Drag Truck - The Danger Ranger

Saturday afternoon I got the motor and trans pulled in about 4 hours. This was my first time using a slip yoke drive shaft so I learned the hard way that tranny fluid comes out that opening. Conveniently enough, my housemate was using the oil drip pan to change the oil on his motorcycle so I had to use a cooking bowl to catch all the fluid that came pouring out. All the bolts were much easier to take off this time round as I didn't torque everything down to spec. I had to drop one side of the trans crossmember in order to get the tail low enough to get the oil filter and starter to clear the motor mounts on the way out. Now I have a rolling chassis and that makes me happy. Motor and trans will be in the classifieds once I can find the model # stamp on the trans. If you are interested in those, or really any part from the truck, feel free to message me directly.

Motor and trans are now for sale in the classifieds (linked below). You can also message me about any other parts you may want off the truck

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1570514#post1570514

Wednesday I started getting the dash taken apart. Got the outer plastic off and the instrument cluster out and called it a day. The first pic is my progress at the end of that day. The two dash mounted speakers were a pain in the ass and they had to be removed in order to pull the plastic part of the dash. They are held in with 3 screws each and one is so close to the windshield that I had to use a phillips bit and a 1/4 wrench to turn it in order to remove the screw. Of course I dropped the bit and it conveniently landed *sarcasm* on the far left side on a wire harness that I couldn't see. It took me 20 minutes wiggling around the plastic part of the dash to get eyes on it.

Today I spent two hours this afternoon finishing up the dash removal. Hardest part was pulling the wheel without a puller so I jury rigged something up with a C clamp and a wrench and got it off. Last two pics are of the contraption and where I left off for the day. Next step is to get the harness removed and pull all the HVAC crap.

I must say, they just don't build cars like they used to. I used to be able to disassemble my 06 Mustang interior pretty fast with all the snap in panels. This thing is held together with so many bolts and screws it really is a sturdy piece of machinery.

Spent about another 2 hours on it today finishing taking out the dash, HVAC and harness. All electrical is off the car except the one part of the harness that runs back to the fuel pump and tail lights. All that's left is to take out the insulation, floor and seat. Pedals and steering column will stay installed for when I move around the end of the year. The one connection that connects to the O2 sensor on the midpipe was fused together from the heat so I ended up just removing the sensor with the harness.

Local pull and pay has a deal next Sunday where you and a buddy can take as much as you can carry out for $59.99 so I think I'll try to get my new 8.8 then. Looking for opinions. I can get one that is 2" wider and just get some wheels with more backspacing or not be super picky and get one that I'll have professionally shortened. The wheel wells already overhang about 3" past the tires so I'm not worried about an inch on either side. The drivetrain I'm planning on swapping in runs down centerline unlike the stock drivetrain which is slightly offset to the passenger side. If I kept the approx 2" offset in the rear, it gives me 2-2.5 degrees lateral pinion angle. I know that having a compound angle is fine, but I'm worried about it causing issues at higher power numbers (500+hp). So do I accept the compound pinion angle or get an axle to shorten so that the axles are equal length and the housing is centered up?

Finished up pulling 98% of the interior today. Really just had insulation, floor and seat to pull. All that's left is the steering column, the two seat belts, and whatever the membrane is between the floor pan and flooring. Door trim is going to stay put for now unless someone wants to buy it. I tried going at the membrane but that stuff is caked on there pretty well so I'm going to invest in a decent scraper and go at it another time. Hoping to get an 8.8 from pull and pay on Sunday with a pull-a-thon they have going on.

looking forward to your progress as ill be doing a 5.7l lm7 t56 swap myself. What was your reasoning to remove the front clip?

when i get my 8.8 i was planning to shorten it.

z

proz07 said:

looking forward to your progress as ill be doing a 5.7l lm7 t56 swap myself. What was your reasoning to remove the front clip?

when i get my 8.8 i was planning to shorten it.

z

Click to expand...

Just easier to access everything. Totally worth it in my opinion. If I had a lift then maybe it'd be a different story

Woo Woo! Got my 8.8 today from the Pull-a-Thon. Cost me a total of $74 between admission and the out the door cost +tax. Brought my housemate along as he also needed a couple parts to put the steering column of his truck back together...someone attempted to steal it about 2 months ago but failed to defeat the anti theft. Anyway, we spent about a half hour getting his parts then headed over the the ford truck section. Yesterday I went and scouted out what they had and where the trucks were that had what I wanted. I'll tell you....I scraped off quite a few tags yesterday checking the gear ratio. Finally decided on a 98 Explorer with a limited slip 3.73. It was in good condition, still had the brakes on it, and the rotors still have some life in them. I started by disconnecting (cutting) the ebrake cable and brake line going to the axle. My buddy started working on the u-bolts with some PB Blaster and a crescent wrench. NOTE- BRING A DEEP SOCKET 19MM. The crescent didn't have enough room to work so we asked the guy working on the interior of the truck if he had a deep 19mm. HE DID! Saved our butts. My 200pc Craftsman set only goes up to 18. Anyway, got everything disconnected, removed the bump stops and was able to pull the driver side between the frame and leaf springs. The other side however....pain in the butt. The passenger side was supported by some tires under the leaf and not the frame like the driver side. This was loading the springs and made the gap small enough that we couldn't slide the brake assembly through. Ended up having to stack some tires under the bumper and unbolted the rear of the leaf to get a gap big enough to drop it out. I don't know what it is for, but there is a sensor at the top of the diff (ABS maybe?) and we cut the harness a few feet down the line and used that to tie up all the pieces for my buddy and headed over to the line. Lots of people carrying transmissions and interior/exterior pieces with seat belts. Nothing said you couldn't jury rig your own carrying harnesses. I think the best one was a bed liner full of stuff with seat belt handles on either side. We didn't need any of that nonsense. My buddy just picked it up and carried it (we're both capable but he's the stronger of the two so he did it. Earned his free parts). Paid for the parts and pulled the truck around, loaded up, and headed home. It is going to sit on the floor until I'm ready to get it shortened. So for the day, we had fun, I spent $74 and got an 8.8 with disc brakes, a clock spring, blinker assembly, steering column support, a side mirror, a cold bottle of water, and a T-shirt!



Bonus for you. A video to get a feel for what it was like with people carrying stuff

Nothing super exciting to report. Yesterday I bought a paint scraper and spent 2 hours pulling that crap up off the floor. I think it is sound deadening but who knows. Folks and girlfriend are in town for the weekend so I won't be getting anything done.

Started taking apart the 8.8 today so I could get it to the shop to get shortened. Got the disc brakes, lines, differential, axle shafts all removed. In the process of doing so, dropped one of the c clips down and it ended up in the oil passage next to the pinion gear. Tried fishing it out but to no avail. I need a 3 jaw pulley anyway to get the pinion flange off so I'll retrieve it then.

Called the driveline shop in town that came up top of a google search to see if they did axle housing shortening and of course, they didn't, but referred me to anther business. FIVE referrals later I finally found a machine and welding shop that does it for $150. Little steep compared to other places I found online, but that's life in a smaller (relative) city I suppose. I'll get it to them once I get the housing taken apart.

Once the housing is shortened, I'll order my axles, c clip elims, and clutch pack along with any other little odds and ends I need to button up the rear. I am going to hold off on moving the shock and spring mounts until I'm ready to set the pinion angle.

Dropped the gas tank a few days ago. Original plan was do a fuel cell and drop in the donor car's fuel pump but most budget fuel cells are external pump and I don't want to drop the dough on that right now. So I'll be keeping the stock tank for the time being. Started organizing the garage because I've just been laying parts wherever the has been room.

Spent a couple hours this week putting together a price sheet of stuff I need to get the truck ready to go racing just so I have some perspective on how much I need to spend and gives me a good shopping list so I don't forget anything. If you have parts that you would think is obvious but have missed in the past, please do let me know.

Update

Called up Randy's ring and pinion since they are the only ones that carry an explorer 8.8 c clip eliminator kit. However, it is only sold with axles for a stock housing so I was able to work with them to get all the pieces ordered that I need without the axles. Ran me $255.50 shipped to get them here. Then I took a week off and visited my girl across the country (she's gone for her nursing residency) so no progress was made, but that doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about my truck.

Since I've been back, I've been trying to figure out how much I need to cut off to get the pinion flange centered on the axle. I created a thread here to check my math. It took me til this morning to figure out how to measure the housing to get what the pinion offset is in relation to the centerline of the housing. I came up with 0.625 inches to the pax side. I'll have the fab shop check my measurements but I should be good to go and hopefully will have the housing to them on Monday.

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1575173#post1575173

Axle housing was dropped of yesterday. Should be done in about 2 weeks.

Has anyone used or heard of assassin bars? They are like Caltracs except have a lot more adjustability but cost about 25% less. They are primarily used on old Chevys and Mopars but read that they have been used on Rangers. From what I found, people seem to like them a little more than the Caltracs due to the added adjustability but I'm hesitant due to lack of popularity.

Called up SRD and they said that they could make me a custom set of Assassin Bars for the same price as their other ones. I don't see any reason to not go with them.

any reason for the c-clip eliminator?

Z