Something w/ rabbits. 72.5 pages of BS | Page 65 | 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!
.





Trans mounted and tunnel burnt in

tunnel1.jpg


tunnel2.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!
.











Wow. You built a tailshaft protector for future removal? YOu are actually planning on taking it apart again? As long as this has taken I would never want to take it apart again!!

Can you build me up one of those fancy tranny mounts? I think they would last longer under my doubler!
 






Wow. You built a tailshaft protector for future removal? YOu are actually planning on taking it apart again? As long as this has taken I would never want to take it apart again!!

Can you build me up one of those fancy tranny mounts? I think they would last longer under my doubler!
I'm sure the transmission will have to come out at some point - like a clutch change or something. I've already used the protector thing a few times to gain some room during tube fitting, and to protect the rear gears/tailshaft from weld sparks.

Making the transmission mount wasnt too bad, its just two bushings on each side - I'm sure you can whip one up in a day.
 












Maybe Saturday if work doesn't extend into the weekend. But on Sunday, my friends and I are trying to go to the ski resort in PA for some downhill sessions on ze bike.
Posted via Mobile Device
 












Ahaha project manager Matt laying down the hammer.
 


















Ahah welcome to the east coast Matt. Get used to the humidity cauz it sucks.
 






I love it...Matt is bossing people around and yet we have not seen pics of his new seats he put in his truck...and I know they are in because I saw him try'n get rid of the old one on PBB

:p:
 






Is the "transmission tunnel fuselage" thingy going to be completely skinned over or are you going to have panels inbetween the tubes? It'd be a shame to cover up all that artwork.
 






Yeah its going to get a skin (maybe "aluminium" - according to the Brits)
 






This thread is embarrassing me. My newly rebuilt engine has issues. Are you supposed to re-use old flywheel bolts? I think my engine builder did. I think they failed. That's why I'm getting no power to the trans. Well, I heard a loud clunk first, so that was the give-away that it was fly wheel related. Any way, the reason for my embarrassment is that I was just so fed up after the 2 year project of getting engine out myself, having it done by a "pro", putting it back in myself. I figured maybe this failure MAY have been caused by me. So I just took the truck to my regular mechanic and said "have at it". I was just done!

Iz, you're just the opposite! And I consider myself quite a do-it-yourselfer. Heck, I just rebuilt my pool motor and pump assembly yesterday so I have a tiny amount of patience, and maybe some pseudo skills w/ my tools. I did get the engine out and back in by myself, but man, Iz, you're the king!
 






Thanks for the comment. If the flywheel-to-crankshaft bolt has failed, then you shouldnt be able to crank the engine with the starter (as evident by the serpentine belt / crank pulley not moving). And I'm sure I'll have my fair share of bad luck and troubles once the electrics, hydraulics, mechanicals, and whatever else start coming together with the chassis.
 






You would be correct. No cranky.
 






Been working on this little by little over the week.


Front upper link mount chassis end. Also made a new upper link (now that I know the final length).
upperlinkmnt_4.jpg


upperlinkmnt_3.jpg



Rear upper link mount chassis end. This rear upper link is the old front upper link from the first SAS shortened about 2 inches.
upperlinkmnt_1.jpg


upperlinkmnt_2.jpg



Also made the final panhard bars from 1.75" OD - 0.25" wall DOM. Dont have a pic of the rear but here is the front.
panhardbarfrnt.jpg



Taking a step back, what I plan to get done this coming week is the ribbing that goes in between the 2x4 chassis rail and the outter 2x2 side rail.
step_back.jpg
 






IZ maybe I missed it in the how many ever pages:rolleyes: What are the plans for the body? Put some of it back on or leave pretty much like we see 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!
.





It really gets confusing trying to figure all these chassis and suspension parts out! That 2nd to last pic just has so much going on, between cross-members, panhard bar mounts, shock mounts, and what ever else I missed! This thing's really not gonna have a very low center of gravity, is it? The last pic however, looks like there's an explorer there! Good luck, and congrats on one helluva rig, Iz!
 






Back
Top