1993 Splash in SC

[ericbphoto]

Progress will probably be slower now through the holidays. I am an industrial maintenance tech, so I will be working a lot of extra hours while everyone else is off through Christmas and New Years.

I decided to replace the front axle drive shaft u-joints while I have everything apart. The old ones don't seem to be showing any play and I know the truck hasn't been off-roaded much in its lifetime. BUT... It's 23 years old. That means 23 year old grease and 23 year old seals. And, since it's a bunch of work to get them out, it just makes sense to me to freshen things up while it's on the work bench. U-joints should be here any day now. I'm going to follow a tech article from this site and do some minor mods also - full circlips to retain the caps and a bit of grinding to add clearance. I also have the string trimmer spring on hand for C-clip elimination when I re-assemble the axle.

 

[ericbphoto]

Hey. I'm still here. After the holidays, my fathers health started declining rapidly and he passed away at the end of January. I am now spending a lot of time helping mom by auctioning off his model trains and railroad stuff.

I did get a bit of time with the truck a few days ago. I cut up a pizza box and made a rough template for the shelf I need to mount my air compressor on in the engine bay. I also did something a bit more on the silly side - pictures below.

 

[RangerFabWorks]

Very sorry to hear about your dad. Keeping you in our thoughts

 

[ericbphoto]

Yesterday was a good day. I made a shelf in the engine bay and got my air compressor mounted. I still have to remove it one more time to paint it. The plumbing and wiring should be easy.

I think my air tank might get hung from the rear cross-member using the space where the spare tire used to be.

 

[BlackBII]

Wow lots of good stuff in this thread. Loving your build!

 

[ericbphoto]

Thanks. I'm not exactly racing along at break-neck speed. But it should be a good truck when I'm finished.

 

[BlackBII]

Thanks. I'm not exactly racing along at break-neck speed. But it should be a good truck when I'm finished.

Not many of us are. Lol.

My thread is now 4 years old, along with many others. This stuff is very time and money expensive so most guys take a looong time to build their trucks.

 

[ericbphoto]

Not much happening on the Ranger. I have been super busy helping mom clean house and dispose of dad's stuff.

On the other hand, I bought a really great mercedes om617 turbo diesel. It just happens to be installed in a 1985 300SD that I plan on using as a daily driver. Only 228,000 miles on it.

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[prerunner]

Just messing with your head a bit here...

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143323

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/377590-om617-swap-into-ford-ranger-what-would-take.html

http://www.mercedesdiesel4x4.com/category_s/1832.htm

That ought to put an evil idea in your brain...

 

[ericbphoto]

Prerunner,

You're not introducing any new ideas in my head. Since the beginning, I have thought bt4 or OM617 for my Ranger. If I had more money to spend on "projects" right now, I would scarf up the OM617 that's for sale just a few miles from my house for $950. The Mercedes would make more snese with thge gearing I'm putting in the ranger because the Mercedes is designed to run higher rpm.

Oh, I wish I could. just don't have the time or money right now.

 

[prerunner]

I wish I could too. The OM617 almost fits and is a world class engine. Legendary, really.
If you were doing a 2wd its fairly straightforward as gas to diesel swaps go using the Merc trans. The 4BT is heavier, as are its peripherals.
Every time I find a reg cab shortbox Ranger in good shape for cheap it runs through my head. "That'd be a wicked awesome DD with a little diesel..."
The reality is though that I have too many projects now. Oh well... Someday maybe.

 

[ericbphoto]

I can smell the finish line...

... or maybe it's just the neighbor's goats.

Anyway, I finally got back on the project this past week. Started rebuilding the front Differential and realized I had no good way to hold onto the thing while prying the carrier out, and the carrier was tight. So I broke down and took it to a place that has a great reputation. Otherwise, I would have wasted days or even weeks wrestling with that thing.

In the mean time, I replaced the front axle u-joints, welded a drain bung in the front axle housing, made up the rear brake lines, swapped the parking brake cables from my old rear axle onto the new one, flipped a couple bolts I had installed upside down for the new trans cross-member (the radius arm was hitting them), trimmed a lip off the frame on the passenger side so it would not interfere with the radius arm, and finally put on the rear wheels.

The rear is complete except for filling and bleeding the brake system. I also removed the rear inner fenders and started marking the fenders where I think they will need to be trimmed to fit the tires.

I got the front diff back from the shop yesterday. All I need to do is re-assemble the front end, add in the pre-runner steering kit, get an alignment and finish trimming fenders and inner fenders.

I might be driving it in a few weeks if all goes well.

 

[ericbphoto]

Had a couple hours this morning and thought I would assemble and install the front axle assembly. No luck.

When I checked center clearance between the halves of my Aussie Locker, there was too much clearance. Further inspection showed that the shop made a few mistakes. They left out the shims behind the side gears, left out the spacer rings and installed the springs and pins backwards. Sheesh! I had supplied the mfr instructions along with the parts.

The guy had originally tried to talk me out of the locker. He doesn't like them and thinks they are all bad. I guess he let his attitude get in the way. It's a reputable shop in this area. The gears seem to be set up great, though. The pattern is almost textbook perfect.

I was irritated enough to call and try to give some feedback. But he immediately got defensive and tried to blame the locker and me. Oh well.

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[Denisefwd93]

typical it seems anymore in anything. Last year the shop I've used for close to 20 years. told me after another shop said I need a ball joint... "no, the ball joints are ok" Now a year later and due for inspection back at the 1st shop.. it's been done by a friend and me.

 

[ericbphoto]

It feels good to make progress. I got the front axle assembled and mounted under the truck today. I had to do a bunch of grinding on the back side of the driver side beam. There is a lip that sticks out and interferes with the new radius arm. Once you grind enough of that lip off, everything fits nicely. Here's a picture from the drivers side. Also, below, is a picture of the weed eater spring c-clip eliminater in case anyone needs to see how that installs. After the photo, I slopped it up with grease and put the boot back on.

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