How to: 2WD to 4WD conversion; 98 Sport

[Lacky01]

sweet, I'm gonna try to make a decision on my tranny soon. If I decide to convert the tranny I have now would you be willing to sell the tailshsaft housing? then I would need to get the appropriate tailshaft and find a shop that will do the work.

I would prefer finding a complete transmission out of a first gen ex. it has the mounting spot for the shift linkage on the side. that's gonna be my best bet.

 

[04 EDGE]

Pretty sure the housing I have has the mounting points for the shifter.

 

[Lacky01]

oh, I didn't realize the mounting holes were on the tailshaft housing and not the main body. that's good news I think....

*EDIT*

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=250083

Lotsa fantastic info here ^^^. I need to talk to some shops around town and see if any of them would be willing to swap the housings. it sounds like they'll need to be able to order the correct output shaft too. I have no clue where to find one of those apart from tearing apart a 4WD tranny.

 

[Lacky01]

not an update, just letting people know I'm still alive.

I passed up a tranny/t-case on craigslist for a good price, I just don't have the extra money while I'm in school. but I've been beating on my daily driver and my truck is just waiting in the wings for its transplant. maybe with tax returns I can justify spending it on this swap. we'll see...

 

[Lacky01]

SWEET BEANS!! I picked up an M5OD-R1 for $175 the other day! Naturally its COATED in oil from the engine, but It should clean up nice. I have to replace the rear main seal, so I'll pick up a t-case, rear DS, clutch kit, slave cylinder, and flywheel next week so I can get that leak taken care of.

 

[Lacky01]

Tranny: $175
T-case: $75
D-shaft: $40

I'm gonna pick up the rest of the parts tomorrow and hopefully have the rear main seal replaced and the 4x4 tranny in next weekend

 

[Lacky01]

cleaned up the tranny and bought a few more parts:

HELP!! What are these connections?

And do I have to do anything to plug the speed sensor?

one more silly question: how much end play should there be on the tranny input shaft? there seems to be quite a bit, but no play at all on the output shaft.

I'll keep doing my research... :frospecta

 

[Lacky01]

HELP!![/B] What are these connections?

Would circle #1 happen to be the switch for the "4x4 Low" light?

 

[Lacky01]

I ordered the Kevlar clutch kit from Phoenixfriction. I heard about them from Elgatoprerunner from his Navajo BUILD THREAD. My price was $312 with free shipping. I should see it in a week I think.

 

[Lacky01]

from what I can tell, radial play on the input shaft isn't a big deal as long as there is no excess wear on the shaft and no lateral play. I'll double check the 2WD tranny when I pull it for further confirmation. can anyone tell me if I'm correct?

 

[slmdrngr]

Glad to see somebody doing this conversion, i found a pretty good deal on a trans and tcase from a 98 on craigslist, which my 4r55e in my 96 is bout to be on its last leg i believe, thi would be convient in the fact ive been planning this swap and I believe im bout to need a trans anyway

 

[Lacky01]

Awesome! I was in a similar boat. I had to pull the tranny for the rear main seal, and I would've replaced the flywheel, clutch and slave cylinder anyway, so this was an opportune time to get it done

 

[slmdrngr]

Yea, my rear main seal could use to be replaced also, but it isn't very bad yet, my main concern is the trans, especially in cold weather or when its cold, gotta let off gas to get into second and sometimes the same for 3rd, and then building a house on top of the prison work schedule gets in the way of everything, time and money wise

 

[damarble]

May I ask why you didn't just sell yours and buy a 4x4? I've never understood swaps that the end result is basically what you can already buy factory made.

Make sure you plug the speedo gear hole, it will leak. I just chopped up the plug that's there and gooped on some RTV but it does weep a little. A solid plug would be preferable.

 

[slmdrngr]

@DAMARBLE if your talking about myself, I've been planning it because I couldn't sell my vehicle for much with the miles on it, but i know what the engine is and the reliability of my particular engine and condition, i'm going to go with the manual hubs and http://theshiftster.com/ instead of shift motor, gunna buy two, one to use and one to rig up so i can use it without having to get out. And i also like to do things just to say i done it. On the speedo gear hole, where exactly are you talking about? on the t-case itself?

 

[damarble]

My comment was more towards Lackey.

I know what you mean about the high mileage and that's a fair reason.It's worth more to you than anybody else, that's how I feel about my 91.

 

[slmdrngr]

AHH ok, yea, mileage is my main reason, on a side note, i believe lacky was leaning towards SAS if i remember right

 

[IAmTodd]

from what I can tell, radial play on the input shaft isn't a big deal as long as there is no excess wear on the shaft and no lateral play. I'll double check the 2WD tranny when I pull it for further confirmation. can anyone tell me if I'm correct?

That's correct as the pilot bearing in the flywheel will support the shaft.

Good luck with the swap!

I've never understood swaps that the end result is basically what you can already buy factory made.

After doing a manual swap I can tell you that it's much easier to find a good shell and tailor it to what you want. Especially the older years. I know I put it together with new parts and that they will last. And there's a huge amount of self satisfaction knowing that you've done the job yourself.

 

[damarble]

After doing a manual swap I can tell you that it's much easier to find a good shell and tailor it to what you want. Especially the older years. I know I put it together with new parts and that they will last. And there's a huge amount of self satisfaction knowing that you've done the job yourself.

I can see that being the case in some places. I'm just going off what is around here, and if there's a stock config I want I can usually find it. We don't have any rust so the older vehicles stay in decent shape.

 

[slmdrngr]

I know, i see second gen x's here for steal all the time that would be good for offroading, i just dont ever have an extra 5-1000 bucks all at once, building this house eats all my funds lol, plus im not trying to build an extreme offroad machine, myslef i just want something simple and reliable for hunting/dd. I'm anxious to see how lacky's project turns out, im glad somebody is doing it.