Tbars Project "X" begins

Cool, I like seeing the chrome shine

i have spent the last week reading EVERY single post. any updates? i love your truck. haha

..Thanks for taking the time..

..Nothing new...I just been working on my Ranger and the X has been playing the role of grocery/parts getter..But don't worry, there is always something I'm wanting to do to my trucks..:biggthump

...and the jealousy between my trucks continues..

...Been getting parts and working on maintenance on the Ranger..The X is now developed the week fuel pump syndrome..

..Key on 2-3 times before starting to get her to start..I'm wondering how long she will hold out as I want to do the fuel pump, FPR, and fuel filter at the same time but moneys going to getting the Rangers stuff done first...

..I'm pretty sure this is the answer to the weird on again off again pinging I speratically get but can't track down..

Just got done skimming through the 6045 and 1/2 pages of project X and I liked it. I like the gray color of the truck and all the things you have done to it. Makes me motivated and makes me want to keep my first gen for a long time and maybe have my truck as capible as yours one day. Nice build and nice registry, keep it up man and im sure you will.

...Thanks for the compliments..

..It's a keeper plus, it will never get finished....

How did you put those rails on the bottom sides? I want something similar to that, would I just take the side skirts off?

...Not sure what post number you are talking about..

...I think you are referring to the sliders..I fabricated mine and had them triple welded to the frame...If you do a search on here for "Sliders", you will find several different designs and also some are welded and some are made as bolt ons..

Ahh yes thats what theyre called. Thanks ill do a search.

...Still chasing the intermittent ping..

...This turned into an emergeny this afternoon as I thought I blew a hole in a piston..

...Still haven't found a consistency in the ping to chase it and still betting it's a week fuel pump...:scratch:

...Needed the X to pull a trailer but had to go pick everything up first...About 90-95 with matching humidity this a.m. and got have way to pick up with empty trailer and the X started pinging...Figuring I would romp on it a few times to see if it clears up
or if it would get worse...The pinging got a bit worse...

...Running thru the hills with one to climb I figured I would see if it could bog down....Sure enough but it started missing and by the time I crested the hill and was on the downhill side coasting down, one cylinder was gone and another had a slight miss...

...Pulled it over and shut her off and I wasn't even halfway to my pickup spot....This was going to ne a long day....Jumped out and read for codes but nada...It had a few minutes to cool off, started her up and slowly headed onward...No pinging for a mile but still missing on 2 but definitely not as bad...

...Got my order loaded, headed twice as far in the other direction and the same thing, speratic pinging a light miss on 2 cylinders even at idle or no gas downhil but the temps weren't rising and everything read normal..

...Went chasing plugs and wires since it's been a while and figured if it's not the plugs, it could be the wires, and if it's not that, this could now be major...

While I was at it I figured I would check my booster grommet and sure enough it was cracked......More on that later..

..Went and grabbed a new set of Autokite double Platinums, some Bosch wires and re-used the grommet I took of my Ranger yesterday...

...By now the X had cooled off I I can test a couple things like if it's missing or pinging on a cold start...Definitely missing now on a couple cylinders and a little ping on a steady rev...Shut her down and swapped the cracked old grommet out and same thing...

..Swapped all the plugs out and took gap readings and it appears one pf the old APP plugs has barely been running as it hardly shown any signs of mileage wear while another plug next to it was the same as the rest but I determimed by starting afer each plug it also had a problem...

...With them all changed the truck started up and purred...:biggthump

..Swapped in the new set of wires for G.P. since they were under Lifetime Warranty and all seems good...Romped on her a few times and one of the last times before home I got some slight pinging...:thumbdwn:

...Will be getting a new grommet and hopefully that will cure that or I'm chasing the Fuel pump and FPR next...

...Back to the grommet from my Ranger thread..

Tbars4 said:

...When we were bleeding my brakes last week and when it came to pumping them with the motor running to check for any fade, I noticed a bit of an idle change and partial spudder while doing this..I knew then my booster grommet would need to be addressed soon..

...Needless to say it's gotten hotter then Hades this week so when the A/C is running I started to notice the huge loss of power and idle fluctuation..So off I went shopping for a new Grommet..

...Used to be able to get one from the "Help" section but now the only ones the offer don't fit..

From all the major chains by me they only sold these Dorman generic parts and all the grommets were wrong..

P/N's

80189
80190
80191

...Ran by NAPA and they had one that's a perfect fit

Napa power brake booster check valve w/grommet P/N 89000

Click to expand...

...Went to Ford looking for a 91-94 power booster check valve and or just the grommet...They sell them separately and they were all out of stock and would have to order them in....

...Went to Napa and they don't even list them on their computer for the 91-94 Explorer anymore...Tried the old one for the Ranger and it worked...Will be ordering one for a 95 Ranger from NAPA tomorrow as it's an exact fit and I bought there last one yesterday for my Ranger..

In other news..

...Swore I walked up to RangerX from behind at NAPA but it was this guy instead...Same height as RangerX..

...Took my X out to meet Rick and the Zukman's on Saturday...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323607

...My fuel mileage was a bit down and still have the ping after new wires and plugs...Haven't found a vacuum leak yet so I'm still leaning to FPR and fuel pump which have tested fine but believe they are weak..Also thinking I may need to add a coil pack to the maintenance items...:scratch:

..Today, I got the battery light and just snugged up the cables and 1 bolt on back of the alternator...It was good to go all day but this eve it looks like it's not charging again (no battery light yet)..

..Gonna clean up all the connections and keep an eye on it as I believe my alt just went off warranty..

..Later that eve I pulled the cables and cleaned every connection and ground point..The negative post had very slight corrosion but all seems fine now..:scratch:

..took the time to also change out the PCV valve, grommet, and elbow...Originally went to Ford and these parts would be about $55 bucks but no one had them around...They do currently have them in stock in Vista, Ca..

..So I ran over to NAPA and grabbed the valve and grommet from them...My grommet and hose were completely toast as in cooked...I couldn't find a hose though so I just used a heater hose elbow for now...Will shop this around but not planning on spending $30 on 3" of hose anytime soon...

...I haven't had much seat time in the X since the repairs as I've been driving the snot out of the Ranger for out of town work..

...The ping seems to have subsided and from what I can tell the mpg's are a bit better but one thing is highly noticeable since these recent repairs..

...For some unknown reason, I have lost the badass drone when my X goes into overdrive...The Flowmaster used to go into a deep Booooooowwwwnnn when it hit fourth but now it sounds the same thru all the gears..No exhaust leaks or anything..

...Still got that stupid ping and I'm going to have to break down and fix it one day..

...I've got the deep base back into the muffler so I'm not sure what was up with that..

..And I now have the answer of how is my X so fast and what makes it sound so good?..

..I happened to find this the other day...Installed by the previous owner I guess..

..I saw this brand new X and it seemed to be the same color as mine..I just had to snap a pic of new vs. old for comparison...

...I had some time this week to work on and drive the X..

..First was to work on the AGR pump whine..This one is Phil's fault..

We've been playing around with our AGR pumps and may have found a solution..The party begins about post #57 of this thread...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240227&page=3

Click to expand...

...Then today I got to tighten down the valve covers...Seems both sides were loose from the middle to the rear but the fronts were tight..

...That helped with the oil leak but I wanted to spend some time chasing the ping/knock under load..

..Next were the 8 upper intake bolts..They were pretty tight but I snugged them up a hair more..

..I also spent some time with the motor running and a water bottle.....I misted all over the dang thing with out an rpm change in hopes of finding a vacuum leak or short but with no luck..

..I'm open for suggestions but I am not ready to open up the manifolds just yet..

...Oh yea...My idle is up a bit and won't drop...IAC and Maf have like 1500 miles on them...I also need to fix the tach from the wreck..Hopefully that;s just a plug it back in deal..

Tbars4 said:

...I had some time this week to work on and drive the X..

..First was to work on the AGR pump whine..This one is Phil's fault..

Click to expand...

O RLY? :shifty_ey


BTW, your new/old picture looks photoshopped. I know the new X is way bigger (not taller, just bigger)


EDIT: HAW! caught ya. The old one is parked 4ft closer to the camera.

..No PS I promise...

...That is why I took the picture was for size comparison..I have 15" wheels and I think the new X's have 20" wheels..

..Just using the wheels for a better size parameter...

Friday the 13th

..Thats the day I chose to get home in time to do my last minute maintenance before I took the X on it's longest drive ever since I've owned it..

..700 miles to Moab, approx 300-400 miles on/off trail, then back home..Trip report can be found here..
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=352743

..The decision to take the Project "X" this year instead of the Ranger was determined by having to much left to do maintenance wise on the Ranger and some of the repair items I would be performing again in order to do the upgrades I've been gathering parts for..

..Ok..Back to Friday the 13th..

...It's pouring rain on my way home from out of town to go pick up my X..My work on the truck is now going to be determined if I can get into one of my buddies shops so I swang by one of the shops on the way to my X.

..My buddy said he wasn't to busy so bring the truck on over but then I told him what the plans were as it is now 11 am and I still need to get the truck over here..

New drivers side rotor
New front calipers
New pads
check and fill all fluids
oil filter and change
JB Weld front pumpkin

..He said no problem...Now I just needed to round up all the parts so I headed off to the different parts stores and , no problem...Everything was in stock and came with everything I needed..Wow, this is going to be easy..

..I get back to my buddies shop at 1:30, get the truck in on the rack and roll the big shop door down..By this time the thunder is directly over us and now the concern is the amount of rain on the flat roof over us..

..Everything works out great and everything goes perfectly so about 3:30 I'm headed off to Lowes to get a last minute 8 gal. action packer. I pick that up, get something to eat on the way, and the last thing I need to do is head over to where my X and my gear live to load up the truck then I'm on the road tonight before the roads close due to ice and snow..

..I go to back the X up to my shed and CLUNK..

..I stick my head out the window and put it into drive and reverse a couple times..Yea I know that sound..I broke the friggin RA again..

..It's now 5 o'clock Friday night and every shop I know is closed or won't have the time for me to tear the RA off and weld it tonight..I call one of my buddies who is close to one of my muffler shops to see if I can come by in the a.m. to tear down the truck and run the RA over to the welder..

..He ask me what I'm doing now and I explained nothing but I need to get this to a good welder since I'm heading a long way from home to go wheeling..He says no problem, There is a welder on sight that is an Aerospace welder..

..WTH...I dropped everything and headed right over..He had a spot and a rack ready for me and with his air tools I swear it only took 20 minutes to remove the RA...


The welder needed a half hour as he was already doing something..So, by 7 pm I am now ready to go except I now have a pull to the left..

..I head over to Firestone to see if they are open and I just missed them..

..That's ok as I'm pretty tired now even though the adrenaline is still pumping over the excitement of this trip..

..I wind up at Firestone to get my free alignment (Paid Lifetime alignment) at 7 a.m. when they open and it's a big line..Turns out a couple of employees their are wheelers and they got me in and out of there pretty quick..



..They told me the truck is almost 100% on their pre inspection and I said no problem, right now I'm a 50% kinda guy..:

..Drivers side tie rod failed..I had them just toe the darn truck and told them I will be back after the trip..It was one of those decisions..

..:scratch:..I decided I will probably fix the tie rod (or the whole rack) after I go wheeling..I'm pretty sure it will be bent out of shape again but also, I never haul this much weight in it so the TTB is not setting where it normally would..

..Talking about that..After finally getting on the road I found out the truck is a bit to flexy to be carrying all this weight..

..Over 65 it fast waddles like a fat whale on all fours..at 65 she is smooth as can be so slow is the way I'm gonna roll...

..With all that said...

..My Highway mileage for this trip is the best I've ever got...:scratch:..Even though I still have that intermittent ping the truck seems pretty much happy..

..While my previous trips (not carrying the extra weight) had netted me like 16.5, the highway mileage this trip has ranged from 17.14 - 17.68 ...

..My aerodynamics must have improved..: