well today i spent all day replacing upper and lower ball joints on the 94 4x4 ranger 4.0l, along with a upper radiator hose on the 96 ram 1500.
I had two bad ball joints on the passenger side, it was pretty much a major PITA, it took me over a hour to get the axle shafts apart on the passenger side where they slip together i ended up using a combination of a propane torch to heat it up a alb sledge and a eventually a ratchet strap, and then a combination of the strap and a come-a-long after the tension broke the ratchet strap.
if it weren't for my trusty fishing boat and a little ingenuity idk if i ever would of gotten her apart and back together.
i took a 2x10 and wedged it between the frame of my truck and the frame of the boat trailer, then i tied the strap to the axle shaft and put a lot of tension on it and kept slowly beating it out and applying heat. and finally it came apart. after more then a hr of cussing.
but on another note, i managed to fit my original drive shaft from the b2 to the 9" .
i took the 4 bolt flange and u joint off that connected at the old 7.5 and installed a conversion u joint that matched up to the 9" yoke
i used O'riellys Auto Parts master pro house brand part number 353
heres a couple other Bastard joints or conversion u joints or combination joints for reference, (notice the price difference compared to spicer joints, i can replace 3-4 of these for the price of one dana spicer u joint
the angles aren't exactly right but it will do until i can get the double cardigan
im also going to try and use on of these to mash together the original 89 b2 front driveshaft with the original 78-79 bronco front drive shaft
i have the slip part of the 79 bronco shaft which is an inch shorter center of joint to center of joint then the solid part of the slip yoke shaft on the b2.
so I'm taking the slip spline yoke coming from the b2 tcase>>>to another combination joint to the original 79 shaft, to the d44 yoke,
I'm still planning on getting a double cardigan for the rear in the near future and having it shortened, but thats 45$ for the shaft, and another ???howevermany$$$ to shorten it, but i will at least have a spare for when I'm on the trails shall one ever fail.
I think my next step is getting the brakes squared away, and then mounting tires and then steering and then getting steering and trac bar finished, then all ill have to do is check my flex so i can get the right length and travel shocks.
also have to modify my new crossmember i made so the front driveshaft by the tcase will clear the driveshaft slip yoke...
On another note i start a new job tomorrow morning, so hopefully i can come up with the little extra cash i need to get this thing rolling in the next couple weeks, and registered shortly after that.
Some guys in my area are trying to get a large group together to hit some trails the weekend of the 19th so I'm shooting for that, its not far outta grasp but it will be tight.
until next time.....