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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.

91Explorer1012Medium.jpg




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.

junkyardtow.jpg




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.

DSC01836.jpg


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.

truckhaven046Medium.jpg


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.

DSC_0537_resize.jpg


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.
IMGA0088.jpg


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
91009.jpg



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

IMG_6834.jpg

IMG_6836.jpg


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

IMGA0089.jpg

IMGA0091.jpg


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
DSC_0538_resize.jpg

DSC_0813.jpg

IMGA0092.jpg


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
Picture008medium.jpg

fd_001_Medium_.jpg

IMG_6839.jpg

IMG_6842.jpg



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
fd_017_Medium_.jpg

fd_007_Medium_.jpg

IMG_6847.jpg

IMG_6838.jpg

fd_008_Medium_.jpg




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


IMG_6846.jpg

IMG_6840.jpg

fd_016_Medium_.jpg

IMGA0079.jpg

91012.jpg

91011.jpg

fd_014_Medium_.jpg

fd_013_Medium_.jpg



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
fd_001_Medium_.jpg


Spare fluids in tote that securely fits under shock mount.
fd_002_Medium_.jpg


Tire just barely fits with 10PSI
fd_019_Medium_.jpg







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
fd_015_Medium_.jpg


ROCK ON! Thanks for looking.
4wheelin042Large.jpg
 



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that does have to be one of the coolest pics I've seen...

Si



Thanks, that's called "top of the world" in Moab, it's up there pretty high but honestly, you'll find a lot of trucks have had their picutre taken at this exact same spot.


R.J. I almost considered ditching the 9" for the 5.13 geared 8.8 but found a solution. Funny we mention top of the world, because my brakes were leaking pushing fluid past the worn down pads at this point.

I'm going to switch to a less aggressive brake pad, this should help the rears locking up and only getting 500-1000 miles out of a set of brake pads. What I was running wasn't ideal, I unfortunately was undereducated and I believe the tech support at the first place I called was as well.
 






Are you still looking for a set of spring seats? I have some unused brand new ones if you are.
 












Well I fixed it till it was broke again.

Decided to re-install my flex-a-lite fan and remove my heavy duty fan clutch.

I recharged the battery with the truck running at idle and overheated, then again overheated it out in the desert last saturday. I was hoping the issue of heat was my old radiator, but when I had it apart I moved the radiator and fan from the 94 to this truck 3 years ago, then put the flex-a-lite fan back in to see if it would give me back some power. The answer was no-way, it ran way too hot.

Also lost 4x4 but I'm thinking it was a hub. I did run it pretty hard and was jumping the truck so that may have something to do with it.

Lastly the 35x12.50s are a major pig in the sand. For kicks I'm going to reinstall the 33x9.50s and go run the truck with this setup. I don't like that size of tire, but it will tell me if it's the gearing that is my holdup in the soft stuff or if the motor is just totally starting to give out.
 












cough cough 5liter cough cough c4 cough cough
 












he cant get rid of it, it will just come back on its own
He beat me to buying it by about 2 days :) so he has to keep it and keep pouring $$$ into it so I can watch
 






yeah, I won't sell it...I'm not even trying now that I donated the 93 XLT with under 100K from the family to charity over christmas. I didn't have a place to keep it back in WI so it had to go.

I would consider a V8 but honestly don't know a thing about swapping a motor and would like to *cough* pay *cough* somebody else to do it. I'd spend 3 grand but probably not the 5 or 6 it would take to do it.

I need a gearhead buddy down here that would like to help me out with that and knock it out in a weekend.

Jamie-if I went V8 would I toss my current tranny or mate that to a 5.0?
 






new bellhousing for your C4 and mate it to the 5.0L
so you keep your trans and t case = more simple
$3K would easily do it depending on what SBF you chose (EFI & MAS I assume, best bet is likely a late OBD-I 5.0L from a stang and rebuild it for a heavy 4x4 truck)

Ill drive down there and help you do the swap for your axles :) LOL
 






Danny im thinking about going to Arizona around spring break, you gonna have this thing donel? I need to text mine out before Moab and need a little vaca lol.
 












Okay, ill see how this tranny install goes, should be here this week. Maybe we can do a motor swap :). We got a 97 mounty with a 5.0 200k miles but its all there. :)
 






Okay so for an update, the truck is going on tour...tour of shops.

My fuel delivery/lack of power is over my head. I'm thinking of taking it to a dyno shop and letting them play with it. This is the first stop, if it passes here the motor should start running much better. My performance is in the tank in my opinion and worth a couple hundred bucks to get it checked out.


Then...it's off to the tranny shop, I was recommended these guys. http://www.hughesperformance.com

They had photos in their shop of hard core buggies, monster trucks and drag racers. I need to find a solution to why my truck cuts out on a steep tilt. I have decided it's worthless to keep wheeling in these conditions because I'm asking for trouble. With my C5 manual shift reverse valve body job, it takes a special transmission shop to diagnose what I'm doing. I'm confident in these guys.

Then since the front glass is pretty hacked up and my tires are stuffing into my inner fenders, my hood pins are ripping out of my radiator support and the radiator support is ripping apart from the inner fender wells, I will be stripping the sheetmetal back to the firewall, extending the cage to the radiator. No changes to front suspension yet, but I will make this easy to install coilovers as I need front shocks anyway. I also will be installing either a 1 piece front or 2 new fenders, my existing hood and a new header panel. Also going to look at pushing the front end forward an inch to help the suspension cycle away from the new fenders.

Now the kicker, I really hope to have this done in 3 weeks. None of this 6 month downtime like the last excursion. If the dyno shop and tranny shop get a little pricey the cosmetics may wait a little.
 












Ouu big plans big plans.. and all that in 3 weeks! The 1-piece clip would rock.
 






...:shifty_ey ...What coilovers are you thinking about getting in the future??..:scratch:
 






The one piece would be cool but more expensive to replace than a single fender if it got damaged 4 wheeling.
 



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...:shifty_ey ...What coilovers are you thinking about getting in the future??..:scratch:


very likely a King 14x2.5 coilover, I need shocks anyway, so why not. I drove Robbie's Truck and was very impressed with the ride, figure I can go C/O with an airbump to improve the ride. Just trying to decide if I want to chop up a set of beams I have here and widen them.
 






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