Tbars Project "X" begins

First and foremost my ranger is my favorite truck...I will not let any of you fools try to talk me into changing my new project into some rock beast, lmao...this rig is just to go camping and fishing in and thats it...it took all the money i had to buy and the seller was great and is a new member here....thanks rick, the seller that is...

I have never as much sat in an explorer and today was the first time i opened a door on one...

It needs alot of tlc and a new 4.0 motor as the current one is seized...It needs a bit of paint work as the clear coat is shot and the front fenders are a different color....

Notes
1) Kbabiak, you need to make some pre-made shipping tags with my name on them as I will be needed a bunch of little parts...
2) Admin Rick, I sent my new membership dues in at 8am this morning as i was hoping to be a new X owner...
3)All elite members, I am going to need alot of help and parts for my new to me, 91 XLT

 

[jwrezz]

Good luck!

 

[Tbars4]

..Thanks...


..I think I finally got it fixed, well, 97% sure..


...First, every aspect of driving the truck has improved including tranny shifting so I know I'm on the right track now...

..I have been romping on it every chance I get trying to make it ping in every condition that it was pinging before...I finally did get it to ping last night only for a second or two but it was gone this morning...

..I think I've narrowed it down to the center flat section of the plastic air tube which has the 2 bands on it..

...Our temperatures are fluctuating from 50's in the morning to mid 80's during the day...That combined with the engine temp lets that plastic tube fluctuate just enough that the round bands can not keep the old worn plastic tight on the oval center section allowing air to get in but only sometimes..

..That variable in itself is what's been making this issue so difficult to chase..

..I may need to find or make a tube for this..


..In other news, I weighed the "Project X" yesterday...

..In full camping set up which includes fridge with groceries, normal gear minus tent set up, spare tire carrier w/ spare tire, dual battery installed, and 3/4 tank of gas..

5080 pounds...Probably about 5100 #'s with full tank of gas..

..That's a few hundred pounds lighter than I would have guessed with all that's on this truck and the full size 35" tires..:scratch:

 

[Tbars4]

...Ok...Let's call the ping thing cured (unless I later swap the intake air tube)..

..The idle has settled in a little higher than I like...When I got it smogged it idled at just about 800 rpm on the nose...This is higher than the normal 650 rpm's which have been standard for this truck...

..Even though I had just cleaned the IAC, I know I replaced the IAC and MAF with new within the last 2 years...Hopefully I have a lifetime warranty on the IAC as I think (hoping) that is the culprit of the higher idle issue...

..I wound up rotating the tires on the X and it appears I am probably just below 50% left...

..The KM2's have lasted better than the old school MTR's over the road and they have done well offroad...I am still on the fence over their puncture resistance offroad but after taking them across some jagged stuff several times while still aired up at the Hammers, I am a little more confident in them...

..They did pretty well up in the snow too...In fact, the road conditions were icy with dry patches and they performed to well and my front locker combined with the good traction of these tires made the Mountain climb interesting..

..I would like to find some info from other X owners who wound up going with the new MTR's and Duratac's and see what they thought about their combined usage with those tires..

..It's time to start shopping and reviewing new tires now so I can start donating blood and organs to pay for them..

 

[Brian1]

..I think I've narrowed it down to the center flat section of the plastic air tube which has the 2 bands on it....That combined with the engine temp lets that plastic tube fluctuate just enough that the round bands can not keep the old worn plastic tight on the oval center section allowing air to get in but only sometimes..

..In other news, I weighed the "Project X" yesterday...5080 pounds...

Dont you have some of that self-vulcanizing rescue tape? Wrap some around the joint. If you decide to get a new tube Spectre makes a nice aluminum one as part of a modular intake kit. That is what I use.

5100 is suprising. I bet mine weighs every bit of that and more since I have metal bumpers and rock sliders.

 

[Turdle]

I bet some 3" exhaust tubing would make a nice enough air intake tube also. Make from scraps,and paint to taste. Silicone rubber connection sleeves molded into angles are readily available.

 

[Scott B.]

..Thanks...


..I think I finally got it fixed, well, 97% sure..


...First, every aspect of driving the truck has improved including tranny shifting so I know I'm on the right track now...

..I have been romping on it every chance I get trying to make it ping in every condition that it was pinging before...I finally did get it to ping last night only for a second or two but it was gone this morning...

..I think I've narrowed it down to the center flat section of the plastic air tube which has the 2 bands on it..

...Our temperatures are fluctuating from 50's in the morning to mid 80's during the day...That combined with the engine temp lets that plastic tube fluctuate just enough that the round bands can not keep the old worn plastic tight on the oval center section allowing air to get in but only sometimes..

..That variable in itself is what's been making this issue so difficult to chase..

..I may need to find or make a tube for this..


..In other news, I weighed the "Project X" yesterday...

..In full camping set up which includes fridge with groceries, normal gear minus tent set up, spare tire carrier w/ spare tire, dual battery installed, and 3/4 tank of gas..

5080 pounds...Probably about 5100 #'s with full tank of gas..

..That's a few hundred pounds lighter than I would have guessed with all that's on this truck and the full size 35" tires..:scratch:

I just weighted mine, too. I'm at 5000 pounds without all my camping gear.

 

[Tbars4]

..As for the Weight...You guys just have fat trucks...:mattmoon:..:

..Heck, my Ranger with an empty bed wearing the shell in it's current configuration is 3860 #'s...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3019583&postcount=363

...I know my sliders are about 100#'s and they are on the truck and so is the big jack with skid plate, my toolbox with spare parts (no shafts) and my offroad lights plus a duffel bag of clothes, my Cadac camp grill, and a box of kitchen stuff to supply it, sleeping bag, GPS, computer and camera gear...But that's about it..

...But I don't have any of the hardware or sway bars they attach to plus no inner fenders and the larger of the 2 jump seats has been removed even though we share the same weight as in the fridge which replaced that seat...

..It's a wash on the dual batteries and OBA...:scratch:..Wait a minute...I don't have a tank installed on my truck yet..I know my Hitchgate is light but how much lighter than a built bumper carrier I'm not sure but I do have stock bumpers, a trailer hitch and recovery points..

...It's the rattle can paint that's missing all that heavy clear coat and all the chrome I sport that makes it lighter..:biggthump

..and I'm saving all that self vulcanizing tape to make repairs on someone else's truck when we are offroad...It's a waste if I use it on my truck but it's a great story if I use it on someone else's truck..

..I will probably have this tube issue resolved before the Mint 400 or the Mojave Trail..

..When I replaced the silencer on the Ranger I used either 3" PVC or ABS piping, painted it black and it looks factory between all the stock parts...I like that it does not fluctuate (expand and contract) like metal does nor does it heat up and cook the rubber or silicone parts attached to it..

...For the Ranger I did buy one of those nipple's from the Spectre section, drilled, and tapped (glued with RTV) that in for the oil breather hose though..

 

[Scott B.]

At least I have a 300 HP 5.0L to push my truck around....

 

[Tbars4]

That's why I needed a 300 HP 5.0L to push my truck around....

..Fixed it for ya...

..:scratch:..I did not have the new 33's and steel wheels on my Ranger when I weighed it so guessing it weighs around 4000-4300#'s fully geared for long trips...


..That's over 1000#'s difference...

..I think we need to do a trail run and have all the trucks hit up the same truck scales with a BBQ afterwards...:shifty_ey ..We can meet up at Brian's house..:

..The "Big RBV weigh in"..Or we could have a second weigh in to see whose truck is the "Biggest Loser" as in shedding pounds for a long trip...:biggthump

 

[Tbars4]

..A couple of updates..

..Went to the Mint 400 and then followed that up with a trip across the Mojave Desert...All went well, pretty much...

..During the race I found myself out in the middle of the Desert mountains (in some of the sharpest and nastiest of rocks you want to travel across), in the process of getting to a better shoot location in which the Explorer got me to effortlessly..

..After I got some killer videos with the race trucks going past me at about 100 mph, I headed back to the X to go scope out another section of the track that over the race radio's was quickly becoming known as a treacherous part of the course as it was eating up the race trucks and was remote at the other end of the course..

..I jumped into the X and click....I quickly jumped the starter solenoid and haven't had an issue since..

..The truck ran awesome all the way to Vegas and Back to Barstow as far as the tube problem goes..It did falter one time only and that was the big pass coming back from Vegas to Baker...

..You could tell it started sucking air and it's like the timing is off due to the computer re-evaluating everything..That was the only time this happened this trip and trust me, I was doing everything I could to test this leaking tube theory on this trip..

..I got home from this trip and found a picture of the X in a Magazine ..
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=382646

..This past Saturday I decided since it is pretty much the end of the X's Expedition trips (except local camping) and out of State race schedule and with it's new found celebrity status that I would give her a good exterior pressure wash..(no under the hood job)

..I not only pressure washed her but I stopped over at the local filling station and ran one of their brand new squeegees over the exterior of all the windows...I was felling so good about the exterior of the X being cleaned up that I thought to myself that I would also wax up the aluminum wheels this weekend..

..The X didn't want no part of this clean up attempt and fought me on it..

..I drove it back to it's barn and it started leaking anti freeze...Not just dripping but streaming off the the oil pan..

...I parked it while leaving it running and crawled under to take a look to see where it was coming from and it quit...So this weekend I drove it around knowing that the leak would show up and I was all prepped to crawl under it at anytime to find this leak but it never happened...

..This morning I drove it over to pick up the Ranger at 5 a.m. in the dark and it started pouring water again..Needless to say I didn't get a good look of where the water is coming from but I got my fingers crossed that it is from the weep hole on the water pump...

..If not, this might be a PITA..

 

[Tbars4]

..It's official...It's going to be a PITA and I got a gusher..


..I couldn't find my antifreeze leak until we pressure tested it..Then I found a gusher..

..I'm searching for info on this and hope it's just the gasket and it's straight forward..

 

[Tbars4]

..This mod I blame on Brian1...He made me run a bolt thru my dash..

..But it's a good..

 

[Brian1]

Much cleaner install now! I like it.

You fix the leak yet?

 

[Tbars4]

..Sorry I just saw your post..

..I haven't did the full repair to the X yet as it will require a bit of work to complete it and I have way to many projects to do on both the trucks and, work is keeping me from getting anything started let alone anything done..

..I added one little tube of Alumaseal and that stopped the leak..It's almost a big enough project that I would like to get in there and pull the manifolds to inspect the gaskets at the same time..:shifty_ey

..The X has recently developed a slow start in the morning as in when it starts up for the first time it's cold with like a low idle and a little rough due to a "choke" problem..

..I still want to break down and get a new computer for this thing to rule out some other weird issues and I would feel more comfortable having a spare computer as this thing is getting older..

 

[Keeper0311]

Man you've been busy Ted! Good stuff!

 

[Anduiril]

After spending a week reading this whole thread (and most of the links), I have to say you must go camping and fishing in some really hard to reach places. She does look good though. I really like the grill. I don't plan on getting mine as big as yours but then I may change my mind as I get her going.
I'm going to subscribe to this thread just to keep track of all the great information you have put in here and I'm sure you'll have more to come.
Thanks for all the info.

 

[Tbars4]

..Thanks for taking the time..

..It does take me to some hard to reach places..It came as tall as it is and if I were to do it over it would be a little shorter than it is...

...and there will always be something happening with it as it gets used often..:biggthump

 

[Tbars4]

..I haven't added any locations of where I have been traveling but here are some links from a few of the places the X took me so far this year..

KOH

Moab

Mint 400

The Mojave Desert

Glen Helen


..If anyone gets bored, these will keep you busy for a while..:bigghump

 

[Tbars4]

..The X gets a newfangled upgrade..

...While at the junkyard this weekend grabbing some parts for the Ranger, I broke down and finally bought a 2 cup holder..

..The aftermarket single adjustable big cup holder I bought as the first mod to this truck finally broke and I thought I would see what all the ruckus was about with these newer cupholders and it was also 1/2 off this weekend...

 

[2TimingTom]

One these days I'll try to make it all the way through the 9.5 pages of this build thread.