5.0 2to4wd 4406 and tons

[Scotts96sploder]

Looking at buying a premade full width leaf spring shackle kit. Does anyone know if any Jeeps are a similar frame width?
I found this Jeep YJ Full-Width Axle Kit for Ford Front Axle
And I looks like those might be close to what I was measuring pin to pin on the D50 I have.

 

[Scotts96sploder]

While I’m thinking about it. Looks like 79 was the only year ford made an outside the frame steering box. So I can order one of those. Would you just have custom hoses made? Or is there a way to adapt lines like that?

 

[Scotts96sploder]

Happy Independence Day!

Got up early, cleaned up all that wiring and got it permanently installed other than the DD box. Breather lines installed and just sitting in the engine bay. Put the interior most of the way back together and made a temporary boot for the shifter.

Is there any way to bypass the airbag light other than pulling the bulb? Maybe a resistor?

Going to fabricate a panel to hold electronics in the airbag hole, and also come up with some type of box to mount the shifter boot. Soon. Still working on trading for some complete F250 axles so I don’t have to build the ones I have. Looks like I’ll be going with a 79 f150 steering box and no clue what leaf springs or how they are getting mounted.

 

[410Fortune]

If you remove the airbag light bulb
You will get a wonderful warning chime ding ding ding so it is best to just
Black it out or replace it with a resistor
The next choice would be to remove the electronic chime but then that leaves you with no key in warning

Looking good!

 

[Scotts96sploder]

I had a feeling it was looking for resistance. I’ll measure the bag assembled and find a suitable resistor. Thanks!
Also I’m getting an idea of making the airbag cover thing into some kind of door to hide the electronics.

Oh wait… how many volts does it take to discharge the bag? Because the meter will input millivolts I believe. That… probably won’t blow it up… I’ll wear earplugs and do it outside lol

 

[Scotts96sploder]

Airbag reads a dead short, or really close to it. So I’ll just jumper the plug off the charge (whatever the explosive is called) and plug that back in to see if it’s fooled
Stopped by the yard today to see about some seats. Looked for 92-01ex and 01-05 sport track. Found a bunch, basically all of them junk. I want to run manual rails and other than that just a clean-ish seat. I’m wondering how many seats the rails might fit? Maybe I could throw in a mustang seat or something? Found tons of good seats from all stuff that won’t bolt in.
Also started hunting for a donor for steering components to go with the 79 f150 box. Looks like a pitman arm and misc won’t be hard to find. I don’t think they changed the output spline count at all through the years. The input might be different, it’s 35 spline just under 3/4”. Not sure what steering used that, maybe the same one I find the 32 spline pitman. I will also have to figure out how to adapt that to the ex.

 

[Scotts96sploder]

Next time I’m at the yard, I think I’ll grab two sets of ranger leaf springs. Idea is to slightly lower the rear and use the second pair to start eyeballing mount locations for the front. Will probably end up grabbing more and making fraken packs to get everything correct. What’s the deal with the spring codes?

 

[410Fortune]

Find an explorer sport with manual seats those rails will Bolt right up

People have used ranger seats, sport seats, I find sport trac seats are about the most comfortable of them all and usually in decent shape, up to 2005 will
Bolt directly in

Lots of info out there about seat swapping into rangers, same info applies to your ex for the most part. Escape and Mazda tribute seats are a good choice good size and can be made to fit easily

Good seats on eBay, also check your local Craigslist and Facebook market place

I would avoid ranger leaf springs they are weak and snap the main leafs quite often
Building a hybrid leaf pack is a good idea but start with some f150 leafs not ranger

 

[97Sandbox]

Stopped by the yard today to see about some seats. Looked for 92-01ex and 01-05 sport track. Found a bunch, basically all of them junk. I want to run manual rails and other than that just a clean-ish seat. I’m wondering how many seats the rails might fit?

Like 410 said, you can hybrid together pretty much all Explorer/Ranger/Trac seats from a similar era. For example, I cobbled together a seat for my Sport that has manual rails from an early 2nd gen four door, the seat back and base from a '97 EB, and the recliner lever from an '03 Sport (two-doors have an extra lever so rear passengers can fold the seat to get out).

Base model Sports have manual rails but the seats have no bolstering -- they're not comfy and they let you slide around a lot when turning. I'd suggest swapping whatever decent leather/vinyl seat backs and bases you can find onto manual rails that way you get better bolstering and manual rails together.

 

[Scotts96sploder]

Ok awesome fabricobbling seats is the plan.

Wouldn’t the F150 springs be too long? If not there are a BUNCH of those.

 

[Scotts96sploder]

Look what showed up today! Holy BEEF! I did not expect this box to be quite so large! Not entirely sure I can make it fit actually
Just taking a quizzical glance at where it might end up, it should fit just about perfect below the AC compressor…. Maybe.

 

[Scotts96sploder]

I did some quick measurements before heading off to work this morning. It looks like I might be able to fit this box in flush-ish, tucked under the AC compressor. I’m hoping I don’t jinx myself, but that bump in the cast looks like it will fit in the notch already there for the upper A arm. Use a nice thick plate, maybe 3/8” and some DOM sleeves will give it that much more room. That would have it sitting almost flat which I’m not sure is how it’s supposed to be, but if it works it works.

 

[Scotts96sploder]

Anyone know if the pinion flange from an excursion will also bolt to an expedition shaft?
No real updates, all the work is being saved for the weekend. Just prep stuff.
34.5” tires look way too small, I may be going larger than 37.

 

[Josh P]

A 13.50 wide tire on 40s would look sweet. I can't answer about the expedition shaft. I've got a ford LCF I want to put a Dana super 60 in the front and convert it to 4x4 after following this thread.

 

[Scotts96sploder]

Lol yeah I have a lot of ideas and not a lot of funding.
I have an excursion out front, I can go measure when the weather clears up. I’m wondering if I can get away with using the flange and moving the axle back to match the current drive shaft. Probably not that lucky though.

 

[Scotts96sploder]

If anyone wants to know, the 8.8 flange and the 10.5 flange are the same thing. I’m assuming they’re just a different spline count. Not sure I’m gonna double check. But the good news is I know exactly where there is one in the yard, so now I have a whole laundry list of stuff to grab this Saturday!
According to dennys driveshaft, the 8.8 is a 30 spline and the 10.5 is a 31 spine. ALMOST the same thing. Cool!
Will I be able to get the flange off with an impact gun and a hammer or will I need some kind of puller?

 

[410Fortune]

Once you pull the pinion nut the flange should come right off no puller needed

 

[Scotts96sploder]

Junk haul success!
Found a pitman arm off a 00ish E250, it fits but looks like it needs some kind of spacer. Pinion flange from an excursion, and the leaves off a 150 from the 00s.
Pinion flange installs no problem, and will bolt to the existing drive shaft.
I mocked up the f150 springs on the ground to eyeball axle location with the short end of the springs facing out(backwards in the rear and kinda backwards in the front). The front will basically line up with the existing body mount structure and the front of the frame, and puts the axel in a nice location IMO.
I won’t know till I actually try to do it, but it LOOKS like all the stock ford parts will basically bolt in the rear. Measured flange to centerline of the axle is roughly 13”, and with the 150 spring in backwards, that’s just about where the current driveshaft flange is. This should be really interesting if it works!

 

[Scotts96sploder]

There will be one problem I’m not sure how to resolve. The bushings are different. So maybe I can make or buy custom bushings? Maybe double sleeve the big end?

 

[Josh P]

I've used window weld to make poly bushings.