Explorer 4.0L Rad - Std Rot WP Clearance

[CraKel]

Hey guys,

Ok so engine is seated and mounted. Got a 4.0L explorer rad but with the original pulley system (std rotation wp with dual belt crank) Im finding it near impossible to get this rad to fit.

Using the stock mounts for rad it hits the nose of the water pump and thats without the pulley even on! I've tried banging away at the support to make some room for it to go further forward but I cant see this thing fitting between the rad support in any way.

Can someone give me a heads up on where to cut or how to make this thing fit without major fabrication or losing safety in the core support? And then I need room to run 2 e-fans... damn these small rangers!


And I know pictures would help but I forgot to take some of the actual support last time I was at the shop.

Thanks.
Ck.

 

[okietheranger]

I had to cut a lot of the support out and make my own mounts to fit the 4.0 rad. Even with cutting the middle guts of the support out it still made it even though the truck rolled over 6 times broke the radiator

 

[Teddyzee]

You'll need to tuck the rad under the core support. Here is how I did it- my core support is different (they changed in '95), but you can do something similar:

Here are some pointers on my rad install. 1997 Ranger 4.0 manual trans rad, works great with the 5.0.
I cut the bottom of the core support slightly to stuff the rad underneath, where the AC condenser once lived.

This swap was done in 2009, and I've just pulled it all apart for cleaning, painting, and other work. So, none of the rust you are about to see is still there!!

Here is the rad with two 10" puller fans mounted.

The rad used to live on these two frame perches, the upper one, at the tip of my finger

It now rests right on the frame, pointed here:

A few more shots of the frame positions

The wings on the side of the rad were trimmed slightly, maybe 1/4", to drop the rad a little lower once it was sitting on the frame. This was to reduce the amount of trimming needed under the core support.

Here you see the minimal cutting that I did under the core support

The larger square is for the rad cap, which is easily accessed/removed

So the rad is now bolted directly to the flat part of the core support.
Here are the stock bolt locations in the rad:

Here is the mounting hole I drilled in the core support. From the inside:

And from the outside

Quite simple, really.

I also notched the front crossmember slightly to clear the lower rad hose. I actually trimmed way too much, and I'm not sure it was absolutely necessary. You can see the missing chunk in many of those pictures.

Here's a sneak peak of the thing back in position. Truck is still in many pieces...

 

[Teddyzee]

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Mine fit ok, it must be one of those things that varies swap to swap...

I did have to do some trimming, it broke my heart...

 

[CraKel]

Wow thanks for the pics guys. And great how to from teddy z. Think ill have to look into this a bit more. With the dual belt crank im running and old std rot wp i dun really wanna have to get a new system after getting the whole march bracket kit. so its either tuck the rad or use an elec moroso wp. Heard good things about them but a lil on the pricey side.. May have room to use the stock location then perhaps however...

 

[CraKel]

Ok guys finally got some time to bang out this project and Im now sitting 95% complete! Here's a few pics of the rad install, much like teddyzee alot of cutting was required but even with the long nexk wp I got er to fit snugly with a 12" e-fan. Im gunna shroud it and see how the cooling is, if its not enough prob get another 10" and put it beside it.

 

[RangerSVT]

How far is your motor from the firewall? You may have to move it further to the firewall to get the clearance you want/need...


SVT

 

[CraKel]

I bashed it back as much I could, and placed the trans-dapt mounting plates as far back as they would let me..this is fine for now.. just enough room to get ur hands in and turn a wrench haha

 

[AllanD]

Wouldn't it be easier to swap on the "Front dress" from a 5.0 Explorer?

The front dress of a 5.0 in an MN12 t'bird is also shorter than the one you are using.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Wouldn't it be easier to swap on the "Front dress" from a 5.0 Explorer?

The front dress of a 5.0 in an MN12 t'bird is also shorter than the one you are using.

SN-95 Mustang is also almost as compact as the Explorer and you can still run the standard balancer.

The Explorer FEAD gave me an instant 1.5" more room between the WP and radiator.