5.0 EFI upgrades

[racsan]

inless your running a tire bigger than a 31-10.50 Id think 3.73’s would be fine, I wouldnt think the awd transfer case would take much power away.

 

[fastpakr]

As far as a vacuum leak you mean? It would be a likely explanation but I could never find one visually, audibly, or with a smoke machine or unlit propane torch.

 

[19Walt93]

inless your running a tire bigger than a 31-10.50 Id think 3.73’s would be fine, I wouldnt think the awd transfer case would take much power away.

In hilly country 3.73's would cause a bunch of downshifting and transmission wear.

 

[19Walt93]

I'm running a '99 Explorer GT40P engine with no changes to the short block. Cam is a Comp Cams 35-510-8. Similar duration to stock but a decent jump in lift. Valve springs and such were provided by Alex's Parts based on the cam specs. Roller rockers are Scorpion SCP-1021's. Those required new valve covers because they were too big for the stock units. The best option I could find to solve that problem was the Spectre 5018 polished aluminum set. I didn't like any of the cheap stamped covers I could find, and these were less than $100. Unfortunately, they're -REALLY- tall. I already had a 1" Edelbrock intake spacer installed, but even with that they barely fit under the GT40 upper intake. I had to tweak a few fittings for the upper to clear. The only thing that I haven't resolved is making the EGR tube from the OBX headers connect to the valve on the upper.

The system runs well. I'm just frustrated that I've still got a rough idle and 16-18 inches of intake vacuum. The cam specs don't really explain that. But there's certainly no shortage of power available.

There were all sorts of problems along the way, but those are a different story that could be avoided entirely by making sure the parts you're installing are actually what you ordered.

That cam has a lot more duration than stock, it's 208/216 @ 50, the original was about 188/198 @ 50, the lobe separation is 112, the stock one was something like 116. You definitely want to stay with 4.10's.

 

[fastpakr]

For some reason I thought the stock Explorer cam had longer duration than that. Either way - it's tolerable, just rougher than I'd expected when choosing it.

4.10 is what I've got now but I'd love to toss in something deeper like 4.56 or even 4.88. I'm just not willing to put a lot of money into that, especially as little as I drive it.

 

[scotts90ranger]

My '00 Explorer has 3.73's and 31" tires, with a shift kit in the 4R70W and a shimmed up limited slip the thing runs good but I'm running a manual transfer case now... the '98 V8 explorer I have has 3.73's too and is still stock with 255 75 16's so about the same I think... both cruise around 65mph at around 2000rpm, fuel mileage seems to drop off past there (don't know if it's from aerodynamics or just fuel tune profile...). Both are getting older though, '00 has 255k miles '98 has like 235k... both average about 16-18mpg highway. Losing 1000 pounds or so in a Ranger would probably add some.

My plans for the '00 are likely a 347 kit and such, the 4R70W in it is already built enough to handle a mild build... but that thing also has full width axles, 5.13 gears and 37" tires in it's future...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

inless your running a tire bigger than a 31-10.50 Id think 3.73’s would be fine, I wouldnt think the awd transfer case would take much power away.

31x10.50-15 is what I’m running, same as what was on it with 4.10 and the 4.0

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

As far as a vacuum leak you mean? It would be a likely explanation but I could never find one visually, audibly, or with a smoke machine or unlit propane torch.

Interesting. I recently got myself a smoke machine but haven’t fired it up yet. Never had much luck tracing vacuum leaks

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

In hilly country 3.73's would cause a bunch of downshifting and transmission wear.

It is kinda hilly here, but I’m not expecting it to be a problem. My first Ranger had 3.73s and it went just fine. Heck, my choptop has 4.10s and 35s. Now 3.08 or maybe 3.45 might be a problem, my F-150 came with 3.08 and one of the best things I did was change it to 3.55

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

My '00 Explorer has 3.73's and 31" tires, with a shift kit in the 4R70W and a shimmed up limited slip the thing runs good but I'm running a manual transfer case now... the '98 V8 explorer I have has 3.73's too and is still stock with 255 75 16's so about the same I think... both cruise around 65mph at around 2000rpm, fuel mileage seems to drop off past there (don't know if it's from aerodynamics or just fuel tune profile...). Both are getting older though, '00 has 255k miles '98 has like 235k... both average about 16-18mpg highway. Losing 1000 pounds or so in a Ranger would probably add some.

My plans for the '00 are likely a 347 kit and such, the 4R70W in it is already built enough to handle a mild build... but that thing also has full width axles, 5.13 gears and 37" tires in it's future...

What shift kit did you go with and would you do anything different with the trans?

My original plan when I first started collecting parts was a 347, but then I did some reading and found that many said it wasn’t suited for a dd and typically had shorter lifespan. The recommendation was 331 if you still want dd so that’s where I had settled. Unfortunately the engine having a substantial oil leak that was suspected to be the rear main, the motor feeling a bit weak, and the transmission blowing up before I was ready means that I don’t get to do everything I had wanted. Add in the 92 getting totaled and I just don’t have the luxury of doing the 331 right now.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

It is kinda hilly here, but I’m not expecting it to be a problem. My first Ranger had 3.73s and it went just fine. Heck, my choptop has 4.10s and 35s. Now 3.08 or maybe 3.45 might be a problem, my F-150 came with 3.08 and one of the best things I did was change it to 3.55

I run everywhere fine with 3.73's/31's. Even with the Skamper in the back set the cruise and let her eat.

I do have a 5 speed but I don't lack for power in hills.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I run everywhere fine with 3.73's/31's. Even with the Skamper in the back set the cruise and let her eat.

I do have a 5 speed but I don't lack for power in hills.

Pretty much what I figured. Even though I’ll have an auto I’m expecting my setup to do just fine. Especially if I can tweak a little more oomph out of the motor

 

[rubydist]

The first thing you will want to do is put some decent valve springs on those heads.

If you want a nice bump in performance without spending a lot of money on a cam, just pick up a used cam from a Mustang GT from the late 80s or early 90s. The Mustang guys typically want to upgrade so they have been available and cheap, and quite a bit better than the Explorer cam.

Those would be the first 2 things I would do.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I don't know what shift kit got put in, I have a friend that does transmissions and he ordered stuff, I just gave him money... it didn't get into the programming, all just parts and valve body mods (original valve body) or whatever... even just a stock replacement converter. I wouldn't change anything in that trans, quick predictable solid shifts, almost always does what I want it to do.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I don't know what shift kit got put in, I have a friend that does transmissions and he ordered stuff, I just gave him money... it didn't get into the programming, all just parts and valve body mods (original valve body) or whatever... even just a stock replacement converter. I wouldn't change anything in that trans, quick predictable solid shifts, almost always does what I want it to do.

I did a shift kit and some valve body work on the A4LD that is in the 92, just ran through what was posted on an explorer forum and it made a world of difference, I never want to drive an un-modded A4LD again. Haven’t done a whole lot of looking into the trans that came in the 302 Explorer, but a casual search says you can do just about anything you want to those. So that’s something I’ll have to figure out at some point. Thought maybe if you knew what was used that it might be a good starting point for me