air gauges and fill the void between the seats. With all the loose ends tied up, Jordan is happy to dump his truck to the pavement and rail his Edge for miles, just to keep stickin' it to da man.
The Lowdown
Wheels/Tires Front: 18x8-inch Intro billet wheels with 225/35R18 Yokohama radial tires; rear: 19x8-inch Intro billet wheels with 235/35R19 Yokohama radial tires
Suspension 'Bagged using Firestone 2,400-pound airbags up front and Air Ride Technologies 2,600-pound Big Reds in the rear / relocated shock mounts up front / Air Ride Technologies shocks / Hills Hot Rods two-link rear suspension setup with Panhard bar / suspension modifications by Jason Hill in Lubbock, Texas
Engine/Performance 3.4L V-6 / E.L. Prototypes air intake / Optima Red Top battery / Flowmaster muffler
Body Modifications T-Rex billet grille insert / steel bedstep fillers / shaved rear steps / shaved taillights / shaved door handles / shaved hood squirters / steel tailgate skin / Hi-Tech LED taillights / custom notch cover in bed
Paint PPG and Createx Auto Air Blue, Orange, and Onyx paints / paint sprayed by Jason Hill at Hills Hot Rods
Stereo/Interior Clarion head unit / Infinity mid- and high-range speakers / Intro steering wheel / painted dash / reupholstered Toyota S-Runner seats using tan and orange Katzkin leather / custom center console / custom dash panel
Special Thanks Jimmy Davis at Stan's Car Audio in Lubbock, Texas / Jason Hill at Hills Hot Rods / Createx Auto Air / Don Knowles / Randall Tharp / Nathan Hunter / "Rapid" Roy / Jason Lackey / Mark's dad