My First Explorer, 2000 EB

[traveler]

The front diff is actually pretty easy, though time consuming. There is a great writeup on it here in the forums.

 

[WormsExplorer]

The front diff is actually pretty easy, though time consuming. There is a great writeup on it here in the forums.

Great thanks. I will look it up.

 

[CDW6212R]

Great work, and finds for the parts.

Where did you source the front diff? I've got a line on a take out front 3.73 diff, for $75, but getting with him at his house after work hasn't happened. I'd give $100 for a nice 3.73 diff, the gears and housing are what I'm after, to build. I need to find someone who can build them here, my last man retired two years ago.

 

[traveler]

I don't know how far away you are, but I just pulled a 3.73 front diff that's just taking space in my yard. The 4.10s I got from Ebay, a company called badger motors out of Wisconsin I believe.

EDIT: Ok, now I'm non the PC instead of the phone and I see you're in Knoxville. LOL I guess by the time shipping was paid you'd be better off finding one on Ebay. They had several 4.10's don't know why they wouldn't have 3.73's to.

 

[traveler]

Ok, worked into the evening but got the axle swapped. Took a few pics, I might even do a write up. we'll see. Just glad to have the job done. Yes, it can be done with just one person but it sucks. Heavy lifting, climbing under the truck only to have to get out from under it for tools. Just someone to hand me tools would have saved me hours. At any rate, I can't wait to test drive it tomorrow.

 

[traveler]

A few pics.

Had to buy new Jack Stands at Harbor Freight. Mine just weren't tall enough!

New Axle, ready to go in. Well almost, I need to pull the brakes off of this axle so I can continue using the new pads, and rotors I just put in. fortunately this axle has fully functioning, not worn out, freely moving Parking brakes.

Lifted, ready to begin work. Removing the spare creates all kinds of space to work under there!

Brakes are removed and hung out of the way, shocks are loosened from the axle.

Old axle on the right, new one on the left.

the installation of the new one went much better than I anticipated. I just rolled it under on a Furniture dolly (they work GREAT! the pumpkin fits in the opening in the center of the dolly and the axle won't tip, sway, or get out of control). I then used two floor jacks to raise the springs up to meet the axle, lined them up, and bolted them in place. Once the springs were reattached to the shackles, it was just a matter of reconnecting everything.

 

[CDW6212R]

Well done, great, big job.

It sounds like not many bolts were corroded tight etc. I have one shock on my Mercury I couldn't get off, the bottom bolt/nut is seized hard.

 

[WormsExplorer]

Awesome work there. Need to get things started to collect for my build. I will be looking for Axles w/ 4.10's to get under mine and getting a 4406. Like watching your build though.

 

[traveler]

There were some seized bolts... Particularly the shock bolts and the U-bolt nuts. Lucky for me I have my grandfathers 1" drive ratchet. LoL its longer than my 1/2" breaker bar! That and my impact took care of any difficult jobs. But have plenty of PB blaster on hand and if possible presoak.

I would have LOVED to have found a 4.10 out of a V8 for the torque rod brackets. But they are like hens teeth. So I'll have to do without the torque rods for now till I can get some brackets welded on. The 4406 swap is definitely worth it. First major work I did on the explorer and haven't once regretted it.

 

[Turdle]

Good job mike. has it gone for a test drive yet?

 

[traveler]

Took it out for a drive this evening. Drives good, didn't change as much as anticipated but can definitely feel the difference. There is a very very slight vibration at 75 mph but I figure that could be the driveshafts on the new diffs. I'll start removing the bolts, and turning them 180* etc, and see if that has any effect. Prior to the swap there was no vibration at any speed. Then again, I don't generally set the cruise at 75 anyway. (well... not in the Explorer. Sandi's Mercedes is just starting at 80... hehe)

 

[traveler]

I've got to get better at keeping this thing updated. To finish up the diff (axle) swaps. The vibration turned out to be easy. While tightening the last torx bolt on the front driveshaft, my bit broke off. Didn't think too much of It at the time, the bolt was tight. And the broken part would fall out...right? When I decided to push some grease into the u-joint and had to remove the bolt to access the zerk fitting I thought about it. The broken piece was still in there! Got a magnet and pulled out the remaining (tiny) part of the bit. Greased the u-joint and went for a drive... Vibration gone. Don't know if it was removing the leftover bit piece or the grease but its nice to have it smooth again!

 

[traveler]

Now on to today's activities.
I finished painting and mounting revamped Tcase and gas tank skid plates. I welded two of each kind of skid plate together to make one of each. Basically stacking 2 gas tank plates together and w Tcase plates together to form stronger plates.
I used up all my black paint on the gas tank skid, that is why the Tcase skid is bright red engine enamel paint.

If you wish, you may critique the welds, just don't condemn the welds. This is my first (and I mean FIRST!) time welding (wire feed welder), no classes, no hands on instruction, just youtube, and the advice of helpful friends.

 

[CDW6212R]

They all look very good. Painting over the welds is a good idea LOL. I had forgotten the BW4406 is lower than the skid plate on the left side. That looks great with a gloss finish too.

 

[Turdle]

That looks fine Michael. Good job.

 

[traveler]

Well, I have rejoined the ranks of the Employed. Filled out all the paperwork involved to start work at a Day Service Center for the Developmentally Disabled. So I'll be able to spend more money on the truck... But don't know if I'll get time off for big trips like the Colorado Color Run. I'll work on getting in the good graces of the new employers and see what happens.
Its a regular daytime Mon-Fri gig so that'll be nice. I spent 24 of the 30 years I worked for the State of KS doing Shift work including a lot of (most) weekends.

 

[CDW6212R]

Congrats, a new job makes life more interesting, for a time. I hope it's fulfilling.

 

[traveler]

I added some water wetter to the radiator today, along with some fresh (distilled) water and coolant. Had to add coolant because to add the W.W. I needed to lower the level of coolant in the radiator. The Aluminum radiator I have doesn't have a drain ****. Just has a screw in plug with an O-ring. I didn't realize this until the plug was out and coolant was rushing out into my gravel yard. By the time I had the plug back in place I had drained considerably more water than I had anticipated. Water never does "cool off" here, it just goes from 200* to 120* or so, hotter than you want to soak your hand in, so putting the plug back in as warm coolant was flowing was a challenging task. But... Its done. I hope the water wetter does its job.

 

[CDW6212R]

Very good, that's a fun feeling, the hot water.

I just got home today, with my new 180 T'Stat, fan/clutch, and new radiator, the highest my coolant hit was 196, in 92* heat. It runs in the 175 range most of the time, and occasionally will work up 10-15 more. The Scan Gauge shows the maximums for each day, last trip, tank etc. I like it running under 200 all the time, the new clean radiator is a lot of that I think. The dash gauge stays below the thermometer picture all the time, that's ideal to me.

 

[traveler]

Did some work on the truck today... Nothing major just installed some extra bolts on the brackets holding my grill guard so they won't move when using my tow hooks. Had to remove the bumper so I could put bolts through the frame rails and tighten the nuts.

Anyway, I was also going to try making A bracket to mount my high lift jack to. As I bought it used and had never even tested it I thought I should try it. The camper was convenient so I put it under the trailer tongue and lifted it a few inches. It worked. As I was lowering it however it didn't seem to work. I studied it, moved a lever, and tapped a stuck mechanism with a hammer. The stupid thing I did was not pay attention to where I was. The handle flew up and hit me in the right ear with great force! Pain, agony, blood. I went inside and asked my wife to look at it. (I needed to know if the blood was coming from my inner or outer ear). It was coming from a small cut on my outer ear. It had done its job and protected the idiot from more serious damage by sacrificing itself. So I'm fine, just a lot smarter than I was earlier today.
As for the jack, I sprayed the entire mechanism with the new white lithium loaded WD40. The entire thing works nice and smoothly now; no sticking mechanisms.

Tomorrow I'll get started on a way to mount it to the truck.