PlumCrazy's Beater DD 4x4 Build

[rhekman]

Ha, good timing. I just looked up @PlumCrazy 's thread since I'm doing a 2.3 - 4.0 gear swap and clutch hydraulic job on my '95 this week.

I ordered the Perfection complete filled set. To be fair the Napa slave cylinder that just failed lasted 6 years and 80k miles, but the stock replacements do not seem to tolerate moisture long term.

If anyone's curious, the CenterForce II clutch is apparently made by Valeo Corp. The laser etching on the pressure plate is visible now after the brake fluid ate off all the paint.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Ha, good timing. I just looked up @PlumCrazy 's thread since I'm doing a 2.3 - 4.0 gear swap and clutch hydraulic job on my '95 this week.

I ordered the Perfection complete filled set. To be fair the Napa slave cylinder that just failed lasted 6 years and 80k miles, but the stock replacements do not seem to tolerate moisture long term.

If anyone's curious, the CenterForce II clutch is apparently made by Valeo Corp. The laser etching on the pressure plate is visible now after the brake fluid ate off all the paint.

Yup, both of my Centerforce clutches are clearly stamped Luk on the cover.

I used to buy the pre bled units, but I developed a pretty a solid way to bench bleed these Ranger masters

 

[PlumCrazy]

Parts finally showed up and I finally had time to put the trans back together.

This is why I always replace this oil slinger. The smallest bit of RTV or shifter bushing will plug them right up.

New 55mm worked like a charm, just have to do a little math to make sure I didn't over torque (it's a pretty big range (over 40lb-ft), so I could have shot for the lower end been fine).

2.3 4x4 trans with a few fresh bearings and all new seals.

Next up will be putting the 8.8 together now that I have gears for it. Torn between putting the Tra-Lok or open carrier in it. I have both and the idea of a lunchbox locker some day isn't off of the table....but also an L/S would probably be just fine for all this truck will ever do.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Put the crows foot at 90° to the torque wrench, then no math needed.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Love the idea of this truck! Great progress can’t wait to see more.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Cleaned up the 8.8 housing and setup the 4.10s with the Trac-Lok. I have never fought a set of gears in an 8.8, but this one gave me the run around with pinion depth.

I shim the pinion depth on 8.8s under the inner cup vs under the pinion head. This way under extreme loading (clutch dumps, etc) the shims can’t split and extrude out.

Same concept goes for the crush sleeve eliminators. I only use the Yukon/Bronco Graveyard style that capture the shims so they can’t blow out.

All done for now, I'll re-use the backing plates and brakes from the 7.5 that's currently under the truck when I swap it. One axle shaft (the one that wasn't leaking) has some slight pitting at the bearing journal, but I'll hold off buying one until I get a good look at the shafts in the current axle under the truck to see if I can just swap them over too.

 

[DRanger024]

It'll be interesting to see what this thing ends up as.

 

[PlumCrazy]

It'll be interesting to see what this thing ends up as.

Hopefully a cheap, reliable, and 4x4 daily driver lol............but I have tendency to miss the mark on at least 33.33% of my goals.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Wives are usually pretty good at helping projects stay under control and on or under budget.

 

[DRanger024]

Hopefully a cheap, reliable, and 4x4 daily driver lol............but I have tendency to miss the mark on at least 33.33% of my goals.

As long as you miss in the right direction! Should be a fun truck to drive. I miss having the 2.3 in mine pretty often.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Wasn't planning to buy tires until I had the axles under the truck....but stumbled across a deal on some 31" Pro Comps I couldn't pass up

Knocked the mud off and tossed them on some spare Alcoas

 

[PlumCrazy]

Pulled the lift leaves apart, cleaned up the rust before it caused any more damage and bolted back together with fresh bolts and some fluid Film to prevent it from happening again.

Also started prepping for my other current Ranger project.

probably start a separate thread for the 88' build

 

[PlumCrazy]

Snagged a chunk of 3x3 box tubing for my front crossmember/shackle mounts. Had some extra bits boogered on, but didnt take much to clean up a 36" section which will be plenty.

Plan is to mount some Level II tow hooks to this as well.

Changed the oil and finally addressed the motor mounts....shifter moved quite a bit on semi aggressive take offs especially while making a left. Turns out the mount was ripped and the hardware was loose...on the drivers side. Pass side mount was loose and the stud was just spinning.

FYI the hydraulic mount cream filling tastes as bad as it smells...2/10 do not recommend

I stole a good perch off of a parts truck and used the clearance rack motor mount I had on the drivers side and threw the good used one on the pass side.

I was able to sneak both mounts in without disturbing the crusty brake lines that look like they have one good pump left in them lol

Spring is just around the corner, but this truck is still my primary transportation until the salt is 100% gone (probably call it good in April). Swap should move pretty quick once I can start mocking stuff up.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Found some issues with parts compatibility. Somehow the 4 T-case levers I had weren't compatible with the shifter assembly I have.

The straight t case lever interferes with the shifter arm...and the offset was offset the wrong way and too aggressive to just bolt on and work.

So I pressed the pin out and put back in from the opposite side.

Then took a little offset out of the shifter arm to clear the driveshaft yoke better.

Everything plays nice now with a fresh 3D printed bushing I I

 

[Uncle Gump]

Damn Ford... they needed a couple more version of that.

Awesome work around...