ld50 Explorer mods revisited

[ld50]

The little instruction sheet said to remove the breather line from the axle, but I didn`t see any problem leaving it on.

Okay, with the axle supported I took off the shocks, just spun wrenches until the leaf spring was off.

 

[ld50]

I left the jack at the same spot where all the weight was off the spring.

 

[ld50]

I put the spring pack in the vise, as close to the nut through the center as I could. The kit came with long replacement bolts, so I just chiseled the old nut in half since it was very rusty.
Then you release the vise and put the new leaf between the other leafs and the overload leaf. I put grease on the outside ends as directed in the instructions. Put the new bolt through the holes to help keep it all together. You gotta fiddle a bit while tightening it together in the vise, while tightening the nut as you go. Once I was happy I tightened it fully then chiseled off the excess bolt lenth.

 

[ld50]

Putting it back on is easy. I was a little worried about getting it straight, but it all fits together with a hole for the top of the nut to fit back into, and the shock bracket has a hole that fits over the bottom nut. (trust me, if you`ve never done it you will see how easy it is)

You can see how much lower the leaf is now that it is back in place without the axle being moved in this pic:

 

[ld50]

One thing I did after was slightly bend the brake line bracket to make sure the hose had a bit extra room. Carefull to not kink the hard line. It is hard to the bracket, then it changes to hose.

For the front, I supported the truck from the frame again and undid one side of the sway bar and removed the shock. Undo the bolt holding the spring down, (1 1/8 " wrench) and the coil spins out of the top. Make a note of how far to spin it back.
I chucked the old spring keeper and I put the spacer on the cup that the keeper was on. I worked the spring in there with a pinch bar while kind of pushing down on the hub and screwed the coil to where it was before.
I jacked up that side of the TTB until the coil looked like it was seated properly into the spacer, and pounded with a mallet until it was centered around the bolt. Then I tightened it all up and put the new shock on.

 

[ld50]

Of course it was all going too smoothly, right? Sure enough the lower shock mount/driver`s side was attacked by Murphy`s law. The bolt just twisted right off and took the threads with it. It must have been barely hanging on because at first I thought the nut was already loose. Anyway, I finished up, put the new shock into place, and reconnected the sway bar.

Dont laugh, it worked!

 

[ld50]

So it was back to Serious Explorations, where a brother directed me to the Canadian Tire "HELP" section for a shock mount replacement.


After some intimate time with a grinder, I had the offending mount gone, I drilled a hole for the new mount, and I threw some paint on the bare metal. Then I installed the mount. Good as new now!

I wanted just 2" to get 31" tires on there. I might have gone for 32" but learned from this site that they would rub the front fenders and not fit in the spare tire hole.
In the future I see one of those bumpers with the tire carrier on it. Maybe when my new tires wear out I will go that route...

Oh yeah, the back end shot:

 

[ld50]

MY NEW TIRES ARE:

31x10.5 BFG T/A K/Os

Really a well made tire, and rated one of the best all terrain for ice and snow. A good compromise between street and offroad performance.

The tire guy pointed out that my air fill points were really long on those rims so we went with shorter ones to avoid getting them ripped off on a trail. Good idea! The hard decision was white lettering in or out. I put it in out of personal preference, but they wouldn`t look bad out either.

Here is how she looks now:

 

[ld50]

TOTAL $ CDN SPENT

Truck = $8500.00
Plasma white hid headlights = $39.96
Mini driving lights = $65.00
Filter adapter = $68.41
K&N filter = $50.00
Window visors = $45.00
Cheap CB = $75.00
Antenna = $50.00
Tow hooks = $40.00
2" susp lift with shocks = $464.00
31x10.5 BFG T/A K/Os = $835.00

Total "EX"penses = $10232.37

Yaay! we broke the ten thou. mark on this truck!

Well this IS Canadian money, it`s not REALLY worth that much. lol.

I thought I`d add the fact that I really don`t need to hear how good a deal you got on something I may have been overcharged for! Please don`t stress me out if ya can help it.


Next episode:
"Let me get this straight. The alignment costs more than the lift and shocks?" bwaaaaaaaaaaaah!

 

[ld50]

I needed the alignment done, and there is one close to my house. Perfect, right? Yeah, right!

Now, I tend to act a little dumb when I go into a shop, and yes I have gotten the odd free brake inspection by going to a big name brake shop and saying, "you say they are pretty worn, could I see them, cuz I never knew to much about it, and it always intrigued me?"
Ha Ha.. Suckers, as if I`d let you overcharge me for that.

But I digress,
I always act dumb at first to get a feel for their honesty, when they look at the work that was to be done. If they come at you to replace stuff you know is alright, you can call them on it, and denounce their honesty.

Now I don`t know much about alignments so I was a little at their mercy. He called me and said he didn`t want to do it unless I replaced the lower ball joints. I was a little skeptical, but asked about the price. He said he would call back with a price.
I raced to the computer to this site and asked for help and started searching for info. I found that since I had 159,000km on my Ex that it wasn`t unreasonable. So I said go ahead then. I was worried too, when he said he wouldn`t guarrantee the alignment unless I did it, that I would end up with a cruddy job that I couldn`t make him fix.


So I pick up the truck at closing time, pay the very large bill, and the thing is swerving to the right like it has a death wish! I went to my work and check the toe and found it to be 3/16 of toe out, instead of 1/8 toe in.

There I am at 9 the next morning, feeling a tad bit cranky, and causing a scene until he called the alignment guy in on his day off, and got me a courtesy car. His atitude did change when I made him drive it though, I`ll give him that, but he didn`t apreciate me telling him to check the toe.

And in the end, I got what I wanted. AN ALIGNMENT!
It feels good now, and with the lift and shocks it feels very sturdy and truck like. It wasn`t cheap tho`

 

[ld50]

Guy at work`s truck burnt down a while ago, broke his heart, and he had no way to put it out. he was driving home when he smelled gas and pulled into a parking lot just as gas started burning in his engine compartment

Makes ya think.

 

[ld50]

Of course, by the time some of our finest reached the scene, the truck was a write-off.

 

[ld50]

I immediately added this to the Ex, which should be part of your trail kit anyway:

 

[ld50]

PROBLEMS!!

I got that notorious left side lean to the truck, It`s about 3/4" on the rear and 1/2" on the front. I don`t like it, and wish I had swapped the leafs and coils side for side when I did the lift! Do you think that would have done anything?? Or is it really the gas tank?
I never really noticed it till I read a thread here.

I would like to get longer shackles in the rear to keep it from sagging when I stuff the back with trail gear. Has any one else tried this?


TOTAL $ CDN SPENT

Truck = $8500.00
Plasma white hid headlights = $39.96
Mini driving lights = $65.00
Filter adapter = $68.41
K&N filter = $50.00
Window visors = $45.00
Cheap CB = $75.00
Antenna = $50.00
Tow hooks = $40.00
2" susp lift with shocks = $464.00
31x10.5 BFG T/A K/Os = $835.00
New lower ball jts. and alignment = $ 604.00
Fire extinguisher = $ 40.00

Total "EX"penses = $10876.37

I`m not done yet!

Next episode:

"Jim gets the most expensive and exciting mod yet!"

 

[ld50]

So the project is sailing along nicely.
I got me a little lift, some bigger tires. So what next?

TORQUE!

I was blessed with the 3.27 gear sets which didn`t pull very good with stock tires, and with the 31 inch tires I could barely pull my sick grandmother off a toilet seat.
After a few posts, and a lot of research on this site I concluded that I needed 4.10 gears to make me happy.

I wanted to get a gear set that would still allow me to go a little bigger with the tires without me wanting to change them again. I like a little more torque than average. I figure they would be okay up to 33 inch tires if need be.

TRACTION!

Fueled by my desire to out the average truck out there and show some buddies what a Ford can do, (you can`t beat the blue oval!) I decided I needed a locker. I did more research, and concluded that I needed a Detroit Softlocker in my rear diff, for medicinal purposes.

I chose Detriot, for it`s notoriety, toughness, and reliability. I`ve heard stories of others failing, and would rather pay out more for the piece of mind. Almost went for an air locker though..
I chose the Softlocker because I still would like good road manners with a locker, and hearing about the noises and clunking from the EZ-locker and others, finalized my decision to go with the much more expensive, but quieter, Detroit Softlocker.

I asked a local friend where the best place to go was, in our area. He also had a locker, and told me to go where he went, to No Limit Off Road, which was within walking distance of my house.
I talked with Reo, and was a little nervous that he seemed to work with Suzuki`s alot, but came to realize that he modified alot of trucks with American drivetrains.
He seemed like a trustworthy guy too, and was overall very vocal, and knowledgable.

I got him to do it. I asked him to check my U-joints since my alignment guy had brought them up, and he suggested replacing two in the front axles, and I agreed.

When I picked it up, he said it would be smart to take a road trip for break-in of the rear gears. He said pick a fairly straight road where I could travel at near freeway speeds, vary my vehicle speed, and stop after half an hour. After waiting 20 - 30 minutes I am too keep going for another half hour and stop for another 20 - 30 minutes. Then I will drive home with a broken-in rear diff.
On the weekend, I`ll get on a dirt road and do the same with the front diff. locked.

Oooooooh!

So I`m driving home, and it`s been raining out.. I first noticed feeling the power that was going back there at take-off.
Reo told me that the Detroit would have a tad more play when starting, and that was noticeable as well. I could easily smoothen it with some clutch-finnesse.
The locker grabbed quite noticeably when power was applied, and in a slight corner I could feel where it would disengage. It seems to disengage silently, which is really cool. Also feels very easy to spin the tires on the wet pavement, but still had a lot of bite to the asphalt.
That is the extent of testing, and I started writing this within an hour of that mod.

TOTAL $ CDN SPENT

Truck = $8500.00

Plasma white hid headlights = $39.96
Mini driving lights = $65.00
Filter adapter = $68.41
K&N filter = $50.00
Window visors = $45.00
Cheap CB = $75.00
Antenna = $50.00
Tow hooks = $40.00
2" susp lift with shocks = $464.00
31x10.5 BFG T/A K/Os = $835.00
New lower ball jts. and alignment = $ 604.00
Fire extinguisher = $ 40.00
4.10 gears, locker, U-joints = $2635.37

Total "EX"penses = $13511.74

Tomorrow is break-in day, and probably another post to give more assessments about how this mod will help me in the future.

 

[ld50]

Okay The break-in is out of the way

Overall, I am happy with the performance.
It was dry on the roads for MOST of my trip, so I got to see how it feels on dry AND wet pavement.
With the new gears and locker, it feels completely different. It`s hard to describe, but the locker gives a sense that you are really connected to the ground. If you powered into a turn, the tires would bite and chirp, which fed some dark primal part of my brain.
When I encountered traffic I had to fight the urge to grunt like Tim (the tool man)Taylor, and drive up the median, over the shrubbery, and push traffic outta my way!

But this was reality so I`ll get back to it:

I`ve heard about the front end plowing when locked in a turn and did experience that for myself. It`s like the truck wants to go straight, and the front tires have to fight it a little to turn you. It`s not alarming, but it does feel a little wierd. The front tires didn`t slide or anything, but I wouldn`t want to be turning at high rates of speed with it locked up in wet weather.

When coasting through a turn, the locker released silently, and reengaged with a solid feeling when I accelerated again. The locking and unlocking and clutch work involved does cause the truck to wobble and sway a bit, but I don`t mind. There was a couple bangs from back there, It is still an auto locker, after all. With a little practice I believe I can keep it to a minimum.

The difference is almost as if I`m driving a fullsize truck now, I never realized how much the stock Ex drives like a car until now. It feels heavier and definitely more capable.

Definitely happy with it.



My maiden voyage in "The Station Wagon" is going to be this weekend, so I hope to have some action pics up soon.

But first, I`m going to see about that left side lean.
HMMMMmmmmm.....

 

[ld50]

I HAVE BEATEN THE LEFT SIDE LEAN!!

While searching this site for a solution, and not finding a definite one, I had and idea after learning this..

The cause is most probably the years of driving with more weight on the driver`s side. First of all, the gas tank is situated towards that side. add the weight of the driver, and you have more strain on the springs.
This would cause the driver`s side to start sagging after years of use.

In my one of my previous posts I mentioned wishing I had swapped the springs when I did the lift, remember? Well I got an air gun hooked up and went to work!

I swapped the rear leaf springs around and here are the results:

Before

Rear, measured from shackles to ground indicated a difference of 3/4"

Front measured from frame behind bumper indicated a difference of 1/2"

After

Rear, measured from shackles to ground indicated a difference of 3/16"

Front measured from frame behind bumper indicated a difference of 1/8"

I guess the idea that the springs fatigue faster on the drivers side would explain the lean phenomenon, but can`t explain why all new springs wouldn`t help in one of the posts I read.

Don`t want to do the front coils, but I bet that would even it right out.
I can live with it being out 3/16" though. I can`t notice it by looking at it now.

Sorry, no pics, since I forgot the camera!

I did the swap without even removing the tires. I put jackstands under the frame, my floor jack under the diff. and my Explorer`s Jack was used to hold the forward most part of the diff. before the U-joint, to keep it from falling down when I undid the leafs. I adjusted until I figured everything was at rest before starting.
I just undid the shock mount from the leafs, leaving the shock still attached. It only took me 1 hour at most. Gotta love power tools.

It WOULD have been easier if I had to use hand tools this time since I cleaned up and never-siezed every bolt I had to take off when I did the lift.

When that side sags again, I guess I`m buying new springs, but I can wait, Maybe I`ll swap the front one day.


<Just to give credit, I did find a thread since, that said to try the swap. the info was in a post by Anime4x4 . Thanks man! I will use your method of leveling out the Station Wagon with the Warrior shackles! >

 

[ld50]

UPDATE!

Having to wait way too long for stuff! The local 4x4 shop is supposed to be phoning me when my body lift comes in. It`s been quite a wait though, I`ll have to phone them soon.
Found a place that sells Warrior products, and of course they have to order in the stuff I need, so longer wait there, Also the don`t have everything listed that I asked about.

One thing I gotta get is longer shackles. I was going to get WAR123 but want WAR153 instead. I got roped into helping someone move and seeing it with the weight in there, I think I could use the extra hieght the 153s will get me, even if it sits a little higher in the back when empty.

Just waiting for a phone call then I`m on the road to Hope, BC to drive some dirt roads, and hopefully test the suspension and see if I can give the new locker a challenge. The locker seems to be working even smoother since I got some more Kms on it.

 

[ld50]

I`m back from the trip!

I must say, the locker was a huge asset, I kept up easily with my cuz`s (Tom`s) J@@p Comanche and actually fared better when we hit some mud that was up to my side skirts. The funny thing was, he had mud tires on too.

So I pulled some strings, and it was off to the Coquihalla Canyon.
Pretty early into the trail I saw a rather steep, rocky hill and jokingly radioed to see if Tom wanted to go up there. He said "sure, let me get my video cam out!"
It was the first real test of what The Station Wagon could do, and as I looked at the hill a bit more, I thought it was possible. I gave my digital camera to my brother to capture this hallowed event, and the moron missed it all! He said he was pushing the button, but I coulda killed him when I looked at the lcd to see and nothing was there.
Anyway, I put her in 4-low 1st gear and started my crawl. I couldn`t get any traction at first since the wheel ruts were carrying the water down and the small rocks were not giving me enough grab. I backed out and tried it again, this time hugging the side, out of the ruts. I just motored straight up after that, Piece of cake. Tom assures me that he`ll get me some screen captures of the ascent and said he can make a video I can watch on my PC, so I`ll have to find out if we can post video here, or at least I hope to get a pic of that for ya.

Not trusting my brother with the camera again, I didn`t treally get any true "action shots". But here`s some pics:

 

[ld50]

It was absolutely beautiful weather the whole trip, and with the snow melt, scenes like this were very common: