This forum needs some excitement!! DB_1's Ranger SAS rebuild

[DB_1]

Sorry for the delay on the pics but last night when I was uploading them I had a knock on my door from my neighbors girlfriend telling me I need to call her BF Steve and I said "right now?" She said yes but didn't give a reason. So I called him up and he says he's stuck in the sand in a 2wd Jeep Liberty which also happens to be a rental. Apperantly a friend of Steve's from out of town rented this thing and they decide to take a dirt road then see a hill they aren't going to make so they try to turn around but get stuck in the process. They are buried up to the diff in sand so they are pretty stuck to say the least. I call up Steve and he gives me the story on what happened and asks me if I know anyone with a 4wd vehicle. I told him I'd call my boss and see if he'd help out with his Jeep. I know he didn't wanna help out since he was winding down and ready for bed but he decided to help out anyways. So I hop in the Jeep with him about 8 oclock at night, open top and freezing are ***** off. We ended up yanking them out from the rear end of the Liberty since there was better traction and gave them a little roost on our way out

And here's a few pics of the link brackets and the lower links:

 

[Stic-o]

owww!

Those are pertty! That's basicly what I wanted to with my axle, but use heims on both sides. But with the cast wedges, I don't think I can get away with it. I've been trying to figure out away around it while leaving the wedges alone

 

[FROADER]

Nice Dave. Projected finish date yet?

 

[DB_1]

owww!

Those are pertty! That's basicly what I wanted to with my axle, but use heims on both sides. But with the cast wedges, I don't think I can get away with it. I've been trying to figure out away around it while leaving the wedges alone

I think you're stuck with the prospect of using radius arms sorry to say.

I would of course like to have this done for the big run in Feb. if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. I don't just want to slap stuff together and have it fail on me. My latest snafu is any double link backet I make will interfere with the track bar bracket. There's probably about an inch gap between the bottom of the track bar bracket and the top of the upper link on the axle.
Sooo, my next plan is to make an axle truss that I can mount upper links to.
They would be in the style of Jefe's RE arms but that isn't without it's own problems. Well, not really a major problem it's just that the engine crossmember will have to be trimmed. I don't think it's a major deal to trim that X-member because A: It was made that way to support mainly the TTB bracketry. B: I have the upper engine brace now.
So that's where i'm at now with it but I'll continue with other things until come up with a solid plan

 

[RockRanger]

Less then a week till teh run will it be ready or will you be filling a passanger seat?

 

[Felix]

Ok where is the weekend update?




Just razzing you a little Dave. Hopefully you get it buttoned up for TruckHaven.

 

[DB_1]

Well, I wish I had an update for you guys but I was feeling under the weather late Sat. afternoon and on through Sun. Of course I felt fine and dandy come this morning in time for work, go figure
Looks like i'll be warming a passenger seat yet again for this run so I guess i'll be shootin' for the TDS run now.

 

[410Fortune]

Dont sweat it man, better to do it right and miss a run then rush it and regret it.

 

[DB_1]

I got a little work done on the truck today after taking a week off from it.
I got the tranny crossmember tack welded to the link brackets using 1.75x1.20 wall DOM tubing and 3/16"x2" plate for the detachable brackets. I used a holesaw to make the holes for the tube to fit in and drilled 1/2" bolt holes. I made these brackets one piece instead of using individual tabs like I had originally planned because there were just to many pieces to line up and they were all out of whack just from tack welding them to the tube. With the one piece design, I was able to bolt them together and prevent the warping.
In the third pic you'll see that i'm able to access the nut with a 1-1/8" deep socket with the crossmember removed. Only bad thing about this is if something happens on the trail where I have to repair a rod end or link, i'm kinda screwed.
I'm leaving it tacked because i'm waiting for some gussets to come in from A&A mfg. I just discovered them and they have a great selection of tabs and brackets. Here's their website:http://www.aa-mfg.com/index.html
Tomorrow, I'm going to work on templates for the tranny support that will be welded to the crossmember.

Here's a few pic's:

Crossmember in place

Side view

Access to nut with socket wrench

 

[410Fortune]

Hey Dave is that the A4LD aluminum pan? I thought your ranger was a 5 speed?

Nice work man.
I have some questions about this design but i want to wait until you are done fabbing it up.
Next you should build a urethane or solid trans mount to finish this crossmember up. those stockers are just weak

 

[DB_1]

Jaime,
I have the 5r tranny and that's the deep pan from PML.
I'd like your input on the tranny mount as I have only made the templates for it today so I could easlily scrap my idea and fab up another creation.
The only reason I was staying with the stock mount is because it was in suprisingly in good condition. I know Autofab has a nice urethane mount, do they still make that one?

 

[410Fortune]

yes they make it, and its expensive. It is a really nie piece but you can make it yourself for less then half the cost.

pictures of it can be found in my conversion thread, I had to modify the piece myself for the full size trans and also to fit the AA BW1354 t case adapter, but it was nothing too major.

I really like the design of the Autofab unit and it really reduced the drivetrain vibrations, especially when shifting.

You ever had any issues with that PML pan and steep hill climbs?

 

[DB_1]

You ever had any issues with that PML pan and steep hill climbs?

Funny you should say that, on steep hillclimbs my tranny would slip into neutral just before I would crest the top, then I'd have to re-engage the T-case into 4Lo again So I bought the PML deep pan in hopes of curing that problem but I haven't had a chance to try it out since my trucks been on jackstands.

 

[410Fortune]

Ouch.

Well with teh PML pan my A4LD would scavenge for fluid on steep climbs.
I added 3 quarts over the fill limit in Moab to get up Launch Pad.
The 4x4 trucks from Ford have a sump built into the pans (the hump) to keep this from happening. PML re-designed the A4LD pan shorly after. I believe I had the first 4x4 pan they made and it required me to custom cut the pickup tube on my 4x4 filter.
The second pan I did not have to cut anything and I never had the issue, even at T haven, So I suspect they fixed the problem.
But time will tell! without a sump and with the pan being that deep I imagine it is hard to keep fluid under the pickup at steep steep hill climbs without re-locating the stock pickup location.

 

[DB_1]

Well I went ahead and ordered the tranny mount from Autofab. I'm sure I could've saved money and fabbed one up myself but it's so much easier to order it and throw it in once it gets here.

On another note, I was mocking up my steering with the tie rod over the knuckle...it was previously under the knuckle...and discovered the track bar mount is too low. I thought it would line up better since I slid it over a couple inches towards the pass. side but no dice. I saw that WildHorses has a track bar riser mount that should work out perfect according to their measurements on the website.

 

[RockRanger]

If you flip your tierod and want to upgrade all the TRE to 1 ton I have the reamer for reaming the pitman arm out to fit the bigger TREs.

 

[DB_1]

Thanks Matt but I've already got heims on my steering linkage

I cut off the track bar bracket on my axle to make room for the new track bar riser I just ordered from WildHorses. Still waiting for the cold rolled plate steel I ordered online but once it gets here I'm going to attempt to make an axle truss to mount links to.

 

[FROADER]

Any progress over the weekend Dave? Will it be ready for TDS?

 

[DB_1]

I got the AutoFab tranny mount on Fri. and it's very well made, It is a bit pricey ($125) but it was money well spent. I couldn't have made anything as nice. So I got that painted and bolted in place then worked on the tranny crossmember which is almost done, I just need to do a little more welding to it.
The WildHorses track bar riser also came but I won't be able to use it without some major modification. The riser is 3/8" thick formed steel so it's beefy to say the least. I'll tackle the track bar mount after I get the tranny crossmember finished. I can only handle one dilema at a time

I don't want to jinx myself by saying the truck will be ready for TDS so i'll hold off on predictions but I should be real close.

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

sounds sweet.....