AJE Ranger K-Member Who's Done It!?

[n2xlr8n]

Been out of town this week- back to the front suspension. My brakes came in while I was away

 

[Yotaismygame]

Been out of town this week- back to the front suspension. My brakes came in while I was away

What brakes front and rear are you running?

 

[n2xlr8n]

What brakes front and rear are you running?

Front - 95 Mustang spindles, PBR calipers and GT rotors (cheap but effective...with the exception of the spindles- they're not cheap)
Steering rack: Summit Fox manual 15:1
Rear - undecided. I have the 10" drum setup from the Explorer I took the 3.73 rear from, but I may go disc.

Back to the factory crossmember removal:

Take note of the stock holes (top view- see the earlier posts for the stock coil tower holes in the sides of the frame rails):



Note below the shape of the welds Ford decided to use on each side of the cross member, because these are what you will be grinding away (I left mine temporarily for illustration purposes)

Driver's side:



Pass side:



All told, it was about 9 hours worth of work with a plasma cutter, cutting wheel, grinder and air chisel.

Next- the AJE installation (mock up).

 

[n2xlr8n]

Hold the install.

My cream puff, never been wrecked 1990 frame rails (where the four 0.500 k-member bolts go through the frame) dimension is 29". The k-member brackets are 28-3/16". You can clearly see where the pass side was not welded like the other side.

This is going back to Jeg's. They can either refund me or replace the k-member with one that fits as described.

 

[Yotaismygame]

Man spindles around here in wrecking yards aren’t much. I plan on all sn95 cobra brakes plus a cobra master. Still a ways from doing that. I left the boxed in sections of frame rails intact and just cut a hole to thread the nut on from the inside for the driver. The passenger I was able to stick my arm down it. You sound like you know a bit more about building cars than I do. Over the years I’ve spent more time fabricating and replacing stock type parts.
Not sure I understand your issue. Without visually seeing kinda hard to understand

 

[n2xlr8n]

Man spindles around here in wrecking yards aren’t much. I plan on all sn95 cobra brakes plus a cobra master. Still a ways from doing that. I left the boxed in sections of frame rails intact and just cut a hole to thread the nut on from the inside for the driver. The passenger I was able to stick my arm down it. You sound like you know a bit more about building cars than I do. Over the years I’ve spent more time fabricating and replacing stock type parts.
Not sure I understand your issue. Without visually seeing kinda hard to understand

Try finding 94-95 spindles; if you can, you need to sell them on ebay- they go for over $300 cleaned up.

Visual ref:

The first pic dimension is to get an idea of where on the frame the aforementioned brackets would normally locate (10-1/2" ctr-ctr behind the front "round" k-member mount):



So...10-1/2" back from the front k-member mount holes is where the frame would be (outside to outside) 28-3/16".

It is not. The frame is not 28-3/16" at ANY point along that dimension. Pic of the k-member I.D.:



Jeg's said they would call AJE Monday- we'll see what happens.

 

[Yotaismygame]

Ah okay. Mine fit snug between the back mounts but nothing overly tight. You want me to grab a measurement off mine? Won’t be around the truck again until Monday. I’d call AJE yourself. Not the easiest people to get ahold of. I called three times before I could get someone on the phone who actually knew anything. Actually I have a email address for someone over there who was pretty helpful and responsive. I used the 98 spindles for the wider track width. Even with those I still needed 1” spacers to keep the wheel from contacting the strut.

 

[n2xlr8n]

Ah okay. Mine fit snug between the back mounts but nothing overly tight. You want me to grab a measurement off mine?

Heck yeah! That would be awesome, and it would help make my case with AJE/Jeg's.

Thanks so much!!

 

[Yotaismygame]

Well I came up with 28”. Problem though is my oil Pan is right in the middle of the two brackets. So I measured each side plus the pan width. Not the best measurement but I can’t imagine I could be off a whole inch

 

[Yotaismygame]

I took another measurement. You can see the frame on mine does start to bulge out after the spot where the K-member bolts too.

 

[n2xlr8n]

Yep. Thanks for that- I appreciate it.

Jim @ AJE checked the jig and said the k-member I had drew when it was welded.
He (AJE) said they would make a new k-member and send a pickup for the one I have now, but it would be a week before it ships. I told him to send it raw and I'd paint it to save a couple of days and we'd make up the cost diff later.

We'll see how the rest goes and I'll report back.

 

[Blmpkn]

One of you two might have the fastest ranger on the site when your done.

@Maritime Drag Racing what's your fastest pass?

 

[Yotaismygame]

One of you two might have the fastest ranger on the site when your done.

@Maritime Drag Racing what's your fastest pass?

I hardly know anything about drag racing. Been to the local track a few times to watch … I’m just building a auto cross/pro touring DD type of truck. Probably drive it to work and occasionally look for some trouble . Working on pretty much anything keeps me extra busy and for some reason that’s how I like it.

 

[Blmpkn]

I hardly know anything about drag racing. Been to the local track a few times to watch … I’m just building a auto cross/pro touring DD type of truck. Probably drive it to work and occasionally look for some trouble . Working on pretty much anything keeps me extra busy and for some reason that’s how I like it.

Pffft. Turning is for babies. Real men drive fast in a straight line for a few seconds then stop

You definitely have to at least make a few passes in it. Be a shame not to imo.

 

[Yotaismygame]

Pffft. Turning is for babies. Real men drive fast in a straight line for a few seconds then stop

You definitely have to at least make a few passes in it. Be a shame not to imo.

I’m sure I will eventually. My buddy is just finishing his s10 ls turbo build. Which is a street legal drag truck. I can’t imagine I’ll be that fast with lack of experience, and street tires