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

[bobbywalter]

That's one thing that sux about 2wd....no room... But making a truck handle well is not easy or for the faint of heart.



Heat build...surprised Richard was good with the exhaust on a driver and road race application...not sure about having a sub 3.5 single with such low trucks. Be interesting to see how it does.



Making the mounts to go up an inch or so and an inch forward ... Is cake...would take minutes. I am Glad you were willing to feedback and have it done with them to help out others... That and cutting and welding in sch40 pipe to truck manifolds gets it done... I would not have had the patience.


This thread for me is a sales pitch for using a panther setup....or find an aerostar..

 

[n2xlr8n]

Reason I said the holley manifold wont fit is, if you look at pics of that manifold installed it's below the heater hose inlet/outlet. Which is where the frame is on these trucks. You'll be cutting a lot of frame to make that work. Personally I'd find/build something that fits properly before going that route. I would flip almost any aftermarket header or use the forward facing turbo header for the passenger side.

I gotcha. Look carefully at the drawing, then at my engine location relative to the frame. Most of my clearance issues are on the top of the frame channel on the pass side, and the steering column on the other.

Where the Holley v-band exits is exactly where I have a lot of room:

 

[n2xlr8n]

It should aslo be noted that the sloppy mechanics "LS alternator low mount" works on the 1st gen trucks.

It's close to the driver's side frame rail, but it works (you'll have to remove the goofy steering box frame reinforcement as I did). I'll post pics when I have my block drilled and tapped. I'm not running A/C or power steering, so this mod saved me about $100.00 in aftermarket brackets.

 

[Yotaismygame]

I just bought the one from LSXinnovations which is only 3 hours from me for $70. Also picked up their manual belt tensioner while I was at it. I'm in the same boat with no PS pump or AC.

I'm not even sure if the stock truck mount will clear. I didn't have any mount on my motor when I got it. Only reason I went with the low mount.

 

[n2xlr8n]

I just bought the one from LSXinnovations which is only 3 hours from me for $70. Also picked up their manual belt tensioner while I was at it. I'm in the same boat with no PS pump or AC.

I'm not even sure if the stock truck mount will clear. I didn't have any mount on my motor when I got it. Only reason I went with the low mount.

It will. I just hate wasting that space in an already cramped engine bay.

What are you doing for tuning? I'm not inclined to start studying HP Tuners software at this point.

 

[Yotaismygame]

Holley Terminator X Max. Now If I had to do it again I would probably do HP tuners just to save some money. I'm completely setup for the Holley which has always been the plan but I talked with Tommy Wong who is probably the best LS tuner in Oregon. He want's me to run HP instead. I looked into it and with the parts I already have installed it's not much cheaper. If I would have gone with a MAF, cable TB and didn't already purchase/install sensors for the Holley I would. The Terminator though sure seems easy to use/setup and lot of people say very safe. I've already been messing with their software and a tune.

 

[n2xlr8n]

The Terminator X is a nice system!
I'm commited to HPT at this point. I watched a few ChopperDoc videos and it's reasonably intuitive.
The entire package was less than $700, including credits, so I'm in for less than half of my MS Pro system, and I can reuse my WBO2 and gauge setup.

I don't know of any (positively) reputable LS tuners around here, so I'll do the bulk of it myself and then get it to my friend's load cell dyno.

Waiting on parts (pistons, manifolds, sensors, converter) and machine work (are you listening, Terry Wilkes? ) at this point- once those things happen, it's onto assembly and installation. I prefer building in the winter, so that's likely when the bulk of it will be completed.

 

[Yotaismygame]

Eventually I want to get one of the Holley dashes too. Another reason I'm not using HPT is because I would need to buy a wideband, boost controller, o2 sensor, corvette DBW gas pedal and control box. Plus this gen4 throttle body complicates it a bit.

 

[Yotaismygame]

Any updates @n2xlr8n ??

 

[n2xlr8n]

Any updates @n2xlr8n ??

Thanks for asking. A few-

HPTuners was kind enough to refund my money after I discovered that the later model flex fuel PCMs will not easily (or cheaply) run the 3 bar, speed density OS needed....so I went with the Terminator X Max.

The Holley turbo manifolds were a slam dunk- I had to remove about 1.250" out of the pass side frame rail (top C leg). They fit very nicely and are good quality. The drivers side installed without any mods, though I'm changing the column, anyway.


I wound up going with a drag race steering column and 5 bolt quick disconnect. It's on the way, so I'll post pics when it's done.
Upside is, between moving the radiator, changing the column and going to a k-member, I bet I've saved 75-80lbs off the nose of the truck, not to mention the engine is 0.750" farther back. That will help it hook, for sure.

 

[Yotaismygame]

Thanks for asking. A few-

HPTuners was kind enough to refund my money after I discovered that the later model flex fuel PCMs will not easily (or cheaply) run the 3 bar, speed density OS needed....so I went with the Terminator X Max.

The Holley turbo manifolds were a slam dunk- I had to remove about 1.250" out of the pass side frame rail (top C leg). They fit very nicely and are good quality. The drivers side installed without any mods, though I'm changing the column, anyway.

I wound up going with a drag race steering column and 5 bolt quick disconnect. It's on the way, so I'll post pics when it's done.
Upside is, between moving the radiator, changing the column and going to a k-member, I bet I've saved 75-80lbs off the nose of the truck, not to mention the engine is 0.750" farther back. That will help it hook, for sure.

Well shoot that all sounds great. I just now saw the pics. Manifolds fit great, although it would have put the turbo too far forward for me unless I did some kind of 180 turn with a 90 going up. where do you plan to place the turbo? What front spring weight did you go with? I'm just about done with mock up for my 3-link panhard rear suspension. After that I won't have anymore big tasks left. Just several small things to do before she runs.

 

[ryan]

I just bought the one from LSXinnovations which is only 3 hours from me for $70. Also picked up their manual belt tensioner while I was at it. I'm in the same boat with no PS pump or AC.

I'm not even sure if the stock truck mount will clear. I didn't have any mount on my motor when I got it. Only reason I went with the low mount.

Mine is a custom mount that integrates the manual belt tensioner as well.

 

[n2xlr8n]

10/24 update:

For those unfortunate few that use a AJE setup like @Yotaismygame and I- (and specifically to a 1st gen!!). I think I solved the "front shock-tower-flex-and-move-your-steering-shaft-issue:



The motor plate solves many other issues, like where to mount stuff, removing the crappy woller-the-hole-out LS mounts so I have additional room for my exhaust (and WG dump routing options). I'll be using a Mezeire remote WP for the extra cooling it provides, (and room) as well. Pics when I get it completed.

Steering is done. I used the ebay special "race only" steering column from fleabay and fabricated my shaft:



Until next time.

 

[n2xlr8n]

One again, we find ourselves with a plasma cutter and grinder in hand. The TBSS intake manifold fits with the engine set back 0.750" inches, but not comfortably:

Welding in the motor plate brackets, finalizing and welding the steering u-joint components and starting hot side turbo piping this weekend.

Next week, I start the tedious part: wiring in the Racewire chassis, engine and accessory harness.

I'll be back.

 

[n2xlr8n]

Racewire system not in yet, so I'm continuing on the cooling system, intercooler mounting and turbo placement.

The Isuzu "large NPR" intercooler fits like a glove in this truck, with room to spare (in front of the core support as pictured only if one modifies the support). I had considered doing A-W, but I had this I/C on hand and I'm not making a bluezillion HP- and I may go Ethanol at some point, anyway. It's not perfectly square, but I need more hardware before it finds its permanent mounting.

The TBSS intake, fuel rails and TB fit well. One can definitely see the benefit of moving everything to the bed, here- even if you are not a drag racer; I have a ton of room (14" from side to side) for the hot / cold side piping, WG dump and turbo now.

The rear-mount cooling system uses a remote 55 gpm Mezeire, 31 x 19 aluminum radiator with 3000 cfm fans, 1.5" copper tubing (type L) front to rear, and about 6' of 12AN (2' hoses for bottom WP flanges, top WP flanges and to water manifold Ys (qty 3)).

Rear mounted radiator. I haven't decided how low/high to adjust it. I'll let the engine temp dictate that detail:


Anyway, another 10-12 hours of work toward my goal of springtime firing, tuning and driving. Till next time!