PlumCrazy's Build

[PlumCrazy]

Whats the suspension situation on your v8 truck? Thats how I'd like to see my '96 sitting.. mabey slightly higher..

Dream beams with Splash coils (probably 250k on the coils lol). Rear is sprung under with 250k+ mile Explorer leaves.

The 5.0 dropped the front 3/4” or so from where it sat with the 2.3, I think there are some older photos of it before the swap in this thread somewhere.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Snagged a some 2.3T stuff a few weeks ago. Two complete long blocks w/ turbo , three 2.3T short blocls and heads, freshly built stock turbo and manifold and a bunch more junk.
Plan is to drop one of the long blocks in my 88 SuperCab and toss a PIMPx at it.

Already has a roller cam and adjustable cam pulley (square tooth unfortunately)

Also started stripping the god awful black of off the 17s. They took the methylene-chloride out of aircraft stripper and it sucks now.lol Takes 10x longer but it does work.

Put the 15s back on in the meantime

Also...Got into another hobby that I didn't need to have.

Had weird pink/orange sky for like 15min right before a tornado warning....so of course I went outside and took pictures. Was super orange at first, then faded to pink before just blowing past.

 

[Jim Oaks]

@PlumCrazy I dig the hotrod looking tractor!

 

[JoshT]

I agree with Jim.

Those wheels look good with the black stripped off. They look good in black too, but I'm thinking that the lighter color will look better on your truck.

Want to sell one of those "Fuel Injection Turbo" valve covers? Want to do a turbo build in the 85 when I start working on it. Would love to find one of those style valve covers for it.

 

[PlumCrazy]

I agree with Jim.

Those wheels look good with the black stripped off. They look good in black too, but I'm thinking that the lighter color will look better on your truck.

Want to sell one of those "Fuel Injection Turbo" valve covers? Want to do a turbo build in the 85 when I start working on it. Would love to find one of those style valve covers for it.

@JoshT I despise black wheels personally, but these wheels are discontinued and black ones were they only ones I could get my hands on.

$125 Shipped for a turbo valve cover

 

[PlumCrazy]

@PlumCrazy I dig the hotrod looking tractor!

Thanks, built it a few years ago now. Took it to a few local shows, but haven't really found a good use for it yet lol

 

[JoshT]

@JoshT I despise black wheels personally, but these wheels are discontinued and black ones were they only ones I could get my hands on.

$125 Shipped for a turbo valve cover

Black wheels have a place. Black steelies were the perfect choice for my F-100 for now. That said, once I start fixing it up and cleaning up the bright work, something shiny will definitely be in order.

If the one you've done is any sign, I do think that those wheels with the paint stripped will be an excellent match for your light colored truck.

Awesome! Price sounds good to me. I'll PM you later for more info on paying and shipping. It'll probably be a bit before I can start working on it, but I'm hoping that truck will end up similar to your first gen except regular cab long bed. Maybe a little closer to Perry's height though.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Finally finished stripping and polishing the 17's.

Also got the 4x4 Ranger out for memorial day weekend. Road hard for two days until I side walled a tire. Sucks because the tire still had damn near full tread.

Right off the trailer I had some noise in the front axle....figured it was a CV joint and sent it. It never caused an issue, just clicked when turning in 4x4.
Pulled the cover for the first time in nearly 10 years to find this. Bolts backed out of the locker, ate up the bearing cap and went through the ring/pinion.

Talked with OX on the phone a bit and found that it was common issue on the original design Dana lockers. They have since upped the bolt size and added a retaining ring to keep the bolts in.
I can get all the parts to repair/update my current unit for less than 1/4 cost of a new one at least. I can't complain, this D44 has seen some D60 level abuse for years.

So...gears and locker parts ordered. Just need to find another 38.5x14.5-15 TSL SX and Ill be ready for Labor Day.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Got the 4x4 back together finally.... Ended up doing ball joints, front brake pads, ring and pinion, locker housing, repacked the wheel bearings and CVs and picked up a set of well used 38.5s to get the truck back in the woods for now. Haven't really serviced anything in the front or rear axle in like 8 years, so it was due.

New locker housing has bigger bolts and a retaining ring.

Setup gears. Pattern was good enough for this thing.

Pulled the 8.8 apart for a once over. No issues found.

Been a long time since I had to work on this thing. haha

Forgot how much T hate mounting 32 bolt bead locks, but the truck is finally back on matching shoes again.

The Little Guy got new links and high steer.....still working on getting a bed designed and printed for it.

My 88 2.3 truck decided it didn't like having fresh oil. Changed the oil and drove about 2 miles when the distributor/oil pump gears decides to give up the ghost. Luckily I had everything in stock and had it back up an running after an hour or two. Did the same thing shortly after i put this short block in, but only replaced the distributor gear. I probably should have looked closer at the drive gear back then.

And....picked up a Ford body for dirt cheap that just happened to be perfect fit on the go cart I put together for my nephew. Just need to make some mounts.

The tow rig has been doing tow rig things.
Everything from logging to moving a machine shop.

And the 5.0 Ranger has officially passed 12k miles since the swap. No swap related issues to date. Been racking up miles since it has the coldest AC in the fleet.