• Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and Register for our forum. Even if you don't want to post, you can still 'Like' and react to posts.

1 Ton Explorer Sport build


Kyle M.

GOING FOR BROKE
V8 Engine Swap
OTOTM Winner
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
2,218
Reaction score
9
Points
0
Age
44
Location
Howard City Michigan
Vehicle Year
1993
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
5.0
Transmission
Automatic
Alright, figure I would post this up. I am building this for a buddy of mine. What we have here is a 99 Explorer Sport, 4.0l, automatic, 4x4. What we are doing is a fully built Dana 60, locked, 5.38 gears, full chromo shafts, and a 14 bolt in the rear. We are going to use Fox 16" air shocks with extended and heimed radius arms (like mine), full hydro steering, and undecided on wheels and tires as of now.

here it is in the shop


Started out by pulling the old 8.8 out




The the 14 bolt swap started. We are using the ruffstuff weld on pirches to push the axle back 3". these...


I had to modify them quite a bit to fit the 14 bolt tube and on the leafs, more on that later


First we needed to decide on what we were going to use for the rear leafs because the stock sport leaf is a mono leaf. We first chose to use chevy 63's to get a stretch on it of about 6" by keeping the front hanger in the same spot. Giving us a total rear stretch of 9"




Ummm, no, that isn't going to work. The 63's gave it too much lift even without shackles on them and the stretch just looked retarded. So I decided to use the stock mono leaf, then add a ranger leaf pack to it. I am using a ruffstuff 6" shackle and it has a 3" stretch from the pirch. Just right




It got a small comp cut going on now too.

Now brings up the issues with the spring pirches. They are made to fit around a 2.5" spring like a stock ranger leaf, but the mono leaf is 3" wide so I had to slot the holes and make it work. Ended up dicking around with these thing for a few days before I got them right. All in all, next time around, I will just use standard pirches and find my stretch somewhere else.

So on to the front, I had to yank all the suspension crap out, couple hours later I a big pile of junk....




Then about 4 hours more of cutting with a cut off wheel, sawsall and hammering I have this




What is next, besides lot of grinding is to plate the frame, bend up some shock hoops, make some shock tabs, figure out how I am mounting the radius arms and then a track bar.

I will update as I get more done, thanks for looking!
 


88_Eddie

Well-Known Member
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
Oct 1, 2009
Messages
6,610
Reaction score
155
Points
63
Location
Raleigh, NC
Vehicle Year
1988, 2000
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
2.9L, 4.0L
Transmission
Manual
another 2 door EX build? geez! lol....looks cool kyle, scribed
 

Kyle M.

GOING FOR BROKE
V8 Engine Swap
OTOTM Winner
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
2,218
Reaction score
9
Points
0
Age
44
Location
Howard City Michigan
Vehicle Year
1993
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
5.0
Transmission
Automatic
Yup....I started this one the same time as the other one, but I took a few weeks off.
 

crawlin91

New Member
OTOTM Winner
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
Oct 31, 2007
Messages
2,335
Reaction score
60
Points
0
Age
40
Location
Crawlorado
Vehicle Year
92
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
2.9, 4.0
Transmission
Manual
subscribed
 

CheapThrillB2

May 2010 OTOTM
V8 Engine Swap
OTOTM Winner
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
1,799
Reaction score
8
Points
38
Age
43
Location
Western Michigan
Vehicle Year
1975-1995 Ford
Make / Model
FORD
Engine Size
soon 5.8L
Transmission
Automatic
And both sport builds were for the same family lol.

Follow this.....

Kyles sport build is for AL (Alboy), I put a trans in this explorer and it went directly from my shop to Kyles to get built.

My sport build is Alboy's dad AL's sport who bought it from Alboy shortly after he bought it from Kyle, which happened to be Kyles old explorer sport he dd'd for awhile.

So father and son will both have SAS sports lol.

:icon_welder:
 
Last edited:

Kyle M.

GOING FOR BROKE
V8 Engine Swap
OTOTM Winner
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
2,218
Reaction score
9
Points
0
Age
44
Location
Howard City Michigan
Vehicle Year
1993
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
5.0
Transmission
Automatic
Yup, big ol switch o rue with the trucks.
 

alboy79

New Member
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
Oct 26, 2007
Messages
114
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
42
Location
Conklin, MI
Vehicle Year
1998
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
4.0
Transmission
Automatic
Derek Jeter sucks!
 

railman

December 2011 OTOTM Winner
OTOTM Winner
Solid Axle Swap
TRS Banner 2010-2011
TRS Banner 2012-2015
Joined
Mar 31, 2009
Messages
2,660
Reaction score
12
Points
0
Location
Madisonville, KY
Vehicle Year
1996
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
4.0
Transmission
Automatic
Derek Jeter sucks!
you actually got that statement partially right......

it should say ALL OF BASEBALL SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

L8R, John
 

alboy79

New Member
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
Oct 26, 2007
Messages
114
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
42
Location
Conklin, MI
Vehicle Year
1998
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
4.0
Transmission
Automatic
you actually got that statement partially right......

it should say Railman Sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!

L8R, John
Yea he does, but he doesnt drag his teeth, so he don't suck as bad as Derek Jeter.
 

Kyle M.

GOING FOR BROKE
V8 Engine Swap
OTOTM Winner
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
2,218
Reaction score
9
Points
0
Age
44
Location
Howard City Michigan
Vehicle Year
1993
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
5.0
Transmission
Automatic

kris97ranger

New Member
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
May 13, 2009
Messages
3,088
Reaction score
36
Points
0
Age
33
Location
lisle ontario
Vehicle Year
19961991
Make / Model
ford
Engine Size
4 litre and 7.3 litre
Transmission
Automatic
what the hell! all these damn ex builds and we just got rid of our 93 that i decided wouldnt be too good for wheeling...
 

Kyle M.

GOING FOR BROKE
V8 Engine Swap
OTOTM Winner
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
2,218
Reaction score
9
Points
0
Age
44
Location
Howard City Michigan
Vehicle Year
1993
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
5.0
Transmission
Automatic
Got some work done today. Started out by tearing all the parts out in the engine bay that would be in the way of the shock hoops.



Then I bent some shock hoops



After that I cut some plates out to reinforce the frame where I was going to mount the hoops. I drill a couple holes in them to get a couple good weld in the centers too



Next to hold the axle in position, I decided to do a 3 link instead of radius arms,(axle was set up for it already) so I made a set of temperary arms out of pvc. Then I tacked a link arm mount to the frame, more work to be done there. The lowers are gonna be 36" long. The upper is gonna be best fit. Looking for ideas here. Not sure if I wanna put the third link on the driver or passnger side. Exhaust or drive shaft clearance issues...








Next I started fitting the hoops. Ended up I could not fit the hoop like I wanted, ended up going to the top of the frame on the rear and the side of the frame on the front. I will add a gusset to the rear one somehow. The master cylinder was a pain to fit around, it is all close but should be alright. I got the shock tabs tacked on too




Passenger side next, it had its own issues. The ac box is huge and need to be cleared



After a few min with a cutting wheel...



Plenty of room now.

Passenger side done for now




Both sides



Still have the hoop brace to make, track bar, third link, lower shock mounts and a bunch of other stuff. Hope to be ready to have.to rolling in a week or 2.
 

Kyle M.

GOING FOR BROKE
V8 Engine Swap
OTOTM Winner
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
2,218
Reaction score
9
Points
0
Age
44
Location
Howard City Michigan
Vehicle Year
1993
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
5.0
Transmission
Automatic
Hoping to get back out there tonight for a little bit. I think I am gonna look at putting the upper link on the driver side, maybe above the drive shaft and on top of the diff so clearance isn't a big issue. Looks like I have room beside the oil pan, just have to move some fuel lines around and clear a couple brackets welded to the inside of the frame.
 

Kyle M.

GOING FOR BROKE
V8 Engine Swap
OTOTM Winner
Solid Axle Swap
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
2,218
Reaction score
9
Points
0
Age
44
Location
Howard City Michigan
Vehicle Year
1993
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
5.0
Transmission
Automatic
I think i can make the 3 link work but I am gonna pull the plug. I don't have all the parts I need to do it and I already have radius arms so f it. Radius arms work great so I am fine with that.

Now I am just waiting on parts, just a couple heims joints and trackbar stuff.

Hope to make some progress on it this weekend.
 

Sponsored Ad


Sponsored Ad

Staff online

Members online

Today's birthdays

Member & Vendor Upgrades

For a small yearly donation, you can support this forum and receive a 'Supporting Member' banner, or become a 'Supporting Vendor' and promote your products here. Click the banner to find out how.

Latest posts

Truck of The Month


Kirby N.
March Truck of The Month

Recently Featured

Want to see your truck here? Share your photos and details in the forum.

Follow TRS On Instagram

TRS Events

25th Anniversary Sponsors

Check Out The TRS Store


Sponsored Ad


Sponsored Ad

Sponsored Ad


Amazon Deals

Top