Scott B's 93 Ranger XLT V8

[Tbars4]

..I popped in here to read up on your cooling updates and was really surprised to see the battery failure post...

..The YellowTop will be much more to your needs even though you are running dual batteries, IIRC ?

...I am really curious as to the findings of the test results from Optima about the failed RedTop..I would like to include that info in the "Optima Battery" thread..The testing and some pictures from Optima Jim on there procedure would be awesome..

..and Hey Mike, all the way across the Country..:wavey:

..Scott..A couple other people recently have asked me about your planned trip this year..Do you have a link I can point them to and dates for planning?

 

[Scott B.]

..I popped in here to read up on your cooling updates and was really surprised to see the battery failure post...

..The YellowTop will be much more to your needs even though you are running dual batteries, IIRC ?

...I am really curious as to the findings of the test results from Optima about the failed RedTop..I would like to include that info in the "Optima Battery" thread..The testing and some pictures from Optima Jim on there procedure would be awesome..

Yes, I am now running 2 YellowTop batteries. I asked OptimaJim to let me know what he finds out about the RedTop. I will post here and in the Optima thread.

..Scott..A couple other people recently have asked me about your planned trip this year..Do you have a link I can point them to and dates for planning?

There is not a thread yet. I PMed all involved a couple of months ago - nothing has changed since then.

But, it sounds like I need to start a planning thread.

 

[Scott B.]

95 Brake Conversion

It is time to upgrade my front brakes. The truck has gotten a bit heavier, and the brakes don't feel as strong as they used to.

In '95, Ford changed the front brakes on the Dana 35 equipped Rangers. Initially, they used a single piston caliper, but that too was upgraded to a dual piston unit. As it turns out, the dual piston one is same as on the newer IFS Rangers.

The core of this change/upgrade is the knuckle. The '95 - '97 knuckles use bolts to mount the caliper, not slide pins as on the earlier models. So, the first thing to do was to find a set of knuckles. Easier said than done. Of course, they are no longer available from Ford, so that means a junkyard. I did a lot of searching and found one in South Dakota and the other from somewhere else in the rustbelt. I got a set of knuckles, but they were nasty!

Since a core part is being changed, I decided to replace all the associated wear parts also - ball joints, TREs and wheel bearings. Of course, the brake pads are different. (All these parts are ready to be replaced, as they have over 100,000 miles on them.) I also decided to replace all of the flexible brake lines while I'm here - these have been on the truck since 1996 or so. And, since I am in the brakes, I will replace the master cylinder as well. The one on the truck is the original! I am using a replacement from a newer year vehicle. At some point, Ford increased the MC piston diameter. This increase should work fine with these front calipers - hopefully, it will help (not hurt) the rear disc brakes as well.

If anyone is wondering, I started collecting the parts about 2 years ago.

Here are the parts:

1 - Brakes
2 - Brake lines, MC
3 - Knuckles, chassis parts
4 - Chassis parts

 

[Scott B.]

Knuckles

Unfortunately, I do not have a before picture. Needless to say, they were orange and fuzzy with rust.

I had them blasted and Magnafluxed, then I painted them with Eastwood chassis paint. They came out really nice - let's see how the paint holds up.

 

[Scott B.]

Some before pictures.

I should have washed the underside before starting this project, but it has been quite cold here.

 

[Scott B.]

Here are a couple of shots with everything removed, and removing the lower ball joint from one of the knuckles.

 

[gmanpaint]

How have these quick fist clamps held up?

I have a new set of them but never used them. I wasn't sure how well they would work for the trails holding a tool safely up top.

 

[Scott B.]

How have these quick fist clamps held up?

I have a new set of them but never used them. I wasn't sure how well they would work for the trails holding a tool safely up top.

So far, so good. My shovel is mounted in them right now.

They show no signs of wear, and hold the shovel nice and snug.

 

[Scott B.]

I finished installing the knuckles, spindles and steering components today.

Unfortunately, the upper ball joints were missing the snap rings, so I had to reuse the old ones. I squeezed them back together, and they appear to be tight and springy, so there should not be a problem. Also, the left inner tie rod came with a straight grease fitting - with the steering stabilizer on, it is difficult to get the grease gun on it. I will pick up a 90 degree fitting tomorrow.

On to the pictures.

First, a knuckle installed.

Knuckle with spindle installed.

Passenger side, with new dust shield and steering components.

Driver's side, dust shield and steering components.

 

[Scott B.]

I have some surplus parts, if anyone is interested.

Driver's side and passenger side knuckles, dust shields and Bendix brake pads (50% life remaining.)

I guess calipers also, since I can't return these as a core for the '95 style ones.

If anyone is interested, I can post some pictures of the parts.

 

[Scott B.]

Rotors and calipers assembled.

 

[Scott B.]

Brake lines installed.

The black sleeve on the front lines (running through the support brackets) is shrink tube. I added it for a little additional wear resistance.

 

[4pullingGM]

Nice work as always sir!

 

[Scott B.]

Deep Transmission Pan

In the interest of dropping the transmission temperature, I installed a TCI deep pan. This pan is made of (thick) cast aluminum, compete with cooling fins and a magnetic drain plug. Also, it carries 2 additional quarts of fluid.

I had to switch to the 4WD/Truck filter with the longer snout.

The transmission is tucked up tight against the body, so I wouldn't say the pan in the wind stream - but, it does hang a little lower, so hopefully will catch some of the passing air.

I am also going to add a heat shield between the pan and exhaust pipes. They are not quite as close as in the picture, but they are closer than I would like.

 

[Scott B.]

Continuing on the transmission cooling...

The pan helped quite a bit in shedding the transmission heat. Now, the transmission almost never goes over 180 - when it does, it maxes out at 210 or so.

For a cooler, I have been using the factory cooler for the A4LD, with an electric fan. The fan yielded 2 problems. One, it did not turn on until the temp hit 180. Two, the location of the cooler, due to the puller fan, was such that the engine fan did not pull any air through it. Slow speeds built heat.

As a remedy, I decided to replace the cooler and remove the extra fan. I used a Derale cooler, approximately the same size as the factory one, and mounted it just in front of the condenser.

Photos:

The original cooler and external fan.

The new cooler on fabricated mounting brackets.

The new cooler installed.

A view from the bottom.

 

[reapereviltwin]

I am not much on posting, but I do keep checking your build thread and am always amazed what improvements you make to your Ranger.

 

[Scott B.]

I am not much on posting, but I do keep checking your build thread and am always amazed what improvements you make to your Ranger.

Thanks!

There are a lot of little things that I am resolving after the engine swap. Slowly but surely...

For the record, I have over 18,000 miles on the new engine!

 

[Scott B.]

We went up to Great Smokey Mountain National Park for Labor Day weekend.

That V8 sure makes pulling the teardrop easy!

 

[Rick]

Nice setup. That's a cool teardrop.

 

[Scott B.]

Nice setup. That's a cool teardrop.

Thanks.

It is a special order from Little Guy, and I built the kitchen.

If you are curious about it, there is a link to my build thread in my signature.