Ryan's F250/Explorer hybrid

[arsoul]

the project is going to be put on hold for a bit. looks like my third knee surgery is needed. i just cant seem to stop tearing ligaments and junk.
its the beer i think.

 

[offroader_69_me]

well that sucks, hope the surgery goes good!!!!!!

 

[Rick]

Got to open the knee up to drain the beer huh That sucks. Hope things turn out ok and you're able to get back to work in that beast!

 

[arsoul]

Bad knee or not, I'm still working!
We shortened the frame today. 21.5 inches. Each side of the frame is sandwiched with 1/4 plate. Six 1/2 inch grade 8 bolts hold each side, as do some heavy welds.
The next step is to start fabbing the body mounts. This is going to take some time.

Pics are up on my geocities site.

www.geocities.com/arsoul2/index.html

Also, I've decided on 4.56s and oxlockers in the diffs. I'll run Goodyear mtrs, either in a 305/75R16 (34.8 inches)or a 37x12.5R17.

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

It's about time youg got it cut. Have you figured out the firewall/front end issue yet?

 

[arsoul]

There are two options.
1) push the firewall back 3 inches
2) push the front grill forward 3 inches

I don't want to mess with the firewall. I'll push the grill forward 3 inches, radiator and all. Fab up some custom steel fenders and a hood, and thats that. We've got 6 inches of frame that will stick out past the explorer body, so theres plenty of room to work with.

Kevin, I fixed your rim. Its sitting next to the Yamaha whenever you want to pick it up.

 

[Diff Whack Daddy]

Do you have to fab up the whole front end or can you just extend the grill area between the headlights to accomidate the radiator and fan. Then you won't have to do fenders and stuff, just the grill.

I will probably roll by later today to pick it up. Thanks again.

 

[arsoul]

Not sure yet. Maybe just the grill/hood. I need to spend more time looking at it/drinking.

 

[RangerX]

Originally posted by arsoul
I'll run Goodyear mtrs, either in a 305/75R16 (34.8 inches)or a 37x12.5R17.

You BETTER go with the 37's, or bigger! You got the axle strength now.

 

[arsoul]

37s for sure. I'm thinking 4.89 instead of 4.56s though.

I've been researching the f-250s some, and it looks like I need to beef up the frame where the steering gear box bolts up.
And once again, I've been shipped the wrong tranny!! The first time they sent me a 2wd 435. Now it seems there are 6 variations to the 4wd 435. I should have the correct one by next week.
I've started on the body mounts. This portion of the project is going to take some thinking. Gonna have to lay off the beer if I wanna get it right. Getting the horizontal plane is easy, its getting the elevation of the mounts thats tricky. I'm stalling on pulling the X body, dont want to tie up the hoist longer than needed.
After the body mounts are done, then we can pull the x body. Thats when we make the final decsion on what gets cut on the body, and where.
I'm still turning my gears on the clutch. My hydrolic theory went out the window, so now I need to plan on a manual linkage clutch.
Also, the X fuel tank will not fit, so dual tanks isn't going to happen. Not that I need it, the f-250 has a 20 gallon tank. I'm starting to fab a storage container that will be under the fuel tank, with access through the rear bumper. It will be easier to explain with pics once its finished. Also, rock lights are going to be installed on the frame this weekend. One shining on the front axle, one on the rear axle, and one midway on each side of the frame.

 

[Rick]

Do you have a job? Or do you just and work on the Explorer

 

[arsoul]

Not only do I work full time, but I go to college part time. I'm on a 10 year plan
Pretty much all the work is done on the weekends. Friday nights through Sunday nights. That is unless I'm out in a bar getting slockered.

 

[arsoul]

The tranny is in! And to think, it only took 3 times for us to get it right!
We fabbed the new tcase mount, and its all installed. Also, I made the storage container that goes under the fuel tank.
Tomorrow I'm taking it easy. I'm moving one of the frame braces that now is in the way of the rear driveshaft. Other than that, I'll sand and paint the valve cover.
We need to start brainstorming how to lift the X body off the frame. Looks like we might need to build some sort of jig to hold it in the hoist.

 

[Rick]

Sure wish there were some photos

 

[arsoul]

Brainstorming!!!
The clutch needs to be hydrolic. So, I need to figure out which mastercylinder/external slave cylinder can be used in conjunction with the 91-94 Explorer brake/clutch petal unit. Any ideas?

 

[Rick]

Good question for the guys at Advanced Adapters. They may be able to give you some ideas.

 

[arsoul]

Haven't worked much on the beast lately. been busy with work, my knee, beer, and so on.
I did figure out what to do with the clutch though. I'm going to use a petal/slave/master cylinder setup from summit racing. Its used a lot for sand rails and such, so it should work well.
I'm finally getting the explorer in tomorrow. Should have the body in the air by the end of this weekend. I'll get some more pics up then.

 

[arsoul]

The body is off. It went a lot quicker than I thought it would. I'll start fabbing the body mounts this weekend hopefully. Just got a promotion, so I'm busy as can be expected.
I'll try and get pics up this week.

 

[Trapper14]

congrats on being promoted, sounds lke your really moving on the project!

 

[arsoul]

got 4 new pics up
www.geocities.com/arsoul2/ex250.html

we plan on having at least 4 of the body mounts built this weekend. 2 up front and 2 in the rear. that way we can set the body down and roll it out of the shop if we need to free up the hoist. this will give us an idea of what it will look like on its new home (how tall, ect.).


thanks trapper! the main reason i was promoted was due to my knee injury. my surgery is on 03/27, and i wont be able to turn wrenches so they put me behind a desk! after the surgery, i wont be able to work on the project for some time (crutches, extreme pain, ect), so we are trying to rush things along to a certain point.

as it turns out, i decimated my acl ligament. it didnt even show up in the MRI. good ole' reconstructive surgery!