mountaineer is going under the knife

[macknos94]

i was gonna go witha dana 44 but i figure for the cost of buying one and building it i can get a dana 60. i'm trying to find a dana 60 and a 14 bolt. i'm trying to keep it somewhat simple with leaf spring rear and coil front. the steering isn't quit worked out but i'm working with A to Z fab to complete the project. i will be installing 4.56 gear andlockers front and rear while i tear down the axles. the project will cost between 8-10k in total but i have a good feeling this with be a sick setup.


around me its mostly fields and mud. the trails i ride on aren't very tight so even with the 36-38s i wont have an issue.

NOW PEOPLE BUY MY OLD PARTS SO I CAN GET THIS DONE SOONER

 

[Limited02]

Good luck and looking forward to the finished product. I haven't been on much because my computer is getting fixed and I'm writing from the PS3 which takes too long!

 

[GRNMACHINE]

mack,
not sure how I missed this whole thread but that is by far the nices Mounty I have ever seen!! UNBELIEVABLE!! Nice work. Hard to believe you want more but then again, I dont think anyone here is ever happy with their trucks, always want to do more. Thought I would be happy with 33's and now I am trying to figure out how to fit 35's.. Cant wait to see your new upgrades. And those wheels/tires couldnt look any better.

 

[zerodevil]

Mac, i think you should put a twin supercharged 6.2L out of the new raptor into that beast and a transmission out of a grey hound bus. It could crawl over import cars, boulders, rock's, small children.. and still get to 60 in under 4 seconds XD. DO IT!!!

 

[macknos94]

I still have this 5.0 stroker sitting at my buddies shop all wrapped up. I figure after the sas is done I will work on the engine along with swapping to a manual transfer case. I'd like to swap in a manual tranny but that's out of my budget right now. The guys from a to z fab are out of the shop till Feb 15th but I'm figuring ill have definite build plans and a much clearer idea.

 

[Limited02]

275 dollars later my computer is fixed and I have a lot of posting to catch up on!


Mack-Is there any reason you don't want to do a 4-link front AND rear? I will need to crawl under the ex to make sure my pipe dream idea will work, but since the frames on our ex's/mounty's are fully boxed, I have an idea for a simple mount for 4-link bars. Plus remember that drawing you made a while back about how to attach king coil overs in place of the factory struts? If I need to draw up some pictures and post them of what I am talking about, I wouldn't mind.

Ever since I bought my ex 4 years ago, I wanted to do a SAS F/R and lift it on 38's. But now I am into the street thing and lifting seems pointless because it takes away the daily use of it because it'll be a b***h for people to get into. Plus I like being able to park inside and not worry about hail damage or theft.

So if you want any sketches, I'll see what I can post up. Looking forward to the finished results!!!!!!

 

[macknos94]

i was thinking about doing a coilover setup in the front but A toZ wants to look at the frame before we deside on leaf or coilover. i really was leaning towards a coilover front and leaf spring rear but we will see. i'm running blind on the axles just because of all the snow we are getting i don't feel like laying in the snow to get the measurements. everything is still up in the air but once the snow is gonei'm gonna start removing the front diff, front axles, front drive shaft and pretty much anything i don't need on the truck when i drop it off.

i'm also looking into swapping my AWD t-case for a manual t-case with 2wd,4wd hi and 4 low. now i just need to find one that will bolt up to our tranny.

its just about getting the parts that i will need along with trying to figure out all the parts that will be needed

 

[macknos94]

ok so its late and i'm tired! anyways i was thinking if i run the warn manual locking hubs on my front axle that i picked up then i would have 2wd even with my AWD transfer case correct? i never really thought about it but can you use locking hubs on an AWD system? i had a plow truck when i turned 16 that had locking hubs but a part time t-case.
soooooooooo:
2wd/hubs unlocked- the rear driveshaft would spin and the front drive shaft would sit still as you were driving. front wheels free rolling

4wd/hubs unlocked- rear and front driveshaft both would spin. rear wheels would would be driven but the front should still be free wheeling correct?

would driving around with the hubs unlocked with awd damage anything? i would think it wouldn't damage anything and it would help keep everything lubed in the axle.

i never really tried it because i know the whole e brake on, truck in neutral, get out, lock hubs, get in, shift the t-case to 4x4, drop e-brake, throw it in gear and make some money.

this is kinda saying it would be ok and much easier then swapping my t case
http://www.4x4abc.com/4WD101/hubs.html

 

[Limited02]

That would work perfect. That's why I mentioned before that I don't think you needed to swap transfercases until you start breaking them. There are some older dodges that had full-time 4wd and when you wanted to switch to 2wd, you'd have to unlock the hubs. People would swap it out for a part-time for gas milage reason's(and I think it had a chain drive, NP203 t-case maybe?) and strength.

I think your's will be fine because it seems mostly like a DD unless you are going away from that? Either way, give it a shot before you get really crazy with swapping drivetrain parts becuase then this project may never get running for a LONG time. Good luck!!!

 

[BrianDye]

It seems like a perfect plan...but then again it seems like it would mess something up, I dont know much about t-cases and 4/awd...couldnt you just do the brown wire mod? Or would that give different results?

 

[Glen4X4]

Macknos there is a risk in your plan. Since you have awd if you have an axle with unlocking hubs if you were to unlock those then there's a good chance that your truck will coast away in Park because the awd is always locked to the front, both front and rear locked together keep the truck parked. You could do a search on here to see because folks have taken the front driveshaft out to save gas and realized their vehicle rolled away on a slight incline.

 

[Limited02]

Macknos there is a risk in your plan. Since you have awd if you have an axle with unlocking hubs if you were to unlock those then there's a good chance that your truck will coast away in Park because the awd is always locked to the front, both front and rear locked together keep the truck parked. You could do a search on here to see because folks have taken the front driveshaft out to save gas and realized their vehicle rolled away on a slight incline.

Now that you mention it, I've heard that too. Guess he may have to make use of the e-brake or switch to an auto selectable like mine.

 

[Glen4X4]

Yes if there isn't a manual t-case that could be bolted to the transmission without modification then that is the next route I would go with would be the selectable 4X4 case that was optional on the 3rd gen V8 since the front axle will have manual hubs there's no need to do the BWM because it will be in 2wd until the hubs are locked in.

 

[macknos94]

Well the parking issue isn't a big deal because I use the ebrake everytime I park. I know these trannys have a weak pin to lock it in park so I don't trust it. The axles I am looking are out of a 2003 f250 with manual locking hubs. 600 bucks for both axles complete with only 31K miles

Manual hubs are a lot cheaper then a custom t case so more money on the suspension

So far the parts picked up are Dana 50 and Dana60 with 3.73 gears. I pulled a lot of the suspension parts of like leaf springs and steering stuff. I'd say another month we will be tearing into the conversion

 

[Glen4X4]

Just givin a heads up, wouldn't want to see that truck get hurt! Sounds like a damn good deal on the axles, are you keeping them full width?

 

[macknos94]

A to Z fab is gonna cut them down to fit the truck. if they are a few inches to wide we will see. i might just try to find a wider rim with a higher offset.

i didn't think about the parking issue so thank you for bringing it up. i'll have to get a sticker made to remind my girl to always set the e-brake

 

[mountaineer02]

From what ive read so far on other threads( not sure how true) AWD has a viscous clutch?, so its a permanent 35/65 split on transfer? , and NO bwm option. So if this is true your gonna definantly wanna lose the TC. Im tryin to find out for my future swap

 

[macknos94]

we will have to see right now i'm trying to pick up my axles and work on that then i will work on the t-case.

i just got off the phone with my buddy that owns a tranny shop. he has a m50d-r2 tranny along with a manual t-case he is gonna compare it with a 5r55s tranny he has sitting there. if it will be a bolt on swap then i will be going to a manual setup with a manual t-case out of a 4.6 f150. 200 bucks takes the tranny and tc if they will fit

 

[Glen4X4]

That's awesome sounds like it should be a fit being that it goes to the F-150, but may require modifications under your truck.

 

[macknos94]

I am thinking just a new cross member and linkage for the tcase. Tomarrow he should let me know if its an easy swap.