1999 Mounty 5.0 aka My Great Bad Idea

[CDW6212R]

Sounds pretty much like the technique I was using! I think part of my issue was that the Expedition was propped up on old rims in the exact spot I neede to lay to reasonably get at the rear bolts on the shaft. I'll bring my bigger impact and a second extension next time and hopefully I can pop the bolts loose.

Have you ever come across a rear drive shaft with a DC joint in front? Thinking about it more, I'm wondering if it might actually be an upgrade from the regular shaft.

I had a front shaft made from two, one had the double cardon joint. I'm unlikely to use it or the BW4406 TOD TC I got back then too.

This was from when I rebuilt my Mountaineer's front suspension long ago.

 

[410Fortune]

A cardan joint in the rear axle not needed with slip yoke

With the slip yoke rear d shaft you want the two u joint angles to match, in our case it’s about 7 degrees

Would be nice to have for a front d shaft in a lifted truck

 

[97Sandbox]

A cardan joint in the rear axle not needed with slip yoke

With the slip yoke rear d shaft you want the two u joint angles to match, in our case it’s about 7 degrees

Would be nice to have for a front d shaft in a lifted truck

Okay sounds good, that's what I was concerned about. I'll go back for a different rear drive shaft sometime.

I'm haven't seen an Expedition with a DC joint in front but I'll have to look closer next time too.

 

[410Fortune]

All these ifs trucks have static front diffs, they do t move so no real need for a cardan
Unless you drop the diff due to a drop bracket lift kit

 

[CDW6212R]

I think some of the vibration issues have ended up being the trans mount, old and worn, the bigger TC drops it down a little more with that TC. I think checking the front u-joint angles is smart, to be sure they are still within the proper range.

 

[97Sandbox]

Thanks guys! I'm very green when it comes to the 4wd stuff so all your input is much appreciated.

 

[97Sandbox]

Made a lot of progress on the coop this weekend!

Got good practice welding the cattle panel together for the run

All the progress was made possible with my parents help. They brought out their '08 XLT -- their rig is clean!

 

[97Sandbox]

Drive shaft bolts were no match for the Fuel HTIW, gotta bring the big boy scrapping from now on:

 

[410Fortune]

The only thing tougher then my dewalt 20v heavy duty impact (1300 ft lbs!) is the Milwaukee 18v heavy duty impact My buddy bought. Of course right? So I have this big impact, his name is Hank. Well Hank met his match in some ranger bed bolts he would not budge two of them. My buddy gets “big red” out and the Milwaukee had no issue with those same
Bolts. So now my dewalt is named Henrietta and I need me some more Milwaukee tools!
To be fair my impact has been beat on pretty bad for the last five years hahahaha his Milwaukee is brand new

 

[97Sandbox]

No amazing gems were found during my salvage yard adventure, but I did get what I needed for the Mounty. Besides the Navigator drive shafts, I got a block/separator plate for a 4.9 (I was going to try the 4.2 plate, but unsure if it will fit due to different starter), 'trac flooring and mats, a hitch to go into the receiver I picked up a couple weeks ago, and lots of misc hardware.

I also saw a few cool/semi-rare 3-pedaled trucks, which was neat.

• 02 'Trac with M5R1-HD
• 2000s F150 with 4.6 and M5R2 -- don't let one of these screw up your Explorer build! Much less common than the 4.2/M5R2 donors we use.
• 2000s F250 with 5.4 and ZF(?) -- makes me think how fun a manual swapped 5.4 Expedition or Navigator could be as a family hauler....

 

[410Fortune]

Cool you will like that floor!

 

[97Sandbox]

Cool you will like that floor!

I think so! Your 8trac put the idea in my head and I think it'll be great for a farm truck.

One other farm truck-style item I saw and almost bought today was a grey Ranger bench seat. It was a full bench seat and vinyl (I don't see these often), so it would've looked at home in the Mounty with leather/vinyl seats and door trim.

However, after sitting in it and realizing how much not having an armrest would suck, I decided I'll look for a decent condition 60/40 split bench instead. I see a lot of those, but they're usually beat to death (all the ones I saw today were).

Might just have to buy beat up ones and make a custom setup using my current Mounty bucket seats and the Ranger seats together. Not sure if my grandma's old Singer machine could handle the vinyl, but I'd be interested in experimenting with the upholstery using the Ranger fabric as a pattern. I've found old seatbacks are a great place to get color-matching material.

 

[410Fortune]

Yes! Lots of ranger benches out there believe it or not I have now had two explorers with factory front bench seats (same bench they used in the ranger)

I cut the material off the seat backs and keep a stack of the vinyl around in the diff colors, the seat backs from bad seats are the perfect material for Re covering the armrests

Ranger bench’s the middle arm rest is always broken!!! Always! Stupid design
The standard cab benches with the vinyl… they are just not that comfy not enough room in a ranger cab for backrest padding

With some plyers a industrial needle and some fishing line I often work with the factory materials… e6000 hobby glue will
Hold as good as sewing too

 

[97Sandbox]

Also, for anyone else who was curious, I finally compared the 4.9 and 4.2 block plates last night. The 4.2 has all of the holes of the 4.9, plus two extra along the bottom. The 4.9 plate could certainly be drilled to work with a trans from a 4.2 though. More importantly, the starter holes are the same size and orientation. Based on this, I think any plate from a manual 90s F150 can work in a swap regardless of coming from 5.0/4.9/4.2 (just not 4.6).
4.9:

4.2:

 

[97Sandbox]

Yes! Lots of ranger benches out there believe it or not I have now had two explorers with factory front bench seats (same bench they used in the ranger)

Are you sure the Explorer benches are the same as Rangers? I was looking though old salvage yard pictures and saw one of a 2nd gen with a bench:

Looks nicer than the Ranger seats I've seen recently, but maybe I'm just looking at different year variations. Had I known I'd end up buying the Mounty, I would've bought the seat in the picture above!

 

[410Fortune]

Looks like a ranger bench to me, from a super cab

I’ve never done it but the explorers I’ve had w the bench appear to use same mounting tracks and seatbelt setup as the ranger

 

[97Sandbox]

I wonder if I can keep the current passenger seat then and just make a custom 60% seat out of a Ranger split bench. I'll have to keep a lookout for one without a broken armrest!

 

[97Sandbox]

I'm in the home stretch of the chicken coop and finally started disassembly of the 302 last night, I'll be chipping away at it one evening at a time.

I've also been wondering if I could make a custom transfer case shift lever that snakes up into the trans tunnel so I could use one of these dual shifter bezels (from M5R1/BW1354 trucks):

I remember seeing a couple of those when I was looking for the non-4x4 version for my Sport. Ironically, I haven't seen another since and I didn't realize then how sought after they are and think to grab one. We'll see if I can find one before it comes time to cut a hole in my floor.

I did see an auto Ranger with a 1354 last weekend -- I was going to grab the boot just because I'd never seen it before, but after fumbling with the shift linkage and deciding it wasn't going to be quick to take out, I just took a picture and moved on.

 

[Turdle]

I think you can cut your hole for the shift lever, then reform the lever ( bend it) to fit.

The hole will have to be larger though , higher up the tunnel.

 

[410Fortune]

Heat lever and bend into an “s” shape to make that combo boot work
We have a couple of those here I’ll see if we can part with one (check my stash and ask stepson if he wants to get rid of one) he has some fx4 chrome setups too $$$$$

For years I collected every combo of boots I could find
Now my stepson does the same thing

Progress on your 302!! Go go go