91 XLT Solid Axle Swap

[Chief34]

heh, my girlfriend loves it. Likes to call it "her" truck
I gave a very specific list of how i wanted it done and to look like, but no a friend of mine actually did it. His shop is in El Cajon, Ca. They lifted it for me. turned out about
90% the way i wanted it id have to say. Little things i can fix to make it how i wanted it 100%. Anyway, I am very happy with how it turned out. Even though there are still a whole S__ load of things that I still want to do to it. Thanks for the comliments.

 

[Chief34]

Alright, I bought a 3" body lift and it comes in on moday. I am going to put a cobra motor and tranny in my truck soon. The body lift gives a lot more room and makes it a lot easier to fit the 302 block in there. Also I want to run 38.5" X 14" swampers after these wear out. So this will allow me to do that. I'll post pics as soon as im done. LATE!

-Tim

 

[Chief34]

Alright, I bought a 3" body lift and it comes in on moday. I am going to put a cobra motor and tranny in my truck soon. The body lift gives a lot more room and makes it a lot easier to fit the 302 block in there. Also I want to run 38.5" X 14" swampers after these wear out. So this will allow me to do that. I'll post pics as soon as im done. LATE!

-Tim

 

[JoshC]

Geez Tim, that's awesome. Did you get it regeared yet? What year cobra are you using. Speaking of cobra. I'm watching "Gone in 60 seconds." Ohhh, the ultimate mans movie.

Happy trails!!

 

[Chief34]

NO i still havent done the front gearing yet unfortunately. Damn i need to get on that. Anyway, it is going to be a 93,94,or 95 cobra. 302 block with the T-5 Worlds tranny. (manual 5 speed). Kills two birds with one big stone. Bye bye weak A4ld and hello serious power. I cant wait! are you going to AZ next weekend josh? Have you been riding your YZ?

 

[JoshC]

You must be thinking of the wrong Josh, i live about 4 days from AZ, i'm in WV. Maybe one day i'll make it out there..lol.

Good choice with the engine tranny combo, that will be very awesome.

Happy trails!!

 

[Chief34]

Heh, I just realized that. Never mind then. LOL. Anyway thanks, this combo should be real nice when it is all done. I'll probably go ahead and stroke it to a 347 before it goes in. I am going to put it on the dino and my goal is 400 or so HP with at least that in torque. Then after it is all ready ill drop it in and put a blower on it to make it really kick. Ultimate goal is to have 500 HP to the wheels and major torque, but i have to talk to my engine buddy about that to find out how much torque is obtainable. Oh yeah and the whole thing will be built Dependable strong.

 

[Robb]

Tim,
I hate to sound like a Doubting Thomas with your mods, but I have to ask some questions here.

Do you think that either the D30 or the 8.8 is up to the task of 400HP/400ftlbs running 38.5x14"s? That is a lot of strain. The D30 should fall to pieces in a matter of minutes. What do you mean when you say "Dependable" strong? What exactly are your plans?

Robb

 

[Chief34]

I mean that i am going to build the engine with the strongest parts like titanium valves, keepers and pushrods...etc. So that the motor will be dependable even though it has so much power. Usually a good rule to go by is 1 HP per cubic inch. So you should not usually go over 300 HP with a 302 block to be dependable. But there are ways to do it.
As far as the drivetrain goes, I have already stated a few times that i am going to put a dana 60 in the rear and a dana 44 up front when these diffs break. Although, they are doing fine so far.

 

[Chief34]

Ok, 3" Body Lift is almost done. I just have to make mounts for my e-fan, bolt the bumpers back on, and put the Seats back in. Everything should be done tomorrow.
I'll try to get some good pics. I cant believe the difference it made. Seems quite a bit taller. It also definatley made room for the 38.5X14X15 swampers that I will put on it when these 37X12.50's wear out.

The lift posed only one problem for me. Well actually it allowed me quite a bit more Wheel travel which is great. The only problem is in the Pocket book. My 10" Fox shocks with resevoirs up front need to be a lot longer to maximize my wheel travel. The Apex of the shock tower could be about 4 inches higher now, which would allow me to put 14" shocks in and have a lot more travel. I could even lower the bottom shock mount an inch or two and have 16" Shocks. Only problem is these shocks are like 4 months old and were about 800$. Plus it would be a pain in the A$$ to make a new hoop bend for the shocks because the one I have is welded to the frame. They would have to be cut off and new ones would have to be made. This means more money. So for now it will have to do, but eventually i'll have to do something about this. The only thing that sucks is the front fenderwells just dont look quite right anymore because the shocks and hoop dont extend all the way to the top anymore.
I'll get some photos tomorrow after im done if all goes well, and i'll try to get them on here. Happy Trails!
-Tim

 

[JoshC]

Sounds HUGE! You'll have to change your signature now

 

[Chief34]

Heh, I know sig will definately have to be changed. I am almost done with the lift. I keep having to work late and havent had time to finish it quite yet. I have to work tomorrow but I should have it all wrapped up by Sunday. I'll try to post some pics on Sunday as well.

 

[Chief34]

Finally !!!!!!!!!! I finished up the 3" Body Lift yesterday. I havent had a lot of time to work on it. It also doesen't help that The POS Kit does not have any REAL bumper brackets. So I put the body lift on no problem, It didnt take long at all. Then, I had to cut drill and fab the damn so called "bumper relocation brackets" into a set of bumper relocation brackets. After buying a 4 1/2" Dewalt grinder from home depot yesterday I notched out the back bumper a bit as needed and the lift was complete.
I am very pleased with it now that it is done though and I am very glad that i didnt pay $600 bucks to get it installed. Now I have room for the 302 cobra swap that im going to do. I also have more wheel well room. Everything looks great. I'll try to get some pictures soon. It keeps raining out here so It made it hard for me to work on it and it is making it hard to get pictures, but i'll get them soon, hopefully tomorrow or later on today.

 

[Chief34]

TDS 2003

So I finally got to meet a few of you. I hope yall had fun at TDS, I know I did. I wish we would have gotten to do more wheelin' together. For some reason we could never get all together at once out there. Anyway, maybe next time.
It was nice to meet yall, I cant wait till the next run!

Here a some pictures of my truck over the weekend.

There Some pretty good AIR SHOTS!!! coming SOON. I was catching some good air off this hill for a guy from "OFF ROAD" magazine. He wanted to put some pics of my truck in the Mag. Hopefully it will be in there like he said soon.
I told him a couple of things that are in the plans for the truck, and he said that he would like to do a feature on it later, so if all goes well hopefully that will happen.

Anyway, these flex shots and a couple hill shots will have to do for now. The guy is going to email me the AIR pictures, and I will get them on here as soon as I get them.

 

[Chief34]

TDS 2003

 

[Chief34]

tds 2003

 

[Chief34]

tds
C:\My Documents\My pictures\Explorer pics\Tierra Del Sol 2003\Tierra Del Sol WEB\Front suspension while flexing_WEB.jpg

 

[Chief34]

This hill was soo soft that it you didnt have lockers front and rear you wouldnt make it. I actually made it quite far before I had to be whinched the rest of the way. This was the only place I had to be winched.

 

[Chief34]

tds

 

[Chief34]

This was way more steep than it looks. The pic just didnt do any justice here. Anyway, here it is.