Wild At Heart
first featured in 4x4 magazine, january 2018
Creating one of Britain’s best modified Mitsubishi L200s wasn’t enough for Dean Jones. Even before it was finished, he was planning his next project – a full-house Ford Ranger Wildtrak built for unlimited off-road adventure.
Some sharp-witted readers may recognise the name Dean Jones. Some may even remember his eye-catching pick-up that we featured last October – a stunning Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian Black Edition (which was mainly white). But obviously, that’s not what this feature is about.
‘My mate nagged me to sell it to her for a long time,’ Dean admits.‘Eventually I gave in and sold it. But at the time it worked for me.
‘I wanted a Ranger when I bought the L200, but there was a waiting list of 18 months. Selling the Mitsubishi, even though I wanted to finish it, allowed me to get my Ranger.’
Now driving a post-facelift Ford Ranger Wildtrak (funnily enough, it’s the one in all the pictures), Dean has stuck to the same philosophy when modifying it as he used with the L200 – turn it into a capable overland vehicle and make sure it turns heads.
‘My Ranger is my daily driver, and I enjoy the looks it gets in traffic,’ he admits.
It’s no surprise that it garners its fair share of glances. Look at it. The all-black colourway, right down to the 17” rims and blacked out rear lights, is straight out of the boy racer look book. And if you’re honest, this truck wears it better than any Punto you’ve seen hobbling over speed bumps and crying though its scarred exhaust.
Like many 4x4 fanatics, Dean had a plan long before he had his truck. ‘I prefer the technical side of off-roading,’ he says.‘So the plan is to have a truck that is capable of a trip across Morocco, but also one that I can use every day. It was going to be the L200 before, but the trip might not happen for a few years, so I’ve got time to get the Ranger ready for it instead.’
Even though this looks like the finished product, it is still very much a work in progress. Don’t misunderstand – plenty has been done already. But due to Dean’s fastidious modding style, much of it so far has been groundwork for future plans. However, aspects out of his control have been less methodical.
After selling his Mitsubishi, it was another four months before Dean drove home in his Ranger. He wanted one already equipped with Ford’s off-road pack but none were available, so eventually he took one without, opting to do more spanner work himself to make up for it. After all, the plan had always been to turn his Ranger into the complete overland vehicle; now the project just required a little more elbow grease than initially planned.
With Dean’s plans altered, the first phase of modification now focused on bringing the Ranger up to where it would have been if the Off-Road pack had been available.
When he finally arrived home with the Ranger, he got straight to work – right there on his drive. ‘The truck stayed standard for the drive back. The air filter was changed as soon as it got home and the first lot of Line-X was done by Daz a week later.’
In that first week, Dean wasted no time at all, fitting pretty much everything that was on the Ranger at our photoshoot in time for his appointment at Line-X.
Like most of us in the off-road game, Dean likes to do as much of the work on his truck as possible himself. But he does have to call in help from time to time. ‘I try to do as much of the work as I can myself. But some jobs, like fitting the front coils, are too sketchy on axle stands. I had to get a garage and a ramp involved to fit those.’
Dean’s used the same Old Man Emu lift kit as the one he put on his Mitsubishi – and is somewhat mystified, as he prefers it on the Ford.‘The OME kit is so much better on this truck than the L200. I don’t know what it is, but even though the ride is stiffer with the heavy-duty springs on, it still rides better.’
You may have noticed the reference to the ‘first phase’ of Dean’s plan earlier. It’s currently the only phase to have been completed – there are three in total, between them designed to turn Dean’s Ranger into a rugged globetrotter.
Next on the agenda is building on the groundwork already in place. This phase will ensure that the vehicle is capable of making its way though, round or over anything Morocco has to throw at it. And Bridgend, too. The next set of kit he’s looking at includes a front winch and a dual-battery system, as well as rock sliders and a snorkel. Obviously, in true Dean Jones fashion, all external mods are scheduled to be given the dependable Line-X treatment at some point.
In the final stages before the trip, some areas of the Ranger will be re-modded for their African adventure. The long-term plan for the suspension is to replicate that of the Ford Raptor, the biggest and baddest of the Ford pick-up family. This will entail Dean looking at the set-up of the Raptor and simply fitting the same gear to his own Ranger. There are then plans to upgrade the tyres again for the trip to a more rugged, no-compromise set of rubber and add a roof- mounted tent and awnings to turn the Ranger into expedition HQ.
Despite all his spanner work, Dean has seldom done much to the engines of his trucks. This has mainly been because he doesn’t need to, but also to ensure that he doesn’t hamper their reliability. However, having plenty of time to research and execute any modifications, the Ranger is likely to be an exception.
The attention to detail in this Ranger is evident throughout. Those four months in limbo were used to plan every detail. Everything has been thought about, from the parts bought
to the re-spraying of the Line-X to match the bodywork. Aesthetics and performance are being entwined along the way in what really is an exciting build – very capable, but very stylish too. By the time it’s ready for that trip to Morocco, this Ranger is going to be even more of an eyeful than it already is now.
We photographed Andy’s Ranger at Whitecliff 4x4, which offers driver training for everyone from juniors to professionals in a superb site near the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. To find out more, pay a visit to www.whitecliff4x4.co.uk
