Betty's "I want to be a mule" progress log thread

The new turd mobile. 2000 Mountaineer v8 awd.



The bad:

Was living it's prior life on a dusty road. Must tear out interior and deep clean.
Driver window off track "or something" and will not roll down. It tries but the rear part wants to stay up.

3 out of 4 door handles have issues. I have 4 new outer handles on order.
Cracked passenger side tail light housing. ( Ebay for some cool tail lights)

Compass-Thermometer thingy lit up and went out--idunno bout that yet

Door locks seem sticky, probably has to do with the handles.
It has a funky purple color trim with red metallic ( you'll have that every now and then)

The good
Gas tank was full
109k miles
I am the 2nd owner!!
Is from the local area, which means no salt!
The undercarriage is fairly clean
No dents to underside panels
Good rubber
Camber shims already installed
Looks like good service records, all recalls were completed.
Clean carfax believe it or not.

The "maybe" bad

The original owner, told the dealership it had a bad "heater core" however I have run it for several cycles, over an hour each idling in the driveay and see no leaks.
However, there was evidence of a windshield leak or the like,I saw condensation on the inside of the windows this AM. The moisture smell is that of water only-no anti freeze smell. I am thinking it could also be a cowl drain which is clogged???? but she did say the passenger carpet got wet.

I tried to get heat, however it is an auto climate control. Being 90 degrees outside, I doubt it would have given me heat.The heater core hoses were hot, and the coolant bypass valve does operate. AC blows Ice cold.

Maybe she meant to say "heater door"???

Anyway--here are the pics.



My intent is to drive this and use it as a tow rig for a light weight off road toy. Mods will be minimal. Edit: This plan did not work out so on to plan "b"

Current visual status

Progress pictures

Now, let's clean it up a little


Herculine'rd rocker panels. Rock sliders installed

BW 4406 True 4x4 Manual transfer case ( AKA Mouse entry point) installed 8-27-2012
Installed newer Tcase from a 2003 11-14-15

Saw a rainbow in Colorado so yeah, time for a picture

And here she is, on top of the highest pass road in North America. Careful tire placement a must!!!

2-2-2013

Changed "color scheme" of the Dick Cepek DC1 wheels. New Falken Wildpeak AT 31x1050x15

Then I decided Maroon washer on the wheels would look better

Update 6-6-2013

New bumpers, winch and Pro LED light . Front Bumper from RLC, Skid plate from RCI, rear bumper from Kert307

Rear anti sway disconnects

Update 9-2-2014
A cracked radiator at 70mph led to engine failure. Replaced with a freshened up a bit 80k mile engine starting on page 23

Found another rainbow in Kansas.

 

[Dono]

I want to see if extended eyelets are required on the bottom of the shock, or different CV axles. That's been one of the things holding me back.

 

[Turdle]

So I have been thinking a lot since it's cold outside and i seem to have been fighting some kind of virus or something for the last few days. Just not feeling it.

Thoughts on this are to go ahead and buy new control arms upper and lower. Rockauto shows some uppers made by Mevotech listed in the heavy duty section with a greenish finish. Kinda cool.

I like the BTF uppers but they are pricey. Gotta impress the other half on these-



Also, since this will require an alingment and I have to search this thread to see if I have ever touched the tie rods, what options are out there?

 

[Dono]

And, that's the rest of it holding me back. lol.
Why go thru all the effort of the coil overs without rebuilding the front end? Makes perfect sense, except its another huge expense.

This is one expensive mod

 

[gmanpaint]

I have a brand new set of the Mevotech HD lower Bj's in the spare parts trail box. I am impressed with them upon inspection, and the tech reviews, but no real usage yet.

I think anything with a Pro-grade (HD) BJ in it is going to be just fine. You really don't need the BTF arms, unless your going to 34"-35" tall tires, and plan on a 2" lift with the coil overs. Besides being stronger, cooler looking, the real help is with the camber alignment, as they are longer than stock.

BTF has just updated the arms to a plate box style instead of the tube style, and they look pretty slick. Once I get the extra scratch, Brandon is plating a new set of stock lower arms for me. I will be the test mule once again for aftermarket parts. I just have to figure out, how others have got their parts made for free, I have had to pay for my test stuff. lol

 

[CDW6212R]

So I have been thinking a lot since it's cold outside and i seem to have been fighting some kind of virus or something for the last few days. Just not feeling it.

Thoughts on this are to go ahead and buy new control arms upper and lower. Rockauto shows some uppers made by Mevotech listed in the heavy duty section with a greenish finish. Kinda cool.

I like the BTF uppers but they are pricey. Gotta impress the other half on these-



Also, since this will require an alignment and I have to search this thread to see if I have ever touched the tie rods, what options are out there?

I can suggest some good TRE's, inner and outers, plus the TTX UCA's. I bought several arms getting ready to do my 98 Limited, my 99, and then my Mercury again last. I bought the Proforged TRE's for the touted long lifespan, the inners I had to wait for them to get more in from Rock Auto. I bought six of each, the outer is a 104-10240.

BTW, those inners do not include boots, be sure to buy new boots. I just changed one tonight, the alignment shop missed another loose part. I had to test drive it five times and readjust the TRE length each time, to get the wheel straight again(matching the length of the old TRE's).

The UCA TXK8708T by Mevotec is a good looking part, I like it at least as much as the Moog. I put Ford LCA's on my Mercury before, this time Moog LCA's for the other two.

Be aware if anyone uses the LCA from Moog, the new baby BJ boot type. The grease fittings are 90*, and they will screw in all the way to the internal part, shutting off the passage. I cannot get grease into the two new arms I put on back in June. I'll have to take the BJ loose I think to get at the grease fitting, to back them out and get them tight without being in so far. Or file across the end face, I doubt that will work.

 

[gmanpaint]

I want to see if extended eyelets are required on the bottom of the shock, or different CV axles. That's been one of the things holding me back.

Long reply for that Dono, as it is a loaded question.

I have seen some run the extended eyelets, but those have been on 4" drop bracket lifts.

I have seen 2 reasons for using these. 1) Using a shorter travel shock but need a longer overall length for the 4" lift. 2) Some think they need used, to clear the CV Axle. In reality, this is only needed if the lower shock tabs are improperly placed, and too close to the CV's field of use.

No matter how long the shock is, the same amount of travel is used, as the CV axles limit travel to 3" Max either direction. A 4.5"-6" travel shock is all we need. ie... A shock with 10" of travel is going to have a longer body, but you still only use 4.5"-6" of it's travel due to CV's. Limit straps set before max travel is reached at droop, saves over extension and the death of a CV.

The shorter shock with an extended eyelet on one end, can match the longer length shock overall, and still work, with it's shorter travel.

So with a 4" suspension lift, you can use the longer shock, or the shorter shock with the extended eyelets. Both use the same amount of travel. See?

With no suspension lift, the shorter shock with 5"-6" of travel and a 10" long coil is all you need. No extended eyelets needed. Besides, a stock height shock with an extended eyelet, would reduce the overall shock length, and in order to fit, it would only have 3" total travel. I don't even think I have seen anything that small before.

For the CV query, I do not know of any different type of CV axles that work on our D35 SLA IFS, other than custom made RCV axles @$2k/set.

 

[Dono]

The guy I bought my brackets from over on rangerforums has a long thread of guys doing the install. It is messy, with guys adding eyelet extensions to clear the cv's and not checking travel. They were bottoming out their shocks, making a real mess. Simple math told me that was going to happen, and I wasn't surprised to hear about the shocks getting broken up. Shocks are not made to be bump stops.
Some guys found CV half shafts that were a bit smaller diameter and cleared the shocks without extended eyelets, while other guys had no issues and didn't need to look at eyelets or the smaller diameter half shafts. Maybe the lower brackets are not made quite right also, I don't know.

It's this stuff that made me hold off on the install. Just seemed like another can of worms to open up. I haven't needed that the last couple of years as Iv'e had other issues to sort thru first. I'm hoping Jon has a zero issue install. Maybe once Jon's install is smooth, I might look at actually doing this one day.

 

[gmanpaint]

I know the thread and the kits your talking about Dono. Dudes out of TX. He based them off of RCD brackets.

The shocks would become stops with extended eyelets and no lift. Way too long. Lol

I'm going to have to read that thread again about the smaller diameter CV. I would think they are made by industry standards for stock applications. I have used a few brands and never had one come close to touching.

 

[Turdle]

I have purchased some cv's which had smaller cups , would not droop as far without binding, and if I recall correctly they were a ranger application.

 

[410Fortune]

Rockauto shows some uppers made by Mevotech listed in the heavy duty section with a greenish finish

Mevotec TTX
Mevotect makes upper control arms, lower ball joint and tie rod ends for the GEN II trucks in the TTX line
So far so good, we have installed a few sets of TTX here and they are holding up well.

Loving this truck build! Bye bye t bars

 

[Spudhut]

Mevotec TTX
Mevotect makes upper control arms, lower ball joint and tie rod ends for the GEN II trucks in the TTX line
So far so good, we have installed a few sets of TTX here and they are holding up well.
Loving this truck build! Bye bye t bars

Good to know...I have always wondered on the 'other' grades. I personally lean towards them for cost reasons and have not had any noticeable issues in the past. So many out there, hard to tell anymore

 

[410Fortune]

I have been trying different products when it comes to ball joints, tie rods, etc for some time...always trying to find a stronger replacement for us that can hold up like OEM or better
So far many many have fallen short

The AC delco and Raebestos profession grade stuff gave me some hope for a few years, far outlasting Moog "problem solver" parts and the typical parts store over the counter garbage.
There was a company from Canada for a while called MAS that was making some heavy duty replacements, but as soon as I began to use them on the regular they were aquired by Dorman, no word since??? I am sure they changed the name, the box, the colors, etc by now.

Soon after the Pro Forge stuff started to appear and then the Mevotec TTX
I like the TTX parts so far, especially for the $$$. However I did have one bad ball joint right out of the box on our 2001 Excursion 7.3 4x4, a huge PITA to go back and replace, but Rockauto made the replacement easy as far as the wallet goes.
I still use AC delco professional grade, (blue and gold ball joints), the TTX, or Spicer / Motorcraft. I have also heard good things about Pro Forge from the Jeep and ranger crowd, but have not tried them myself. When you work on gen II Explorers and 98+ Rangers you end up doing ALOT of IFS work....bread and butter you could say. Enough to keep two wrench monkeys going full time in a 3 bay shop

 

[Turdle]

Mevotec TTX
Mevotect makes upper control arms, lower ball joint and tie rod ends for the GEN II trucks in the TTX line
So far so good, we have installed a few sets of TTX here and they are holding up well.


Loving this truck build! Bye bye t bars

thanks for the input. I will go with the TTX stuff. Might even just do TTX lower ball joints since my lower control arms are relatively new, ac delco brand. That will save me some $$ and speed this conversion a bit.

Oh, hmm, I wonder if the TTX ball joint will fit into the ac delco arm.

 

[Turdle]

Today the ultra cool coilover conversion brackets made by @RockRanger finally made the trip through the blasting cabinet, then the dishwasher, then the oven for high temp pre heat and dry. Then, a trip through the dust bowl and back into the oven.

Powder Coated Mirror Black

Included were 2 spacers which I assume go into the shock tower center support. Also, some very nice support gussets. These have to stay bare for welding, then paint.

The eibach springs are now in my small oven doing a "clean cycle" which will burn off the old coating without hurting the spring, or, so i am told by eibach.

when I called to ask, they said they rather I wouldn't, but also said that is exactly what they do with good warranty return springs with damaged finish. As long as they are kept below 700 degrees or so ( pre clean is 585 degrees + - thermostat tolerance) they should not anneal. either way, these are used a tad, rust is showing so it has to be nipped in the bud somehow.

I believe these are EIBACH 1200.250.750 12"length, 2.5" diameter ,750 lb /inch rate , which might be enough for our truck, but will definitely work good enough for helping to find the proper weight spring.

 

[Turdle]

So, I burned the springs off to reveal migrating rust.

This AM I blasted them clean, scrubbed them with hot water and dawn dish soap with a blue scour pad, then rinsed well, and baked at 250 for 45 minutes to dry.

Then a base coat of chrome. Man, I wish I could leave these as is. They are cooling now for the top coat surprise.

 

[CDW6212R]

I love that chrome finish. I have a hard time thinking of anything to finish in chrome, on the chassis or under hood. The old cars people went overboard with chrome ruined the look for me. I like it, but it must be tasteful and sparingly done. I prefer attractive colors, and the more modern special affect finishes etc(also done sparingly).

You're going to help me and a lot of people, with the pictures you post of your various chassis parts. I love that grey(with a tinge of black in it) you did my accessory brackets in. I see that working well for many chassis pieces, with plenty of black, and a tad of color here and there.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

HEY! remember i was talking about getting the snout powdercoated flat black? that chrome is a very possibility as well!

 

[gmanpaint]

Weird, my notifications for this thread has been going to my spam folder. I ddin't see the updates until just now.

Sorry Jon, I swear I told you those coils are 650 lb, and only for mock up purpose until you get a stronger set.

Sorry if that info didn't come through. They look awesome none the less!

I dig those tower gussets Matt made!

 

[Turdle]

Weird, my notifications for this thread has been going to my spam folder. I ddin't see the updates until just now.

Sorry Jon, I swear I told you those coils are 650 lb, and only for mock up purpose until you get a stronger set.

Sorry if that info didn't come through. They look awesome none the less!

I dig those tower gussets Matt made!

They had1200.250. 750 stamped on them before I burned it off.
Shoulda got a picture of that. But i do remember seeing the 750 and thinking hmmm--


Anyway, since you said I had to coat them with the shaded cherry, well, here they are.

Tim, the chrome powder coat has to be cleared in some fashion, I do not think you would like the result of a plain clear.

 

[gmanpaint]

Those look awesome!!

But, sorry, they are 650#.

I have only ever bought one set of 750#, and am using them now. The #'s stamped on them might have been worn, and hard to read.

Someone with a 4.0L might want to buy them, for that killer custom color finish.