The Black Hole

[gmanpaint]

Nice link!

That person has a sport, and moved it back 1.5". So I'm thinking the sport tank should be good enough to use for the doubler in the 4 door. Need to do some measuring.

I really like that persons linkage set up, and might have to copy it. Simple & clean.

 

[CDW6212R]

Thanks Greg. Wrong type of hydro mate...lol

I can only dream of having hydro assist Dave. That would be awesome.

I picked up a doubler shaft, 1350 case already cut (with guts), and 1/2" steel plate, for a doubler build over the weekend.

I met & talked to the fabricator person I know that builds all kinds of doublers for many diff vehicle makes/models yesterday. I showed him the doubler parts and he seems to think that the shaft is weak and will break under pressure. He wants me to go Ford NP204 doubler, but that means replacing the fuel tank for either a sport or a BII tank relocation to the spare tire location. The added length of the extra case wont fit with the stock tank.

Decisions, decisions.

You might do what I'm planning to. The 1st gen fuel tanks are shorter for each model, 2dr/4dr. The old 4dr tank is identical in length to the new 95+ Sport tanks.

I've got my old 93 Limited tank here to work out swapping the newer sensors onto the older tank. There is a lot of difference in those, the new tanks are steel(thin), while the old tanks are thick plastic. That is the only hard part, I'm not sure what the best way to swap the sensors is going to be.

The tank mounting is a breeze, I bought a 99 Sport skid plate to go under my 93 tank. The front mounting bracket has to be moved back, just like for a newer 2dr. tank.

Changing to the older tank pickup isn't hard for the wiring, but you'd need a nice quality part, not old and worn out.

Just another thought, you do get a lot of things done in no time. I've put off working on this tank for a long time.

 

[gmanpaint]

That's amazing info Don! :biggthump

I just assumed all the 1st & 2nd gen 4 doors & sports were the exact same length.

I am going to crawl under the 94 and take a measurement of its tank compared to the 95 tank.

Thanks for the heads up, it sure gives me more options when hunting down a tank.

Edit: Measured both 94 & 95 tanks. 94 is a full 10" shorter at 41" long.
I do believe a 95 sport would be the best tank for a swap tho, that way everything is plug and play.

 

[Glen4X4]

I didn't even give the 1st gen tank a thought when I seen the previous post, good thinkin Don.....I like the linkage setup in the pic you posted Gregg, looks good.

 

[CDW6212R]

That's amazing info Don! :biggthump

I just assumed all the 1st & 2nd gen 4 doors & sports were the exact same length.

I am going to crawl under the 94 and take a measurement of its tank compared to the 95 tank.

Thanks for the heads up, it sure gives me more options when hunting down a tank.

Edit: Measured both 94 & 95 tanks. 94 is a full 10" shorter at 41" long.
I do believe a 95 sport would be the best tank for a swap tho, that way everything is plug and play.

Yes, if you are okay with the smaller 17 gallon tank, the 95-01 tanks are best to use.

I took some pictures last year when I had my 98 tank out. The swap would take some interesting work. The sensors are different, the pickup too, and adapting the late sensors to the older thick plastic will be interesting. I worry most about getting a good seal on the sensors, they have o-rings, but rely on the tank thickness to turn down tight(they screw on with about a 1/4-1/2 turn each).

 

[gmanpaint]

Don, those look pretty close in height. Is there any diff & if so, how much?

Just for anyone else that feels like doing such a swap of this sort.

 

[NICE59FORDF100]

Pics look great gregg!!! Glad you had fun wheeling and it was great to meet yea this weekend, even though i didnt help yea at all with the brakes, LOL. And thanks for the help on Shade and DPFE, that thing is running beautifully!!!!

 

[gmanpaint]

Russ, it was good to meet you in person (besides chat room) finally. Your a heck of a nice guy.

Thanks for the hand with trying to bleed the brakes, I appreciate it none the less.
Even the brake shop couldn't fix it, (bad master) so nothing we could have done w/o knowing what the real problem was at the time. Knowing what the problem is now, it will be remedied soon enough.

Yeah, we HAD to fix that DPFE situation. No way in heck you could have gone to your destination and back the way it was. Very happy it helped out and is running good now.

 

[CDW6212R]

Don, those look pretty close in height. Is there any diff & if so, how much?

Just for anyone else that feels like doing such a swap of this sort.

The mounting locations are the same. The tank rests mainly in the center with the one strap below that. The bottom fits the newer skid plate great. The older tanks don't use the two front mounting bolts which the later tanks do. They are held in with just the strap and the skid plate. Changing to the older tank pickup is minor, I've got a new one ready now. The top tank sensors are the only hard part I see. The rest should be easy.

 

[gmanpaint]

So....Tags are due , and the rig hasn't been inspected yet since the Manual trans swap was done. Apparently, this state thinks having a good working E-brake is important. LOL!

So.....Since the sliders were installed, my E-brake really hasn't worked as the mounting brackets were in the way of the stock bracket and was discarded.

I made a new bracket out of a old cheap AutoZone lift shackle. The holes are already 9/16" and is perfect for the stock cable end to fit inside, just like it does in the factory bracket. Cut off about an 1.5" off the end and cut the corner off both ends for fitment. Bolted it to the slider bracket and ran the cable thru it. After the intermediate cable was attached and the slack removed, the cable end snugs up inside the bracket hole. Don't mind all the dirt & mud, it just came back from wheeling.:

So....I was surfing the site one day, and came across a picture Brian1 had posted of some Radius Arm brackets. In that picture, I noticed he had a solution for my E-brake woes. All the credit goes to Brian1 on this mod, as he did the legwork and made this possible. I just decided to make a mini write up on it here in the registry.

So....I decided to copy his set up and have an E-brake once again.

So.....To accomplish this, the following is needed.....

1- turnbuckle
2- 1/4" wire thimbles
4- 1/4" wire cable clamps

So....How to do this......

Remove the center cable from the system. Slide the cables to the center of the joiner on both ends to remove.

Cut the cable in Half.

Strip some sheathing off the cable ends that you just cut ( best for the clamps to take hold).

Slip the cable thimbles into the eyelets.

Slip both cable clamps on the cable, slide the cable thru the eyelet, and clamp with 2 cable clamps.

This is what you end up with.

Now install the cable back on the vehicle placing the stock ends back in the joiners.

Tighten up the cable by turning the turnbuckle until the cable is taught.

Congratulations! For about $10, You have working E-brakes once again!

 

[GRNMACHINE]

That is Genius!

 

[gmanpaint]

That is Genius!

LOL!

Thats exactly what I told Brian1 when I seen it!

 

[GRNMACHINE]

I have Nowhere near completed/upgraded/installed etc etc anything which you have done, but one of the reasons I went with the 2" Bodylift over the 3" Bodylift was the e-brake issue. Most said at the time (maybe 9+ years ago) that you could not use E-brake cable with 3" bodylift-I happen to use mine all the time.

 

[gmanpaint]

Hmm, they must have addressed that issue over the years. The 3" kits come with brackets for the E-brakes now. The sliders was the issue for this set up. The brackets from them got in the way of adding that cable bracket. Cable got stretched out bad, and just wouldn't work anymore.

 

[crazyflights]

Blackhole in action!!!

 

[gmanpaint]

Had the day off work ( crap economy ) and decided to replace a bad set of RCA's to one of the amps. Got them unhooked from the head unit, and started to remove the trim on the drivers side when I noticed the carpet was soaking wet next to the kick panel.

Figured ...Oh crud, the moon roof drain tube is blocked up....just great...

So I pulled the trim, peeled back the sopping wet carpet to find this.....

Yup, over an inch of standing water in the channel. It rained Sat here pretty good as the remains of that tropical storm passed by. So I removed the drain plug in the corner and it gushed out under the rig.

I found the drain tube, but couldn't find the end of it anywhere. So as long as the water is draining, I'm just going to leave it at that.

It is what it is.



:roll:

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Yikes.... Love what you cannot see...

 

[CDW6212R]

That is likely the sunroof drains, check all four in the "A" and "B" pillars.

The rear quarter glass is also likely to develop leaks, along the top edges. That water would end up either along the side where you have it, or in the rear carpet.

 

[gmanpaint]

Had no idea there are more than one drain tube.

So, where do the tubes end? As far as I can tell, they empty into the insides of the rocker areas. I searched under the vehicle and saw nothing. I'm afraid to pull on the one I found behind the kick panel, as I am not sure of what will happen.

 

[CDW6212R]

They end just through the floor, you should be able to find them IIRC. They are held in with the foam you find in the bottom there, it's a pliable foam that you could reseal with RTV easily.