Mazdacrawler, 99 B3000 SAS

[reddog5]

guess i'll start with the list:

Dana 44 87 waggy
rancho 44044
5.13
locker (ARB or OX) havent decided yet
chromo shafts
high steer

Ford 8.8 97 explorer
chevy 63 springs/ beltech shackles
5.13
detroit
full float kit if budget allows

doubler
partial exo/ flatbed.

anyway i have most of parts for the rear so i decided to start there first. took out the old 7.5 and springs. ground off the rivet heads on the spring hangers and still havent been able to push them out. Dang those are in there!!
i cut out spare tire mount and 4 inches off the rear of the frame . its started slow as i can only work on it on the weekends.

[Wicked_Sludge]

looking good so far....definitely still in the beginning stages :icon_cheers:

please tell me you plan on keeping the 3.0 :wub:

keep the pics flowing :beer:

[reddog5]

Yeah the 3.0 stays. An engine swap would be the last thing i would do. I think with deep gears and a doubler it will be fine.

[reddog5]

Well i finally got the rivets out. Moved the spring hanger 6 in forward. Mounted with 1/2 in grade 8 bolts with red loctite. The chevy leaf spring swap info in the tech section is a little misleading as i doesnt state for which year its being done on. 98+ rangers and B-series are different in that instead of taking away some of the frame you have to add to it, in 1/8 plate steel. No big deal just extra work.:icon_welder:

Mounted the spings to Beltech shackles. Took apart the springs to measure for bumpstops and of course the spring pads i bought are drilled out for 1/2 spring bolts and i have 5/8. I broke my last 5/8 drill bit on my bender project so i gots to go get a new one tomarrow.

So with the extra time i went ahead and made a rear bumper out of 1/4 in thick steel 2x4 rectangular tubing. My welder wont quite reach the other end of my garage so i could only get half of it done. Damn one thing after another.

Anyway i went and ground off the old spring pads on the axle before i tacked on the SOA ones. Lost my reference ponts.:badidea: Can anyone who has done the explorer 8.8 swap help me with my measurements?? I aproximate the distance from drivers side center of spring pad to center of pinion to be 21in. Pass side center of spring pad to center of pinion to be 18in, for a total of 39in center of spring pad to center of spring pad. Now this was taken after a couple of :beer: for frustration off the old 7.5.

Anyway heres some pics till next week!

[reddog5]

Got some more done. Welded the spring perches on to the 8.8 axle. Pinion shaft measured in at 6 degrees. Painted the axle and have to mount the brake lines to the underneath of the spring perches. I think ill just weld a bolt sticking out and and attach them. I have to order my 37 iroks next and put them on. I made the mistake of putting the truck on jackstands all the way around and with the new leaves im gonna have to jack up the truck to get the tires on. Last year i went to the Rubicon and mangled my rear drive shaft. So i had one made out of 3.5in .95 wall DOM tubing. It is much stronger than the stock aluminum one.

[Wicked_Sludge]

your going to try and stuff 37's under there? you might need a few more inches of lift :icon_cheers:

[reddog5]

Naw, it will be fine. Im gonna flatbed / exo the bed. The front im gonna run fender flares.

kinda like this....

[TRUNK_MONKEY]

Naw, it will be fine. Im gonna flatbed / exo the bed. The front im gonna run fender flares.

kinda like this....
hey looks good--i did want to suggest flat washers under the rear hanger bolt heads and under the inside nuts as well.it will hold better with some good flat washers down there.
and good job on using metal like the thickness of the frame--i see a lot of people adding in thicker to weld to thinner and it always seems to crack at the joint sooner or later.
post up more pics!
scott

[reddog5]

Ordered some Spidertrax wheel spacers/ adapters for the 8.8.

Always extra work.... Looks like i need to grind down the lug studs flush with the spacer so the rim sits flat. :no2:

Picked up my tires and rims today... 37x14.00x15 iroks on 15x10 black steel wheels. My son is stoked on HIS new rockcrawler tires. Bias ply, if anyones wondering most balance weight on one of the tires is 9 oz. I give it 2 miles before they fly off. Hope to get them on the axle and under the truck tomarrow. Not sure if the top of my truck will clear the garage door opener!

[Wicked_Sludge]

im suprised those biased ply tires only took 9 oz. if/when they do fling the weights, i doubt you'll notice a difference since bias ply tires deform at highway speeds anyway.

[reddog5]

yeah, I think thats all they could stak on top of each other.

[reddog5]

Got the axle under the truck. Have to install gas tank and drive shaft. Next week cuttin out the IFS. Here's a couple of pics.

[reddog5]

got all the IFS jive out. I ran out of gas for my torch , so gonna cut out all the brackets and get my spring hanger mounted next weekend.

[zainyD]]

Nice progress so far! You will be very pleased with the Chevy 63"/Belltech shackle combo. I have been running the same set up on my truck for several years now with good success.

As for the front I would go with an ARB. They are more costly, but I believe they're better than the OX locker. I've seen the OX locker not engage properly on occasion.

I would also suggest looking into the Superior Super 88 kit. It would be just the ticket for your axle and is much less $$ than a full floater kit.

[hitech_hick]

Bias ply, if anyones wondering most balance weight on one of the tires is 9 oz. I give it 2 miles before they fly off.
Have you thought about balancing the wheels internally?



hick

[reddog5]

Have you thought about balancing the wheels internally?



Naw, I dont know why i had them balance them anyways. There Bias ply and this is pretty much just a trail rig.

[hitech_hick]

Naw, I dont know why i had them balance them anyways. There Bias ply and this is pretty much just a trail rig.


Yeah, but at least you can say that you made the effort...




hick

[metalmacguyver]

so hows it coming?

[reddog5]

Slow. I went thru two 4.5in angle grinders grinding off the old IFS brackets. One actually caught fire! It was a cheapie harbour freight job though.

Ive been goin thru alot of gas for the torch and since that acetalyne station blew up in Dallas a couple months ago it takes a week or two for new shipments.

I should have some pics next weekend but nothing really exciting.

[compleckz]

where'd you get the spring perches, how much? they look like those 8" long 'anti-wrap' ones.. are they?

[dangeranger01]

Anything new???

[littleredrangerhood]

where'd you get the spring perches, how much? they look like those 8" long 'anti-wrap' ones.. are they?

They look like they came from RuffStuff Specialties. I bought some shackle hangers from the guy (Dan) and he does nice work.

As far as those 37s, you realize they are actually shorter than the 36 IROKs right? Hope you didn't pay more for them.

[reddog5]

Yeah , their from ruff stuff. i think they were $115 for perches , plates and U bolts. I'm really pleased with the quality.

The difference in price was a couple dollars. They say their taller on their website, but there is about a 1 inch deviation in all 4 of my tires. Not a single one is the same as the other. Bias ply tires from Interco seem to not be very consistent.

Still no new progress as of late. Ran outta cash:dunno: Got some guy coming today to buy old upper and lower arms. Next purchase gots to be a new angle grinder and spring perches for the D44.

I cut off the front factory cross member on the front of the frame. Just gotta try and motivate to weld on the new one.

[-ROKTOY-]

Nice build! Can't wait to see it done.

[-ROKTOY-]

Any updates??

[reddog5]

Ive really been slacking lately. Last week i welded a peice of 3/16 2x4 as the new front bumper. Its got 3/16 fishplate to add some strength. It will be a nice stout mounting place for a stinger. Hopefully i can light a fire under my a$$ and mount the spring perches next week.

[reddog5]

Finally got the springs on. I just needed a little motivation. Went pretty quick and easy. Still i have to mock up the axle to weld in the shackle hangers though. I bought this spring hanger from trail gear to save myself some fab since i gotta watch my kids all week and can only work on the weekends. The bolt holes were 3/4in and my 44044s take a 1/2 bolt so i had a freind machine some steps,that i welded in the holes. I used the gussets that the spring hanger came with and welded them on the inside of the frame for added strength.

[reddog5]

got my front spring perches from RuffStuff. gotta grind down the drivers side to fit on the pumpkin.

in the mean time, i just put the axle near where it will sit.

[reddog5]

So i was looking at my axle in relationship to the springs today and noticed that they are not centered. Somewhere along the way i forgot that the axle center of spring pad to center of spring pad is 32in. I somehow welded my spring hanger at 28.5in center of spring pad to same. now the pass side is 3.5 in longer than the driver side. Measure 5 times and cut/weld once.....sober. Thats gotta be my new rule.
If you look at the pic above you can see where the stock spring pad is to the left of where my spring is.:bad:
So now i get to cut it all out just to re-weld it.
So i start lookin around the underside of the cab and found these. I have a 3in body kift that has torn the cab mounts some. Both are on the drivers side and thee 2 clsoest the front. I was told it could happen but never thought it would. So out with the body lift and more repairs.....

[MAXDA]

Any update.....?

[reddog5]

I havent been working on the truck much lately. I did reinforce the frame with some 3/16 plate where the shackle hangers will sit. Tacked on the spring hanger and ground down the drivers side spring perch to fit on the pumpkin. I gotta order my u bolts and spring plates and weld on the spring perches, so i can mock everything up.

Im waiting on my ol'lady to give me some more cash.:dunno:

[zainyD]]

Hey man, I have a set of Wagoneer spring plates and u-bolts laying around that I'll send ya for dirt cheap. Sent you a PM abou them.

[reddog5]

alright, finally back in action. Ive spent the last 6 mos getting my photography buisness running and raising my kids. Was sittin out in the garage drinkin some beers and the fire lit under my butt to get this thing done by summer. Got the spring perches welded on the 44, and working on getting the body lift out. Problem is i forgot which of the stock cab bolts go where. pics this weekend.:beer:

[wahlstrom1]

^^^ I run copper/brass BB's inside the tire and haven't had an issue yet. It works great and compensates for crap in your wheels, lost chunks of tread etc.

-andrew

[reddog5]

Got all the body lift bolts loosened. These are the factory bolts that i took out when i put the body lift in. Anyone know which ones are for the cab??

Cut out old spare tire carrier and cut part of the canister mount off and welded it to some 1.5 tubing to integrate into the rear bumper.

Ordering the other 2 rims/tires next week and hopefully high steer.

[zainyD]]

Wow, two years is a long time to have your truck sitting in the garage. My wife is about to kill me and it's only been a couple weeks! Looking good though, keep it up!!

[machinist]

you took your body lift out? does that mean this is for sale?

[maroon ranger]

I'm glad to see that you set your shackles behind the axle instead of in the front!!! They will help you actually get on top of rocks a bit easier with the way leaf springs work. Real nice build, looks pretty clean so far. And are you going to keep your parking break or take it out?

[Fx4wannabe01]

Got all the body lift bolts loosened. These are the factory bolts that i took out when i put the body lift in. Anyone know which ones are for the cab??

You sure got alot of bed bolts. lol.

TOP ROW, LEFT SET: Rear 4 bed bolts
TOP ROW, RIGHT SET: Front 2 bed bolts
BOTTOM ROW, LEFT SET: Front Cab Inside Bolts and possibly Front Radiator Support Bolts.
BOTTOM ROW, RIGHT SET: Rear Cab Inside Bolts and possibly Front Radiator Support Bolts.

Dont know if you've solved this issue yet, but i'd figure i'd help. I dont remember exactly what the Core support bolts are...but I have a STRONG feeling it's the Bottom Row, Right Set.

[reddog5]

Thanks for the help fx4wannabe01. I dont know how i ended up with so many damn bolts. This thing has been sittin for so long i got parts all over the place. I had to torch out the isolator bushing under the front mount cause the body bolt was bent. Cost about 50 bucks to replace. I really wish i had never put that body lift in, it has caused more problems for me than not.

Machinist yes its for sale. Give me a pm and we'll talk details.

My wife has about had it but like i tell her, If you want it out write me a check!

[reddog5]

Yeah , im gonna keep the parking brake. Here in TX you have to have a safty inspection annually to stay street legal. Fortunatly fabing one up is the easy part.

[oatmealman]

^^^ I run copper/brass BB's inside the tire and haven't had an issue yet. It works great and compensates for crap in your wheels, lost chunks of tread etc.

-andrew

Thats a bad idea chief.It ruins the steel belting on the tires and causes bulging.