How to: - Strong Box Doubler Kit | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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How to: Strong Box Doubler Kit

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I got my strong box from behemoth drivetrain. It has worked awesome for me and I have had no problems.


1. Remove these things:
Both drive lines
Crossmember (be sure to support the transmission)
Remove exhaust from the down pipe.

2.Unplug wiring hareness from shift motor if you have 1354 T case if not, pull spedo cable out of the tale shaft for 1350's. Remove bolts holding Tcase to transmission.

3. Drop T-case out

4. Place new doubler case in and mount to tranny. Do not tighten all bolts down yet. Mount old T-case to strong box (I used a 1350 manual shift T-case so I had to extend the shift linkage).

5. On the explorers, there is a removable aluminum plate in the floor that all the shifters come up out of. This is where your new strong box shift lever will come out of. You will need to cut your own hole in the aluminum plate(I cut mine out with a cut off wheel).

6. You will have to extend your linkage (for the 1350 T-case), you may need to extend wiring harness for 1354 T-case because it will no longer reach the plug.

7. Now you need to modify your stock crossmember. I cut the crossmember just to the left of the tranny mount location. This allowed me to flip the piece I cut over so that the crossmember would not interfere with the front driveline. This is too hard to explain so I will get pictures posted by the end of the weekend for you guys to see.

8. Jacob from Behemoth Driveterrain said I did not have to build a second crossmember although I did for extra support and protection. I reinforced the T-case skid plate by placing metal rods in the grooves. I then welded them in place. Then I bolted the skid plate back on and made a template out of cardboard to make a bracket (1/4") that will be welded to the top of the skid plate and come up to have two bolt holes drilled. These holes will mount to the bracket that came on the strong box. I will post a pic by the end of the weekend.

9.You will need to extend your front drive line and shorten your rear drive line. Measure from the center of flanges to center of pinion flanges. after getting your measurements, I used a cut off wheel to shorten the rear drive line ( I did it from the axle side although I dont think it matters which side you do it from). They say you are not supposed to extend drive lines although I could not find a drive line that would work good from any nearby junkyard so I used a Bronco 2 front driveline because it would slip into the yolk of my transfer case. After adjusting the drivelines be sure they are balanced or you will have vibrations while driving (more important for vehichles that are used on the street).


10. The way I did my 2nd crossmember (step #8) made it so that my previous exhaust could not be used so I had to take it to a nearby exhaust shop so they could make a new exhaust system.

11. Now that everything is mocked up, you can fill your transfer case and strong box up with fluid. To do this, I dropped the rear t-case out (im not sure if you have to but that is the way I did it). You can fill the strong box up while it is in. I used 80W for the strong box and ATF for the original tcase.

12. make sure to go back over everthing and tighten all bolts. Paint all bare metal so that it does not get rusty.

Here are some pics that I do have at this time:

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I think you might be breaking the rules, listing this here without being an elite member??

I went to website and could not find info yet on Ranger version, the current model I saw was using 1356 front section, what is this one???
 






this one is a 1350 front case and the rear one is also a 1350, you can use a 1354 electric one in the front as well, the motor and output shaft are removed. The newest kit out is a full billet aluminum, which you wont be using a tcase the that is cut down. Give jacob a call for more up to date products. his number is 270-230-7015.


And am i? i didnt know you had to be an elite member. sorry
 






Assuming you are not the owner of the company you didn't break any rules. What are the tabs for on the passenger side? How is the front box being shifted?
 






strong box- np 205

Very nice!! I was going with the same set up but jake and i decided to go with a ford trans (like ours) and machine the outer end to have a np 205. I got the 205 and he is making my box as we speak. I cant wait and he is making my twin stick as well. Jake has made many strong boxes and when i called him and told him about this site... He was even more excited to make some more boxes for us explorer/ranger people. Lets keep him going!!!
 






Assuming you are not the owner of the company you didn't break any rules. What are the tabs for on the passenger side? How is the front box being shifted?

Rock ranger, it is fully functional on any side. Ive have been talking to Jake and he says you can run either drop.
 






Rock ranger i think i read you wrong but once i get mine i will post my pics on my build thread. Plus i am posting my own twin stick rail grind thread on my post.
 






The two tabs on the side are for you if you plan to make a second crossmember for the rear case, which i fabbed up one just for extra support. with both cases in low it has a lot of torque, ive already broke a front axle ujoint in my d44 and a sheared off wheel studs on the front as well.

In order to shift the front case, Jacob from behemoth drivetrain sent me a shifter that bolts right up to the case and works great.
 






The two tabs on the side are for you if you plan to make a second crossmember for the rear case, which i fabbed up one just for extra support. with both cases in low it has a lot of torque, ive already broke a front axle ujoint in my d44 and a sheared off wheel studs on the front as well.

In order to shift the front case, Jacob from behemoth drivetrain sent me a shifter that bolts right up to the case and works great.

So your the guy that ripped of his studs. Wow must be alot of torque. I was on the phone with jake talking about my box and said someone had ripped off there studs. LOL
 






ya two days after i put the strong box in, i went for a test run and i was out at the local dunes i had my friends 40s on. after wheelin for a couple hrs. the left front wheel fell off basically lol. the torque is awesome now!
 






Sure glad i have 3/4 studs. Haha I cant wait for my box to come!!!! The only down fall is i just made my drive lines.
 












Ya I have the waggy 44 up front and it's working great minus the fact the studs are 7/16, which are on the weak side now. Anyway ya I waited until after the doubler to do my drivelines. The front one I didn't have to change much but the rear one is roughly 6 inches shorter. Angles are stil good tho.


Rock ranger. The rear case on mine is clockable 360* and the ring between the cases has two different mounting ways. Idk if you can see in the pic but I have mine flush with the frame giving my front driveline a better angle.
 






When you get your box put up some pictures. Looks like that front box is clocked. When I put my d.d machine doubler in mine here is what I did for a trans mounts. Still looks like new.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=217207&highlight=trans+mount

Very nice. I was concerened about what type of mount i should make to help hold up the heavy 205, but jake allready has one made that mounts right up to the rear out put shaft. I beleive he has it posted here on his vendor forum.
 












Im not going to be bias, i have been talking with the owner jake for a while now, he seems like a very nice and responsible business man. He has made a ton of stuff for full size trucks and have also read good reviews on pirate. I have also heard a lot of bewares about duffy too. I think what people need to realize is that these guys are trying to provide a great product for people like us that dont have a huge market as other vehicles. So sometimes it may take a little longer than others. But like i say im not going to go with what everybody else says. Give the guy a shot, he's trying to help out the explorer/ranger setups by providing a quality strong box. Just my opinion.
 






I purchased the 1354\1354 strong box yesterday. I had several email conversations with jacob and he seems like a good organized person. I sent him my transfer case cores today. I have been waiting patiently for someone to make a heavy duty doubler for the rbv!
 






This strong box is definitely not the weak part to my truck now, im finding that my dana 44 is. Which kind suck seeing as i just put it in the front. I think jacob is really getting his stuff together to. He texts me randomly asking how things are going and he went over everything with me on how to fill and install the kit.
 






Caveat emptor, but this could be the same vendor that did this hack-job: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1042080&highlight=

He's been pimping this on Pirate and TRS as well: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1063189

I haven't had a chance to do anything with this doubler yet, because I'm out of state. A friend is holding onto my doubler while I'm out of state. He pulled it apart to see the build quality and check out how things work on the inside. Here are some pics and his initial review of the product.

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none of the bolts are counter sunk. standard allen wrench size(note this)

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mating plate has a good tight flush fit. good

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metric bolts on this one...(remember note from earlier)

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this piece should have been welded on. period. end of story. this is the one with the noncountersunk bolts. plus...wtf is that inside? come on. one piece or gtfo

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the linkage is welded to a cut off grade 8 bolt which is then slid through a piece of tubing and has a set screw to keep you from going in or out too far. then the tubing isnt even welded in. it has set screws on the outside of the case to keep it from moving.should have been welded in

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my first welds looked better. and all it is is a heim going through a nut that is welded to the end of the grade 8 bolt

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set screw to keep you from pulling the linkage out too far. didnt take this out. just an assumption

The rest of the Pirate thread: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1042080&highlight=
 



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ford-racing-89 - are we going to see any videos/photos of you using this strongbox? I am waiting to see one in action before considering this as a serious options when the time comes to purchase my doubler. I have been following the different threads on pirate and am wondering about the quality and finish of these boxes.
 






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