The Lone Ranger – Kage’s ’94 X-Cab Leaf SAS and Bed Bob

Kage · Jul 5, 2011

Things were going too good over the weekend so something had to happen right? Looks like my 4wd motor on the 1354 has shot craps, so I need to do some reading on these systems. I also discovered lots of glitter in the rear diff oil that I'm hoping is mostly from the LSD as it was making lost of nasty noises last time out on the trails. I need to pull the cover tonight and see what's what.

I'm still hoping to get this thing into DD status this week so that I can get the clutch done on the moostang soon.

86 slo-vo · Jul 5, 2011

I would start looking for a 1354m, I diced with the auto system on mine for a good month. Half the time it would work and half the time it wouldn't. Couldn't rely on it at all, finally got mad and ripped it all out and just crawled under to shift it until I found a manual.

Josh40601 · Jul 5, 2011

mines still electric.... Just get a new motor and throw it on there. Should last you a good while. I put a JY motor on mine back in 08 right after i bought it because the motor and the hubs were going out.

The only thing is, the brown wire that goes into the case, you can just cut and sauter(sp?) back together with the new one. Much easier than tearing the case apart.

rangerplus · Jul 5, 2011

Just skimmed through this whole build for the first time! Very nice build!

Kage · Jul 5, 2011

86 slo-vo said:
I would start looking for a 1354m, I diced with the auto system on mine for a good month. Half the time it would work and half the time it wouldn't. Couldn't rely on it at all, finally got mad and ripped it all out and just crawled under to shift it until I found a manual.

I've been looking for a 1354m reasonably priced since last Dec. :sad:

If you happen to come across one for $200 or less, let me know. Until then I'll keep rocking the electric shift one, I'm just hoping the motor shot craps, not the module.

Josh40601 said:
mines still electric.... Just get a new motor and throw it on there. Should last you a good while. I put a JY motor on mine back in 08 right after i bought it because the motor and the hubs were going out.

The only thing is, the brown wire that goes into the case, you can just cut and sauter(sp?) back together with the new one. Much easier than tearing the case apart.

After doing a little diagnosis tonight, I'll have a better grasp on what's up I hope. Right now I can hear the module ticking away when I hit the button, but it doesn't sound like the motor is trying to do anything. So hopefully I can fix this motor, or I'll throw another junk yard motor at it.

rangerplus said:
Just skimmed through this whole build for the first time! Very nice build!

Thanks!

Josh40601 · Jul 5, 2011

best of luck buddy! I had the ol lady sit inside and hit the button while i laid under the truck listening for the motor to engage. It wasn't making any noise, so i threw a new-to-me motor in and still rocking that one now.

Bennybooster · Jul 5, 2011

I'm really liking the exo...

86 slo-vo · Jul 5, 2011

Kage said:
I've been looking for a 1354m reasonably priced since last Dec. If you happen to come across one for $200 or less, let me know. Until then I'll keep rocking the electric shift one, I'm just hoping the motor shot craps, not the module.

i bought mine for $50 :thefinger:

if you happen to need a module....i just pulled one out of the explorer the other day that worked great.

kroussinoffroad · Jul 5, 2011

I got mine for free with an M5OD, non egr 4.0, 31 spline 8.8 and a D35 with warn lockouts. :thefinger:

picked up a whole explorer for free all i really was after was the t-case.

if you happen to need a module....i just pulled one out of the explorer the other day that worked great.[/QUOTE]

Kage · Jul 5, 2011

Bennybooster said:
I'm really liking the exo...

Thanks! The more I look at it, the more its growing on me :icon_thumby:

Josh40601 said:
best of luck buddy! I had the ol lady sit inside and hit the button while i laid under the truck listening for the motor to engage. It wasn't making any noise, so i threw a new-to-me motor in and still rocking that one now.

Looking like a 'new to me' motor is in my future as well. I'll have to try to pull one from the yard this weekend.

86 slo-vo said:
i bought mine for $50
...if you happen to need a module....i just pulled one out of the explorer the other day that worked great.

kroussinoffroad said:
I got mine for free with an M5OD, non egr 4.0, 31 spline 8.8 and a D35 with warn lockouts.
.

And

to both of ya! If you happend to come across another 1354m for $50 (in working condition) I'll double your money :icon_twisted:

In all seriousness, the module looks like it passed its self diagnosis test, so the motor failing is looking pretty likely though I won't know for sure until I slap another motor on there. It seems that alot of people run the 1354E's with good luck, so I'm not quite ready to give up on it yet (if for no other reason than my damn belly skid is heavy as hell to get off, and I'm not in a huge rush to break down that doubler again). Though if a 1354m comes my way, I'll change my tune :icon_twisted:

As for tonight, I got all of the loose ends tied up with the truck tonigh (I think) so it's going to transition into DD duty as I work on the mustang. After draining the gear lube out of the rear, I didn't notice much of any glitter in the fluid. This makes me think that it was probably debris from the LSD. Which is good as I didn't really want to spend the money to lock/regear at this point (what I was going to do if I had to replace bearings).

The next trip out is scheduled for 7/30/11 at Washita Mx near Farmingtion MO. I haven't been down there since the New Years Day run this year. Should be a good time and yes, I'll get as many photos as I can :icon_thumby:

I'll be hanging out with some Jeep dudes, if you're in the area and want to tag along, feel free to post up on SIJA.

Kage · Jul 7, 2011

Boosting the Rear

After putting a few miles on the truck, I was running into two problems

The rear settled down more than I liked
I had a "Death Sway" issue going on when I had any weight in the truck.

While I liked how the Chevy leafs rode and flexed, they were just too soft for me. Since I don’t know the history of these leafs, its very possible that I managed to get an ‘extra broke in’ set of leafs.

The end result is that the rear leaf pack needed some fine tuning, of which I had a couple of options in which to do it with. In the end, I took the easy route and slapped a Tuff Country Add A Leaf in the pack (PN 81250, Summit Racing had the best price at the time of this post). I figured if nothing else it would give me a good base in which to start with.

Generally I don’t care for AAL’s as they tend to make the ride a bit harsh, and often wind up sagging after time anyway. With these leaf’s’ I’m not so worried about them sagging as they’re pretty dang beefy:

Stuck next to a ranger main leaf I cut down to possibly use:

While I had things apart, I went ahead and added my axle shims as well (I goofed when I set up my rear end and was off a few degrees):

I didn’t managed to take any photos of the install process, but this leaf just sits at the very bottom of the pack (like an overload). So the installation is extremely simple.

Starting height:

Ending height (Its settled to 45" at this time):

　
The end result is that the truck sits much better, and still rides awesome. I do worry about the extra forces being put on the main leaf from the AAL, but if I wind up killing this pack, I can always go get another from the Junk Yard, or just buy a full replacement pack. I’ll cross that bridge if I ever get there.

Unfortunately, this was not a complete cure for my death sway issue. It did greatly reduce the problem, and help point out another main contributor of the problem. That being a lack of a track bar up front (Long shackles up front are giving the axle too much side to side movement at speed on the road). So I'll get that issue resolved soon.

XionicWaste · Jul 7, 2011

my 64" leafs are pretty stable, but like you said in the end of your post, you have alot more flex up front than I know I do. When Im overloaded I will get a death shimmy not so much a shake. My shimmy is due to 2 bad shocks caddy corner from one another, could shocks be an issue for this problem?

Josh40601 · Jul 7, 2011

Kage said:
Unfortunately, this was not a complete cure for my death sway issue. It did greatly reduce the problem, and help point out another main contributor of the problem. That being a lack of a track bar up front (Long shackles up front are giving the axle too much side to side movement at speed on the road). So I'll get that issue resolved soon.

　

Ben,

I think this will fix your problem. I am running 64's as well, and although i don't have the 300lbs of toob, I have no death sway. I have a little bit of sway due to the super soft springs and no sway bar, but since i gusseted the track bar mount, VERY little sway. Truck is super stable driving down the road. I have been driving it every day this week and last week and rides almost as good as it did stock.

Kage · Jul 7, 2011

XionicWaste said:
my 64" leafs are pretty stable, but like you said in the end of your post, you have alot more flex up front than I know I do. When Im overloaded I will get a death shimmy not so much a shake. My shimmy is due to 2 bad shocks caddy corner from one another, could shocks be an issue for this problem?

Shocks were the beginning of the end so to speak with my death sway. It looks like I neglected to post anything about what shocks I’m running in the rear. I’ll get that up soon.
　

Josh40601 said:
I think this will fix your problem. I am running 64's as well, and although i don't have the 300lbs of toob, I have no death sway. I have a little bit of sway due to the super soft springs and no sway bar, but since i gusseted the track bar mount, VERY little sway. Truck is super stable driving down the road. I have been driving it every day this week and last week and rides almost as good as it did stock.

　

Thanks for helping confirm the thoughts I’ve got in my head. I should have the track bar on tonight (brackets are burned on now, just need some tube for the bar itself). Unfortunately, the track bar will wind up being much shorter than I’d like (about 10" shorter than the drag link). I’m sure this will cause some bump steer, and may force me to pull the bar off when I go out to play. But I hope the on road drivability will improve enough to warrant the hassle.

　
As always, I’ll update as I go along!

Kage · Jul 7, 2011

Shocking the Rear

After killing my Rubicon Express shocks I had in the rear (I was accidentally using them as bump stops when I had a load in the bed :blush:

). I needed to swap something in that would help control the rear some and hopefully settle the sway down some.

This wound up being a bit of a pain to get it dialed in but we got there. The shocks I’m are the same as what’s found on the Chevy/GMC 1500 2wd trucks (I used a ’98 model year). All shocks measured 26.25" Long and 16.375 Compressed (9.875" travel) so they were a good fit for my application, and cheap to boot!.

It took some trial and error to find the right shock for my setup. Below is a photo of all the shocks lined up:

On the Left is the RE shock from a RE6030 Kit. This shock rode nice, and seemed to work well I was a bit bummed when I killed it.

Second to the left is a cheapy Monroe shock for the GM application. It turned out to be waaaay to soft and was quickly discarded.

Third fro the left is the Monroe air ride shocks. These actually worked very well dampening the rear and adding support (I ran these before I put the AAL’s in). While they could be a viable solution, I was extremely paranoid about ripping one of the ‘air bags’ on the shocks while on the trail. There is some language about how you’re not suppose to fully extend the shock with pressure in the system in Monroe’s paperwork. Those two factors made me search for an alternative to ensure that I didn’t put myself in a bind later on.

The last shock (Far Right) looks to be the answer. It is a Rancho 9000XL (Part number RS999190) nitrogen charged shock. This dude is unique as it allows you to adjust the dampening via turning a little knob on the shock body itself. While not cheap (about $80 bucks a corner) it allows you to forgo buying different shocks to try to find the one that has the best dampening for your situation. These shocks are the beefiest shocks I’ve played with so they should hold up to my abuse.

So far, these shocks seem to be working well for me. Well enough that when my front shocks die, I’ll probably swap them out for another set of Rancho’s. The only complaint I have about them is the knob used to adjust the settings is a chintzy piece of plastic. I don’t plan on adjusting the often so I’m not that worried about it. I’ve also set the shocks up so that the knob is protected via the axle tube.

One finial note on using shocks for the GM application, you will more than likely have to swap out the metal bushings to get them to work for your application. These bushings are available at your local hardware store; all you need is a vise/press to get the ‘old’ ones out.

In my case I pushed out the bar pin on the top, and the metal bushing on the bottom, and slapped in some ½" metal bushings to get the job done.

The Lone Ranger – Kage’s ’94 X-Cab Leaf SAS and Bed Bob

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