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

[4.0B2]

that's why i was asking about heims in other threads.. i've heard bad things about them for a daily driver...

 

[Kage]

how the H did i miss this build? looks good

Thanks!

O.K. I see what ya got goin on. anywho I dont think i'll ever go with the HEIM's again as they dont last. that is unless the ruff stuff one's last alot longer. i am definately lookin at goin wit the GM ton tre's for 250$ dosnt sound like that bad of an option as they should last year's instead of month's

that's why i was asking about heims in other threads.. i've heard bad things about them for a daily driver...

Once I get this thing road worthy again, it'll be my DD for awhile as my poor moostang needs a clutch BAD! So I'll give my short and long term thoughts on the heims. My main concern is that you're using a straight bolt hole instead of a taper, so I'm fairly certain things will wind up feeling loose over time which is more a function of that bolt than the heim. I'm half tempeted to throw a 1 ton TRE setup on there, but I've allready got the money and time tired up in this setup, so I might as well give it a try.

I will say that I like the ruff stuff heims, they look beefier than the other ones I've seen on the trails. Time will tell if its enough to make a difference in their life span.

 

[4.0B2]

i like ruffstuff period.. great customer service and good products.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

ive been running a heim on my pitman arm for over a year now and the hole isnt wallered out at all. not saying that it wont. i think you'll go thru a couple heim's before you have to worry bout the hole.as for my pitman arm if all needbe i'm still runnin a factory pitman so finding a replacement will be pretty easy.

 

[Andres629]

I dunno about you guys over there, but heims are illegal on our steering linkage. The Chev 1 ton tRE's are huge, and I got the four for $200 for the good XRF ones...

 

[Kage]

I dunno about you guys over there, but heims are illegal on our steering linkage. The Chev 1 ton tRE's are huge, and I got the four for $200 for the good XRF ones...

No vehicle inspections here (state), and nothing in the DOT (federal) stuff prohibiting them so we're good to go

 

[kroussinoffroad]

technically mine is illegal now since we are not suposed to have anything welded on our steering, but i'm o.k. with that since we have no mandatory inspection. and once i go 1 ton it will be welded. but heim's are fine

 

[Andres629]

Must be nice. We get a mandatory inspection for a cracked windshield.

 

[kris97ranger]

andres that sucks... we have the safty when you transfer the truck into your name then thats it. only thing that i have to worry about is the random road side stops which are always in the same spots so you just stop going around those places haha

 

[86 slo-vo]

Here anything is legal, the only time they ever looks at it is when you buy a vehicle out of state you have to get an inspection. The cop walks out and makes sure the vin number is te same as the title and that's it. Doesn't even get in look around. Just checks the vin tag lol. Good ole KY

 

[Andres629]

We have a whole list of crap...

Tire tread must be covered
Bumper height maximum 27" to bottom of bumper on cars/SUV's (aka my BII)
There is a maximum headlamp/tail light height
Mudflaps must be used if the angle from tire contact surface to bumper is greater than a certain number
Windshield must have less than 10% surface area damaged (cracks, chips), any damage within driver's sightline auto fail

Basically, that's just the things they can see right at the side of the road. Pretty much, if you get pulled over and any of the above applies to your vehicle, you have to take it to a licensed inspection facility and have it inspected. Sucks.


Sorry for the threadjack. Continue with the awesome work!

 

[Josh40601]

Rod Ends on a DD......

I have put around 4k on mine since i bought them, and they seem to do fine. Just don't cheap out and buy crappy rod ends. I went with crap the first time because they were free. When i bought new ones, I wanted something that was going to last. So i had to drop a little more coin. Once i change out the ball joints i will be able to see just how well they do. You can hear then "Click" when they rotate though, which can be annoying

 

[kroussinoffroad]

ive ran qa1's and fk's, didnt seem to make a difference as for life. so now i try the ruffstuff's i dont have my hope's up as they appear very similar, but are a little less expensive. so we'll see. I think it has alot to do with the amount of mud that mine see. ive debated about making a boot or ordering the boot's from spider traxx but i have different plan's for the steering.

Pretty sure it's just the nature of the beast. From my experience most mechanical item's that are designed for competition are not long for the world seeing regular use.

 

[Kage]

New Transmission Cross Member

When you do a doubler, you have to modify or make a new transmission cross member. If you’re running a decent sized lift (5” or better over stock) you can get away with hacking up a stock member. Since I’m only running about 4” of lift over stock, I couldn’t make that option work so I made up a new one using 2x3x1/4” wall stock.

Instead of using the stock tranny mount (left) I nabbed the mount that I was using in my XJ. I had to re drill the holes to fit the ford stuff, but it’s a bit more stout than the factory type mount. The bushing it uses came from a rear lower control arm form a ’93 Mustang.

Don’t ask why its pink, long story

After modifying the mount, I then whipped up a simple (but strong) cross member that runs diagonal under the Ranger to clear the front drive shaft.

Top:

Bottom:

Installed:

I’ll add some skid plates at a later time under here as well.

 

[Kage]

Man you guys are all about rod ends around here I try to avoid mud when I can so that should help these guys live longer, it’s the salt that worries me. If they suck, I’ll swap them out, but for now they’re in!

Everything is close! But I’ve got full steering and nothing looks like its going to touch.

So this combined with the tranny cross member being done means that the truck is somewhat road worthy. So I did a few laps around the block which taught me a few things.

- FWD with a Detroit on dry pavement makes for some very interesting handling on the street
- No shocks and very flexy springs add to the fun handling.
- 4:10’s are not enough gear in high range. I want to get it up to speed before I worry about what gear ratio I’ll wind up going with, that and I’m missing wheeling big time so I’ll put up with the 4:10’s for awhile.
- I’ve got a leak in my brake system still, but from what I can tell (sub 20 mph) I’m very happy with how the brakes feel, so that’s awesome.

I should get my Rear DS back Monday so I can get my pinion angle set in the rear. Lot of little details but I’m running out of reasons for this not to be on the road soon!