410Custom's builds a 2007 Ranger V8 - custom truck build - Project "Ranger Premier"

[allmyEXes]

Maybe the first wideband o2 sensor had problems to begin with?

 

[410Fortune]

Thanks tim for the link
This changes things for me

 

[410Fortune]

Dick move
How much money do you guys think I made in this truck through all of this the last 6 years?
After all this warranty work
Trips to Seattle with parts to make it right

I put my heart and soul into this build

I have two projects I’m finishing for other people after that I Will NEVER BUILD ANOTHER TRUCK FOR ANYONE AGAIN

How many times did I re work the seats?
How many upgrades did I do out of my own pocket? How many hours of research?

What I told him is the drivelines are balanced before I cut 3” out of them, as long as you keep them in phase you don’t need balancing
Modern wheels and tires 35s on a ranger I only balance them if they wobblenever had issue the first 200
Miles
I paid for all of this
I made nothing on this truck
Now I’m out of pocket
And I didn’t give a ****
Just wanted him to have a nice ride because he was generous to
My stepson when he was diagnosed with cancer. I don’t even speak to that stepson anymore he cost me half
My family and turned into an abusive dick
And here I am losing sleep sick with pneumonia and running to town for. $140 02 sensor just to come home and see this??

****

I’m about to delete this thread and move the truck to public property let him deal with it

The answer is I made nothing at the end of the day and was starting to go out of Pocket
My poor family went though all of this

All the paint
All the extras
There is no warranty when you have your friend build a truck
I’m an elevator guy this is my hobby you knew this

I understand being upset when your engine blew and looking for answers it that is over and above a dock move in my opinion

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Eddie (down with it) has now deleted the thread.. i already screen shot it…

 

[JoshT]

He's worried about it and asked questions, albeit poor framing. He did wait 6 years, then experience catastrophic failure after getting it home the first time. Now he's being asked to repeat the experience. He's frustrated, concerned, and it really isn't easy to frame a message or explain the history in the format provided by those groups. It also sounds to me that someone doesn't understand what to expect from a build of this extent. It's normal to have to go through and check or retorque bolts and fasteners after so many miles. Imbalance vibrations didn't shake things loose, things just seated more and loosened up after getting miles on it.

FB group was not a good place for him to be asking anything. I'm a member of some of those Holley FB groups as well, and I've seen some of those names pop up on them. They are a bunch of ***** that jump to conclusions, and are of the attitude that if it isn't done their way it is wrong. I use them for information and search problems, but for the most part I won't post to them for responses like those he recieved.

You're concerned about it too, that much has come through in what you have posted thus far. Bad parts isn't your fault and you are trying to fix it. You're tired of it and want to be done with it, understandable. Don't rush things at the end.

 

[410Fortune]

I told him to cancel his trip to
Let this process
He got on the train anyways

I’m not taking the liability of driving it on the streets for him anymore

Things I did extra to name a few:
True travel defective parts / cv axle
I even rebuilt the cv axle when the boot failed
Charged the kings with my nitrogen (friend ben’s shop but on my dime)
Reworked the defective rock rails
Built a paint booth
Fixed incorrect McNeil fenders
Paid my friends and family for their help in the shop (including paying for paint labor and glass work because friend is a body guy, I bartered my time fix By his turcks for his labor)
Paid for all mistakes (broken muth glass $200, broken heat seater switch, wrong wheels even though I was in charge of selecting them had to mount twice)
Warrantied the engine
Re worked the seats numerous times
No charge for welding wire gas or shop supplies or any consumables, fabrication metal)
Stored it indoors (6 years)
Upgraded battery no charge
Upgraded trans mount no charge
Charged family prices for everything ($200 for door glass and r&r, $1500 for 104k 2001 explorer drivetrain donor) for example of the family/!friend prices give)
Ran to Seattle with a spare tailhousing fluids gaskets and hardware
Drove back to Seattle with trailer and towed it back to Idaho, no charge
Dealt with defective nib injectors
Sorted out the Holley installation from scratch during COVID
It took 9 months to get the king shocks
It took over a year to get replacement cv axle through RCV because true travel quit answering our calls
Drive to Spokane and back to have his diffs built
All hauling and towing free
Drive to Spokane to have drivelines balanced
(I did charge a trip fee for that one)
Gave my best parts
Upgraded his battery
Upgraded the trans mount
Changed the oil and gaskets umpteen times
Drove it 200 miles on my dime for testing
Washed waxed detailed the truck about 12 times
Provided the drivetrain and t case, rear axle and drivelines cores (family prices)

Then even though I thought the tune might be the culprit (many of you did too) I still covered the warranty including another builder 302, a full new valvetrain, another gasket set, another set of plugs, spare wires, heat shielding,
Several more oil changes
All new valvetrain
Dealt with hours and hours of research for the Holley
Dealt with it through Covid
Put My own projects aside including Parking my bronco outside for 6 years

So why do we need a second opinion again? When I’m already warranting the engine and paying for all parts and transport? Seattle is 6 hours away fyi

That’s the tip of the iceberg
To be fair I did get his old seats, bed, engine, trans, rear axle and wheels and tires in trade

He had no business driving it to sanfranscisco before it was fully tuned and before checking all fasteners in my opinion

I sent instructions for break in periods in new gears and fresh engine parts
To check all bolts after the drive home

Even the I never asked for a gallon of fuel or to cover any warranty parts

Now I don’t feel like taking another second of
Liability driving it on the road
That is huge Liability in the winter time in north Idaho roads

I had just ran to town and bought a $140 02 sensor … then I was shown the Facebook
I started shaking, heart racing, I’ve had pneumonia for 3+ weeks and working on this during Antibiotics because he needs his truck so he doesn’t have to drive his super car in Seattle winters… I lost
My voice and I mean gone, I could barely communicate with the tuner the several times I tried

I understand frustration and looking for second opinions, I put it all on here for the world to see I pull no punches

Now he’s coming to town and I gotta drag this truck out of here somehow, I’m expected to fix the 02 sensor and drive it on public roads to meet him? How exactly?
What if the new 02 doesn’t fix it?

That is a lot of liability I don’t need and sshitload if pressure

My research shows that the wizard tune is very safe
The Holley tuner even agreed
Many people with terminators just drive them in the wizard tune… I would know I spent months researching it… I don’t just pull This out of my ass
I move mountains for my customers and friends and man I tell ya that is getting really old

There it’s all out there now, the world can decide what’s the next best move.

You want one of my builds you’re gonna have to buy it from me, that way there is no liability on my part. I am legally allowed to sell 5 of them a year

In the Facebook post I am told that
We spent $50k? Allright that’s a bit more then i remember
I literally made zero profit on the used superlift we got from boomin or the fresh trans we got from Brett, zero markup on these parts

It was said that I: built a fresh engine
wrong it was a 104k engine I re sealed and installed a camshaft in. Should have bought a crate engine dude

Suspension and driveline bolts came loose
Well yeah, you gotta check them after the initial break in. Funny nothing was loose this time around, I guess they tightened themselves? Or everything was fixed on the first trip to Seattle sans the front d shaft. I bought another $250 new in box driveshaft to modify… I still have it in the box because the driveline dude just rebuilt the original one. So I’m stuck with that part. Did I whine about that too?

Suspension was built using manufacture supplied torque values or factory torque values

You patiently waited 6 years. Let’s do some
Math, Covid lockdown was 2 years. Cv axle, kings and other supply chain issues…that didn’t help our timeline. Let’s
Build a full truck Bumper to Bumper custom suspension interior paint body fabrication plumbing wiring electrics add some
Covid lockdown and some bad parts out of the box and see what professional shop comes through for you. The answer is there aren’t any for this price

I whined about what again? Oh yeah replacing the engine. Sure it cost me another $1500 (family price) 302 plus gaskets fluids tune up parts and valvetrain… over $2k out of pocket. I tried to
Blame you and the tuner..
no I tired to find out why it blew. I asked the whole world to join us on the journey and shared every step. Whining really?!

I scolded you? Sure did still am, some poor choices were made
Where’s the part where you take some
Blame?
Seems to me that Facebook post was designed around bad mouthing your builder with no chance to tell both sides of the deal.

Told you the wizard tune would be okay to Seattle…well crap man what’s another 400 miles when I just put 200 trouble free? It made it home didn’t it? So seems I was right. Our tuner Andy and I just discussed this the other day asninstuggled with my voice. The wizard tune is extremely safe, his words were it would take an extreme loss of oil or coolant and an extreme prolonged lean event to break cyl 1’lam like it did (detonation) 302 are tough

Engine developed tick after you drove 800 something miles south. Fuse
Blew, driveline came apart… but you didn’t check any bolts? It all on me in that thread…

Try Read it through my eyes walk in my
Shoes for a minute

I told you drivelines don’t need balance nor do tires… well I drove it 200 miles: it had a slight vibe at 70 I believe… and the first thing you did in Seattle was have the tires balanced. How many times did you hit 80? 85? 90? In a fresh built ranger on 35” tires… this isn’t a mustang it’s an off road truck … or is it?

We didn’t post any of the crap I went through to install the viper alarm and window automation autostart… what a disaster that was. Viper won’t provide support for non licensed installers but I battled through and did the absolute best I could.
Where is the love you claimed to have? It’s not in that facebook…

 

[allmyEXes]

If it were my truck, I would rent a U-Haul truck and trailer and haul it back west, home to deal with having it tuned properly. This truck wasn't built to run 80 mph down the highway. It was built to be a fancy trail truck.
I know that it's hard to relax about it but try to keep yourself from having a heart attack over it.
I was going to say it before I saw that you said it. You put your heart and soul into this build as if it was your own truck. Not to mention all of the blood, sweat and tears. I've been following this build for most of the several years that it took to complete the MAJOR undertaking. I don't think people understand until they actually get down and try to do it themselves.

 

[JoshT]

because he needs his truck so he doesn’t have to drive his super car in Seattle winters…

Sounds like some poor planning there. What's he been driving for the last 6 winters. If it was the supercar, one more isn't going to hurt it. If it was something else, shouldn't have gotten rid of it before the Ranger was proven out. That's just my opinion.

If you're driving something old, something custom, or something exotic, always have a spare ride. Never know when something is going to break and you have to wait for parts/service. Both this Ranger and a "supercar" fall into that.

I'm eating my own words on that situation. Newest I've got is the '10 Forte daily and it's doing fine. Ranger was going good, needed the tune but going good. Decided to take the F-250 down for maintance a week ago and waiting for parts. (just arrived today) I decided for some stupid reason that the Ranger needed to have the tune and injectors installed this weekend, and that backfired and is undrivable at current. Now I'm hoping that the Forte doesn't experience any unexpected problem before I get one of those fixed.

Fortunately I do have the F-100. It ain't right, but it does seem to start every time, no matter how long I ignore it. Maybe I should give it a little love tomorrow too. Charge on the battery, maybe a drive into town for some fresh gas.

 

[410Fortune]

FYI there are 6ea 5.0
Coverted trucks outside on my property right now all running driving and de Bugged. Not one balanced driveline
(05 sport Trac still needs some working bugs fixed)
Lots Of my blood sweat and tears, lots of family deals no profit in any of them (yet)

You guys may not hear from
Me for a while… I’m gonna go skiing with my son (been 18 years since I ski’d) and try to fix my snowmobile before all the snow is gone
This truck is no longer my problem

 

[410Fortune]

I’m gonna sleep on it
But right now you can read above, I said my piece right here.
Blue needs a 2004 ranger fuel sender and pump will fix the reversed fuel gauge
I’m not building your trailer or fixing your bronco ii
Sean and I will try to install the new 02 sensor in the am and see if I can drive it out of here, if so she’ll be somewhere in town for you. Otherwise I will literally have to drag it out of here with my bulldozer because the rain today has our road a complete springtime disaster. You’re gonna need to find a way to get it home if the 02 didn’t get it driving again.
I’m done with the liability here no more warranty I had no time for testing. As for a chat it hurts for me to talk right now I literally can only whispers taking the train today was a crappy deal, out of my control
I told you to cancel and let this sink in

No time for testing, sorry about that not much I can do
After tomorrow I’m not spending another day on it right now, I have put my own stuff in the back burner long enough… if I had a truck and trailer I would find a way to haul it to Seattle just so I can wash my hands of this
But I don’t so it’s on you
Take responsibility for your actions
You didn’t check the bolts
You decided to tune and drive it at highway speeds 1000
Miles before it’s broke in, not
Me

If the bad injector and all that cranking killed the old engine, or if the 1/4 too long pushrods, or if the piston was just on its way out, or if it was the lack of tune or the shock from the drivelines failure… whatever it was I did my part to make it right
I’m outta here I gotta go pick up
My son and then get some rest

 

[Josh P]

Not the ending I was expecting.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

where do i start with my 2 cents, not that it matters.

i guess this. if your going to bash a guy that builds something for you, make damn sure it wont be seen by the builder......while hes fixing that problems.
if knowledge comes from watching tv shows, and reading a few things on the net, you have no knowledge. if your only participation is throwing the builder parts, you better get in there and get your hands dirty. because it will break, it will need to be fixed. most times tv wont show the down side of things (google pimp my ride, even overhaul'n cars had problems after the fact). same with forums. i hate it when guys only post how great things are after they finished. why? they dont want to post they screwed up. myself and another member when he had his truck would post when we screwed up because we are human. thats why i watched this tread from the beginning. to see any screw ups so i could avoid them.
these holley systems are not as straight forward as they may seem. even more the small block ford ones. add in you want to keep the stock this or that and it will make your head spin.
you can run them on the start up tune, and set the wizard to learn, you just cant drive the hell out of it all the time. i personally know a guy up here that did that for 4 years until he had it remote tuned.
it was also mentioned that the "tick" started after the tuning was complete. that would say it was the tune that did it in. if it was flashing lean air/fuel before it started, THATS BECAUSE IT WAS NOT RUNNIG and it was doing its calculations. i bet it was also reading hot with no coolant flow, but temps dropped after it was running. see that point i am making here????
also with something that fresh of a build, and reading on the net, then it should have been known that you would have to nut and bolt it. never heard of that expression? need to do more research.
if my bill was only 50k for a 6 year one off custom build i would be happy as hell. 8 hours in a day, 40 hours in a week, 160 in a month, 12 months in a year, equals 1920 hours in one year. 6 years is 11520. lets divide that by 2 (might be more, but lets say 2) which is 5760. lets now charge 150 a hour for a custom shop. thats waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more then 50k.
this is the thing i absolutely hate about the automotive hobby, and i know a few people like this. there are 2 types of builders. one that owns a tool box, the other a parts catalogue. normally the one with the catalogue only knows a cost. the other knows the cost, and how much of a ***** it will be to put in.
if i found someone bashing me after the problems you went through, that truck would be sitting at the end of my driveway with a note saying you can come on my property to get the keys, and that would be that. then you can take it to a shop, pay full price to have them fix it, if they can fix it because they wont know how to with a build like this. i know i cant take my truck anyplace to have it fixed. they would be lost. even the local speed shops didnt want to try tuning my truck because it wasnt a mustang or f150.
i need to stop here. the more i think on this, the more i get pissed off thinking about it.........

 

[Josh P]

I understand there's going to be emotions on both sides of this deal and I want to remain neutral on that cause everyone has a right to feel however they want. I did state after the the truck returned to the shop that I was impressed with how transparent 410 was, that he stood behind the work. There was a maybe if it was anything done by the builder, and the response in writing was, Eddie is family, I'm going to make it right. In the end, it went deep, dry and no kiss behind the ear. I stated many pages back I'd be a customer of 410 and I still would. This is a custom one off type build, not a basic tune up. Things are going to happen. 410 went way above and beyond compared to any other shop that would have done this.

 

[410Fortune]

I’ll have to read all the pms and well wishes later, appreciate the support dudes

Right now my sport trax stuck in a ditch trying to commute this am

Two days of warm temps and rain I am under a flood watch and road is a disaster
In other news I install the new $140 Bosch sensor… I chose to put it in the old location because that is what the current tune is tuned for. The red light went away and we have a proper air to fuel ratio again

I also drafted a reliability release form that will be signed by both parties before I turn over ownership and ignition keys
I will no longer take any liability for this vehicle

 

[410Fortune]

Let’s end it on a good note
Truck drives awesome on and off road
She’s not perfect I’m sure
But she is on her way home. We shook hands and I wish him the best of luck

Eddie has been taking quite a ribbing online from all of this. We will get through it as usual
I’m glad the new wideband fixed things and it’s running on the current tune

Who knows maybe the old sensor was part of the issue? It did get saturated in fuel when it had a bad injector and all that cranking trying ti get the Holley initial start… we will never know for sure

 

[Josh P]

Let’s end it on a good note
Truck drives awesome on and off road
She’s not perfect I’m sure
But she is on her way home. We shook hands and I wish him the best of luck

I believe you did your best to make it as good as possible. Can't ask for more than that. Eddie, hope it gives you many years of faithful service and enjoyment.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

Let’s end it on a good note
Truck drives awesome on and off road
She’s not perfect I’m sure
But she is on her way home. We shook hands and I wish him the best of luck

Good job! I do sincerely hope that it is a good truck for Eddie, since I know both of you had heart/soul/$$$ into it. Glad it has a high note ending. Glad the truck drives well!

 

[CDW6212R]

The truck is amazing and both you and owner Eddie should be proud of it. Best of luck and I hope it gives Eddie countless great memories in the future.

 

[allmyEXes]

You and Eddie have combined resources and have assembled a Ranger to be proud of. I was expecting to see a picture of the Ranger winching
your Sport Trac back onto the main path.
@EddieMoney Let us know when you have returned to your destination safely.
For those late to the party or that don't remember what it looked like before, here is a picture.

I assume that the new wideband O2 sensor will need moved to the new X-pipe location before the final re-tune?

 

[410Fortune]

Just heard from Eddie he made it home 10pm

I am now having a ton of remorse and feel terrible… which is why I said I need time to process

The pneumonia kept
Me from doing a couple of things I was hoping to fix. First I was gonna swap his steering wheel for him. Didn’t get to it

Also to fix the reversed fuel gauge the truck needs a 2002-2004 in tank sending unit

I also Left the old bad wb02 sensor in its hole
He is planning to swap the wb02 sensor to the x pipe before he and Andy do more tuning

So I’m sending him a package with a 04 Mazda b4000 in tank sending unit and a screw in 02 sensor hung hole plug

So relived he made it home safely

Ups and downs, anger disappointment and joy… all part of any family and build

Judt like my bronco ii, even completely broken she has always found a way to get me home or at least within a couple of Blocks. That is how you know you have a keeper!! A forever truck

He made it!!!!

Oh and we didn’t use his winch to extract the sport trac because I needed to plow the road so his ranger could drive out. You see without studded snows it can be very difficult to drive out of here… even with 35s and a rear locker. Ice chute super highway… the plowing removed all the loose slush and the plow truck is a 472 big block on 4 chaiins with 600# of sand in the bed
yanked her right out

Now I can finally build a new thread for this truck
A simple before and after with list of all mods and just Highlights form the build
That way you don’t have to sift through 80 pages of drama and discussions to see the good stuff

Godspeed Eddie and his forever super ranger!!!

 

[410Fortune]

Oh one more thing… the timing light
After running to town for a $40 timing light, it occurred to me I don’t need it
Why?
Because they already wrote a tune for the old engine that had the timing covered… and the new engine was timed with the exact same camshaft and synchronizer on the exact same tooth of the cam. The tuner is not used to working with distribitorless ignition I am sure… especially this ford setup. How do I know? Well there are zero other examples of the coil pack ignition working with the terminator 302/4r70w setup aside from this truck I got running and of course Tim’s

Was this the first? I doubt it.. some early bronco dudes running similar but still pretty sure they had distributors and a timing spout …I can’t remember if any of them had the coil packs
Not us we have no spout and a cam synchronizer