stephens sporty 94

Hey, my names Stephen I live in Hamilton, MT and I've been lurking on this forum since I got my first X, it was a 1993 eddie baur that was kinda beat and only had 126k on it. but after discovering this forum I've regretted getting an auto after hearing how much of a pain they are, so not wanting to get invested in something that was bound to fail. That brings me to today! I found a clean 1994 sport, the man who was selling said it was his dads and he bought in 1996 for 11,000 and trading in his 1989 bronco XLT. I decided with how clean it was and some dickering I got it for $2100 with 123k miles on the 6 digit odometer. I'll get some more pictures tomorrow, but its the cleanest X I have seen in Montana.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

Installed the radius arms, everything rides better then before, still have some fine tuning to do with them. on the road the enduro joints so far have given me no noise, and rode better then the stock arms and bushings, there seems to be maybe a little more body roll but it feels way more controllable at fast speeds if that makes sense

and trimmed and folded the lower part of the fender.

short list:
throw several 1" welds on the brackets ( i know they're bolted but just to be safe. easier to cut with a die grinder if needed.)
figure out if the FA600 arm is too long now ( since squatting from winch and bumper its in a grey area)
install skyjacker monotube ( bittersweet because I am already debating f250 towers)
gears installed (waiting on a buddy to have room in his shop)
locker (might as well do with the gears.
debate next move (keep finding good deals on 35's and kinda wanna do spring over since i still have my old springs. oh and I kinda want those BDS 6in coils....)

 

[BKennedy]

Nice job, but with longer arms comes a lot more leverage. I would have run the tubing inside of the plate as long as possible, then plated over that with some plug welds to lock it all together. That is how most of the aftermarket arms are made. Maybe even pressed the tube inside of a piece of square tubing with plug welds and weld that the entire length of the plated portion. Those are going to fail where the tube is welded to the plate.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

I have the backs plated and plated over the tube where it connects to the stock arm. Plug welds done on both sides. I wouldn’t put anything on my vehicle I didn’t have complete trust in .

Nice job, but with longer arms comes a lot more leverage. I would have run the tubing inside of the plate as long as possible, then plated over that with some plug welds to lock it all together. That is how most of the aftermarket arms are made. Maybe even pressed the tube inside of a piece of square tubing with plug welds and weld that the entire length of the plated portion. Those are going to fail where the tube is welded to the plate.

have the

 

[stephen93Eddie]

doubt, this will see much of any traffic these days, but just for my own sake of documentation... skyjacker monotubes on, skyjacker FA600 pitman arm on, was told it couldn't be aligned because the pivot bushing were worn, they didn't look bad but changed them with rubber replacements from napa, they certainly were interesting to remove, but air hammer, punches and a small hand sledge oh and pry bars, got them both out easily. I installed the new ones with a ball joint press. worked great.

Question, there is a slight rubbing between the drag link and the tie rod end attached to the pitman arm, this only started since i installed the longer arm, should i bend the drag link a bit? its only slight. could this mean my steering was dropped too low, it looks even i could snap a picture if anyone wants to be helpful.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

Well, looking at buying a parts explorer for $200s but not sure if im ready to do the f250 shock towers and spring over,which is the plan, the rough country leafs hold weight great but i feel like the spring over with a stock 4dr pack will carry load well enough and flex better. gears are going in soon( probably once the semester starts). also recently slept in the sport while camping and definitely looking at building a sleeping platform/ drawer system I never use the back seats, but hate to see them go with how great of shape they are in. I'm not sure if I'll post much more on here.I've gotten very little feedback. but we shall see.

 

[WormsExplorer]

I think it's looking good sir. Look forward to seeing the sleeping arrangement you do in the back.

 

[R.J.]

Even with little feedback, it's nice to post everything of the build on the forum so that you have it all in one place and you can share the build with anyone asking questions, and for people searching in the future that your build might help them.

Spring over will definitely get you more flex. And both that and shock towers are inexpensive. So do the one you think you can tackle quicker, then move to the next one.

A sport is a little short for sleeping. A bronco ii is even worse.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

Even with little feedback, it's nice to post everything of the build on the forum so that you have it all in one place and you can share the build with anyone asking questions, and for people searching in the future that your build might help them.

Spring over will definitely get you more flex. And both that and shock towers are inexpensive. So do the one you think you can tackle quicker, then move to the next one.

A sport is a little short for sleeping. A bronco ii is even worse.

yeah I understand, and the sport is a bit short. debating pulling the rear seats. My plans would be building drawers and having the platform be tall enough to go over the bottom cushing of the seats that are folded down. would give me another 3-4 inches of headroom. possibly more if I mad a flip out head piece that would fit after the front seats are folded forward. I'm only 5'11 and I currently have 60-61 inches of sleeping space. so that extra few inches might make the real difference in being comfortable.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

so.... I bought another X yesterday, both doors don't shut. 1991 EB with sunroof and premium sound. partially rhino lined with a knock and only 1st gear. plans are to steal the axles, leaf springs, coil buckets. maybe a few other parts that might be nice to just have. rest is off to scrap. not a bad buy for 200$

 

[stephen93Eddie]

Gears in and a spartan in the rear. 4.88s and a locker make this thing so badass. sitting at about 2900ish rpms at 70.

now question is do I need 35s.

 

[WormsExplorer]

Nice.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

So some things have happened!

first got it all aligned and steering straight, also got rid of the diff destroying rough country bracket

cut and rolled the fender a bit and deleted the little rear quarter piece.

"finished" explorer the Cooper MTP's are less wide then my ironman 33's which is nice i wanted a skinnier tire. feels nice and stable. drives awesome.

Currently working on a spare tire carrier/bumper for the rear waiting on my hinge from Comp4x4.
random "my jack is too small" picture

oh and i did the F250 shock tower mod, went really smooth got some bilstiens for the front wayyy better then the skyjacker monotubes. oh and made some tiny spacers to get the steering dialed in, welded some big washers together.

 

[R.J.]

Lookin good

 

[WormsExplorer]

Looking really good sir.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

So, I have been busy with the college semester, but finally, I am out for winter break and can update this with the new things that have happened.
Woke up one morning to go to work, clutch pedal fell to the floor. the suspicions I've had were true when it got cold occasionally it wouldn't get out of gear I assumed the slave but figured maybe it was just cold, nope.

I by no means am very car literate, but since I started messing with explorers 3 years ago with my first one I figured I should order the parts and give it a go.
After doing some googling I came to a parts list with the help of explorerforum member @Brian1 and @Kirby N.
Parts List:
Ford 9L5Z-7A508-A - slave and throwout bearing, get a motorcraft one.
LUK 07139 (07-139) - SOHC clutch larger than OHV but fits perfectly.
LUK LFW156 - flywheel because why not and comes with pilot bearing
LUK CRS028 - Master cylinder I couldn't find motorcraft but luk should be good
ENERGY SUSPENSION 41148G (4.1148G) - new poly tranny mount.
DORMAN 555108 (555-108) - freeze plugs for the tranny shift rails.
tranny out, wasn't too bad at all spilled some ATF though

this was a pain to find, you can get them from TASCA this part is the bushing for the manual transfercase shift linkage. because I figured I would put in the manual case while the trans was out.
part number:

Finally Two sticks:

Conclusion:
So when I bought my explorer it mostly sat in a garage, I was under the impression It had the factory clutch but, my girlfriend reminded me the PO said they had a new clutch put in. so I'm assuming they did the clutch job and put in a crappy aftermarket Slave. So the new clutch Is really light the pedal is as light as my escort, and the clutch grips really good but I expected it to with it being 10.120" whereas the original was 9". I am confident that with these updated parts I hopefully won't have to drop the transmission for another 100k.
Bonus:
old clutch didn't look even broken in, flywheel didn't even have a groove.

Finally:
I have been working on a rear bumper/tire carrier, It uses a double shear mounting style with sintered bronze bushings. This should be done soon since the semester is over as long as the weather permits the garage at my moms isn't heated. Also picked up a complete dana 44 from a 1979 f150 for 100$ but that won't take off tell after I finish my degree and my life finds some more solid ground, but I am already planning.

 

[Kirby N.]

Glad we could help!

 

[stephen93Eddie]

Update:
Tire carrier is done, works well will upload pics when I have some time.

have done a whole bunch of snow wheeling while I was out on break mostly with toyotas with 39+ inch tires and gearing for days, I think I need some more gearing, and more tire. I'll get pictures up eventually.

classes started last week so Not a lot will happen to the explorer although it finally broke 130k, I am planning on taking a couple summer classes, currently set to graduate this fall so long as I find 150hrs of internship work in a relevant position!

Current plans:
Save for doubler(can't see a whole lot of progress here trying to graduate without debt), probably gonna go with a behemoth shorty, this unit should allow me to keep my factory gas tank, uses 1354 gears I have a spare set.

buddy just gave me a D44 complete out of his bronco so now comes decisions

D35/44 hybrid + possible custom steering setup with Fredilink and TRE's like stonecrusher
or
D44 swap.

just bouncing around ideas, I was originally pretty sure I would be moving after graduation but have found a new appreciation for the slow pace and easy access to hunting/fishing/hiking etc. that being said most wheeling here is limited to snow and some light trails, oh and yearly mud boggs. but for most of this I don't see the TTB being a detriment, but I do understand it could be a stronger system, but a modified setup could perform all the functions I ask of it I have been debating putting in a folding sleeping platform with drawers for camping(*overlanding warning).

but the 44 swap has a lot of positives mostly tire wear concerns and slightly stronger. but I'm having issues wanting to regear another axle so recently to my last regearing. also, I figure modifying the TTB any further shouldn't cost too much or need any Big components as the parts I already have its just assembling the hybrid but I am really looking to maybe moving from a 35 to a 36/37 inch more aggressive tire for the winter. most guys here run Iroks for the snow. I'd like to eventually get a set of battle-born beadlocks and run 36/13.5r15 iroks or 37/12.5r15 iroks. then a less aggressive 35 for summer like an all-terrain hybrid. and finally would like to put an aussie in the front of the explorer for ease of use and again avoiding having to resetup the front.

Also, d44 leaf swap shackle forward sounds so much cheaper to me then coils.


Would love to discuss any of this, any advice would be appreciated! I check the forums daily, and a lot of you guys are more experienced than me and might give me new insight into my "Visions"

 

[R.J.]

D44 ttb or solid axle?

And I wanna see the tire carrier. Always like getting ideas for my future tire carrier


And you we always need more tire and more gearing...

 

[BKennedy]

And you we always need more tire and more gearing...

You speak the truth, my friend.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

D44 ttb or solid axle?

And I wanna see the tire carrier. Always like getting ideas for my future tire carrier


And you we always need more tire and more gearing...

I have a 1979 D44 front in the garage, so it would be a solid axle swap, I have thought about a full 44TTB swap but I don't really have the Fabrication skills or a tube bender to be doing an engine cage for coilovers.

And the tire carriers not perfect but ill get a picture up here for you, It still needs to be finished some mostly recovery points and the top plated in with some floor plate, and a sleeved bushing welded in for the hitch pin closure method instead of just a hole through the tube.

and I agree always need bigger tires and more gearing, but It really wasn't fair toyota on 39.5 pitbulls and dual cases with 4.7's in the rear case, 5.29s in the axles. just chuggs along anywhere. I would've killed for more gears, but the V6 definitely helped(probably the only time i will ever say that) but even with a doubler unless I had some crazy setup I still wouldn't attain that crawl ratio that toyota had which is crazy, kinda makes me want one.

high centered

How much hate would a leaf spring SAS get? just saying after duff arms, springs gearing ETC im looking at like 3k in parts. ofcourse that would include a selectable front locker but seriously