Another escape

[bobbywalter]

needs more bronco axle.....

 

[sgtsandman]

needs more bronco axle.....

Sport, Bronco II, new Bronco, or old Bronco?

 

[bobbywalter]

more bronco

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You wanna talk about blah to drive? Get behind the wheel of a GMC Acadia.. good lord... eating a loaf of white bread dipped in water has more flavor&flair than one of those sad things.

You are seriously debating with a 2.9 guy about blandness?

 

[rusty ol ranger]

You are seriously debating with a 2.9 guy about blandness?

I hate when i spend 2 hours trying to think of a witty comeback to a post and come back with an empty tank.

85- 1

Rusty-0

 

[racsan]

Suspected the thermostat needed replaced, confirmed it this morning when I hooked my scan tool & took a 7 mile drive. would get up to 163 tops, turn heat on high temp would drop to 155. Easy fix, pricey part.

 

[racsan]

Thermostat came today, they sure put it in a weird spot, down low on the front of the engine block, near the a/c compressor. Sealed system (no cap on radiator) Not sure how to keep from getting a air pocket in the system. Guess its time for some youtube research. Was a warmer day today, heat was adequate. If theres one gripe I have with the escape chassis, its the turning radius. My longbed ranger makes a tighter turn. youd think something with this short of a wheelbase would turn on a dime. Maybe its the front-drive thing. Though the equinox turns pretty tight. For having 2.93 differential gears its pretty peppy, especially in 1st & 2nd gear. 55mph in o/d is only 1600 rpm. Push the button on the shifter that gives you engine braking & cancels overdrive its about 2100 rpm. The place where you put the tool in to lower the spare is rusted bad, going to have to cut the spare out from the bottom, put it in the back like Ive done with the other escape.

 

[bobbywalter]

thats bronco enough for me....

 

[racsan]

Got the spare out from underneath yesterday, easy-peasy with a angle grinder fitted with a cut off wheel. Tire was only 10 pounds low on air too, normally Id toss it in favor of a normal spare but this holds air & takes up less space so I will keep it, the one from the other escape wont hold air so It does have a full size tire in the back. Thumped on the back fender edges to see what rust would fall out, its worse on drivers side. wish they made fender flares that could cover it. Its not too bad underneath depite spending its life in minnesota, illinois & michigan before coming to live in ohio. Going to put a hitch on it & ventvisors, fabricate a bracket to hold the spare upright in the back & see how bad my body shop skills are on those rear wheel well openings. Its been awhile.
Tires on it now are “dexter”. I thought that was a trailer accessory brand? turns out its a cheap tire available at china-mart. I think I will put those on the other escape for summer & run the steel wheels with the coopers I bought last year. If it wasnt for them being a positive offset wheel Id put some ranger rims on, the wheel bearings wouldn’t like that though, plus im not sure 15’s would clear the front brakes.

 

[racsan]

somewhere in the gen 2 escape production the rear hatch release was moved from above the license plate to below near the bumper. My ‘09 is a little difficult to open because the latch/pull is up so high. So- I put a handle to pull with at the bottom of the back hatch. It’s actually a handle from the back of a old boat. works well.

 

[racsan]

below the carpet in the back is a plastic filler panel. Took it out so I can run all-thread through the body to the trailer hitch, will have heavy flat iron inside as a “washer”, maybe channel iron. Have to see what material I have out at the farm to work with. Might see how the temporary spare fits in there instead of mounting it upright in the back. If I could make a rear outside carrier I would. Thought about a full size van cover for the tire then mount the licence plate there but I know the back hatch wouldnt stay up then.

 

[racsan]

Removed the rest of the rear interior today, found a lot of dirt when I took out that plastic filler plate, was wondering if maybe there was some rust through I couldnt see, only 1 sure way to know. pulled the seats too. going to feel light in the butt on the drive to work tomorrow. Has that panel truck look to it now. 5ft from front seat back to rear gate. Have a real short bed now.

 

[racsan]

got the hitch on & the reinforcing pieces. Still need to put the wiring harness on. Might as well order some new rear shocks before I put the plastic interior panels back in. They dont make coilovers as far as I can tell, not much room between the shock body & tire anyhow. Hopefully the stock rear suspension is enough. If I have/need to I will just remove the whole stock rear suspension in favor of a trailer axle with leaf springs. Or put in awd components. Im not a fan of hitches that fasten to a unibody with 1/2 x 2 reinforcement “plates” inside the unibody channel , clamping the hitch to sheet metal. So I decided to run through bolts into the body, 2” channel iron on the inside, 1/2” bolts in all places. The angle iron at the back of the body was a 12”long, 2”x3” ,1/4” thick. I cut it in half & then used them at the back where the hitch bolted to the side of the unibody channel. Maybe its all overkill, its only a 2.5 I-4. But I wont ever have to worry about how secure this hitch is.

 

[racsan]

Got the trailer wiring harness put in. Its odd how now they have a 12V + hot wire to run front to back. Took a couple hours to get it all done. Thought my rear shocks would be here by now so I could get the interior plastic all back in place. Not sure if I want to put the back seats back in it or just fit a sheet of plywood to go in the back. If the yard wasn’t so wet Id go hook up the flatbed & try out towing with the 4cyl.

 

[racsan]

fixed the hole on the drivers side rear qtr panel, not a great job but looks better than the hole did.