Dannyboy's Re-Registry

What better time than now to do this.

Here is my old 94
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100935

Just when my transmission crapped out again, I saw my current 91 for sale on this forum. Joe (Lilmule) owned the truck since new and moved to Milwaukee. When I got this truck I had no clue what I was getting myself into. Honestly, I purchased the truck for the glass fenders and C4/C5 transmission setup. I didn't want to deal with TTB, didn't know who "Autofab" was and didn't like that it was spring under and had some 9" axle that I knew nothing about. Here was the plan, combine these 2 trucks, solid axles, updated glass, C4/C5 tranny, 37" swampers, and ditch the blue truck.

Luckily for me and this truck, I didn't have time to start parting it down. I took it out on a few rides, fully rusted out and couldn't believe the "shalackin" I could put into this truck. I spoke with Joe on the phone a few times over the first year and he kept going on about how great this setup is but never really knocked my solid axle idea or told me what to do. I did start to see that some serious money was spent on this rig the first time it was built.

When Joe mentioned his bill was in the 5 digit numbers at various places like Autofab, Currie/Mogi etc, I realized that I needed to do some more digging into what I had gotten myself into.

Disappointed my 94 that had nearly $30,000 into over the years was sitting dead with transmission parts in a box in the backseat, I researched what I had. I realized that the blue 91 was the truck to move forward with, XL over a Limited means less issues, power features to short out and it had some serious potential. I parted down my 94 and laid it to rest.

The for sale ad even said "Needs TLC, after that..."

and this brings me up to speed.

I ran this truck for a while, my avatar photo was taken without spending $1 on this truck, I couldn't belive taking a truck that was sitting could handle this abuse. This little thing was just a machine.

Then I went to Truckhaven and it was pointed out by other members that I had some work to do, a shackle was nearly rusted through, radius arm bushings were toast, etc. I didn't care, I have a trailer and a tow rig...this trip it paid to have them. I was running a wash and snapped the passenger side u bolts, puncturing the tire and leaving the truck not driveable. I don't even think a trail repair would have gotten me to drive this out.

I still got a good weekend of wheeling out of this truck and still had the attitude that I could leave it behind if something happened to it for how cheap I bought it.

Still considering the Dana 44 I have sitting at my house, I decided that I didn't want to give up the speed. I visited Autofab while in San Diego and John was a very cool guy for discussing a truck he built probably over ten years ago. It was at that point I decided to go forward with the original intention.

One trip to Truckhaven with some new updates such as 33x12.50s instead of 33x9.50s, new spring pack to replace the original 11 leaf spring under pack (which raised the rear of the truck nearly 5" from the tired pack), new brakes, auxilay fuse panel, the bumper from my 94 got me excited making it look like a whole new truck.

It was at this point I got bit bad by the bug. I needed new shocks, the rear was just too bouncy, I was going fast and am madly in love with the lady who loves to ride shotgun so now 2 lives needed to be protected and lots of stuff needed to be fixed to keep up with this speed.

Well, 6 months in the fab shop, the truck has just had it's first run with the "new" setup.

So here is the breakdown

Engine
Ford 4.0
KKM filter
stainless intake
hypertech chip
headers
exhaust

Transmission
C5 3 speed built by Mogi Enterprises with all C4 internals
reverse valve bodied (an auto but you need to manually shift)
Art Carr shifter
B&M tranny pan

Transfer Case
Stock pushbutton transfer case (button in a not-so-stock dash)
spaced back since C5 tranny is much shorter than stock, retaining stock front driveline length

Front End
Dana 35 TTB, AutoFab kit (the $3600 kit before shocks!!!) inlcudes extended radius arms, tranny crossmember, triple shock mount (1 behind, 2 in front) currently running Rancho 5000s but 3 of them keep it in control
16" of wheel travel approx 6" of raised height over stock
4.56 gears-no locker (don't want one)
warn manual hubs
5/8" wheel studs
limiting straps
"Winter" mods on inner axle shaft and passage

Rear End
Ford 9" built by Currie, fully trussed
4.56 gears w/ Detroit quick lock
Disc brakes, Wilwood 4 piston calipers, 2 piece rotors (see writeup)
5/8" wheel studs
Valley Spring Service 11 leaf spring under leaf pack
Total Chaos low profile u-bolt retention plates
King 3.0 16" travel triple bypass piggyback shocks
Aftermarket Shackles
Wilwood brake proportioning valve

Wheels/tires
I've ran several setups, currently running 35" BFG Krawlers on 15x10 steel wheels.

Other Exterior
Perry's 2000 conversion front end, 6" pull fiberglass
4 pin removable fiberglass hood
autofab prerunner front bumper
Dannyboy's designed rear bumper/2" receiver
Rock sliders
2-8" 130 watt driving lights
4 rocklights mounted 2' behind each wheel

Cage

HUNTER OFFROAD custom built roll cage-www.hunteroffroad.com
*all interior gutted for tight fit
*in-cargo shock mount for King shocks
*4 bucket seats incorporated and tied into cage
*ties into frame in 6 positions
*ties into body in 16 positions
*spreader bars
*A-pillar support (required windshield removal)
*1.75" steel and 1.5" (approx 130 feet total)
*Hi-lift Jack mounts, spare front/rear driveshafts, shovel, fire extinguisher mounts

Other work by Hunter Offroad
* removable Aluminum dash assembly
* custom built door skins (required with cage side support tubework
* hood pins for 4 pin removable hood

Interior
4 Corbeau bucket seats
4 Crow 5 point wrap-around harnesses
Auto Meter instrumentation gauges (Tach, Speedo, Oil pressure, Water, Fuel, Voltage, Transmission Temp) see writeup
12 Position Auxiliary fuse panel (see writeup)
Kenwood Receiver
Sirius Stiletto dash mount
Garmin Extrex Legend dash mount
CB radio
Full Recovery & Safety Gear + tools, parts

Here is my 3 step process to access all tools/cargo until I get a tire carrier of some sort built
tools/camping chairs/spare parts safely secured

Spare fluids in tote that securely fits under shock mount.

Tire just barely fits with 10PSI

Not sure where to list this, but I installed my Willwood proportioning valve to get the rear braking under control, can adjust front/rear brake distribution from the drivers seat

ROCK ON! Thanks for looking.

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

boy Danny... that's scary... I would probably sh** in my pants at that moment.

That usually comes after you get the drivers seat out of your ass from the intense amount of pucker.

Who photoshoped the stool out of the picture? You know, the one that Froader used to get up on your tire.

 

[FROADER]

boy Danny... that's scary... I would probably sh** in my pants at that moment.

His girlfriend probably had the scariest ride (or maybe the dog) in that situation. She was in the rear pass. seat, which would have traveled the furthest. I think my 175lbs of beef lowered the whole truck about 1 foot too, so it was even higher than that.

 

[Dre]

heck, just looking at that picture makes me dizzy... I can't imagine how it feels once you're in the driver's seat.

got to join you guys for one of those Moab runs... for those once in a lifetime moments...

 

[james t]

I think my 175lbs of beef lowered the whole truck about 1 foot too, so it was even higher than that.

See, this is why i feed the hell out of my spotter. Ive got him up to around 280lbs.

 

[Dannyboy]

Tranny shop looked it over, found the tranny oil was cooked (no suprise, both times I ran this truck with the flex-a-lite fan the tranny spiked to 250 degrees. But I've got faith in the trusty tranny that is in there even if it did burn the oil, this thing is a tank.

We are trying out a different filter that should hopefully help the jumping out of gear.

 

[Dannyboy]

Well, I went wheelin on some moderate washes and then about 20 minutes down a pretty wicked road with some nasty whoops.

Somewhere along the way I compromised the steering. My buddy was in town and borrowed the truck and said the truck started to get real squirrely and the tires toed in pretty bad. It must have got damaged but didn't bend until he hit a pothole or something.

A quick inspection revealed that I bent my steering somehow, good news is that I picked up spare steering at the junkyard a few weeks ago.
It's amazing how fast the outer edge of my tire tread wore away after about 10 miles of alignment being off by about 6 inches.

 

[Dannyboy]

well, I'm way behind schedule for my front clip to be tied into the cage but I got everything else running good again.

Going to hold off and decide if something big needs to change before I tie the whole cage together. Why? Because I got my welder out and started repairing my radiator core. It's held up to the little bit of wheeling I've done in the last few weeks so I'm going to procrastinate.

Got my new junkyard steering on, new rotors, pads and my first seafoam taken care of. This thing is running pretty good for now.

Couple of fun pics, trashed steering and new "tow" duty of explorer. It's a little more fun to take this out to the desert instead of spending so much time in the super duty.

 

[Tbars4]

...:shifty_ey Hanging out at Lowes again???...:

...Nice bend job though...:biggthump

 

[R.J.]

does your car like to pop wheelies now?

 

[Dannyboy]

LOL, suprisingly it doesn't squat at all when I load up the bike like that.


So yesterday the woman and I went up to 4 peaks. Fun day, about an hour of fast running off road to a trail head at 5500 ft and hiked for a good 4 hours to about 7200 ft. Had another old goodyear lose a sidewall. I think they are cracking right where the agressive sidewall is. Either way, my pile o' tires is diminishing rather quickly. I think it might be time to actually buy a brand new set of rubber.

Found a nice position where mother nature didn't require a jack to change the tire at least.

 

[section525]

Hahahaha. Brilliant!

 

[james t]

You went hiking in flip-flops? Youz a bad ****! :

 

[Dannyboy]

LOL, no way man, I go froadin in flip flops! It's just bad for my image if I get photographed in athletic shoes LOL. This was a pretty long hike by my standards. I didn't know what I was going to be getting into, but even that elevation was a noticable on the air thinning. I read that it was a long hike and it may get cold. I was sporting a 20+lbs backpack of lunch, full camelback bladder + 2 reserve bottles, a couple sweatshirts, camera, etc to add on the weight. I've been toying with the idea of a overnight trip so I figured why not make this a practice run, it wasn't bad but I couldn't imagine how you could carry 2 days worth of gear on you especially something like a cold hike.


So back to the Exploder. I'm collecting parts and trying to put things together in order.
Got my sliders stripped and repainted from the 94, going to work at welding up mounts. This is a bit of a challenge as that truck's radius arms mounted way further back on the solid axle and forward on the TTB kit I had. Still going to use the receiver/removable style mounts.

I have a bent radius arm on the passenger side. Original mfg wants $700 for replacements, I'm going to attempt to make my own using larger/thicker stock, more bracing, more room for adjustment. I see no need for heims but am going to try to push the axle forward. The pass side is way far back being bent.

After thats done and fenders aren't getting crunched by tires I will be refinishing the orange fenders from Rick's truck and replacing what I have. Bump stops have been installed to eliminate some of the past crunching of wheel wells.

 

[Tbars4]

...It looks kind of empty back there with only one truck being worked on...:scratch:...Where are the axles? I know they were there before...:shifty_ey

 

[410Fortune]

Autofab $700 just for radius arms?????

You hiked high enough to almost be at my work elevation, 3' of snow up here on Saturday, knocked down about 1000 trees

LOL

Get some new tires man thats dangerous I am loving my MT Baja MTZ in the dirt and street

 

[Dannyboy]

...It looks kind of empty back there with only one truck being worked on...:scratch:...Where are the axles? I know they were there before...:shifty_ey

If you look close you will see the 8.8 rusting away.

The 44 is up against the wall behind some of the wood.

Dustin moved all his gear to WI, the enclosed trailer is gone, laundry room is 100% complete, new soffit on patio, new paint on patio floor, new stain on hot tub, this place is coming together since you were here Ted!

Autofab $700 just for radius arms?????

yuppers, John's stuff isn't cheap but it definitely takes a beating. I'm going to do a similar design, just can't budget that much for a set of radius arms, I've got a nice welder, can buy all the tools to make them for that kind of money.

Get some new tires man thats dangerous I am loving my MT Baja MTZ in the dirt and street

Probably going KM2's, just going to get the fenders all squared away so they don't hit the tires, then I'll decide if I want 33s, 35s or something metric on a 16 or 17.

 

[explornj]

wow the yard has really cleaned up since i was there, too bad i wasn't able to stay and do my swap out there

 

[Dannyboy]

I finally finished up the sliders today. The passenger side went on with a lot more strategy, the welds laid down better and the slider can move in and out much easier than the drivers side.

Much like Section525, I got a new "shop" when I decided to cover myself from the blasting sun and worked in the shade all day:

 

[section525]

You're so spoiled!

Do they slide in and out easily? We made removable steps for a Tacoma a while back and where they slid into the receivers were not quite parallel with eachother and it made for some difficult pinning.

Looks good so far.

 

[Dannyboy]

passenger side is perfect, drivers side is tough but works. It's exactly how the setup was on the white truck because the guy who welded the mounts on had it warp in...or at least I was told, I didn't even know how to turn a welder on back then.

This is my first big welding project short of little stuff and we shall see if they hold up. I jacked the truck up by the sliders and it holds so far!