Something w/ rabbits. 72.5 pages of BS | Page 62 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Something w/ rabbits. 72.5 pages of BS

So seeing as spring is just around the corner, I thought I'd start a thread on the future undertaking of swapping in the Dana 60.

The axle is from a 1986 "Fawwd" F-threee "fitty", sporting some kingpins and a whole lot of rust. I took this axle apart a few months ago (except stupid me didnt remove the pinion nut before breakdown :rolleyes:) and had it hot tanked. I wanted it sandblasted, but the machine shop owner smirked and said "naaah yo, that junx is too big for my blasting cabinet" .. okay except he didn't really say that cauz he's old and a really cool guy. ANyways *twirls blonde hair*, this is my plaannn:

- WMS-WMS this axle is just a bit over 69" wide so I'm going to cut the passenger's side down a few inches to match 'ye ol General Motors 14-bolt axle. So this is going to require custom axle shafts and I think I'm going to go Chromos and 35-spline outers off the bat from the most awesome guys at Complete Off Road.

- Drive flange or lockouts? They are about the same in price and its a dedicated trail rig so I'm leaning towards the drive flanges. Right now, the cheapest flanges I found are the Teraflexes at $180 for a pair. If anyone knows of a better deal, please let me know :D !!

- High-steer arms and a double-ended hydroponics goodness ("cylinder").

- Opposite-ended panhard bar! The idea is to mount the chassis end of the panhard on the passenger's side frame rail and the axle end on the driver's side. Doing so should allow a more simple and cleaner design since the axle-mount can be mounted on top of or near the differential housing, instead of a tower on the passenger's side (like in my current D44 setup). I also plan to boost the panhard as far up as possible to increase the roll center of the front suspension. Yeah the concept is a little strange but I'm hoping it'll work and won't have any issues (no drag-link to factor into the design). But if anyone knows of any problem running this config, please chime in!

*EDIT*
- Detoit Locker for the carrier. I'm please with how the Detroit in the 14-bolt has performed so I figured I'd run the same in the front. Of course 5.13s to match the 14-bolt.


So here's the little guy, he's been in this position for the past few months just collecting dust:

DSC000871.jpg
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.








Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Pardon me for butting in, but I need to ask --
Will a box on the radiator not block the air flow? It has to flow through. even with a push pull fan unit I think you will have circulation--heat issues.
 






It wont be blocked off completely, it will have a duct routing the exhausted air towards the back.

And I'm almost certain that the electric fan will be off most of the time because moving the radiator to the back increases the coolant volume significantly and by the time the coolant reaches the radiator, it has gone through about 10 ft of exposed piping - and will go through about the same amount on the back to the engine. This is what happened to my friend's S-10 when he turned it into a desert truck and the e-fan barely kicked in because the piping cooled down the fluid significantly on its way to the rad. For this reason, I think the Ford Mark-7 or Mark-8 fan I originally planned on might be too big and lead to unecessary noise - might have to go with a smaller and less noisy fan (maybe from a Civic?)
 






wow man you are doing everything possible for this rig. like i have said before, keep it up. you are inspiring alot of us to work on our own junk.
 






Its gotten to the point were i dont even understand anymore. Its BADASS... but i... i... hang on let me look at the pics again. [/dogsheadcockedsideways]
 






Thanks guys!

This weekend I hope to get most of the underbelly stuff done and then next week hopefully tie that stuff to the floor stuff..
 






i have subscribed to this thread. i want to see how you disconnect the rear axle.
 












Started on the belly but I didnt get as much done cauz:
1) I had to run wiring from the circuit breaker to the garage to add more outlets on one of the walls.
2) The HarborFreight chop saw died - which is no biggie cauz its lasted 3 or so years. Fortunately HF had a sale so basically I got a (more heavy duty) $99 chop saw for ~$65.

Some sort of a "K member":
kmember.jpg


Bars snake through some of the notches on the transfer case and doubler (with about 1/2" clearance top and side).
bellytcaseclearance.jpg

Drivetrain will be another ~3/8" of an inch higher at final position.

Mocked up more tubes - with one vertical (on each side) bracing the "K" against the upper tubes (should have enough room for shift linkages and so on).
moremockup.jpg
 












Of course you can, truck over a set of end-mills, a Bridgeport, that bunny suit, and I'll put you right to work :)
 


















I feel like a 4 yr old looking at space station blueprints. :p:
Corvines james t.. freaking corvines. Its like trying to make spaghetti from asphalt, or a dollar from fifty cents, holy freaking corvines. And remember that one time our parents sent us to space camp, and our "mentor", well yeah - that corvine incident.. :confused:
 






wait, does that mean IZ i9snt building a space station?

i was pretty damn sure we were talking about something capable of interplanetary travel in there some where
 






Can you explain to me the pros of using the SOHC engine and tranny?
Or why not a GM 4.3L v6 with a 700R4?
Really, I can't wait to see this project finished Mr. IZ.
View this video and let me know if you plan to enter your beast in that race. http://www.pirate4x4.com/koh/video.php
It's worth a try.
Never let Ben or Brian to get a ride in it. :D
Eight puppies will die if you do. :p:
 






Eight puppies will die if you do. :p:
Ahahah... awww puppies!!

KOH would be fun but this wasnt built for KOH - KOH is big engine (LS7 and so on), lightweight, coilovers and go fast with a slow section every now and then.

The 4.3L with a 700R4 would probably be a better choice when all is said and done - considering its low end torque figures and wide aftermarket support. But I already had the SOHC (it came with the Explorer) so its what I went with. Plus how many people on the trail cany say they have three timing chains? Bling bling! :p:
 






Got most of the whatever it is done.

Resemblance
rabbits.jpg


Top
top1.jpg


The Miller welder and I were just wasting time, let the hours rolled by, doing nothing for the fun, a little taste of, you know, the good life:
welds1.jpg
 






Welds look awesome!

That "thing", whatever it is, it looks like the red deal i had at the bottom right of the screen back when i ran pirated Windows and Brandy tried to update it.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Welds look awesome!

That "thing", whatever it is, it looks like the red deal i had at the bottom right of the screen back when i ran pirated Windows and Brandy tried to update it.
Thanks!

I think I actually know what you're talking about - basically a red (i think) letter "Y with two horizontal bars going across it. I searched for it on this laptop but couldnt find it though.
 






Back
Top