New member building offroad sporttrac

[68Mercury250]

I recently purchased a 2001 sport trac . had looked at 7 or 8 of them but I jumped on this one within 24hrs.

it has a very nice body and frame which is exactly what I wanted. I bought it as a broken 4.0 engine but towing company never checked it out, so I will.

I am planning on eventually having a 5.0 or 5.8 smallblock and 5spd manual trans in it. and have a 79 Dana60 for the front and dana 70 rear for it.

I used to be a fullsize Ford offroad nut, but family took over and now my son is asking when I will build a mud truck. I was going to build a 92-96 Bronco but the sport trac has been in my head for about a year now and finally found the right one.

glad to find this place, couldn't find much on lifting/modifying the sport trac but have already seen lots of inspiration here.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum!

 

[Apom98]

Lifting an 01 sport trac should be about the same as any 2nd gen explorer.

 

[Rick]

Welcome to the forum. We have several highly modified Sport Trac's here. Looking forward to watching your build

 

[OffTrac]

Your plans are exactly the same as mine. I have a D60 Snofighter and D70 and a 351w in the garage.

Maybe yours will go faster and I'll be able to watch and learn.

Sent from my Galaxy S5 using Forum Runner

 

[68Mercury250]

Your plans are exactly the same as mine. I have a D60 Snofighter and D70 and a 351w in the garage.

Maybe yours will go faster and I'll be able to watch and learn.

Sent from my Galaxy S5 using Forum Runner

I had the same idea with a 96 2door 2wd explorer I had , but with only 4 seat belts the boss lady said no way, everybody wants to come.

I won't have a shop built til spring/summer so my progress wil be pretty slow unless we get a mild winter.

I think the 78/79 D60 will work better as it is slightly narrower track width. my dana 70 rear is from a 1984 F250 and has been converted to outboard drums( Eseries Van brakes)
I think it should work well, I have new 5.13 gears saved and a used front Detroit locker, also a dana 70 powerlock with 5.13s to fit my housing.

hopefully it will be just scary enough the wife won't want to drive it


http://www.fourdoorbronco.com/board/attachment.php?attachmentid=15234&thumb=1&d=1420947108

 

[OffTrac]

The Snofighter is from a 78/79 F250 or F350. I'm not entirely sure what the rear is from but I believe an E-series. I started tearing down the D60 last year but got frustrated trying to remove the kingpin and haven't touched it since. Also had a baby and built a house in 2014 so the truck fell way down the priority list.

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[68Mercury250]

http://www.fourdoorbronco.com/board/album.php?albumid=255&attachmentid=15236


hopefully some pics work here, I'm computer adequate at best

 

[OffTrac]

Looks like a good start.

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[MidnightRebel07]

Sweet, another SAS ST, I started mine but got seriously injured at work shortly after so I have to wait until I'm better to continue working on it. Here's a quick picture...

 

[Fpo]

Welcome!

 

[68Mercury250]

I like the solid axle swap in yours MR07, but I was going to build mine so I could still haul my tandem axle trailer in a pinch . was thinking 35s are still available in a 16.5 diameter and 8ply/Drange.

I used to do some serious offroading several years ago with fullsize Fords but left it behind when I got married. we moved an hour away from the city in July and lots of unopened road allowances and drive at own risk roads closeby. wife and kids are excited about it so What the hell>>>nobody in the area is big on appearances or " keeping up with the jones " so our place just looks a little messy till spring.

I am a little concerned that if my ST works too well the Mrs might want her own .

I tried to talk her into letting me build her 94 Explorer into an offroad truck after she smacked the drivers door, but she refused. so I got her a 94 parts explorer over Christmas .

 

[68Mercury250]

Well today I picked up the powerplant donor for my sport trac.
1999 Explorer limited AWD with the 5.0 motor. had been watching the ad since Jan 12 , finally came down to parts truck price and I went and looked at it. gave her an offer over the phone, that if it was as she described that's how much its worth. it was stone dead battery and the tailgate/back doors and rear rockers were toast, not in the "great condition " it was described as.

so I brought it home for $400 , Saturdays don't get much better than that. only bad thing was I had to drive into the GTA to get it

Toronto Sucks! this thing started out at $1500 on Jan 12th.

Its nice to get a good deal when money is short> had to dip into the shop build fund for even $400. I took more with me but its going right back in

cheers James

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Nice score man, if scrap prices go back up you can make up the buying price with the rest of the truck and the motor and other parts from it will be free.

 

[OffTrac]

Nice to see an update. How many miles on the 5.0?

 

[68Mercury250]

lady had it advertised at 299,000km but it only has 279,000km somewhere around 150,000miles.

it was a pretty rich neighborhood, it was not advertised well at all. its good to get lucky this way too

I have many choices I could use for Tcase, but not sure of the trans extension housing on these, I might even be able to snag an old Dana 20 from a 77 bronco , I'm not against going with a carb on the engine to simplify my build even. I don't have to pass emisions test where I live so it can be done. it will end up with a stickshift and big solid axles but for this year maybe break the stock axles first

 

[68Mercury250]

Well I did it again.....................
picking up another 5.0 limited on sunday. it is actually just off the road but needs a BJ and some PS work, not driveable any distance. I can't believe I found another one only a few days later. longer drive but much nicer looking explorer in blue. this one is only slightly more $$$ but I'll have over $100 in fuel. problem is that Sunday is the Mrs birthday, will I be better to pretend I forgot or just take it on the chin?

might actually use parts off the first one to fix this one if the body is nice enough. I have found 2 more 5.0 explorers for sale one at 1200 and one at 900 . not in my price range. and 2 of them is all I can handle!

man will I be in the doghouse next week

 

[OffTrac]

You are a brave man!

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[68Mercury250]

well that went a lot better than planned

family trip on sunday, no arguments. I think she is just happy I didn't buy the $1200 one.

for her understanding, I made it home Friday nite instead of Sat afternoon and I will give her the option of having the whole day off sat. do whatever she likes. I know she won't go spend money, she was a keeper when I met her 13 yrs ago

sometimes she just surprizes me, in a good way

 

[68Mercury250]

Well its a rotten pile, but look decent in its original paint. has 380,000km on it. trans was a complete rebuild at 270,000 . rear end had a major overhaul at 370,000. runs decent, popped R outer tie rod end and has a PS leak. might check it over and possibly put on the road.................... we'll see its still on the trailer. my old diesel clubwagon only used 1/2 tank round trip 450km , van is 7000lbs trailer is 3000lbs explorer is 4-5000lbs ?

I wish Ford would have built an explorer diesel> maybe I should just build one?

http://www.ford-trucks.com/g/picture/3134229