Project Jeepeater

[Jeepeater]

I just bought a 98 explorer, its my 34th vehicle, 2nd ford ( i've owned 9 jeeps but tired of unibody cracks and rot!) its a 4.0L, 4door 4x4. its got 300 000kms on it and in decent enough shape to build something with. so far i've done lower ball joints, upper control arms, tie rod ends and sway bar links. it still needs a good tune up, muffler and rear shackles sooner then later.

I plan to build a reliable daily driver that can hang with the jeeps around here, which shouldnt be to hard, not many people wheel anymore.

I planned to SAS it before i bought it. i didnt think it'd be that common but theres some nice SAS's on here. im looking to do a hp dana 30 with coils and the "y" link long arm ( ive done this to a few xj and zj's and they ride great and flex for days!) and in the rear SOA with a longer shackle. 35'' MTZ's, tube front bumper and a roll pan in the rear.

So far im impressed with how this rig drives, it steers effortlessly and compared to the jeep 4.0L its got more jam! and a decent interior/sound system. Ill keep you posted with pics as i start to build.

Jeepeater!

 

[Jeepeater]

well i made my shackles yesturday. today i was driving to get paint for them and the driverside shackle finally broke, so i came home and started the swap. I made the shackles out of 1/4 flatbar, 2.5'' wide, 9'' hole to hole. The bolt on the leaf spring came right out, the frame bolt..not so much, 3 hours of thrust (canadian pb) and hammering and one broken pry bar later i got it out. i ran out of day light so ill do the passenger side tomorrow and post pics of it all done.

If i could ever figure out how to post pic's on here i got a few so far, i got them on photobucket just cant find the page that says how to upload them onto here.

 

[JDraper]

You can't upload the pix here unless you're an elite member.

 

[Jeepeater]

thanks man!!

stock ex

shackles laid out

cut and pilot holes drilled

 

[1Aauto]

welcome to the site

 

[Baddecision93]

Hitting the ground with a plan...I like it. Look forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Jeepeater]

Thanks for the welcome. got both shackles on now, passenger side upper bolt also gave me a hard time but i hit it with the air gun and a pry bar this time. I got 2'' in the rear and i cranked the torsion bars 1.5'' aswell, i was really suprised how easy the bolts turned and how little it took to get inchs of lift out of it.

old shackles, whats left of them

new ones..yes i reused the bolts, they looked fine.

2'' rear lift, 1.5'' front and yes thats my lil red wagon in the garage!

 

[Jeepeater]

So i just took it for a drive after doing the small lift, no problems, noises or vibes..WICKED! I assumed my 4wd wouldnt work cause i have 4hi & 4Lo lights flashing ( i know, vss.) and the ABS lights on (i may have cut the sensor wires for the front wheels..im anti-abs..) found a muddy road, 4auto, 4hi and 4lo all work just fine! i seen on here i wouldnt have 4wd cause of the abs light??

Should i start a sepret build thread or continue to just post my progress in here? Next is bodylift, rocksliders (rockers are rottttten), recovery points and 33's.

P.s loving this forum, so much good straight forward info, pics and nice guys.

 

[Baddecision93]

Glad you're liking the forum so far. I would recommend starting a new registry in the Explorer Registry forum
Then you can just hit a quick recap of what you covered here. You could even include a link to this on your first post there that way you don't have to copy so much info.

And, personal preference, then link the registry page in your signature so it gets a little exposure .

 

[The Electrician]

your Ex looks great

I just wonder. For the rear axle, is it difficult to make spring coils conversion?

 

[Jeepeater]

thanks baddecision, that was exactly what i was looking for! i will do so. Hours got cut back at work so i have alot more wrenchin time! lol

and the electrician, your asking about doing a coil spring conversion to the rear? why would you want to coil the rear? theres lots of factors when doing serious suspension mods like ride height, spring rate, how you'll link the axle to the truck (3 or 4 link, triangulated or not) possibly a trac bar. unless you plan to do some serious wheelin and have some good fab skills i'd stick with the leaf's on the back, if anything look into doing coils in the front but again, this isnt no walk in the park lol

 

[Joe Dirt]

Nice so far!

You might consider adding some sort of lateral support to the shackles though, just something running between each side of each shackle...

 

[Jeepeater]

Nice so far!

You might consider adding some sort of lateral support to the shackles though, just something running between each side of each shackle...

in the pic where thier laid out theres a piece of 2x3 1/4wall i was gonna cut a couple of chunks out for supports but i noticed alot of guys dont have supports on thiers. when i rip the rear apart in a few weeks ill add supports and paint the shackles black.

 

[Joe Dirt]

From what I know, over about an inch over stock you might want the bracing to assist with vague steering and to help limit the hit on the bushings as they move. You'll have a little more tight ride with the bracing than without. But, not totally necessary if you're looking for the most possible flex.

 

[Jeepeater]

ill most likely brace them, just seems safer. i wanted to get them on the truck, then tack the bracing in, pull them off and finish weld them just to make sure everything lined up ok. did you build your own shackles mr. dirt? lol

 

[Joe Dirt]

Nope, the Warriors were already on mine when I bought it. I took the easy way out.

 

[sport97]

Its looking good. Make sure you get an alignment since you cranked the torsion bars in.

Which 4.0 do you have? OHV or SOHC?

 

[Jeepeater]

Its looking good. Make sure you get an alignment since you cranked the torsion bars in.

Which 4.0 do you have? OHV or SOHC?

ya i need an alignment anyways from when i did the TRE's. and its the SOHC, peppy lil bugger lol Check engine light came on yesturday, pretty sure its the Vehicle speed sensor.