Dana 44 and 3 link install

Since the AZ wheeling season is finally upon us, I decided it was time to put my new truck in the shop for a little tweaking to better handle the trails around here. A little about what I started with:

Specs: 5 speed, manual tcase, 5.13's, discs and no slip in rear, 37 MTR's(street) and 36 TSL's(rocks).

The goal for this project was to build something that was able to drive to the hardest trails in AZ, run them successfully, and then drive home. It must also be able to be driven everyday as this is my main source of transportation. All decisions were made with a bias towards trail performance, instead of street comfort.

Build Specs:

Dana 44 - Left over from my last project.
- Warn shafts, CTM's, Detroit, 5.13's, Hi-steer setup, etc.
King Coilovers - 14" travel, 2" body
King Airbumps - 4" travel
Custom 3 link w/ panhard rod

All fabrication work is being performed by 4 Wheelers Supply here in Phoenix.

Work started Monday. Progress as of lunch today.

Old front end has been stripped out, frame rail have been ground smooth in preperation for reinforcement plating, axle location has been determined, ride height is set. Items in the engine compartment have been relocated in preperation for the shock hoops and the crossbar that will connect them across the engine bay(next two pics).

I hope to stop in again at the shop Tues or Wed next week (it is a 45 drive away) and have better progress pics of the actual layout of the links, as well as the hoops for the coilovers.

Estimated completion date is sometime the first week of December.

 

[410Fortune]

the transmission can always come out the hood with the engine This is hwo I have been doing them lately, just pull the whole damn thing!

 

[Trckmagik]

Hey dont laugh at the white stripes.......

I think it looks hella better than white fenders......

wow, where did that come from? I think the stripes look good on it. Very diff.

 

[410Fortune]

without the white fenders my BII would not be so patriotic! hahaha
Body work and new paint is on the list

I asked because I have thought about a single stripe on the BII hombre, when I was a kid I put a stripe on every RC car, model, everything

Hell it doesnt matter what you do to the paint on that truck now, its always gonna be sexy underneath!

 

[Trckmagik]

I think you should do it. I think its great to make it look diff. than the 40,000 other trucks on this site.

 

[Michael]

awesome choice.
Withthe C4 behind the 4.0L you can always also go 5.0L

You can use a GT-40 5.0L from an explorer donor and drop in a distributor, run the older EEC-IV computer and simple EFI wiring.

The reverse manual C4 is the hot setup I just dont want to live without OD if I don't have to.

I have really moved away from wanting a 5.0 in it. I have never really felt a huge lack of power in any of my explorers, and a 5.0 would just lead to more broken parts faster. OD is something that is nice to have, especially on a daily driver like this, but I'm not sold on any of the OD trans that are available. 700R4 has way to many issues that I am seeing. A4LD I have had decent luck with them, but I can't shake the turd feeling. 4R70W Computer controls hell and wiring nightmare. So that leaves the C4.

Rockranger - The cats did have to be moved back. The 2nd one is attached directly to the muffler. They had to do that because they are not allowed to replace the two factory cats with one aftermarket one for some reason , but they couldn't explain why.

I dig the stripes. I can't imagine it without them at this point. They help make sure that it doesn't blend in with all the other Explorers here in town .

 

[410Fortune]

the 4r70w is not nearly as bad as you might think.
You can run it with the Baumman controller or with the factory PCM.

I didn't go 5.0L for the added power, I was always more then happy with the OHV especially in the #4000 BII, but now that I have the 5.0L I am sold, the shifting and range of the gears is excellent, I never dreamed a BII could be so nice to drive, it is night and day.

The C4 is a great setup, just no OD, but it will work well behind the torquey OHV.


A single cat should be 100% legal in place of the factory pre heater and cat setup, even in emissions nazi CA.

 

[Trckmagik]

I had the entire truck painted and the white stripes painted on it when I was living in Jackson Mississippi. That was back in 1997 or 1998 I still dig the look it gives the truck.

 

[Trckmagik]

Michael,
I will be in Vegas on Feb 7th thru the 9th. You should make a road trip on up for one of the days I am staying at the Imperial Palace....

 

[tdavis]

A single cat should be 100% legal in place of the factory pre heater and cat setup, even in emissions nazi CA.

It's not the same thing.

Esp. if you have an O2 sensor between them.

 

[Rick]

I have passed with a single hi-flow cat in AZ with no problem. In fact it just passed last month.

 

[410Fortune]

Tom, replacing the stock OHV 4.0L cat converter assemblies with a single cat is legal in 50 states. There is no 02 sensor between them.
This is not a primary and secondary setup like the OBD-II trucks use (95+) it is a pre heater and cat.

 

[Rick]

Michael,
I will be in Vegas on Feb 7th thru the 9th. You should make a road trip on up for one of the days I am staying at the Imperial Palace....

I have a better idea. You should go to the Truck Haven run Feb 4-5 and then head to Vegas from there

 

[RangerX]

Yeah, Brian. You can bring your sawzall.

 

[Michael]

I agree there was no reason to reuse the old pieces, but since I don't where baggy pants and weld exhaust for a living I couldn't possibly have known what I was talking about . Oh well, it is in and done. If I need to at a later time, I'll redo it.

Brian I'll have to see about that. Like Rick said, I'll be in Truckhaven the weekend before. I'll have to see what my pipeline and shcedule at work looks like at that time. Sounds like fun, I've never been to Vegas.

 

[410Fortune]

I friggin love Vegas

 

[Stic-o]

Michael,
I will be in Vegas on Feb 7th thru the 9th. You should make a road trip on up for one of the days I am staying at the Imperial Palace....

That's Crazy, I'll pulling Into Vegas the day your leaving

Small world

 

[Trckmagik]

One more HiJack/Bump

I cant make TruckHaven. I will try one year, but I would need to take a week and a half off just for the drive.
I am flying to Vegas so it was alot easier to pull

I can tell you this though, When I make it back out to the west coast I will have the SAWZAW in hand. Some of you need it bad Bwhahahahahaha

 

[Stic-o]

One more HiJack/Bump

I cant make TruckHaven. I will try one year, but I would need to take a week and a half off just for the drive.
I am flying to Vegas so it was alot easier to pull

I can tell you this though, When I make it back out to the west coast I will have the SAWZAW in hand. Some of you need it bad Bwhahahahahaha

You know truckhaven is probally only a 4 hour drive from vegas, you should come to vegas a few days early and rent a Explorer Sawzall optional

 

[daddy_ja]

ok im sure im not the only one here, but im dying to see some flexy pics!!!!

 

[Rick]

Photos from the maiden journey

http://www.explorerforum.com/terminator_12-05/