TDI Ranger Build

[greengeeker]

I would consider a 3.27 or 3.55 rather than dropping all the way to a 3.08. A 29" tall tire with a 3.27 rear would be the same as your stock tires on a 3.08, but stronger. Or a 31" with the 3.55 rear would be close to your goal...or if you want to keep your rear (bad idea since it's a 7.5 anyway) you could run 3.73 gears and lower your rpm to your goal with some 33" tires.

Of those options I think the best is the 3.27 w/ 29" tall tires. It'll look better, drive better, still have cheap rubber (things get expensive once you get 30" and bigger) and have a stronger setup vs a 3.08 rear. Too much larger on the tire and you start losing mpg as well. Although a 31" w/3.55 wouldn't be too bad if you like the bigger rubber.

I'm starting to warm up to the idea of the 3.27. It gets me very close to my goal of 2000rpm at 65mph.

3.73 - 2350rpm
3.27 - 2060rpm
3.08 - 1940rpm

I'm not concerned about torque output while driving....I am getting more worried about whether or not the 3.08 will survive however.

What about an overdrive unit? You can switch it on and off when needed, giving you better torque, or lower RPM.

Do you have any recommendations? I'm not too crazy about adding more complexity to the drivetrain than necessary. Plus I'd have to recut and rebalance my driveshaft.

 

[triumphrider-1]

There are a few places that make them, the one I hear most often is gear vendors; but they are a little pricey.

A quick search brought this site up (it has a few different places listed):
http://forums.aaca.org/f123/overdrive-units-188199.html

 

[joecool85]

I'm starting to warm up to the idea of the 3.27. It gets me very close to my goal of 2000rpm at 65mph.

3.73 - 2350rpm
3.27 - 2060rpm
3.08 - 1940rpm

I'm not concerned about torque output while driving....I am getting more worried about whether or not the 3.08 will survive however.

I think that's the way to go. Personally I'd be thinking more of 3.27 vs 3.55 and would completely forget the 3.08 rear.

 

[greengeeker]

Do you guys know if the ebrake cables are different for the 9" versus 10" brakes? Or for the pre98 and post 98 axles?

 

[joecool85]

Do you guys know if the ebrake cables are different for the 9" versus 10" brakes? Or for the pre98 and post 98 axles?

To the best of my knowledge they are the same cables. That said, it's just one phone call away to Motor Supply, NAPA or whatever other parts store you want to call.

 

[Oh2Ranger]

I know for a fact that the e-brake cable is a non issue between 9/10" Drums. I've done the swap twice. However, one was on the 94 diesel I'm working on, and the other was my 02. The axles that I ended up swapping into each, both came from trucks around each trucks vintage. Looking and have handled both pre-98 and post, I didn't recognize any differences that would cause an issue.

 

[greengeeker]

I know for a fact that the e-brake cable is a non issue between 9/10" Drums. I've done the swap twice. However, one was on the 94 diesel I'm working on, and the other was my 02. The axles that I ended up swapping into each, both came from trucks around each trucks vintage. Looking and have handled both pre-98 and post, I didn't recognize any differences that would cause an issue.

Awesome. Thanks!

 

[GentleRF]

So, how's the TDI swap coming along?

 

[greengeeker]

Well I've basically been driving it nonstop since Father's day.

Mileage is right at 39-40.

Plan to dyno sometime next week...

 

[1991fordranger1]

Would the bell housing bolt pattern be the same on your two wheel drive as my 92 five speed? If so do you still have the cad drawning ad I am doing a Benz om617 and that would save me a pile of time

 

[1991fordranger1]

My 92 is a five speed transmission

 

[greengeeker]

Would the bell housing bolt pattern be the same on your two wheel drive as my 92 five speed? If so do you still have the cad drawning ad I am doing a Benz om617 and that would save me a pile of time

My 92 is a five speed transmission

Sorry, you have a 2.9....not the same bolt pattern as the 2.0/2.3/2.5 Lima motors.

 

[greengeeker]

Mileage update

Tank #4: 672.5miles on 17.4 gallons = 38.6 mpg
Tank #5: 690 miles on 17.9 gallons = 38.5 mpg
Tank #6: 680.4 miles on 17.7 gallons = 38.5 mpg

Hey, at least I'm consistent.

I'm looking at picking up a tonneau cover to see how well it improves FE. I'm also planning on doing a rear axle swap to drop the rpm....thinking about coordinating that with maybe a 2-3" drop.

 

[greengeeker]

Boost lag

From time to time I was noticing that my boost wasn't behaving nicely. Since I hadn't yet checked for boost leaks I made up a couple adapters to get that done.

And here they are with my regulator

In action

I also hooked up the steel blockoff plate to the turbo outlet to see if I was leaking anywhere on the exhaust side. I wasn't expecting to find anything since I had zero soot traces but I figured it couldn't hurt....well it almost did. When I pumped up the pressure to around 40psi it actually started rolling the engine over and driving the truck UP my driveway. Anyway, no leaks on the exhaust side but I did have a leak on the cold side right here at around 30psi. No I'm not hitting that level of boost now...but hopefully will be sooner rather than later.

I did also did a couple logs to see what was up.
In my first log you can see two separate 4th gear logs. The first was taken after a long run without using the brakes and shows good boost response. The 2nd was done after sitting at a stop sign (purposely depleating vacuum) and shows slow or laggy response which of course indicates that my actuator isn't seeing full vacuum at low rpms.

Here is another log showing reponse in 2nd, 3rd and then 4th gear.

The first thing I checked was my vacuum supply to the n75 which was lower than normal (15" Hg instead of the 25-28" that one should see). I traced this back to a loose vacuum pump nipple. I siliconed it up as a temporary solution to give me 20+ inches of vacuum. You can see the outlet of the vacuum pump in the following picture:

Oh I also made a quick visit to Jfettig to get an updated tune from Malone. With the boost coming in early like it should thanks to fixing the vacuum leak, fixing the boost leak and most importantly getting the tune updated this thing now pulls! I can't wait to see how this thing moves when I throw some more fuel and boost at it.

 

[Scrambler82]

I started to reread the entire thread but 27 pages !
From what I scanned over it looks good, milage is nice 38, better than anything Ford offers.
Why couldn’t Ford come out with something like this, a diesel powered small pickup, a Ranger that is, it just doesn’t make sense that all of our vehicles aren’t getting this kind of milage, should be a government priority.

Looks good.
Are you going to do a kit for these swaps or at least approach a company to do one ?