Mn Mountaineer V8 SAS

[ZWilson07]

Jealous man.

If you had to do it again would have went with a different axle setup? Or are you happy with what you have and a perfect balance between strong and big enough enough but not to crazy big?

 

[johnny499]

Jealous man.

If you had to do it again would have went with a different axle setup? Or are you happy with what you have and a perfect balance between strong and big enough enough but not to crazy big?

I am very happy with it at this point i haven't broken anything and have climbed up on several large rocks as well as failed to do so from some angles i tried with no carnage to the drive line. The only thing that I would maybe do differently is try coil overs, the drivers coil spring rubs the frame just before full compression and makes a little noise (which can be annoying). I would also do a selectable locker up front to make it more drivable on the pavement if 4wd was ever needed. This may go away when i double check the centering of the axle. I think the upgrades i did to the axles will make the difference in durability. The next step up would be dana 60's and they weigh so much more and you lose so much ground clearance.
Last night i wired up the lightbar with a relay and temporary switch inside. I am excited to try it out tonight on the back roads up north. I also have my APRS (amateur radio based gps tracking system) unit temporarily installed in it for testing.

 

[ZWilson07]

I am very happy with it at this point i haven't broken anything and have climbed up on several large rocks as well as failed to do so from some angles i tried with no carnage to the drive line. The only thing that I would maybe do differently is try coil overs, the drivers coil spring rubs the frame just before full compression and makes a little noise (which can be annoying). I would also do a selectable locker up front to make it more drivable on the pavement if 4wd was ever needed. This may go away when i double check the centering of the axle. I think the upgrades i did to the axles will make the difference in durability. The next step up would be dana 60's and they weigh so much more and you lose so much ground clearance.
Last night i wired up the lightbar with a relay and temporary switch inside. I am excited to try it out tonight on the back roads up north. I also have my APRS (amateur radio based gps tracking system) unit temporarily installed in it for testing.

Nice man. I look forward to seeing updates of those.

I don't know what the deal was with my last post. There are errors and duplicates in it that weren't in there initially when I posted it as well as the forum, font size, and font style both look different for me now also.

 

[Trckmagik]

Awesome build sir.

 

[johnny499]

Nice man. I look forward to seeing updates of those.

I don't know what the deal was with my last post. There are errors and duplicates in it that weren't in there initially when I posted it as well as the forum, font size, and font style both look different for me now also.

Thanks!
I am very impressed with the lightbar. I turned it on a couple of times this weekend but kept running into traffic on the gravel road, so no extended runs with it. It illuminates quite a distance in front as well as to the sides into the woods along the road. I don't think there is a chance that a deer could sneak up on you with this on. I don't know if the light output is as good as the 50w hid's in the 8" off road lights on my one ton but i love that the led bar is instant on for that person that just won't dim their high beam's.
The APRS worked really good, I have tweaked a few more of the settings on that and it is reporting even better. The idea behind this for me is if i go somewhere and don't arrive on time, my last location can be accessed on line by someone expecting me and or if i am still in motion and on route. I often wind up out of cell range on my trips which is quite peaceful but bad if something happens.

I just had a post vaporize from another thread the other day so i feel your pain.

 

[johnny499]

Awesome build sir.

Thank you!
I have enjoyed doing it and look forward to the rest of the transformation.

 

[SWIGIN]

I just wanted to say that you did a great job and I can't wait to see the bumpers you come up with!

I'm getting my brothers 98 EX XLT 5.0 in a couple of months and planed on doing a rear axle flip, narrow HP Dana44, and BW 4406 and this thread has been a great help in seeing what it all involved.

Thanks!


One question, why did you go with the rear springs you used and what are they from?

 

[johnny499]

I just wanted to say that you did a great job and I can't wait to see the bumpers you come up with!

I'm getting my brothers 98 EX XLT 5.0 in a couple of months and planed on doing a rear axle flip, narrow HP Dana44, and BW 4406 and this thread has been a great help in seeing what it all involved.

Thanks!


One question, why did you go with the rear springs you used and what are they from?

Thank you!
You will enjoy your's when it's done, it makes such a difference in what they are capable of.
I used the 63" chevy half ton springs in the rear for two reasons. The stock springs are reported to sag in the SOA application and they also flex better than the stock springs.

 

[Trckmagik]

Link to your F350 build?

 

[johnny499]

Here is the link http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/cummins-conversions-shop-talk-tools-fabrication/301742-1993-ford-24v-cummins-crew-cab.html
I had it in my sig but didn't have room for it and the mountaineer build link. I will warn you it is quite long and spans roughly 5 years so far. The truck is still not done but i keep coming up with things to do to it and the mountaineer has interrupted some of that.

 

[bronchole]

I made these simple square tube spacers for the rear bump stops.
This weekend i got time to get them installed.

Have you had any issued with where the bump stops hit the spring/u-bolt ends/centering pin? Looks to me like they would get chewed up pretty good.

Nice build.

 

[johnny499]

I made these simple square tube spacers for the rear bump stops.
This weekend i got time to get them installed.

Have you had any issued with where the bump stops hit the spring/u-bolt ends/centering pin? Looks to me like they would get chewed up pretty good.

Nice build.

Thanks!
Your question got me curious so i just went out and took a picture of one during lunch and i am happy to report that they are in great shape. As you can see they have a pocket in the center so the center pin does not eat them up. I do know that it hit's them periodically even on the road so i will be putting the overloads in after all. I plan to make a rear drawer/organizer for it eventually along with adding an aux. battery which will add a lot of weight back there.

 

[bronchole]

Your second picture make this idea allot more comfortable for me, thanks.

 

[BKennedy]

I have the same stops, only in red. My rig is a little taller than yours so I dropped them 1.5"

 

[johnny499]

I tried to set mine where they would just start to compress when the springs are flat to keep them from going into negative arch. I used 2" tube to space them from the frame.
With the weather thinking about warming up around here i am going to try to make the time to work on the sliders next week. I stepped on the rear of the drivers side running board yesterday, it made a terrible crunching sound and flexed under my foot. Oh well it was just a matter of time.

 

[BKennedy]

I set mine so the the bump stops are at full compression just prior to the rear shocks being at full compression. As an aside, I have had those bump stops for at least ten years and they are still in great shape.

 

[johnny499]

Well Thursday night i assembled the engine stand i plan to mount the bender on and bolted the bender together. I need to find a piece of tubing to slip into the engine stand head to make the bender mount. Then i can make the mount for the air over hydraulic cylinder and get to bending some tube.
It is just about time for another oil change and about 6000 miles since the conversion with no further issues. It appears to like the warmer weather, it pulled about 14.5 mpg on the way up north and a solid 16 on the way down this morning. It was almost to 17 mpg before i hit the 70 mph hwy which brought it back down.
Now if only there were more hours in the day i could get more things done.

 

[99SportX]

Glad to hear everything is still working great. I am curious to see what you come up with for tube bumpers.

http://nsw4x4.com/events.html Details of the Gilbert OHV Open House on May 16.

 

[johnny499]

Thanks for the reminder, i forgot about anything i was trying to plan for the summer when i lost my best friend in a small plane crash a few weeks back. He was going to be one of the people i wanted to go with me for that event and other excursions.
Being with the GF has limited my project time to a few evenings a week. I did manage to find more materials to get the bender mounted up this weekend and spent some time messing with and learning how to use the bending software. Some of it is Greek to me and some of it makes complete sense. I will get it figured out. So far the Assembly option seems the most useful for building bumpers and cages. It's funny that it has the most functions within it but is the easiest for me to understand, if that makes sense.

 

[johnny499]

Last night i had a fabrication project for work which gave me time to make the mount for the bender while i was waiting for things to cool. I also got nut's welded on to the head of the engine stand so i can lock the head in place. the original design relied on dropping a pin in from the top and the ram may get in the way of that when i am done with the mount for it.