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Explorer comp rock crawler (suggestions)

jca

New Member
Joined
January 24, 2003
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City, State
Ramona Ca
Year, Model & Trim Level
88 Bronco full size
Ok first a little back ground. My name is JC Andrews. My Team is Andrews Racing, more info at www.andrewsracing.com I race a class 7s Ford Ranger and have a 88 Ford Bronco prerunner. I also drive a x as a company truck.

We have decided to become a dual sport team. We are looking at building a rig for the modified stock class (rock crawler). I am just in the research phase and would like some input from you guys. I am going to build either a x or a toy. So far I know that the toy can be built fairly cheap with dual cases and solid axels. What about the x?

First off are there any rigs running this class? If there are can you provide a link to get specs and pics of them?
I am going to run the biggest tire allowed by the rules (36 or 37) what are the best axels available for this? Do you have to custom length them or are there vehicles with them in them and they would be a direct swap? I will be running coilovers if that helps the answers. What about transfer cases? Are there dual cases available for this application and what are the best cases to run? I am getting ready to put a 4.0 in my race truck and would like to run the same motor in my x. I am going to be running the push rod 4.0 (I have my own reasons for this) what year did the x change from push rod to OHC? I will probably be running a c4 or a manual tranny. Thoughts?

Any other advise or suggestions you would like to give would be great. Thanks JC
 



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year the engine changed

1996 was the last year for the OHV 4.0 pushrod .....some early 1997's had them too.....but most of the 97's you will find an SOHC.....

Karol
 






ok I found this thread Dead Link Removed and there is a lot of good info there. I did not get to read it all yet. I am still wondering if a D60 will work for a fron sas? I would still like to hear pro and cons from the guys that have built their rigs. If the D44 sas is done how well will it hold up to 38' tires and a locker? Any info from the guys that have been there done that will be great. Thanks
 






YOu can talk to CoryL on this board, he has a 1g X with D60's front and rear. THe only problem i see with a D60 front is that your going to have to shorten it of you want to stay with the stock width. I know you can get a hold of a D44 front that would be the same width as a 2g X
 






the 4.0 ohv wasn't discontinued in 97. they still offered them in the 99s for sure. they just offered the SOHC then as well.
the only con i think of in the d60 is that you will need to cut them down like mentioned above in order to stay stock width or close to it.
what generation x are you planning on using?
i can't help any with the dual cases or most of the real hard core info. coryl would be a great resource for you as well as many others on the board. give them a little time and you will get more info than you could imagine. good luck!
 






Re: year the engine changed

Originally posted by ExplorerEB96
1996 was the last year for the OHV 4.0 pushrod .....some early 1997's had them too.....but most of the 97's you will find an SOHC.....

Karol
Ford introduced the OHC in '97, but the pushrod 4.0 was still available up until '00 or '01. For a crawler, I would stick with the pushrod over the OHC also.

Robb

edit: yea, jasonb beat me to it:)
 






JC,

Keep in mind that a D60 hangs down REAL low at the pumpkin. You might want to try some custom axles, like a custom Currie or one of the those new Tera D60s with the CRD design. That helps mitigate some of that low hanging metal and are made for crawling. Also, you can have them designed o your spec.

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Click here for more info...
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The SOHC has NO low end. I would also stick with OHV for a crawler. It would also be more reliable in those types of situations.

For some ideas, you should speak with BuckinBroncoII, Jim. He is on here and ORR. Here is a pic of his B2.
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Sounds like you are about to have a whole lot of a new kind of fun! :) And thanks for not hitting my truck that one time at the race. ;)

--Sean
 












What I would do is put a Pro rock 60 up front with hydro assist steer or full hydro if the rules allowed. Out back I would put that terra 60 crd axle. I would put detroits in each axle. Put 2 independent cutting brakes on the back 2 tires since an explorer is long. Put an Atlas t-case w/ twin shifter in. Gut the interior and remove the doors and glass. Put a fuel cell in. Make a full cage for the inside. Remember for a modified stock the sheetmetal has to resemble stock so you cant do much there. Front suspension I would do coil overs and rear I would do coils with some sort of links. If I remember correctly you cant cut the tub to put in coil overs so that would limit you to leafs or plain coils out back, thats why I said leafs.
 






Just to verify. I have a 1999 Sport and it has the OHV engine.
 






Some good info so far. Thanks

Width is not an issue in the rules. Might be an issue with functionality and ablity to make the gates.

I have to keep this on a low budget so the wife wont want me to sell the race truck LOL.

As far as lockers. I will probably run spool in the rear and the new detroit e locker in the front. I like that is a l/s when it is not engaged.

I am not sure what explorer I will start the project with. I have a line on one that was rolled that might be available for cheap. I also have been trying to get a hold of a guy that had an add in the trader but He is not returning my calls or emails.

Sean you are too funny:D
Josh yo back to ya :D

I would like to look at some of the setups that are out there. I will be at TDS next weekend. Actually I am getting there wed am. Stop by the camp so I can check them out. I will be in the Tin Benders camp and from what I understand you cant miss their camp:D Just look for my full size Bronco. It has Andrews Racing all over it:D
 






A word of caution, the X body will be very top heavy even without glass. If you're considering a Toy, why not a Ranger. A lot less weight up high.

For 38's, a lot of the comp guys seem to stick with the 44, and Warns and CTM's. The 8.8" is fine for 38's, but not much more. A 9" may be a simpler choice for rebuilds and gear/locker costs. I have a friend running a custom FF 9" shaved with more clearance than a 44!

The 4L is good. If you go C5 with a C4 tailhousing, you can bolt any Ford 31 slpine 5 bolt TC up. You could go 203/205 doubler, or a friend of mine makes a 203/Dana 300 doubler as well. Twin stick it and install line locks.

The X/Ranger is good to 38" tires with the ~ stock front axle location and minimal fender/ firewall mods. The stock Ford steering pump can be replaced with a Saginaw from an E van, and the steering box is same as FS trucks, making hydro assist simple.

Cheers
Dale
 






Thanks Dale on the info. More info = I might have a line on a 94 4 door. It has been rolled. I have not looked at it yet. I am hoping to go see it on Sunday after I get back from TDS. I am cutting the whole top off of it so a damaged top wont bug me. Hopefully the project vehicle will be home soon and the project will start in a month or 2.


So far I am leaning toward a full size 44 front and full size 9" rear axles. Dual TC's ( need more info and costs associated with this Dale). Spool rear and Detroit e locker front. warns and ctm's. Bilstein coilovers front. Possibly 4 link and Bilstein coilovers rear or I might run some Deaver springs rear (still undecided) probably start with the deavers and change later if I want???? BFG 38" Krawlers.

As the project starts I will be posting "how do I" posts. I have little knowledge on this type of vehicle and I am sure I will be asking for lots of help. One thing about this vehicle is that the vehicle has to be street legal. So what ever is required has to stay. That might get messy with the enter-workings of the electronics. For example... changing from the current tranny (I assume E4OD) to a c4 or c5 will mess with the wiring and I do not know if it will wig out the computer? I do know that the 4.0 that we are putting in the race truck has had the harness modified to be stand alone but the race truck does not have to be "street legal" and will modifying the harness mess with smog-ability on the crawler? Oh well you see where this is going to go...should be fun:D
 






jca, if its a 94 and an auto, it has the a4ld tranny in it... they suck... but i believe aa has an adapter for it for a decent tranny, but you will lose the overdrive, not important if a rockcrawler though....
 






Originally posted by jca
Thanks Dale on the info. More info = I might have a line on a 94 4 door. It has been rolled. I have not looked at it yet. I am hoping to go see it on Sunday after I get back from TDS. I am cutting the whole top off of it so a damaged top wont bug me. Hopefully the project vehicle will be home soon and the project will start in a month or 2.

Will that be legal missing that much sheet metal? I thought the trucks needed to keep much or all of the sheet metal?

So far I am leaning toward a full size 44 front and full size 9" rear axles.
Good bet. Check out this 9"...
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Dual TC's ( need more info and costs associated with this Dale).
Do a search on Pirate for 203/205 doublers. The board has some info on C4/C5 specs as well.

Spool rear and Detroit e locker front.
Yup.

warns and ctm's.
Yup

Bilstein coilovers front.
Yup.

Possibly 4 link and Bilstein coilovers rear or I might run some Deaver springs rear (still undecided) probably start with the deavers and change later if I want????
Tough with the gas tank on the side. Would require relocation or fuel cell.

BFG 38" Krawlers.
Yup.

 






8.8 isn't as good, unless you get a disk model. Then the disks will help retain the axle shafts, as with the c-clips on the early models, we all know how they work. I'd say minuimum 9in FF rear 37in min tires... coil overs

Even better... a shaved 60 rear, with a HP 60 front with 35 splne shafts and CTM joints.


Read over at www.pirate4x4.com Lots of competitors over there... becareful what ya ask, as they'll rip anyone a new a-hole. Hopefully Cory will post up here too
 






Here is the portion of the rules that pertains to the roof...

Factory removable hard tops, doors, windshields, side glass and rear glass may be removed for the purpose of safety.

· Liberal body trimming is accepted, but not to change over all stock appearance of vehicle as per official.



Factory roofs may be removed when replaced by suitable roll bar.

I would love to have a full floater 9" like that for my race truck, prerunner and crawler but my wallet is not that big.

I will search out the info on the doublers. Thanks

I am going to be relocating the fuel tank anyway to get a more equal distribution of weight. I am going to use a fuel tank from another vehicle that is center mounted. This way smog wont be as much of a problem.

RFR2212. I am on that board and doing research there as well. But I wanted to ask the questions here to gain the knowledge of the guys that actually have explorers. Over there it would be from all type of vehicle owners. All though when it comes to some of the generic parts such as d44's their info will be of great value as well.


Thanks a lot guys keep it coming!!
 






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