03 fliptrac $700 daily driver (summer of fun with 4 sport tracs)

[410Fortune]

Good questions!!
The 1/8” shift is because some 4406 converted trucks get a vibration at 45-65 mph. During several years of research on this I discovered (by learning from others) that the rear driveshaft angles were actually too perfect, adding a little bit of side deflection stops the vibrations

The 5 speed shifter is only poking through the 1” thick heat shield material that is under these tracs and yes it maybe still too close to the floor. I may need to modify the crossmember further. They guy who built the crossmember was using a stock 5.0 mount which is about 1” less in height. He removed 3/4” from the x member usually I remove more to accommodate the poly mount

 

[410Fortune]

Now back to the 01 trac with the 05 engine. Although to have fixed two issues by moving wires at the pcm two issues still remain.
For some reason ford swapped the iss and oss wires at the pcm from 02-05 vs the 01? So I swapped them back, this made my 2000 explorer sohc pcm happy with the trans. Shifting issues no more!

Next I moved the vss+ wire from pin 68 to pin 58, again ford moved this wire, I had to move it back… however the scanner still has the truck at 0mph. Then it dawned on me! The sohc pcm used to do the speed signal buffering… in a 2000 explorer (where I got my pcm) the gem module did the buffering! No gem in a 01 sport trax… so I need to add a Dakota digital! As luck would have it one arrived in the mail yesterday, I ordered one for my v8 project…. Well today I’m installing it into this trac. As I said don’t do like me!!

This leaves one more issue, the 02 sensors are not switching, I see zero voltage on the scanner and the pcm is pulling all fuel… all fuel is at -100% eventually resulting in rich codes both banks. As soon as I figure this one out I can give the truck back to my buddy
2001 trac, 2005 sohc engine, 2003 injectors and fuel rail, 2000 explorer pcm
Wiring for 02 sensors checks out all the way

 

[410Fortune]

well it got worse
No matter what i checked or re wired the job1 trac was not happy
3 codes I could not solve, rich both banks and p0500 circuit failure from rear vss oh also the truck thinks it is being stolen and is trying to disable it
no 02 sensors show any voltage
i confirmed all wiring is good, from speed sensor to abs computer to voltage being applied to the 02 sensors, etc etc
at the end of the day i just cannot make the 2000 explorer pcm happy in a job 1 trac with 03 wiring
so to fix it?
install all 03 wiring, all of it, run 03 pcm, 03 pats, 03 dash, like i said all of it

 

[410Fortune]

So sport trax number 4 found it’s way to the front of the shop
This is my blue 03 xls
As my buddy used to say and it cracks me up ex ell esss stands for “extremely less shi*” lol lol this thing is perfect no cruise control no power mirrors no tow hitch no fog lights no tilt wheel… I love it. This will eventually be my personal rig the one getting the Dana 44ttb and a stroked 302
But for now she has to give up her wiring pcm and dash
ARE camper shell baby! These shells are so hard to find I ended up grabbing the whole truck

Blue 03 xls 232k before the sohc blew up
Look ma no cruise!

Took me about 3 hours to remove all wiring I need and dash

I love this late model interior!

No tilt wheel!! Bwhahahahaha oh man it’s too easy to convert these columns to tilt ford just have saved about $4 per non tilt column

 

[410Fortune]

I went to heck and back to wire up the 01 trac and deliver it back to our friend
I pulled it off!
I had to ADD the power wires for electric mirrors and power drivers seat because the xls did not have them!
I lost keyless entry and fog light wire harness
Its okay I will get the factory bits from junk yard and wire them in
this was TRICKY wiring in the truck
i did not want to drop the dash after just installing it


First up the $700 v8 5 speed truck was on the trailer we had 4 windshields installed at a friends shop so she had to move

Took the opportunity to clean the undercarriage

Meanwhile the 01 trac w the 05 engine dressed to be an 03 got lots of work
03 dash and column all under hood wiring swapped over
Abs module swapped over
03 cluster modded and swapped over
I had to skin the dash and airbag as the 03 and 01 are different shades of grey


Before, the 01 harness was modified a bit but in the end I swapped the entire dash and Modt interior wiring to make the 03 engine swap pcm swap work

Wiring coming out

03 Under hood stuff went in

 

[410Fortune]

03 dash skinned in light grey

03
Cluster fitted w 01 odo so miles stay w truck and then installed along w 03
Column and dash

Abs control module swapped
01 to 03 and brakes bled
Then I found out I needed to add two fuses to the cjb and their corresponding wires tifeo
Dash to body this wiring takes place behind the dash not easy to do in the truck

Wires and fuses pulled from old 01 dash

These two fuses power electric mirrors and power drivers seat

No fuse

Fuses added

Wired into dash connector c215

Connector removed from its bracket
Dismantled
Keeper removed
Wired added
Put all back together
Trucks 100% test drive

Can be done in truck (above foot brake)

 

[1.8TTony]

Four is a nice number. .... I started flipping Sport Tracks a few years ago and vowed to never own one due to the timing chains/guides problem.

Now there are four of them in my household

One Adrenaline 2wd. (wife).
One Premium Preferred 2wd (daughter).
One XLT 4x4 w/manual transmission (me).
One XLT 2wd (son)

 

[410Fortune]

Wicked cool! We were just talking last night about how we need a red one we have gold white and blue here.
Sport trax is the perfect vehicle it is a ranger but with explorer ride and handling, 4 full doors and a small bed, rear window goes down! This one moonroof and sub with leather… I love this thing! Cannot wait to have it a daily driver around here. I’m thinking 285/75/16 for this one

I’m back onto the $700 v8 build. My stepson is also working on his 05 v8 build two bays over. Things happening quickly now

Our buddy who bought the v6 01 trac was so happy with it he gave us cinnamon rolls! These things should be illegal! Yum! Hard work pays off

Now back to wiring. I cut off the 96/97 injector plugs and installed 99/01 injector
Pigtails, then the wiring harness was cleaned and finally installed

Double up the heat shrink

Wiring laid in place

Fuel line is in, 99 line plugged directly in

Upper plenum dismantled and prepped for paint/install

Good fit with 2” body lift and 1” intake spacer

Transmission 5 speed harness and 02 harness prepped

Dipstick tube treated with rustoleum
Rust converter

 

[410Fortune]

Primer

Ford blue

Only as good as your smallest bottleneck

Almost dry

 

[410Fortune]

Dipstick installed

Ac compressor and line installed and clearing the power steering line

Back of intake prepped/plumbed for install

Engine and spacer cleaned ready w new gaskets

 

[Nctruckman]

I'm confused what year is the Trac that the V8 and 5speed going into?

 

[410Fortune]

2003, the white $700 truck is now v8 and 5 speed
Easy to get confused juggling so many trucks
We Also have a 05 in bay iii getting a v8

 

[Nctruckman]

2003, the white $700 truck is now v8 and 5 speed
Easy to get confused juggling so many trucks
We Also have a 05 in bay iii getting a v8

Does the analog style cluster make it easier as far as wiring goes, compared to the 04-05 Tracs and the 07 ranger build?

 

[410Fortune]

Yes the can bus cluster really makes things difficult for 5.0 conversions
However the cab bus systems are being hacked so it will not be long before we can interface with the 06+ style cluster

Ford the 07 ranger build I used a 2005 ranger
Cluster
The switch to canbus on rangers apparently was in 06
I just converted a 02 trac and a 04 ranger earlier this year to 5.0 in order to make those pcms work with the factory cluster I only need a Dakota digital speedometer interface everything else we deal with is just wires pretty straight forward
I have not jumped into the 2005 trac cluster over in bay iii yet…. If it is can bus then we will likely have to convert it to the older style
Can always go full blown aftermarket also, I have been known to build a full cluster using pieces of the factory dashpot/cluster now days with the android apps and tablets you can get really crafty ala digital dashboard

 

[BKennedy]

My daughter could use a Sport Trac with a V8 and auto to pull her horse trailers with, but I don't think it would pass California smog. That would be an almost ideal vehicle for her since she lives in a condo with limited parking.

 

[Josh P]

My daughter could use a Sport Trac with a V8 and auto to pull her horse trailers with, but I don't think it would pass California smog. That would be an almost ideal vehicle for her since she lives in a condo with limited parking.

An 01 would pass with the same year engine from an explorer

 

[410Fortune]

Fun with egr tubes!! Took me a bit to get the egr tube hooked up. I have headers and intake spacer which makes threading on the egr tube a huge pita
I use this solid rod to bend the tube as needed and eventually it all fit

And in goes the custom pcm

Coil pack and throttle
Cable brackets modded for the intake spacer

New alternator and brake master cylinder arrived

Time to delete the factory abs

 

[410Fortune]

95 explorer master cylinder no cruise no abs
Will be installed

First remove the abs module and old
Master

New master is bolted on
The old “front feed” brake line now fits the rear feed on master
I will need that fitting.
The rear brake line is cut, bent into shape and fitted with the new fitting (from the old front feed line)
New flare made and line is threaded in

Now time to cut

This fitting now will be used for rear brake line at master

Line is cleaned of its plastic coating (razor,
File, emery cloth) new flare added and then final bent to fit

 

[410Fortune]

Now time for the front lines
We will be adding this brass tee to split the front feed from the master to both front calipers
Lines were cut,
Prepped, new fittings added and flared.’bent into shape and threaded into new tee

We want them facing each other like this

Cut then cleaned and prepped

Fittings added flares made and threaded in

More On flaring in a minute, the next line can be built on the bench
This old short line has correct fitting for the front feed at the master I just need to bend it a bit and flare it for the feed side of the new tee

Once it is shaped it goes to vise to get its flare and fitting

How do we get there?

Plastic coating is removed
Double Flare added

Some filing is used and a few tricks I have learned to make a good flare

Flare a
Little

Then flare alot

And now we have it! No more
Abs module

Bye bye

Leftovers

Only thing I had to buy was the tee and a new master to delete the cruise switch

Clean!!

Now I will
Un thread the lines
Bench bleed the master cylinder with it mounted, then
Final Bleed all brakes

I will also blackout the abs light in the dash cluster

 

[410Fortune]

Speaking of
Master cylinders time for clutch hydraulics
This looks like a good spot

Time for ignition wires

Bank one

How I route them to avoid headers

Bank 2

Done for the night

Alternator and ac wiring going in
Next is the cooling stack, clutch hydraulics,’wire in the Dakota box,
Fluids and then fire this baby up