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sexplorer build


ben10

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ford
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ah SHIT!
traded a tired beat down 99 ranger on 33s for the worst investment of my life, dude hacked this 92 explorer, everything on it was stick welded and trashed. I should have kept my beat down ranger but live and learn.

here is is the day I got it, bald 37 inch E rated toyos, HP dana 44 3.73 front and sterling 10.25 4.10 rear. every thing on it was shot, tie rod ends, ball joints, front leaf springs, no front driveline, EVERYTHING.




So I got it and sat on it for a while, bought a set of 36x13.5x17 iroks with like 60% tread left, and slapped on the meats whie I played the parts collecting game.

I had a KP dana 60 from an early 90s f350 that I was planning on swapping into my 99 ranger some day. So I bought gears and install kits for the 60 and sterling, did a weekly trip to ruff stuff to get parts like their 7/8 super heavy duty steering kit, sterling heavy duty diff cover, high steer studs for the 60 since the guy gave me the arms when I bought the axle, and a bunch of other parts like shock tabs.

I brought the expo over to one of the most knowledgeable and talented people i know. Stilluv is a Member here with a 98 ranger with a SAS and 5.0. he installed the gears in the axles and then we were gonna do the simple axle swap... I messed up and didnt measure the spring width right. the 44 was a 32.5 inch spring width, my 60 was a 36.5 so we had to redo the garbage cross member and spring mounts.




they took the tie rod ends and welded them into a piece of old pipe... EVERYTHING on this was hacked...
 


ben10

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ford
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ah SHIT!
so this is where nice stuff starts getting swapped in. we built a new cross member, built new outboarded rear spring mounts, put all new heims, tie rod and drag link which is super beef U bolts, and mount plates, all kinds of goodies.

rear spring mounts



built a new cross member not using C channel, and random bits of crap... and then mounted the axle.



drilled the high steer arms, and pitman arm to accept 3/4 bolts for the heims. and got the steering set up. we pushed the axle forward a bit, need to measure to find out how far, but the bolt holding the drag link to the pitman arm was going to rub on the tie rod. Found out an f250 32 spline pitman arm would work since it didnt have any drop and it was 1 3/4 inches longer.
 

ben10

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My credo
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extended a driveline he had laying around, and had 4x4 and got to drive it out and see if it all worked. drove it into a ditch to cycle the suspension, and found out the pitman arm hit the frame so we notched the frame and it was good to go.





still need to get grade 8 bolts for the steering, rebuild the front brake calipers, plate the frame where we notched it, and get new leaf spings since these are thrashed. the bushings are gone, springs are tired, and the guy I got it from cut the spring clamps off them.
 

ben10

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we took it for a shake down run out in the woods where we grew up, and it did pretty good. got stuck and had to air down and hammer down and it took the beating really well. sucked in the rubber ring that goes between the throttle body and the intake hose which made the throttle stick wide open, also the front driveline u joint binds due to too much angle when the front end unloads and lastly I mashed the diff into the engine cross member which bend the flange but not a big deal. over all Im really happy with it so far. I have a lot to do to it still, but Im having a blast with it.

this is my expo flexed on stilluv's ranger on 38.5s




my next big hurdle is getting it smogged and doing a double set up cause 5.38s arent nearly low enough to crawl. also need to find a new set rear of jeep waggy leaf springs for the front.

and that all for now, Ill keep things updated a I do more to it.
 

ben10

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ah SHIT!
Also got a second set of doors to make some half doors. Contemplating on making rear half doors as well. Could be cool but if I have gear in the back instead of passengers the gear can fall out easier.
 

swynx

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looks like a great start to a good build, keep up the good work man, ill be watching.

what tires is stilluv running? ssr?
 

ben10

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Thanks man. Without wes this would have taken me like 5 years longer. Still has a long way to go. I'm hoping to get a doubler in it before summer so I can get on some bigger tires.

Wes's is running some 38 pitbulls. I forget the style. It's not the gnarly one.
 

IRKillroy

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Location
Okinawa
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1988
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Ford
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2.9l
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Manual
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Semper Fidelis
Focus on the driveline first. Make it bulletproof then you can work on body mods.


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ben10

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Yeah if I do the doubler it might fix itself. Moving the t case back 7ish inches might improve the angles enough.

I am not super worried about body mods other then cleaning it up in spare time. And I already have the doors and my buddy will tig weld up the doors skin.
 

IRKillroy

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If you have bad angles on the driveline now doubling the T-case will make them more severe. You'd want to get something that will take the bite off that angle that won't bind on max drop.


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ben10

Active Member
Solid Axle Swap
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Location
Northern California, ca
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92
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ford
Engine Size
4.0
Transmission
Manual
My credo
ah SHIT!
How would putting a doubler on make them worse? Pushing the t case back and having a longer front drive shaft would lessen the agles. I know I need to have a new shaft built. That's That's a given but it's going to be a bit cause that will be spendy seeing as I'll be going to drive flanges and a high angle shaft. I have the dana 60 with a cast leaf spring perch in the drivers side so I can't do much about the caster. Already have a 7* wedge on top. Only other thing I could do is raise my rear spring mount and lower my front.
 

IRKillroy

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My credo
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Well, first I was thinking about back angles so already I'm wrong to begin with, however, the issue still exists unless you correct your angles.



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ben10

Active Member
Solid Axle Swap
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Location
Northern California, ca
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92
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ford
Engine Size
4.0
Transmission
Manual
My credo
ah SHIT!
I have a double cardigan joint so the pinion obviously needs to move upwards to point towards the transfer case but until I can find a way to change the pinion angle I'm stuck with it.
 

IRKillroy

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My credo
Semper Fidelis
Cut and weld the spring perches. But that's work that can wait until you do your doubling because the angles will change again like you pointed out initially.


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ben10

Active Member
Solid Axle Swap
TRS Banner 2010-2011
Joined
Apr 26, 2010
Messages
1,274
Reaction score
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Points
38
Location
Northern California, ca
Vehicle Year
92
Make / Model
ford
Engine Size
4.0
Transmission
Manual
My credo
ah SHIT!
The drivers side spring perch is cast into the diff housing.
 

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