Building my truck. Would like some help/comments.

[thoughtcriminal]

well, this weekend I get my baby (and a parts truck with it)
She is a 1994 B4000 4x4. There are 187k miles on it, but it runs glass smooth. The manual transmission was just rebuilt.

Here is what I plan on

Short term (this summer)
change interior and bed (torn/dirty and rusted, respectively) [in progress]
1/2 ton springs at all corners (f150 coils, chevy 1500 leaves). this will give me about 3-3.5 inches of lift from what I have seen.
paint
custom bumpers (if I get to it)
31-33 inch tires

Next summer
rollcage
full size axles front and rear (d44/d50 ttb in front, hopefully a sterling 10.25 or d60 in the back)
trussing and armoring axles
reinforce frame
d44 ttb knuckle swap
coilovers in front (hopefully)
35-38 inch tires

Also, when this engine goes, I plan to put in a newer 4.0 SOHC and bolt on an eaton M90 supercharger (or possibly NOS, or a bigger engine.... something faster)


I will keep it updated as I go, let you all watch as is grows.
thanks in advance for any advice, suggestions, etc.
thoughtcriminal

update july 24, 2008
pics!!!
my baby

the wreck

the skoal can collection from the truck

the person who formerly owned the truck took good care of the engine, but thats about it.
the box is heavily rusted and the interior is covered in tobacco spit. I am swapping both from the wreck.

so far I have gutted the interior of my truck. I don't have pics because my phone had a bad battery at the time. will take pics as I gut the wreck and put the new interior in

 

[JohnnyU]

You're on the right track, sort of....

1)The Chevy 63" leaves may give you up to 3" of lift. You have to move the front spring hanger forward approximately 6". You will not be able to align said truck if you don't use drop brackets for the TTB beams. I hat f-150 coils for the sole reason being that they are too stiff for ant type of gain. If you went with a 4" XJ Coil (maybe) you might get yourself about 2.5-3" of lift, but actually get some motion out of the front end. Yes, even with the stock radius arms. For that much lift, you'll probably also need brake lines.

2) There are no torsion bars on your truck. The fact that you thought there were and are going to be attempting suspension modification frightens me.

3) For your application, the 8.8 from a newer Ranger Fx4 LII would be a direct bolt in, and have disk brakes. The Explorer 8.8 will need shock tabs added and spring perches welded on the top of the axle since the Explorers are Spring-under axle, as opposed to your Ranger being spring-over axle.

...it runs glass smooth....
....change head gasket (leaks)....

This makes me laugh. The truck runs great, except for the leaking head gasket....

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

3) For your application, the 8.8 from a newer Ranger Fx4 LII would be a direct bolt in, and have disk brakes. The Explorer 8.8 will need shock tabs added and spring perches welded on the top of the axle since the Explorers are Spring-under axle, as opposed to your Ranger being spring-over axle.

As far as I know, Ranger's only have drum brakes. The only RBV to have disc rear brakes is the '95+ Explorer.

 

[thoughtcriminal]

2) There are no torsion bars on your truck. The fact that you thought there were and are going to be attempting suspension modification frightens me.


This makes me laugh. The truck runs great, except for the leaking head gasket....

thanks for pointing out the torsion bars. did it on my dads chevy (IFS I know) and saw it in the tech library, didn't even think about the fact that the truck in the article was a 98 and thus does not have ttb.

thanks for pointing out the brake lines.

And yeah it does sound silly, but it makes sense in my mind.
There is a tiny oil leak. looking carefully, the gasket does not appear damaged. Its really just preventive maintinence/OCD.

 

[JohnnyU]

As far as I know, Ranger's only have drum brakes. The only RBV to have disc rear brakes is the '95+ Explorer.

I stand corrected. Rangers aren't advanced enough to get good brakes yet apparently. (I was certain that I had read that in more than one place.)

At any rate, I'll amend what I said before:

3) For your application, the 8.8 from a newer Ranger Fx4 LII would be a direct bolt in, and have 10" drums and a Torsen-style limited-slip. The Explorer 8.8 will need shock tabs added and spring perches welded on the top of the axle since the Explorers are Spring-under axle, as opposed to your Ranger being spring-over axle.

thanks for pointing out the torsion bars. did it on my dads chevy (IFS I know) and saw it in the tech library, didn't even think about the fact that the truck in the article was a 98 and thus does not have ttb.

thanks for pointing out the brake lines.

And yeah it does sound silly, but it makes sense in my mind.
There is a tiny oil leak. looking carefully, the gasket does not appear damaged. Its really just preventive maintinence/OCD.

My 91 Chevy used to have IFS as well.

Check the compression in each cylinder, perform a pressure leak test on the cooling system and check your valve cover gaskets before condemning your head gaskets. I'm willing to bet they aren't in need of replacement.

 

[thoughtcriminal]

Johnny, you mentioned F150 coils being too stiff. What application are you saying they would be too stiff for?

I would think I would want stiff coils for what this truck will be doing
I am building for load handling ability and offroad speed.
Won't softer coils bottom out if I catch air?

I don't mind a stiff ride and don't plan on doing much rock crawling (which I would assume would be where flex would be wanted the most)
Please correct me if I'm wrong, I know I'm not the most knowledgeable on all this

 

[JohnnyU]

I think they are too stiff even for the F-150's. If you want to be running over rough terrain at high speed, you might want to look at coil-overs and a set of bypass shocks. Hydraulic bump stops would also be a good investment.

The goal if the suspension is to negotiate changing terrain. A properly selected coil (Read Will's tech article on this) will help the suspension perform as it should. Stiff springs would not allow much motion, they wouldn't help "absorb" any uneven terrain or bumps.

 

[thoughtcriminal]

I would love to have coilovers, but the simple fact is I cannot afford such a setup.

Where can I find this article by will?

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but the idea I'm getting from all this is that a softer, taller spring is better for my application than a stiffer, shorter coil that provides the same lift.

But what happens when you hit the ground hard? Would a progressive coil provide the best of both worlds perhaps?

 

[thoughtcriminal]

updated with pics!!

 

[86ford]

dude just weld it in the rear and go wheeling!

86

 

[c_note]

this is just me, but for ease, id go with the fx4 lvl II 8.8. it swaps right in and it comes with the torsen l/s which is so much better than the worn out trac loc in the explorer 8.8. the disc brakes wont make that much difference anyway.

for coils, see if you can find a dual rate coil somewhere. i think jamesduff sells them.


oh, and you misspelled skoal when there was a picture below. just thought id mess with u.

 

[thoughtcriminal]

changed my mind on the axles. gonna go full size.

not going to weld the rear as this will be similar to a prerunner (but 4x4) and has to remain driveable on the highway

and I fixed the spelling of skoal.
for right now, I am going to be putting a cheap set of f150 coils in it. I will be replacing them with coilovers or some good aftermarket coils next summer.

also, this project may be put on hold for a bit. I may not get to lifting it over the summer, but plan to do it at some point this year. life just suddenly got a lot more busy yesterday *shrugs*