5spdman's slow and cheap XLT build

[cloaked_chaos]

There's a Pull-A-Part near me that has an explorer with manual hubs still on it. I have the sockets for both auto and manual nuts If you want me to pull it.

 

[5spdman]

Seen two at the U-Pick-It in Flagstaff...there's a chance that while the rest of the staff here at the Mission school goes to a concert in Phoenix this weekend, I'll be going down to Sedona to wheel and camp...I'll pull them then and replace at the campsite. Thinking I'm gonna wait a little while though and just order new from RockAuto.

Thanks for the offer though cloaked_chaos!

 

[5spdman]

Chances are I'm gonna wait.....got a phone call from my girlfriends parents last night, got their blessing, and now need to start saving up for one of them fancy rings (luckily she doesn't like real flashy stuff or diamonds for that matter) to give her during her visit out here in April...

 

[5spdman]

On a side note, I forgot to throw these up....stacked up the blocks for a flex ramp again this afternoon (this was before hitting the rock pile) and grabbed a few pics...

Everything looks good, everything clears front and rear, and with the front sway bar disconnected and out of the way, I only get a slight rub on the radius arms at full lock...after a ring and some spindle nuts, out to the trails I go!

 

[Explorin'VA]

I had 33x10.50's with 3.27 gears and it was pretty bad, so I went to 4.10 with 31's which made it nice and quick. Would be a good match for 33's too.

Now I wish I had an SOA after seeing that rear droop. Is that a 6" drop pitman arm you're using?

 

[cloaked_chaos]

Now I wish I had an SOA after seeing that rear droop.

 

[5spdman]

Now I wish I had an SOA after seeing that rear droop. Is that a 6" drop pitman arm you're using?

I'm using the Skyjacker FA600 arm, which is right around 5.5" drop...used a Procomp FD400A arm before, which in reality is only 2" drop, and was getting crazy bumpsteer; bad enough that not only did I get the bumpsteer, but also a really bad sway in the rear that caused some seriously white knuckle driving...no problems since switching to the Skyjacker arm!

 

[5spdman]

Alright, all you guys with manual hubs, chip in!

Went ahead and replaced my (2nd) set of busted automatic hubs tonight with a used set of manuals. Everything with the install went really smooth (other than the retaining nut on the passenger side that I couldn't get a grip on to remove and finally beat it off with a hammer and cold chisel ), but I've run into a small problem...while the hub I placed on the drivers side (not that it matters) locks and unlocks flawlessly, the other seems to be locked all the time. Before I placed the hubs onto the axle, I removed as much sand and grit from them that I could, locked and unlocked the hubs, watching how they worked, and moved/tried to move the insides of the hubs when locked and unlocked. The hub I placed on the passenger side will unlock, but I have to pull the splined piece out myself, and when placing it onto the axle, it locks, whether I have to hub locked or not...my guess is that it's just dirty, but also thinking maybe there's some kind of spring inside that is broken.

Should I take it apart, clean and lube everything up, and hope for the best, or just not bother disassembling the hub and grab one from the U-Pick-It? Thinking of grabbing another pair from the yard anyway, just as spares...

 

[mr cribb]

I haven't had a manual hub apart, so I have no idea.

 

[5spdman]

Thanks for the help lol!

On a side note, I usually don't work on Sundays, but since church is a good 30+ miles away here on the rez (one way), I finally got around to switching out the transmission fluid. When I first placed the tranny into this truck, I changed the fluid and went by what the guy at NAPA had told me I should use, which wasn't the ATF called for by Ford...after I got the drain plug freed up (with a pipe wrench), I drained the Amsoil gear oil from the transmission, dumped in 2.5L of NAPA brand ATF, drove another 30 miles, drained the transmission again, and added 2.5L of Amsoil ATF...I can already feel the difference; shifts smoother and drives better too.

 

[5spdman]

Forgot a pic yesterday...since I find filling the transmission easier from the top, I took out the shifter, and while it was apart, cleaned up my shifting knob that was coated in grime from the last 9 years...

Looks just as it did when I made it in high school...seems so long ago that I glued together those pieces of Hickory, cut the rough shape and spent several hours filing it down to that shape that fit my hand so well. Unfortunately, just as I finished taking the photo, I dropped it and it broke...little wood glue and a clamp (shop vise) and it's back together...not as well as it was before, but back together nonetheless! Perhaps a redesign is in the future....

On another note, the non-working manual hub was getting to me, and won my curiosity...

Took the non-working hub apart, carefully took apart the working hub, cleaned them all up with brake cleaner, reassembled both hubs, ensured they worked (repeating the process when needed), soaked both with the remaining Amsoil ATF I had all afternoon, and remounted the hubs and tires...everything is good to go now!!

 

[mr cribb]

Good to know that they're repairable.

 

[5spdman]

Long as you can find replacement parts at least! Not sure what the problem was with this one, but at least I know now that I can take them apart, give them a good cleaning, and put them back together!

When I finally go out and find a spare set, I'll have to do a thread on them....half tempted on pulling apart the two sets of auto hubs I have just out of curiosity.

 

[mr cribb]

When I finally go out and find a spare set, I'll have to do a thread on them....half tempted on pulling apart the two sets of auto hubs I have just out of curiosity.

Shoot why not take apart the auto hubs. Maybe you can find the secret failure point .

 

[5spdman]

Challenge accepted! Perhaps I'll get onto that this weekend...

In the meantime, you all are being warned; in the next few weeks (after I purchase a ring) I'll be going ahead and starting fabrication of extended radius arms...it's one of those things that isn't a really big deal at the moment, but the limited range of my front suspension with the stock arms is really bugging me. I'll also be ditching the drop brackets for the front sway bar (thanks anyway cloaked_chaos) and relocating the mounts toward the axle more to hopefully get rid of the rub with the 33's...

 

[Maniak]

but the limited range of my front suspension with the stock arms is really bugging me.

Once you do the Radius arms you will find your shocks are going to be way too short (not enough travel). The f-250 shock mount mod will let you put on shocks upwards of 32" long (extended).

If you want to do the f-250 mounts, my neighbor has a set for $25 (He had it a few weeks ago).

As for the Radius arms, are you going to extend your stock ones? If so, don't forget to account for caster. One other thing with the extended arms... If you put the mounts for them under the frame instead of inside the frame you will rub your tures at near full lock unless you do some fancy bending on the RA to get them out of the way.

I have a set of Radius arm here, cheap, if you want a stock set to modify so you don't have to take down your rig as you do work.. Shipping from down here shouldn't be too bad.. But it may be cheaper if you have a good yard up your way.

~Mark

 

[5spdman]

I am planning on modifying the stock arms, and thought of doing it while they are still on the beams, that way I don't mess with the caster at all, making sure that I chock all the tires so the truck doesn't move, taking many measurements before cutting the arms, and taking even more measurements during the fabrication.

As far as mounting, was kinda thinking of moving the drop brackets for the arms back about 6-8", getting some angled steel, boxed steel, or a tube with flat steel at the ends to weld or bolt to the brackets, and welding on the mounts for the heim joints at the end of the arms onto that, about 3" inside the rails to help get rid of/lessen the rub that I already have with those 33's.

I had also already thought of the F250 tower mod a while ago when I first started the build. $30 at the Flagstaff U-Pick-It yard gets me two towers and two F250 shocks. Currently (and I just measured it) I have a 11" cycle but only a 3.5" drop from resting length with the shocks I have now...no idea what they were originally for (thinking it was for the D**** Ram that's sitting without a rear axle), but they fit the 5" lift and the Ex itself, providing that I swapped out the bushings on the eye at the bottom of the shock.

Would I be better off doing the F250 conversion for the time being and waiting to do the radius arms just for now, or should I just wait and do the whole thing in one shot? I know that I'll actually be better off doing both...I have some time to think about it...

 

[5spdman]

Welp, since I found 4 trucks at the junk yard that had manual hubs, but all the hubs were gone already, yesterday didn't start too great.....and then it got worse.....

At some point while I was in Flagstaff, my brand new 20" bar got jacked and the low-down theavin' scum did a real piss-poor job of taking it too...currently on the phone with my buddy about getting it replaced. Guess I'll be going back to halogen for now so something takes up that missing space in my grille. I'll then be looking at ways to make it theft proof (custom fabbed mounting brackets and tamper proof bolts)....

On a better note, I did find a BII with a manual transfer case with everything on it yet at the yard. Seriously thinking of pulling it as long as it fits...can anyone tell me if the t-case from a BII will fit the first gen Explorer?

 

[mr cribb]

I just went through this very problem.

Short answer.... direct fit.... no.

Driveshaft needs modified. The driveshaft is almost always a fixed unit on the transfer case.

Now I do have access to a 1354M near me. However, I stole the shifter to it. I would be more than willing to pick it up for you and store it until you travel back to Ohio, since you more or less need to go through Oklahoma to get there.

 

[5spdman]

Would the shifter from the BII fit the1354M? I could at least grab that if they were compatible...

I usually don't go through Oklahoma anymore since I always ended up on the toll road and luckily was able to scrounge enough change for the tolls last winter. I usually go through Kansas now (takes me past my old college and I can stop and visit with old friends and isn't much of a longer drive), but I'd be tempted to go through OK just for that...

Let me think on that, and I'll send you a PM in the next week or two...