LS swap! finally

[bbbc3]

I wanted to LS swap my Ranger until I saw how not easy this has been.
You're the man! Keep up the good work!

 

[Mackhedq]

Passenger side is coming together again now. Axle is back together and you can see where I extended the axles shaft. Welded a 4" piece in the middle then sleeved it and plus welded it. I doubt it will hold up but we'll see. 16" shocks in and they sit much better. Travel is what I expected now.

 

[Mackhedq]

Well bit of an update now. Front end is mostly together now, just need to do steering next. I've got that all calculated out. With a 5" pitman arm I can put it to 8" long idle swingers and have 111° of steering angle with 3 turns of a steering wheel lock to lock. That one took some math to do. Coilovers are in and welded, truck sitting on its own weight with 16" coilovers on 300x16"/400x18" springs. Has about 1.5" of preload. I expect it to drop down a little more with bumpers and sheet metal which should be the perfect ride height.

I also have tuning next too, this one has been a lot of work. Doing this all with HP tuners. 09 e38 and a 07 transmission. These should work together but won't work nicely without tuning, which I should be able to do as it's very specific to application. Then make sure my gas pedal and throttle body work together. Truck is fully wired too. Turns over and has zero battery drains. I'm very happy with how my battery wiring is turning out

 

[bobbywalter]

I wanted to LS swap my Ranger until I saw how not easy this has been.
You're the man! Keep up the good work!

now hold on a minute here....

i hope you realize this is nothing short of a super truck. this thing is level 10 bad ass ranger.



in a normal truck....especially a 2wd....this is a ridiculously easy way to get 350 hp and decent economy....

note too...importantly another thing...with a wild transmission combo compared to the ubiquitous sbf 4 speed auto or 3 speed swap.... this has a super low first and awesome overdrive. it will be an off road animal.


i guess things must just get easier with experience. this is not different then a typical 302 swap into this chassis.... save for an actual set of high flowing heads and killer torque producing intake that in this case allowed for a fairly unmolested hvac system that it was actually born with....

when you draw the base comparatives.....oil pan.....filter relocater and engine mounts along with exhaust manifold scenarios.......there is no difference....i find the ls easier and cheaper to mount...depending on goals...

personally.... i wouldnt use a aluminum pan on a wheeler i was planning to beat on as i have seen too many fragged pans....

but you may never have an issue...and most of the time jb weld will get ya back to the world....so if i had one that worked i would likely run it...but reworking the speedway style steel units is not a huge task.

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Mackhedq..... as a man that has spent 20 of my 30 plus years of ownership working my ranger to death....i could only wish to have such a perfect work rig....hats off to this beast....and your talent and ettiquette that exceeds mine....thank you for sharing.




days gone by......

i could only dream of the gearing your setup will enjoy.






the last ten years its been semi retired.....possibly heading to the crusher as i really like the new trucks...

which even if i do...it would get a custom bed like the one i have now. but yours is pretty much about what i would like for daily working and storage....and all around get it done....anywhere. anytime.

hard to live with a stock bed after having a custom one.


hopefully this thing treats you well.

 

[bobbywalter]

i would love to drive that after its dialed....

 

[Mackhedq]

Update to everything. Spent a lot of time learning here. I messed up my wiring combined with a pretty damaged harness. I gutted everything and start over fresh. Redid my body wiring harness and verified everything worked. I bought and re pinned my own harness for the motor side and spent a good amount of time learning what everything does. My Mistake was thinking the canbus network is a bundle of snakes. Instead its a pretty clear daisy chain system.

It now goes OBD2 port w/ resistor - 6L80e - e38 ECU. Not retaining body control module so I also swapped to a 4 wire alternator instead of two wire.


Here's my 6L80e wiring if anyone wants to double check it. Transmission plug first then circuit and where it goes.

Based on a 2008 4x4 6L80e truck

#1 na

#2 na

#3 park/neutral signal- circuit #- X1 Pin 1

#4 12v+ 24/7 - 1840 - battery 10 amp fuse

#5 ground - 1551 - front right cylinder head

#6 brake switch - 6311 - brake relay

#7 na

#8 na

#9 accessory wake up - 5985 - x1 pin 18/ normally 12+ w/ key on from BCM
(This one i need to double check on the truck) i have no BCM anymore

#10 canbus + - 2500 - x1 pin 27

#11 canbus - -2501 - x1 pin 28

#12 ignition voltage - - pink wire 15 amp switched w/ key

#13 canbus - -2501- obd2 port #6

#14 canbus + -2500 - obd2 port #14

#15 na

#16 Rep TOS signal -6399- x1 pin 71

Going to spend all Saturday and Sunday wiring the truck again. Hopefully first atart will be Sunday evening. Then all thats left is a handful of hoses. Make sure everything works and finish up my steering.

 

[bobbywalter]

depending on particular systems...bus can get frustrating with chassis noise. i dont use the modern setups like you have...so limited in swap problems that way......but grounding and old school high amp alternators can cause false codes ect. as long as your close to its base installation i would think you should be good.


the 6l80 is pretty expensive and hard to get in my yards so i have been leaning towards the 6r80. though i was also leaning towards the aftermarket controller.....mostly because my engine is mechanical. but damn that overdrive and low first gear in the six speeds is very alluring.


looking forward to the updates.

 

[Mackhedq]

6r80. though i was also leaning towards the aftermarket controller

This is why i went full LS in the end. Even after redoing the electrical I'm still in less than 500 dollars on it. Stand alone 6R/6L controllers are 1200+ dollars. Original goal was 300hp and 5 speed. Now we're closer to 430hp and 6 speed

 

[bobbywalter]

yes...i am a huge fan of them. most people just cant understand the packaging power/cost....awesome.

but they dont run on used motor oil and hydraulic fluids.


and the old transmissions just dont have the gears these do.

 

[Mackhedq]

Soon...

 

[Mackhedq]

Soon...

Tuning is hard. I have no idea what im doing but im going to figure it out. First time kinda running here. Almost falls into a choppy idle before dying.

 

[Mackhedq]

Another update. Engine wiring is 99% done. Ended up paying someone for the tune just too much to learm right now. With that I'll know i have a good tune and can just focus on troubleshooting any issues that pop up. Power steering is wrapped up now too, got a line made a my local hydraulic shop. Only a $132 for a whole new line made. With that done i got motivated to started on steering again. Got both swing arms mounted, high raise drivers side a tad. Both pit man arms need a little bend in them. Passenger 25° and driver 15°. I will have full steerings from bump to droop with ZERO bumpsteer at all. If anyone has 5/8th hiem spacers let me know, everyone is back order for another month.



At ride height

Side angle

Full bump

 

[maddyn]

I'm too lazy to go back through your post... but did you cut and turn your beams? They seem angled down pretty good. Looks awesome though, love the steering setup

 

[Mackhedq]

I'm too lazy to go back through your post... but did you cut and turn your beams? They seem angled down pretty good. Looks awesome though, love the steering setup

Yep cut and turned with a 3" drop bracket. Everything just looks weird because stretching the wheelbase made the brackets look extra long

 

[Mackhedq]

Got my fiberglass fenders in. Definitely an ebay gamble but they fit. Need way more tire though, 37s it is.