46" 1991 Explorer in Iceland.

[Sævar Örn]

5 link rear suspension is born

 

[Sævar Örn]

 

[Sævar Örn]

Some progress tonight

Im not sure why the shock absorbers are so out of line, thats something the previous owner must have done, why, I dont know, but im going to put them in order


Next step is to "grill" some spring seats on the frame and axle and lock them in place, time is tight because I need the hoist for some repairs I have been leaving sitting on the riverbank for two weeks now and have to finish, this means next couple of days will involve finishing touches and some rust repair of the cab and then reassembly of the body and frame next weekend! Hoooray

 

[Sævar Örn]

Making body ready for reincarnation to the frame, some spots needed cutting and welding, then it will be primed and painted

Back on its wheels, this photo clearly shows how long the trailing arms really are, crawler style, but Im worried the springs may be a little too short, but that will only be clear once the body is back on and some weights in the back

Im very happy with the way the suspension articulated, and side to side movement is only 0.8 mm to each side, (thats 0.31")

 

[Sævar Örn]

progress as of last night the later pictures are from today sunday

Rust converter applied to all smaller items and then painted on sunday

One round on the frame, very happy with the color not too light and not too dark




SUNDAY

Everything almost ready

Body back on the frame, ready for startup

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10204349431329086


Took a while to get the air out of the fuel lines and started up properly

 

[Sævar Örn]

Now I really need a trick if someone knows, clutch dummy switch delete? There are so many wires going to the clutch pedal that Im hesitant to just jump them across there, how do you do it?

 

[Rick]

Now I really need a trick if someone knows, clutch dummy switch delete? There are so many wires going to the clutch pedal that Im hesitant to just jump them across there, how do you do it?

Here is the info on bypassing the clutch interlock switch:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107698

 

[Sævar Örn]

Thanks Rick, you guys seem to have things all figured out haha, I thought I could be the smart one

 

[Sævar Örn]

4 gallon air storage tank


Auxilary wiring


VHF Antenna


Testing today



Putting air back in the tires using the air storage tank and the A/C pump

 

[Sævar Örn]

some high range bashing in the puffy sugary snow

www.youtube.com/embed/YguoygU00hw

 

[Sævar Örn]

Me and some friends headed to Glacier Langjokull weekend saturday 2 january 2015

This was the maiden trip after the mods to the car so I was really relieved to see that there were no major breakdowns in the trip

The exhaust started to sniff a little and a leak around an exhaust clamp had come to, on the drive from the mountains to the city the front driveshaft shook itself loose but thats probably just my fault for being to lazy to have it balanced properly


Here are some photos


Using tire cleaner to get the tar off the tires from driving on tarmac, its amazing what a difference it makes to traction


At camp "Jaki" just below the glacier cap, we met some old friends on their Suzukis there


Driving up the glacier, I spent a lot of gasoline going up and down WOT


Down to "Jaki" again, pumping air in the tires with the AC Compressor

Found some water under the snow on the way home, driving around 30mph and SHUNCK, it falls through the ice, never a good feeling, this time it wasnt so deep


Very happy with the lighting, I bought Hella 3000 rallye lamps and HID xenon lamps to have on the front, they work really well and dont draw too many amps


So the result is, great car, good suspension, good power, very happy owner

 

[Sævar Örn]

Lots of fun in the mountains last weekend, went on friday evening on 6 cars to camp "Landmannalaugar"

The snow was in such a way that there was not much difference in offroad capability between 46" and 38", although I had much better ground clearance and less drag from the snow hitting the axles and bottom of car, but this only saved me some fuel

We were around 7 hours from the city and to the camp where we would stay the night, the camp has a large house warmed with natural hot water and there is a natural sauna pool there too

All cars were on 38-41 tires and mine on 46"

Toyota Hilux 38"
Toyota Tacoma 41"
Toyota LandCruiser90/Prado 38"
Ford Explorer 38"
Ford Explorer 46"
Jeep Cherokee 38"

Although I wasnt free from breakdowns, late in the night on the way to camp I start to hear screeching coming from the driveline, and as I had suspected I saw the morning after I had a dry and worn down UV in the front driveshaft, luckily the other Ford Explorer owner had a spare UV along with him so with some ridiculous methods I managed to replace it with the most unimaginable of tools

Later in the day, saturday we drove back to meet with the rest of the group, we suspected they would have some trouble because their tire sizes were from 32" to 38" but the snow had settled much and frozen during the night so the traction was much better


38" cherokee xj diesel driving in my 46" lane


The snow on the fenders gives you an idea of the travel speed, mostly wide open throttle





Sunday morning I started the Explorer in -18 celsius and he wasnt feeling happy about that, so he had revenge on me by throwing off his fan belt, but not only that but the pulley off of the power steering pump also, so I was not in a good place when I realized this, c.a. 300 km from home and 7 hours from civilization


The pulley had been spinning freely on the pump axle for some time and was now spinning itself off very freely, the clearance was very big, so we tried many things like wrapping aluminum foil and pinching the centerbore of the pulley but there was no luck, so we decided we would weld the centerbore to the pump axle with battery stick welding, this was a good method and it held almost all the way to civilization,

The next time it failed we welded it again with batteries but then one of the batteries exploded, so we decided we would not try it any further, luckily the Landcruiser had 2 batteries so I was able to use that one and he would drive with a single battery to the city

When we got to civilization, about half way from home the pulley broke off again so we decided to leave it there at the gas station, I took the PS pump off and with me to the city where I would weld it with proper tools to try to regain the explorer home

I also picked up a fan belt for a non/ac application, where as I figured I could route it away from the PS pump and through the AC and drive it home with no PS without it overheating

Welded the pulley and drove up to the gas station in my Hyundai 4x4 Galloper with 31" tires, there was a lot of snow there and difficult to get all the way in the car but possible with some careful manuevering, when I came there I put the pump back on and the belt and started driving, the pulley fell into a million pieces about 30km(40 minutes) from home, so I grabbed the non AC belt and tried putting it on, but the damn parts guy had gotten me the correct belt for the car, not a non-ac belt like I had asked for, damnit, the clock was around midnight where this happened so I decided frig it, its -14 outside, Ill drive the car home with the heater blowing full heat and try to go as fast as possible to have wind cooling, and shut the engine off on all decends, this was a neat trick and got me home without ever overheating and it seems the water never boiled in the engine either, at least no coolant was missing when I checked it after driving for about an hour stop and go without the fanbelt



so in conclusion, Ive gotten to know the car much better now, and im still very happy with it, although I could have done with less breakdowns this time, it was very expensive

but the suspension is spot on, I can hit any bump at any speed and I will feel it in the front, but it never comes in the back

 

[OffTrac]

Just found this thread. Very impressive.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Next mod is a huge reach stinger bumper (with lights) to help with visibility and to help prevent falling completely through the ice.

 

[Sævar Örn]

Good idea but no, I want to keep this car road legal

 

[MidnightRebel07]

You could always make it so it folds back over the windshield while not in use.

 

[Rick]

Sævar, thanks for sharing the action shots. They're amazing!!!

 

[Sævar Örn]

Thanks to you aswell for the inputs, now Im in a little bit of a problem, I want a substitude for the power steering pump

Id rather have a steel or aluminum pulley too, the plastic gets very briddle in the cold


Currently I have a broken saginaw style pump with built on reservoir out of a 80s cadillac I believe


Ive been looking at some pumps at jegs and summitracing, but they only offer them with a V groove belt pulley, do you guys know a solution?

The pulley that was put on my pump was just the original explorer one after being bored oversize and pressed on

the saginaw pumps at jegs and summit are both tightened on with a nut and held secure with a lock pin groove on the pump shaft, I like this method much more than just pressing the pulley on


any suggestions?

 

[madbutcher]

Sævar, thanks for sharing the action shots. They're amazing!!!

Yes it looks awsome to wheel on Iceland and the pictures are amazing

 

[BrooklynBay]

You could get a rebuild kit for your old pump.