DIY hybrid Explorer.

[masospaghetti]

I gave my brother my 98 XLT 5-speed about 5 years ago and I have the opportunity to get it back for free. The catch is that the vehicle is located in California and I'm on the east coast.

Anyway, theoretically speaking - bear with me here - would it be feasible to add an electric assist motor to my Explorer? To clarify, this is NOT an effort to save money - solely for project purposes. The two options I can see are

1. Installing an electric motor in place of the front driveshaft and backdriving the transfer case (and then removing all of the 4WD equipment to save weight), or

2. Install an electric motor that directly drives the front axle and keep 4WD

I'm more curious about option 1. Obviously this isn't a trivial project but I don't understand the inner workings of the 4406 transfer case that well. If electric assist was applied to the front output shaft and "4WD" was engaged, would that assist the gasoline engine and provide propulsion?

 

[grizzlyxjim]

So reading this made me interested so I did a little digging to find other projects I found one that uses fork lift motors Here is his video, I'm no very knowledgeable on the subject but it is an interesting idea for sure and his blog http://300mpg.org/projects/supertruck/ it looks like it is still unfinished but it looks like a good starting point to get some more information.

 

[BrooklynBay]

A brushless motor is a better option compared to a motor with brushes but it cost considerably more. There are a lot of parts websites which sell motors for EV conversions. Many years ago there weren't too many options so the most common motor was the type which is used as a starter motor in a plane. I'm going to move this thread into the hybrids & conversions section.

 

[Rick]

I can't see why your idea about driving the transfercase to provide assist would not work, but then again I am no engineer .

This sounds like a great project. I would be interested in following along.