Completed Project Turboexplorer's Full Width SAS Build Thread

Hello everybody! It's time to start the SAS on my Explorer. It will be an awesome project and the first project of this type and size that I have ever undertaken. Up to this point the sliders where the hardest thing that I have made myself. I am open to any suggestions and or insights from anyone as the project gets underway. I have bought every last part for the build minus the hard brake lines (axles, and from master to the frame) and the flexible lines that go down to the axles. Those are all easy to make so I am not worried about it for now until I get the axles put together and can see what i want to do with those.

Now for a list of things I will be doing with the project:
1995 F-150 8.8 - I bought this used rear axle that I will strip, lock with a Detroit, convert to Explorer Disc brakes, and mount to the truck. Factory rear sway bar will be used. I will be doing a spring over conversion and will also be remaking the rear V8 anti axle wrap bars to help the leaf springs out with the leverage and TQ the V8 37's and 5.13's will put on them.
1976 F-150 HP Dana 44 - I bought this used axle and will be stripping it of the Ford factory wedges, trussing, and building custom glorified radius arms. Like DB_1 runs and like Rubicon Expresses makes. Front will also have a Detroit Truetrac LSD in it as well. This Dana 44 has 1/2" thick axle tubes.
Fox 14" Remote reservoir coil-overs - I will be building shock hoops for these coil-overs, bracing them, and tying them together across the top of the engine with removable double lock tube clamps.
1995 F-150 Steering box - This will be mounted inside the frame rail and used with the factory PS pump and will build a custom steering link from the box to the column. I picked this 1 to keep it ALL Ford and 2 because they are fairly cheap and easy and can be tapped for hydro assist at some point if I want or need it. In order to fit this steering gear I also have to remote mount my oil filter so that it has room. I will be getting rid of the factory oil cooler and have a Trans Dapt remote filter relocation kit.

Project Parts Section:
-37X13.50 R17 Interco M-16's
-Fox 14" Remote reservoir coil-overs with Eibach Springs.
-Detroit Locker for the 8.8
-Detroit Truetrac for the Dana 44
-Yukon 5.13 gears for both front and rear.
-Both axles will receive ALL new bearings races and seals u-joints etc.
-All wheel studs front and rear and spindle studs have been replaced for safety reasons. To cheap not to.
-Already had EBC brakes on it so those pads on rear will be reused and new EBC 7000 series pads for the front have been purchased.
-New front rotors wheel bearings and new Spicer ball joints, going to reuse the warn locking hubs as they work great and are in good order and easily changed later if i wanted.
-1978 Ford T-Bird calipers have been bought in place of the factory F-150 ones. They are 17% bigger in piston size so will give me a little more brake up front to help stop those 37's.
-Trans Dapt Oil filter relocation Kit and addition mount to hook to the block at a 90*.
-Currie Johnny Joints and Rubicon Express Clevite bushings for the all the link ends.
-GM 1 ton tre's for the steering with a high angle tre at the pitman arm.
-Front axle truss. (wasn't impressed with it at all so will be making some changes)
-Extending current Expedition rear drive shaft and will have a custom double cardon one made for the front.
-Metal used: 2"X.250 wall DOM for lower links, 1 1/2"X.250 wall DOM used for upper links, 1 1/2"X.375 wall DOM used for trac bar, and ALL tabs and brackets will be made out of 1/4" Flat plate by me.
-Double lock tube clamps for the shock hoop cross brace that uses 2 3/8" bolts on each. These are so It can be removed.
-All Grade 8 hardware will be used.
-All flexible brake lines will be braided stainless steel Teflon lined hoses.

I like to follow others projects and often find myself wanting more pictures so bare with me there will be A LOT of pictures of the build. I hope you enjoy lots of pictures as much as I do.


First some pictures of what the truck was! Then onto some parts pictures. Build will start shortly.
1998 XLT Explorer. 5.0L with the 4R70W trans. I have the 4406 T-Case. 3.73 gears with rear LSD. Goodyear 31's. Rock sliders and front skid plate. Links to those builds are in my signature.

And here is some video links! There are a few videos of me wheeling in CO with nssj2!

 

[turboexplorer]

http://youtu.be/jz_jfF_M8f8

This is a small video from July when we made a run up to Forest Lake one evening. Just was looking through some videos and saw these so just threw them together real quick.

Wish we had more time to go play but with both of us working and my baby time seams hard to come by. Anyways hope it snows a ton this month so we can go and get this thing stuck!

 

[turboexplorer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAdVxVI21bE&feature=youtu.be

Here is a video of our after work drive up American Fork Canyon. We took the Mineral basin way several miles in then back out. Went with my Friend Zach and his JK. This was in August of 2012 so its been several months since we did this. Was actually only the second off road outing with the truck.

 

[turboexplorer]

Nothing special to update but I did get a few small things done this last weekend.

First I had to relocate the rear axle breather tube. If you remember the factory full width breather location on the tube ended up being right where the Explorers axle side sway bar mounts had to go. So I TIG welded up the old hole and made a new one right on the top of the pumpkin. Long story short whats its doing is at freeway speeds when the gear oil is being slung around the pumpkin its right next to the hole, so when the gear oil and air expand all it has to push up the breather tube is gear oil. Never is much, its not the slinging that pushes it out its only the thermal expansion, so on 200 mile trips its the same as the 15 mile ones only as the diff heats up. So I plugged the top hole with a HEX bolt so it looks nice and drilled and tapped a new one on the passenger axle tube itself like the factory does. Was a pain, when crazy slow and used super strong magnets to hold all shavings to the bits and tap. Then fished my small magnet (can lift 3lbs) inside the tube everywhere it could reach which was several inches on each side of the hole. I did this until I didn't get any more small shavings. So that's done.

Second I made a temporary washer bottle. (haven't had one factory one wont fit anywhere) I know its cheesy but hey it works for now. I needed it because this weekend end we are headed to Southern Utah to St. George for Christmas with our families and we need to bring a bunch of new fun stuff back. (New Recaro car seat, monster action packer, etc) So I used it as an excuse to take the X down since it has more room. So we will be busy but will fit a half day wheeling trip in. So with weather being poor I wanted a washer bottle for the trip no question. So I made a temporary one. Here's the pics!

Holds about a qt. So it will work for now. The truck is high enough that nothing from other cars in rain and snow gets on the window but like having the ability to clear the window if needed.

Anyways should have some great pics of wheeling this weekend so will post them when the Holidays are over.

Merry Christmas everybody!!!

 

[bftank]

pretty clever! where did you end up mounting it? any worries about needing a vent on the lid?

 

[turboexplorer]

I was able to fit it between the air box, the coolant overflow bottle, and the shock hoop. It barely fits, but it does and again will work great for now.

I thought of needing to vent it to. I drilled a hole in the lid and I ran several feet of my R/C airplane fuel line from the lid up by where the passenger fender, hood, and firewall all meet. Its a silicone line so I drilled the hole in the lid slightly smaller so its a nice snug fit without pinching off the line. This allows it to be vented so when you use the washer it doesn't create a vacuum in there and make it not work since the lid has an o ring and it has snap latches closed. I used this style and that vent tube instead of just a hole so that when I am wheeling its all sealed and none will come out. (That's the plan anyway)

Really the biggest problem is that its kind of a pain to fill. You have to fish the whole thing out of there, which when the lid is on takes 5 minutes, fill it then put the lid on and fish it all back in. But what do ya do its tupperware, lol. I put a gallon of washer fluid in my action packer that stays in the truck with my extra oil, trans fluid, coolant, brake cleaner, coveralls, lights, tow straps, small sand shovels, etc. So I have more if needed since its a small bottle, factory one is near a gallon I think.

The plan is when I have time make a washer bottle and a coolant overflow out of aluminum sheet metal that have the right shapes to maximize there capacity and fit it all neatly in the engine bay. But as with all of our forum projects time is slow to come by.

I'll run out and grab a few pictures. (It's 15-18* outside burr)

 

[willindsay]

Not sure what your interior looks like but have you though about using one that goes in the back jack compartment like the 1st gens (2nd gens too maybe?). That would move some weight to the back and keep from having to fab something up.

 

[turboexplorer]

I have a huge inverter in the left rear qtr trim so wouldn't fit. Also the body control module is there to. Also would have to pump the front, more important sprayers, 20 feet to start spraying. Plus the weight is only a few lbs and wouldn't be a big deal if anything it would add weight to the already very heavy left side. (Battery, Steering box, Gas tank, Driver, T-case hangs to that side) Plus I love fabbing things so will give me an excuse to practice with my aluminum sheet medal skills.

Here are the pics of where the washer bottle is. You can also see the factory coolant bottle turned and tucked up against the right fender. And yes the shock hoop brace is still not finished but that has the same problem as the rest. No time. You can see the vent line coming out of the lid, its light blue.

 

[turboexplorer]

A couple of pictures from Christmas Eve wheeling. What a beautiful place to go wheeling.

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Crazy Cool Turbo!!

 

[turboexplorer]

Finally I got the Cliff Hanger video done! It took me way to long to get around to it. I got Sony Vegas Pro 11 for Christmas so after that it went pretty well. Just took a half hour each night after I put the baby to bed for a couple weeks and got it finished. It is in full 720p and looks great with the shots that are actually HD cameras. Anyways enjoy! Was a great trail.


http://youtu.be/Jq8gj0y_W84

 

[turboexplorer]

This weekend I went to rotate the tires and ended up being frustrated. I had my tires balanced a few months back and they haven't been off the truck since. Discount balanced them as that's where I bought them from. They apparently hit them pretty hard with the impact and ruined several studs. I only tried to pull the drivers tires off. Luckily the rears all are fine. Those would royally suck to change the studs on. There was 2 ruined on the drivers front, one of the lug nuts was actually split about 1/16th of an inch. So they wouldn't come off or tighten back up. :fire: I finally got them off and fixed the threads enough to get the lugs back on and tight. Both of them held 105 ft-lb. But I'll have to find a time that I can pull the hubs and rotors and replace the few studs that are ruined. No to big of a deal but aggravating none the less.

On a build update I am going to be doing the rear anti axle wrap bars and the winch this spring. But the one that I am most excited for is I'm going to run some speed bumps up front, may do it on the rear but the $ will decide. It could use some speed bumps for sure in the sand whoops. Super excited for those. More to come this spring.....

 

[turboexplorer]

Got the two wheel studs fixed. Didn't take long, so I also detailed the interior as well. I rotated the tires and if you remember it had a hop in the front when I first finished the rig and then I rotated the tires and it was back so i rotated them back. So next month going to try to get rid of the 2 tires that are on the rear and get new ones. But at least the tires are cross rotated side to side but they are wearing great.

 

[turboexplorer]

Poser shot in my parents front yard when we where in St. George over Christmas.

Wheeling in St. George.

Nice sand hill climb. 4Lo, 2nd gear, and 4,500revs

Sector9 - My brothers Explorer!

 

[turboexplorer]

First attempt at the hill.

Ready for 2nd attempt.

2nd attempt, Made it! Sector9 could get up about 50% of the hill.

 

[turboexplorer]

Coming down the hill. If you look at the tire marks that head off to the left of where my truck is and follow them back to the left of my other brothers head you can see where the tires marks disappear. Sector9 tried to get a huge run and hit a sand whoop just right and jumped it, lol. Was about a 6 foot stretch where there was no tire marks from front or rears! To bad we missed it on video. I do have video of the sand hill climb so I'll post that in a bit.

On the trail to head to the rocks.

 

[turboexplorer]

Getting to the rocks.

 

[turboexplorer]

 

[turboexplorer]

Sector 9

Little tire smoke anyone?

 

[turboexplorer]

 

[turboexplorer]

Sliders would be nice to have here. Would make it much easier