Something w/ rabbits. 72.5 pages of BS

[IZwack]

Okay I will when the axle comes out, but the driver's side is completely wrecked (yoke destroyed) .

EDIT: I looked it up at the WARN site, its 9.94" -- I know this is true because I verified this number once after a Ford replacement wouldnt fit (too short I think).

 

[Dannyboy]

wow IZ, thats a pretty crazy plan moving the engine around. Are you going to extend radiator hose and attempt to have the axle cycle between the engine and radiator or is the radiator moving back as well?

I saw a trophy truck that was built like that with a solid front axle on coilovers, I believe the radiator was in the bed, but the axle cycled in front of the engine. I'll try to get pics, it's a few miles from my house.

 

[IZwack]

I saw a trophy truck that was built like that with a solid front axle on coilovers, I believe the radiator was in the bed, but the axle cycled in front of the engine. I'll try to get pics, it's a few miles from my house.

Right now the plan is to put the radiator behind the passenger's seat and turned ~90° so its parallel with the passenger-side chassis. The Explorer will still have seats in the back but only for 2 people and they will have to go through the door on the driver's side. But I'd like to move the radiator away from the front of the engine so its easier to get to the engine accessories and stuff.

I'm not 100% sure on the radiator though, so who knows - it might end up somewhere else. But yeah I'd love to see pics of that truck you mentioned -- I'm sure I'll pickup a few things from that setup.

 

[Dannyboy]

wow, in the passenger seat. Do you have a cage in yours yet? If yeah, I'd say mount that thing on the roof, and tie in bracing to the cage so even if you flopped your rig the radiator would be safe. Either that or mount that sucker on the hood. Or what if it went where the factory gas tank was if you go fuel cell?

I don't know where you got that idea, but it sounds crazy. I like it.

 

[IZwack]

Do you have a cage in yours yet? If yeah, I'd say mount that thing on the roof, and tie in bracing to the cage so even if you flopped your rig the radiator would be safe.

Nope, no cage yet -- the bender was finished just last weekend and right now I'm in the strip down process.. well not me, but the Explorer .

Either that or mount that sucker on the hood. Or what if it went where the factory gas tank was if you go fuel cell?

I had thought about the hood, beside the hood (basically in the fender) and all sorts of positions. But I think on/under the hood is going to be iffy unless I can find a super flexible hose that will allow the radiator to pivot up with the hood. Plus I'm not sure what the engine heat is going to do in that position, especially on a vehicle that moves at 2-5 mph (on a good day).

I don't know where you got that idea, but it sounds crazy. I like it.

I thought about it one night and I think the inspiration was Formula-1 and other street raced vehicles -- some of them run radiators at 45 degrees sideways inside those pontoon looking things on the side.

EDIT: whew finally found a diagram of an F1 with an angled radiator

 

[94 Crawler]

This link may be of intrest to you IZ,http://therangerstation.com/Magazine/Summer06/remote_radiator.htm

 

[IZwack]

Thanks 94Crawler -- exhaust tubing sounds perfect!

 

[IZwack]

A little bit of preliminary conceptualizing.. whoever said you cant build a rock crawler with only half of a cage was a fool !!

 

[kert0307]

Looks like that bender is going to get some use. Thats some good CAD skillz too.

 

[Burns]

So your going to link the rear and run on the same nitrogen shocks as the front? Same size and all?

 

[IZwack]

Looks like that bender is going to get some use.

Yes yes -- and I'll probably do it all by hand pumping the thing cauz the air-option is pretty loud, better start doing some push-up training

So your going to link the rear and run on the same nitrogen shocks as the front? Same size and all?

Not 100% sure yet. I might knock the front down to 14"s and move the 16"s to the back. Or for simplicity just go 16"s on all four corners so I only need one spare.

And as for the rear links, I'm not 100% sure yet either cauz I'd really like another parallel link + panhard (either 3 of 4 parallel links) so I can really boost the panhard up for good roll axis. The other option is the triangulated 4-link that has a roll center that is dependent on all 4 links -- and I'm not completely happy with this idea.

 

[Yomie]

Are you boatsiding the X also?

 

[IZwack]

Are you boatsiding the X also?

Yuppers

 

[Dannyboy]

so how much body is actually going to be left on the truck after this?

 

[IZwack]

In general, most of the structure of the body will be removed so that what is left over is mostly just the outer skin.

The side "skins" will be kept minus the bottom where the "boat" side parts will be. And after looking more closely at the whole thing yesterday, looks like the whole firewall will be replaced to make room for the engine and the driver/passenger feet. Plus I think it'll be easier to work with a flat firewall (for mounting the brake master cyl and such) than one with all the weird curves. Most of the roof will be kept but will be removed temporarily so that I can properly weld in the cage.

 

[Dannyboy]

In general, most of the structure of the body will be removed so that what is left over is mostly just the outer skin.

The side "skins" will be kept minus the bottom where the "boat" side parts will be. And after looking more closely at the whole thing yesterday, looks like the whole firewall will be replaced to make room for the engine and the driver/passenger feet. Plus I think it'll be easier to work with a flat firewall (for mounting the brake master cyl and such) than one with all the weird curves. Most of the roof will be kept but will be removed temporarily so that I can properly weld in the cage.

wow, we talked about taking all my windows and doors out then chopping the 4 spots on each side that are actually body to lift up the roof and reattach after the cage was done, but John was able to do what he wanted just by working around everything.

How are doors going to work into this equation?

 

[IZwack]

Right now I dont plan on running any doors. With the boat side coming pretty far up, most of the stock door will have to go anyway. I may make some velcro canvas half-doors that you can peel away to protect from any diry/mud (I hate mud).

 

[Dannyboy]

(I hate mud).

me too, similar to tequila, sounds like a good idea at the time but a lot of headache and cleanup afterwords...move out west, it worked for me...no more mud...lot's more tequila

 

[IZwack]

move out west, it worked for me...no more mud...lot's more tequila

I will I will, gotta get my edumeeykayshun out of the way first. So maybe in a year and a half I'll be making the cross-country drive.

 

[IZwack]

Need some ideas on how to move the engine/trans back. I prefer not to use an engine hoist because they take up too much space and I'd rather support the whole thing from the bottom so I can work and weld from the top (less burns that way). So I'm thinking maybe build some sort of a dolly to support the engine and the trans from underneath. I know I can support the trans at the trans mount but what about the engine? The oilpan on the SOHC is some sort of a weird cast aluminum so that's probably a no no. Any ideas? Maybe drop the SOHC's pan and cut a bracket with the same mounting pattern as a few of the pan's holes?

EDIT -- found this, an "engine cradle". Something like this should work, just gotta find some holes to mount to.