93 Explorer project "The Hulk"

[madbutcher]

I registered mine as a fullsize atv so I no longer need mudflaps or fender flares.....

Hahaha
. Can you do that? ?
And still street legal?

 

[adamsbro2]

Hahaha
. Can you do that? ?
And still street legal?

Here you can.......I did......it is basically a full size razor now......only thing is its next to impossible to go back to a regular vehicle.....but it will never be that again anyways so......There are some rules like I can't drive it on any interstate or over 50 mph.

 

[adamsbro2]

The Hulk is an awesome rig for a great bud!! Wheeling with you and your family in Moab has been great!!

http://s934.photobucket.com/user/reapereviltwin/media/DSCN0326_zpsxs23d52g.jpg.html

http://s934.photobucket.com/user/reapereviltwin/media/DSCN0325_zpsibzjg14l.jpg.html

I have enjoyed every minute we have spent with you and now with your brother......you all are a true American real family and as far as I'm concerned a part of our family as well.

 

[cloaked_chaos]

How close are you to starting/completing your sas? I'm looking for some 4.56 gears if you want to recoup some of your money.

 

[adamsbro2]

Still collecting parts....but when I get closer I can give you a shout and see where your at

 

[1992explorerMi]

Nice work man hell of a rig and its great to see it gets beat on the way a ex should

 

[adamsbro2]

Nice work man hell of a rig and its great to see it gets beat on the way a ex should

Thanks bud....I don't take it easy on it that's for sure...

 

[adamsbro2]

Well started getting the garage cleaned up so I can get to work on the sas......need it done before Moab so stay tuned for details.

 

[adamsbro2]

Ok....it's in the garage.....will be starting the tear down next weekend.

 

[adamsbro2]

Here is the official first before pics.....this is where it will sit until it's done....I will get better pics in the daylight in a few days but thought this would be a good teaser/starter post.......

 

[madbutcher]

Can't wait to follow the next phase in Hulk's life

 

[adamsbro2]

Can't wait to follow the next phase in Hulk's life

It will be a slow process through the winter but should be done by spring.

 

[adamsbro2]

I wanted to start with the rear because it should be a little easier considering there is less to do.

So I started with putting it on Jack stands, needed a little extra height so I cut some boards to put under the stands.

Next I removed the driveshaft, forgot to snap a pic of this but probably not really necessary anyway, the bolts were actually kind of loose so I'm glad I didn't take it out anywhere or I would have ended up like Mike McFarlin on Hell's Revenge. Anyway if anyone doesn't know those bolts are a 12 point 12mm.

The next thing I did was crack open the diff cover to let it start draining. Those are 1/2" or 13mm bolts. While it was draining I disconnected the rear e-brake cables from each wheel.

This turned out to be a horrible picture I will snap some others today to give a better idea of how I did this. At this point the diff was mostly drained enough I could take the cover off. After taking the cover off I disconnected the brake line from the splitter on top of the pumpkin so the brakes could drain and be totally separated from the truck so I can roll the axle out.

Next up was disconnecting any electrical from the axle. Mine has a rear elocker so I had to disconnect that,

And then the connector for the rear abs, which I only connect to keep it out of the way since I have removed my speed ring and I no longer have abs....I will be removing the abs motor and stuff while I swap the front axle. Anyway here is that connector.

At this point it was time to remove the shocks and ubolts which lowered the axle to the ground so I could roll it out from under the truck. U-bolt nuts in my case were an 18mm and these were not loose at all. My shock bolts have a 15mm head and an 18mm nut.

After both sides had been removed the axle was free and I was able to roll it out from under the truck.

So far this is all pretty basic stuff and not likely to help anyone but I like to document everything sometimes I can look back at the pictures and see something that I didn't even realize was in the picture at the time and whatever. Anyway next up will be swapping the rear disc brakes to the full width 8.8. Then I'll start taking measurements for where and how to mount the new spring perches and swapping the locker....due to funds currently I may have to stick with the 4.56 gears for now so I only have to buy one set of gears but we will see...i would like to go 5.13s but we will see what happens.

 

[adamsbro2]

Here are some better shots of the ebrake connections....pretty simple really but in case anyone needs to know.

Here is a close up of the to spots that the cable connects to.

Here is the cable with the connections to give a better idea. Second photo shows where they actually connect. Easiest way to attach and or remove them I have found to be pushing the cable through the round bracket which supports the cable and stops the sleeve from moving so the cable will push and or pull, then if you use a long screwdriver you can pry against the axletube pushing the hook or brake connector backwards, basically applying the ebrake, while holding that you can slide the end of the cable over the hook.....

 

[adamsbro2]

So with Christmas here funds are tight for sas parts....but in the meantime I got bored and this is what I have decided to do with the front doors....after cleaning it up and everything I'll put a piece of flat metal covering the top of this. Still maintained factory interior handle and latch, and factory mirrors, but gain visual benefits as if there were no doors. I like it. Probably gonna take that line and go straight back through the back doors, might have to relocate one hinge point on the rear doors.

 

[adamsbro2]

Ok not alot but some progress.
First i put the axle on a couple of jackstands. Then removed the wheels.

Since i will be replacing the calipers and likely running completely new brake lines i disconnected the brake lines at the calipers. Then removed the 2 bolts holding each caliper on.

Then unbolted the center splitter and removed the lines all as one piece.

Next up was to remove the axle shafts. You have to start by removing the center or crosspin from the carrier. this is held in with a bolt at one end this bolt is an 8mm. (Anytime you rotate the carrier or turn the axles without the crosspin in place you risk the spider gears falling out if your not careful, while this can be fixed and they can be put back in it is not the easiest thing to do so best to just avoid it from happening)

I removed one shaft and left the other in to try and get a better picture. So with the cross pin out the shafts look like this.

At this point you have to push the shaft in a little to get access to the c-clip. Now the C-clip should easily slide right off. Careful not to drop it cause it can be a pain in the ass to find sometimes.

after both shafts removed i put the crosspin back in just to stop the spiders from falling out.
Now i removed the end caps and carrier, followed by the pinion. (Note it is much easier to remove the nut from the pinion while the carrier is still in place).

then i used a punch and hammer to remove the pinion bearings races and seal.

At this point i disassembled the Ebrake hardware, this is almost exactly the same as any typical drum brake. and much easier to do with the axle shaft removed. After the Ebrake components have been removed it is a matter of 4 bolts holding the backing plate and caliper brackets to the axle housing. Now that these are removed i will be getting them cleaned up real well and repainted before reinstalling on the full width 8.8. I will have to order custom rotors from Currie with 5x5.5 bolt pattern.

 

[reapereviltwin]

Lurking here Bryan, just not much of a poster!

 

[adamsbro2]

Lurking here Bryan, just not much of a poster!

Good....catch me if I start doing something wrong lol

 

[madbutcher]

How is it going, ?

 

[adamsbro2]

How is it going, ?

It's not right now, I'm about 1800 miles away from home for a couple months so can't do much