The Lone Ranger – Kage’s ’94 X-Cab Leaf SAS and Bed Bob

wahlstrom1 said:

I was wondering about the cooling issue too... I never had one with my ranger, even with the fiberglass hood holding heat in, and being 40* (100*F) outside and crawling all day it never got overly hot. Time for a waterpump maybe?

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What counts as overly hot?

Water pump isn't new, but was replaced at some point by the PO. Its not weeping, so I'm guessing its ok, and I doubt the blades have fallen off (though I have seen that happen before )

4.0B2 said:

thought the exo was to protect the body??? lol

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The exo got a heafty workout. I gues I need slap some bars over where the doors go

i tried to tell you tube doors... lol
hate to say i told you so!!! lol

looks like you had a good time buddy!

that bent spring is basicly exactly what happened with my samurai except i did it cause i broke a spindle off and driving out i kept smashing what was left of the knuckle against the rocks.

im seriously debating a shackle reversal but i just re did the entire truck and dont want any more down time..

Bray D said:

The last trip I went on was blazin hot. Heat index of 110+*F. Double low all day long without any overheating issues...

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I know you've said that you don't have A/C. Do you not have the condensor, or do you just not use it?

Granted, the truck runs cooler with the A/C off on the trails, but still warmer than I'd like it too. Maybe I should consider slapping a 2 row radiator in there to see what that'll do for me...

4.0B2 said:

i tried to tell you tube doors... lol
hate to say i told you so!!! lol

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Bah, they don't hold in the majic breeze as well though!

Josh40601 said:

looks like you had a good time buddy!

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Yup, every time I get out, I can't wait for the next time!

kris97ranger said:

that bent spring is basicly exactly what happened with my samurai except i did it cause i broke a spindle off and driving out i kept smashing what was left of the knuckle against the rocks.

im seriously debating a shackle reversal but i just re did the entire truck and dont want any more down time..

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While I understand a shackle reversal 'should' be stronger and better riding, I just don't care for how they work off road. I've known several people (granted they're Jeep fellas) that have had the reversal, only to go back to shackels in the front.

I know for my setup, I like the ride, and it seems stable to me

Thanks for the commets guys!

i had the exact same problem (running warm) that you did Sunday. There are some good write ups on how to do the Taurus fan, which flows plenty of air. It was right around 100 out, and in LL with A/C on, it was creeping up. I would just rev the motor a little when sitting still and the temp would drop. When i left the A/C off and had the windows down, never had a problem.

Kage said:

I know you've said that you don't have A/C. Do you not have the condensor, or do you just not use it?

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No condenser. Took it out and removed the lines going to/from my compressor. No A/C for me. Doing that also opened up the front of my radiator. It had to help with cooling. No condenser to blow through before passing over the radiator.

How far are you from Washita? Just thinking of when I may be able to run down there.

i didnt have AC in the ranger but i never once saw the gauge go past the "o" before or after the 2 core radiator.

the expo will have AC but i doubt it will ever be running on the trails. i like no doors too much.

Josh40601 said:

i had the exact same problem (running warm) that you did Sunday. There are some good write ups on how to do the Taurus fan, which flows plenty of air. It was right around 100 out, and in LL with A/C on, it was creeping up. I would just rev the motor a little when sitting still and the temp would drop. When i left the A/C off and had the windows down, never had a problem.

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I've the Taurus fan, relays, etc sitting in my garage right now. I'm just holding off doing that swap until I get back from our trip as I don't want to intoduce a new 'potential failure point' into the truck so close to taking off.

Bray D said:

No condenser. Took it out and removed the lines going to/from my compressor. No A/C for me. Doing that also opened up the front of my radiator. It had to help with cooling. No condenser to blow through before passing over the radiator.

How far are you from Washita? Just thinking of when I may be able to run down there.

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That's what I figured, I like my A/C too much to give it up yet

I'm about 1.5-2 hours from Washita, I'm not planning on heading back down there until after the MT trip as I allways manage to tear up my junk when I'm there. There allways seems to be one 'squeeze' or one 'unseeing boulder/stump' that manages to bite

Since its my 'local' wheeling spot, its not to hard for me to find time to wander down that way, just give me a heads up and I'll show you around if you want.

I'm also planning another trip down to SMORR this year. Probably Mid to late October.

86 slo-vo said:

i didnt have AC in the ranger but i never once saw the gauge go past the "o" before or after the 2 core radiator.

the expo will have AC but i doubt it will ever be running on the trails. i like no doors too much.

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Hmm... this is all making me wonder what's up with my cooling system. The radiator is orginial to the truck, so it wouldn't really surprise me to find out its got some 'crap' built up in it. For the price of admission, I think I'll slap a 2 row in it and see what that gets me. Granted, both of my wheeling trips in the truck have been when the temperature is in the upper 90's so I'm sure that's a factor in all of this as well.

I did like running doorrless on the XJ, but with the FW's, I don't think I'd enjoy being coverd in crap from everything the wheels throw up. For now, I'll keep my doors and A/C. Yes, I must be getting old

i'm runnin factory radiator and still running the condensor as radiator protection only. i was having an issue with the truck running warm. found that the bottom section of my radiatior must have been packed inside with sludge. i drained it (slow going) and flushed the system using the garden hose. flushed about 30 gallons thru it before all the discoloration was gone. drained all the water. and topped it off properley now it run's uber cool. also found the cause and fixed it. the flange on the 90* fitting into the overflow was gone aparentely letting mud and watever else into the tank over the years. siliconed it up nicely and voila problem solved

For what its worth, I think I’ve narrowed down my cooling problem to the fan clutch. Once that fan kicks on, it cools it down just fine, but it doesn’t seem to want to engage soon enough. Which is annoying as I just replaced the damn thing. When we get back, I'm just going to go E-fan and forget about it..

In other fun news, I finally found a manual transfer case! I’ll swap this dude in sometime after our trip up to the northwest:

But its missing a piece of the linkage, anyone have the little lever laying around they don’t need. It goes on this shaft:

Worst case, I can make my own if I have too, but if someone has the linkage (1350/1354 will work) please let me know. I also got my new front springs in, so look for an update on that here shortly…

Swapping out the front springs

When I bent my front springs, I tried to find a replacement OEM type pack. After a little searching, I was seeing nothing but good things about BJ’s off-road. Unfortunately, they wound up being a wee bit irritating. I’d placed my order on 8/2/11 via the interwebz. One week later, my order was still ‘pending’. Several phone calls later (and lots of, “we’ll ship them now!” phone calls). I wound up canceling the order when they finially told me that they wouldn’t have the springs for at least another 1.5-2 weeks (Found that out on 8/11/11). Rather frustrating to say the least...

With the power of Google, I came across Team Grand Wagoneer, they had another set on the shelf, and it was beefier than the stock 7 leaf waggy pack I was using. As an extra bonus, they showed up two days after ordering them!

So after doing this to the stock 7 leafs:

They were looking like this (The other side was looking over taxed as well. Keep in mind, about 1,000 lbs over the curb weight of a Grand Wagoneer):

The New springs are waaay thicker than the old ones, so I've got more hope of these lasting a bit longer:

While they're stock height springs, they netted me about 1.5” of lost lift in the front (even after putting some road miles on them). They sit were the used 7 leaf pack sat prior to me destroying them The truck sits pretty close to level at this point.

I was worried that they’d give me a poor ride, but its actually pretty nice still. Not quite as soft as the 7 leaf packs, then again, I’m not hitting the bump stops as I cruise down the highway anymore


I also welded on some ‘anti kickback’ stops for my front shackles. In the end, I think I’m going to make my own boomerang shackles, but these will work for the time being.

Before:

After:

whats your pin to front eye measurement on those springs?

i was planning on running the expo rear leaves up front but they arent going to work like i want. just trying to figure out what im going to run.

I see this ending badly with those shackle stops.

86 slo-vo said:

whats your pin to front eye measurement on those springs?

i was planning on running the expo rear leaves up front but they arent going to work like i want. just trying to figure out what im going to run.

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I'll get that measurment for you tomorrow, but you might want to look into getting YJ springs instead. They're dirt cheap, and you can get them mil wrapped. Look into BDS springs as they have a no questions asked warntee.

There just isn't as many options out there for the Waggies, and If I didn't allready have everything setup for the Wagoneer springs, I'd jump ship over to the YJ junk.

NMB2 said:

I see this ending badly with those shackle stops.

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Care to elaborate?

Function wise, its accomplishing the same thing as the boomerang shackles. The way these are set up, they are spaced about 3/16" away from the shackle at full droop (Droop is being set with the limit straps). They shouldn't see much of any force against them, and with the thicker springs, I'm not entirely certain they're actually needed. But I wanted something there to help keep everything in place while I'm running around the backwoods of MT

Or am I completely missing something?

Jumping off that subject, its looking like I'll be heading out to Interlake 9/24 with a group of Jeepers. That is assuming I make it back from MT