dhkonrad's 93 ford ranger

[kris97ranger]

Blue is the worst color for your night vision. That's why I do red or green

 

[dhkonrad]

Blue is the worst color for your night vision. That's why I do red or green

I was going to put them under the dash, so I'm not horribly worried about it affecting my night vision. At least I think I'm not worried about it...

 

[dhkonrad]

Just got to sign the banner! For the second time! Pretty cool to get to be a part of it twice. Truck has come quite a ways since the first time signing it.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Hahaha I seriously laughed out loud when I read that. I wanna know what would be said if you tried that...
But seriously, what else am I supposed to do on my truck when all I have to work in is a parking lot? As it was I got visited by security a couple times...

Well... We're about to find out...

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[dhkonrad]

Well... We're about to find out...

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I appreciate the nom, but I'm not sure I am deserving in either category haha I guess we'll have to wait and see

 

[dhkonrad]

haven't got a whole lot more done, but I did finally modify the lower coil retainers so my coils wont pop out



Hopefully soon I will take it out again and flex it as hard as a can, and see if itll flex anymore than before

 

[dhkonrad]

So, I have a dilemma. Since my axle swap, my front drive shaft needs shortening about an inch. Should I do it myself or have it done?
I found a place here in Boise that does shortening, and from what I have heard they are reputable, but cost about $80 to have it shortened.
I don't have all my tools with me, so all I really have access to is a harbor freight chop saw and a Lincoln weldpack 120 with flux core. If I was at home and had access to my TIG, then I would have no hesitation shortening it myself. Without it, I am very hesitant.
Thoughts? Its just a front driveshaft so its not like it needs to be perfect...

 

[2004xlmiller]

I'd just pay the 80 bucks...

 

[escort_gts]

That's about what the shop here charges. I say let then do it.

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[kris97ranger]

Yup... Its $80 and you dont have to do anything

 

[dhkonrad]

Hmm. I was almost resigned to doing it myself, but I think you guys convinced me.

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[legoms013]

Hmm. I was almost resigned to doing it myself, but I think you guys convinced me.

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If you don't have the tools to do it right I wouldn't attempt in this case

If it was a dedicated crawler/trailer queen yeah I'd probably weld up a square shaft but I'm not sure I'd even attempt that without the proper tools

 

[dhkonrad]

Went and found somewhere I could flex the truck out so I could measure for a driveshaft. Ends up looking like I am going to cut out 1.5" from the stock driveshaft. Odly enough it doesn't seem like the driveshaft will get much if any shorter/longer from full droop to full bump. I guess thats just based on where the radius arms are...
Some pic whoring:

First one side;


and the shock compression:

you can see from the zip tie that it compressed a little more, but then when I took the picture it drooped a bit


and the other side:







as you can see, the shocks allow plenty of droop and bump. I am pretty satisfied with where the mounts ended up and the length of shock I used, seeing as how it was semi last minute and I just more or less eyeballed it...

Then I decided to do a bit of exploring in the hills overlooking Boise


Georgeous scenery, but it was getting dark and all I had was a cell phone.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

It's awesome to see it flexed out in the dirt! It's really looking good.


You should really have it flexed to the point of lifting the opposite tire, with as much weight as you can transfer to the stuffed corner, to really check travel. That's where a forklift or skidloader come in handy. I bet there is quite a bit more articulation in your front, depending on what PPI your coils are. Mine flexes a little less than where yours is in the pic, with stock arms and polyurethane bushings.

Oh, and on a side note. You should really plate those lower spring cups, your fixing to bend them if you haven't already. I just traced them onto 3/16 plate, cut them out and welded the plate to the bottom of the cups. Drilled through the 2 holes, and bolted them back on with the original bolts.

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[dhkonrad]

It's awesome to see it flexed out in the dirt! It's really looking good.


You should really have it flexed to the point of lifting the opposite tire, with as much weight as you can transfer to the stuffed corner, to really check travel. That's where a forklift or skidloader come in handy. I bet there is quite a bit more articulation in your front, depending on what PPI your coils are. Mine flexes a little less than where yours is in the pic, with stock arms and polyurethane bushings.

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Thanks! I appreciate it

I totally agree, but because I am at school, this was pretty much all I had access to. I think I do have a bit more articulation in the front, but, by my measurements, my driveshaft doesn't seem like itll get much if any shorter at compression or longer at droop, so I should be ok for now. I would like to see how much it'll give me though. As far as I can tell, it seems like I would be able to get away with shortening the driveshaft only .75 inches, so I went with 1.5 to be safe. Maybe more like 1.6-1.75"?


On a side note I've been getting a little bit of attention with the truck, and I've fell into conversation with a few people that say they know some good rock crawling areas around, so I should be able to get some real wheeling in as soon as I get my driveshaft in.