ld50 Explorer mods revisited

[ld50]

I chucked that piece I cut, in the scrap bin.

Then I cut along the top of the frame like so:

 

[ld50]

I heated up the the part that was left after those second cuts and bent it straight up to begin building up the upper mounting point.
I saved the piece left after I cut and shaped it a bit on the stationary grinder then welded it into the space in the frame. Gotta totally disconnect your battery if you weld on the frame! It has been over 5 years since I`ve picked up a welder, but I just perservered. After shot is here:
( You can see, I drilled a hole where the upper mount was going to be, just so I knew how much, or if, I needed to weld some metal on.)

 

[ld50]

The weld:

 

[ld50]

Then I did the other side, and drilled out the holes. I purposely drilled them a little bigger in case I needed some fine tuning or they were a little off frome each other.
Then I evened up & cleaned everything up with the hand grinder and buffer, then threw some black paint on the whole back frame:

 

[ld50]

Then I had to think about getting access to the tire winder, so I drilled a hole in the plastic trim:

 

[ld50]

I remounted the bumper, and am pleased with the fit:

 

[ld50]

Front bumper relocation!

Yes I thought the front looked horrible after all!

Sorry but I don`t have step by step pics for this.

Okay, I relocated the front bumper! Basically all I did was take my tow hooks off and cut the ends of the frame off just behind the mount holes with a hand grinder with a cutting wheel.
Then I welded them back on two inches higher and remounted my towhooks inside the frame rails:

This pic tells all!

 

[ld50]

I could have reinforced the frame a bit. I will when and if I ever get an aftermarket bumper.

Next episode:
Mounting shackles and shock mount skid plates.

 

[ld50]

WAR 153 shackles and WAR 1780 skidplates

Okay I wanted to raise the rear a bit to get a little rake happenin`.
The truck seemed to ride a little low in the rear, especially if I had a lot of weight in the back.
I was happy to see that Warrior makes shock mount skidplates for us now, so I got a set of those too.

It was an easy install, using techniques I`ve already mentioned, so I won`t bore ya!

Heres some pics:

 

[ld50]

The shackles sure stick out now!

 

[ld50]

So now I am very happy with the way it sits, and can stop crawling underneath for a while.

Or can I......

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
2" body lift kit = $148.45
Shifter extension = $58.21
2" x 20' tow strap = $40.50
War1780 skid plates - $115.00
War153 shackles - $99.95

Total "EX"penses = 13973.85

Next episode:

"The Warrior skidplates Do not work on pre 95 trucks without further mods!"

 

[ld50]

Those darn skidplates!!!

A few days after installation, I was feeling antsy, so I got my couzin to show me these wheeling pits out in Surrey BC.
I had my first chance to use my tow hooks there! My cuz went carreening into a mud pit and "KATCHANG" toasts his front axle. Then he couldn`t get out. Itwas rather comical, and I grabbed my camera for kind of a cool shot.

Chuckle. I like how you can see in the pic that his front tires aren`t spinning. Doh!

 

[ld50]

Any way, There was lots of humps and bumps and stuff in there so my suspension was getting a workout. The next day I found that the skidplates had put the shocks close enough to the sway bar that my shocks were damaged when my rear tires got stuffed.

They got a minimum 1/4 inch dent in each one now! If I didn`t have any lift back there I`m sure they would have been punctured, what a joke!

Next episode:

"Deciding what to do now"

 

[ld50]

Remedy for sway bar!

I took it off!

I haven`t done a whole lot of driving with it off, but it feels okay so far. I will leave it off until after a big trip I have planned for the end of the month. If I want it back on, I will have to do some custom bending to make it fit.
Another option suggested to me is going for those bushings they talk about here for the front swaybar. I`m told they will lessen any sway caused by the loss of the rear anti-sway bar removal.

(I have sent an email to Warrior, outlining what happened to me. they appear to have a strong commitment to me, from what I read on their website.
I have been able to find people with 95 and older Explorers who did not have this problem, but no-one else has come forward with a late model Ex. I would really like for them to offer some new shocks, since it is their design flaw which has damaged mine. They seem to still travel past the dents, but they can`t be that great now.)

I have much more droop it seems, with no swaybar, and the shocks would definitely extend till they stopped, which would be the only thing holding the axle from drooping more. I have been fooling around with a way to lower the upper shock mount points.
I got some longer bolts and nuts (strong stuff) And used some metal tubing to create spacers. I may have to modify this further if it appears to be weakening later on, but for experimental purposes I think they will be fine.
They are 1& 1/2 inches long, and the shocks are stock lengths:

 

[ld50]

I think a problem might be that they could shift on the part that the bushing envelopes, but otherwise they seem very solid, and force is directed fairly straight into them.

 

[ld50]

At this point I was asked by crankcase in my last thread weather I was in those mudpits. Well I took it easy but:

 

[ld50]

Emergency brake cable problems!


Well since my rear tires are getting futher from the frame I have noticed the brake cable was becoming rather tight. When I fooled around with a jack stand and a floor jack to see how much travel I am getting after removing the sway bar, I saw that at full droop I was close to ripping it right out of the drum! Not only that, it was now contacting the tire!

Most of the problem seemed to come from where the cable runs through the bracket close to the rear tire.
Here you can see that sitting on flat ground, the cable is already being held up by the bracket:

 

[ld50]

So I unhooked the metal connector which was in the middle of the cable, and used vise grips and pliers to loosen the rear section of cable from that doo-hickey with the spring attached to it. Then I pulled it out from the bracket.

 

[ld50]

And then I just put it together like like that, using a huge pair of pliers to bend the doo-hickey back in place.

Now my rear tires can move freely without messing with the brake cable. The other side of course is fine since the cable branches out from there and follows the axle. There is enough play to keep it from binding.

 

[ld50]

I replaced my front differential breather hose today. I know, I was warned that I would get water in there and it definitetly looks like I did. I messed up, and hope I didn`t cause harm to my new gear sets in there. I should have listened. I`m going to go to a lube place to get it sucked out and replaced tomorrow and see what we can do to get it all out without taking everything apart. Probably add new oil and suck it out a few times.

The new hose is four feet long, and terminates next to those polution control cannisters by the coolant and washer tanks. 3 bucks and ten minutes of my time. Could have saved me the trouble if I`d done it sooner.