New to Me 17 Sport, Modification Thread

[peterk9]

Nicely done. Thanks for posting.

Peter

 

[Blown]

I have enjoyed this forum and have gotten much from it. It is/was a great resource for the work I did and I hope I contributed back some.

Peter, I see how much you have put into the forum, thank you.

I usually find satisfaction in fixing-up and keeping-up with my rigs. This was easy compared to the supercharged, rock crawler with one ton running gear or even my last Explorer. I really have slowed down a bunch. I look forward to using it as I intend with the modifications. I think this will be my last little build-up.

We get to play in the snow, storm coming, there may be a foot total by Wednesday morning in the mountains.

 

[Paul]

I can get an ST in a few years…….

Might need you to send me a PM when you decide to let this one go . . .

Well done, great blend of performance and storage mods, Enjoying following along - - never strayed much from the 1st Gen / Ranger section into the later models.

Paul

 

[Blown]

I am going to revisit the rear lift. I had a free alignment check done to double check my work. I had a bit too much toe in the front and the tech reported that the bushings in the rear lower control arms needed to be looked at. The spring spacer pushes the wheel down for lift, but also has the effect of pulling the wheel forward. This is due to the fixed length of the Trailing link. As the wheel is pushed down the link pulls forward and twists the lower control arm up. The lower control arm bushings are in a bind. The solution is to lengthen the Trailing links. They will be to cut, sleeved with DOM and welded to lengthen them. I found a piece of 1/4" wall, 3/4" inside diameter DOM tubing. This should take away some of the twist at the lower control arm bushing and put the wheel back closer to the center of the wheel well.

It may be a while but I'll get a fix pics showing this issue and fix.

 

[Blown]

This pic shows the issue:

You can see the twist at the LCA mount:

 

[Steve8316]

The solution is to lengthen the Trailing links. They will be to cut, sleeved with DOM and welded to lengthen them.

That has to be the riskiest, hardest "solution". If you get the length wrong, or not equal to the other side, or if there's a weak weld...

It would be much safer to either add an extension somewhere, or lower the LCA front mounting point by the same distance as the lift puck (which would approximate the original geometry better).

 

[Blown]

I will try some trigonometry to get the length.

This solution should be as easy as welding in rod ends. The DOM will be drilled for a couple of plug welds in addition to welding around the circumference.

There are replacement bushings available for the LCA’s might as well do them as they are cracking.

 

[Steve8316]

I will try some trigonometry to get the length.

That won't fix the geometry. For the same reason the link is pulling the knuckle forward now, simply lengthening it will cause the knuckle to move forward even more when the suspension droops, and rearward when it compresses. For the suspension to work right, that link needs to be horizontal at normal ride height. Same for most of the others.

 

[Blown]

So, thinking this through more, my plan is changing. I will make the DOM sleeves the full length needed. The DOM will not be only a splice but cover the full length of the existing rods. The DOM will be customized for a nice fit to the existing rod ends, and welded to the rod ends just as the stock unit is. This will be stronger than stock with no worries of the stock rods being weakened by welding around their circumference. I will still do a couple of plug welds in each to be sure. Again this may be a while to actually get done, but I'll post-up good, safe, work when I do. I have found bushings as these will be torched out before I weld it up. I will trial fit before I decide on length, uhhh plus the Trig.

 

[Blown]

That won't fix the geometry. For the same reason the link is pulling the knuckle forward now, simply lengthening it will cause the knuckle to move forward even more when the suspension droops, and rearward when it compresses. For the suspension to work right, that link needs to be horizontal at normal ride height. Same for most of the others.

This is not true. The existing link was never horizontal when stock. It simply will not move as far forward if it is pushed a little further back! You are not making sense and have not thought this through.

Please just stay out of my posts. I'll grant you the same and beyond that I am ignoring you now.

 

[Blown]

I got my rig out on a 4 wheel drive, BLM track yesterday. It got us to a great hike.

In my experience I'd rate the trail a 2.5 for deep ruts, and rocky sections. It required good clearance and tire placement. We got the tires to slip a bit and pulled a wheel to teeter totter in three little rock gardens. It is the most difficult trail I would run in this rig and the most I built for. I aired down to 22lbs for a sweet ride. I liked the hill decent control. It was a good enough replacement for low range when crawling downhill on this moderate trail.

I had trimmed-up the front air dam. I still drug it through several cross ruts/wash throughs on the trail. It survived but I removed it today which required a little cutting to get the front fenders the right height and two air dam supports removed the were molded onto each side of the front bumper cover. It wouldn't have looked right with them hanging lower.

I will start pulling the air diverter to the rear exhaust/turbo/PTU each time I get out like this when I air down...............

I

 

[Blown]

Making shade easier?

I used a couple pieces of oval aluminum tube I had for the roof rack on my old 2000 X. They are now shade tarp attachment arms. They were bent prior to this use which works good to get a bit more height to clear the hatch and me at 6'2". Each arm attaches with two 1/4" bolts down into rivet nut inserts which I installed in the rear cross bar of our tear drop camper and Explorer. I'll carry these shades arms, an 8X10 tarp, two poles, stakes and guide/hold down cords to make quick shade or get out of the rain..........

I shot a couple of quick pics on the tear drop:

I got the joy of replacing the AC Condenser a couple of weeks ago. It had a pinhole leak in the front. I can see that the new condenser has already caught a few small rocks. I do not like how open the mesh is on the front grill. I was looking at fitting some mesh, but searched first and found some premade pieces for the job. These will mount over the existing grill as inserts. The upper grill is still open, but at least I know there is a heavy duty intercooler there............

 

[Blown]

I removed the front lower bolts on the front bumper cover to able to pull-open the lower bumper cover enough to reach in to mount these. The prior removal of the lower air dam made it easier.
No drilling was required to mount the lower and it was relatively easy to reach.
The upper piece mounting was difficult to reach inside. I drilled out the rivets on the mounting plates and moved them out further to the sides. That allowed me to be able to mount it from the front into the plastic grill. I added 3M double sided mounting tape where I could hide it above and below. It also required cutting around the front camera. I hope the Powder Coat and Stainless hold up but time will tell of the quality of both.

Before:

After:

 

[Blown]

The rig is working better than intended! I am impressed with how well it grabs the terrain here in mud/ruts mode and the hill decent is great! It has allowed us confidently pull our little, tear-drop camper out further and down smaller BLM/Forest roads.

I did change-up the tow hitch. I bought an adjustable height unit. I went out and tested and it was hanging too low and caught ground through a small suppression. I was used to running a trailer level, but there's more trail clearance at the drop hitch by running the trailer tongue/hitch higher. I run with the hitch ball about 2-1/2" higher than what would have the trailer level and I trimmed the hitch and ball up as high as I could so as to not drag them. I welded an additional 2" receiver to it to haul bikes.

This pic shows the hitch after I moved the ball up and trimmed both the ball and hitch:

This shows the hitch ball set to level the trailer when towing and was too low:

I recently inspected the bushings at the rear LCA's. Yup, still in a little bind but I see no deterioration after getting it out and using it.

 

[Steve8316]

Something like this would give you a little more height on the tongue, if you need it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003AT8HVC?tag=seriouexplor-20

 

[Blown]

Something like this would give you a little more height on the tongue, if you need it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003AT8HVC?tag=seriouexplor-20

Thx, Yep, I went looking for a solution to haul bikes and saw that style. That style gave me the idea to weld this up. I think I got a good balance in tongue height so as not to drag the tongue/receiver nor the rear of the trailer. I can drop it 2" to level the trailer for highway trips. I made it withe the second receiver as high as I could and still be able to open the rear hatch with it installed. This trailer is a small tear drop with a short tongue so I maximized the mounting space for bikes. The adjustable hitch is a bit longer than a standard hitch and I welded the second receiver as close to the bumper as possible both help clear bikes away from the trailer.