Maniak's 4x4 Van Tow Rig...

[rhauf]

thats a pretty kick ass tow rig. the lego engine is awesome, i'm going to have to do one like that !

 

[Tbars4]

ummm... YES.. I do want to try twisting up my Van on Show's hill...:biggthump

Just not the really deep ones.. just around the edge.. If you thought Teds X turned like a boat, you should see the Van.. It turns like the titanic. Besides solid axle, they have limiter bolts to keep me from turning too far.. Not sure what those are called, but they are on the knuckle and hit the axle when I turn to full lock.

~Mark

...The stock Dana 35's also have this bolt...It is on the arm and the stop is on the back of the brake casting...This is on my 95 Ranger...

 

[Maniak]

We created a gauge pod, and added a coolant temp gauge and the trans. temp gauge.

closeup..

~Mark

 

[BrooklynBay]

What brand is the gauge?

 

[90ranajo]

Better hope you don't get any voltage spikes on those Cyberdynes.

 

[Maniak]

Cyberdynes..


I was having some oddness with the readings for a day or so..

When i turned on the headlights it would jump the water temp 30 degrees. Today I added a ground strap from the battery to the body and ran a ground wire from the battery to the ground wire I use for the gauges and other Dash type stuff.

I still have to replace the alternator as it is weak. With the lights and the heater fan on high the voltage drops to < 12v.

~Mark

 

[BrooklynBay]

What kind of battery do you have? Are you going to install a high amp alternator?

 

[Maniak]

Just a normal 12V group 34 (I think).. its 900CCA IIRC and I just got it.

The alternator in there is either a 65 or a 42 amp alternator.. I can't tell which, but its not working well.. It doesn't take much load to drop the voltage way down.

I picked up a chevy 1 wire 105 amp alternator to drop in.. I just need to drill the mounting hole a little bigger. the long bolt won't "quite fit".

~Mark

 

[BrooklynBay]

You might want to get a universal alternator bracket. Some auto parts stores sell performance brackets with a chrome finish. This will save you the trouble of having to fabricate or drill.

 

[Maniak]

The bracket seems ok.. the pivot hole on the alternator that the long bolt goes through is too small for the Ford bolt to go through. I'll just drill that hold out a little. I'll also have to make a spacer since the Ford mount has a longer spacer, but thats no big deal, I had had create a spacer for the power steering pump already.

~Mark

 

[Maniak]

Was a somewhat busy weekend..

I did get the alternator in, but I think it has a bad diode. It will kill the battery overnight.

I also found water sitting on top of the timing cover. I pulled the intake manifold off, broke/knocked out the pressed in tube for the water bypass (more like radiator bypass) and put a new one in.

I then changed the oil and filter since I know I got water in it when doing the intake.

I re-timed the motor (dist. had to come out to get the intake out), increased the idle some to around 550 in gear but I may need to bring it up some more (750 is the book #)

I found a bunch of loose exhaust bolts (not "loose", but not tight).

I also checked the flex plate to converter nuts and they were all tight.

The "odd" noise I was hearing, which almost sounded like a rod knock but wasn't coming from the engine is now almost completly gone. I think its a combination of valve noise, and exhaust.

The mid-tank is still having issues, so I either have a pickup issue, filter issue, or the tank selector valve isn't working well.

I drove the Van to work again today with the X on the trailer. It towed great. The rear suspension on the van isn't near as stiff with the trailer on it. I only felt it bounce when the road had a good bump, but it wasn't bad. Otherwise the trailer just sat back there, being dead weight.

We will see how well it does on the way home. There is supposed to be 20mph winds this afternoon.

~Mark

 

[Dannyboy]

thats good news Mark. I guess the wind tonight will tell all. The Explorer looks pretty cinched down on that thing. Make sure the trailer tires are at max PSI and if you notice any swaying with the wind you can also make sure the Explorer has max PSI instead of trail PSI in the tires, that makes a big difference.

 

[IZwack]

Wow Maniak, you're ready to roll!

 

[Turdle]

Yippeee woo hoo! Truckhaven!!

 

[Maniak]

thats good news Mark. I guess the wind tonight will tell all. The Explorer looks pretty cinched down on that thing. Make sure the trailer tires are at max PSI and if you notice any swaying with the wind you can also make sure the Explorer has max PSI instead of trail PSI in the tires, that makes a big difference.

Well, I made it back. From work to the house is slightly uphill (2200 ft elevation to 3500 ft). Temp averaged about 195F. I was only able to maintain 60mph. I had a head/cross wind most of the way. Other than having to correct steering sometimes, and have to put my foot in it more, I didn't even notice the wind. It was easier to drive than the X is by itself on a windy day.

On the 2 lane I drive a little faster than I did this morning (55mph) and aimed for some of the dips/bumps in the road to see how everything would react. Other than getting the rear of the van to bounce a few times, nothing really happened.

I'm still not sure if I'm gonna stick with the current ball mount or switch to a 4" drop to level out the trailer.

I do know that tomorrow evening I pick up a set of tires for the van. It will either be a set of Falkens (8 ply) or a set of Hercules All trac (10 ply). I'm leaning towards the Hercules tires. Out the door price for raw tires is < $450. I can install them using the neighbors tire machine.

~Mark

 

[Maniak]

more stuff

I took a drive up to the Phoenix area last night and picked up some tires..

265x75r16 Hercules All Trac AT Load range E

Brand new, out the door was $440, plus about $25 for Gas (used a friends pickup and combined some other errands last evening)..

Once we got back to Tucson, I still had to get them home.. using the Honda.

Best price I could find for the same size AT tires in Tucson was $570.

I got them through AZTireClub. Their website is cheesy, their email address is yahoo, but they have a decent sized warehouse and a few hundred tires in it.

Apparently they have a warehouse in Newport Beach Ca too where they can do installs too.

I'll just use the neighbors tire machine and put these on the Van on Friday..

~Mark

 

[Maniak]

Just Finished the latest update. Replaced the Freightliner radiator with a factory one. The factory Radiator is much wider and only slightly shorter. There is less "behind" the bumper now.

Freightliner on the left, factory 4 core on the right.

Also replaced the factory engine driven fan with one from a Taurus.

Walk around after installing and tweaking the Electric Fan conversion.


The electric fan has really made the motor more responsive and it stays much cooler at idle and around town.

~Mark

 

[damarble]

Cool van. It one of those on my list to own one day. There's quite a few up here in northern Idaho.

I hope that fan can cool well enough under load. I'm impressed with my Taurus fan swap but I've heard a lot of guys say they don't push enough air for heavy hauling.

Too bad you didn't go diesel, that would have kicked ass and doubled your MPG lol.

 

[Maniak]

Better hope you don't get any voltage spikes on those Cyberdynes.

Cyberdynes are officially dead. Even the 2nd set. I "think" they are still under warranty but they aren't going back in. I have a cheap set of Summit racing electric gauges in there for now. I think I'm going with a manual temp gauge eventually but I"m not sure about the trans yet.


Oh yea, different subject. Today I got to test out the electric fan with a load. I pulled a '98 ranger across town in 100F+ weather. Thats about 5000 lbs including weight of the trailer. The motor never went over 205F which is actually what it runs when I'm on the freeway unloaded. Other than a couple water leaks (winshield) I think the Van is pretty much read for this years truckhaven run.

That leaves me almost 2 months to do something to the X before the run.

~Mark

 

[Tbars4]

...What about the van being ready for the "Tow Rig Run"..??..