1993 Splash in SC

[Curious Hound]

It's supposed to be really rainy tomorrow. So as soon as I got home from work tonight, I finished the last spring bushings. Put the wheels back on, got it off the jackstands, installed the bumper and tightened all the suspension bolts after it was sitting on the tires. The bumper has been outside lately and already has a light coating of pollen on it. Spring is here in the Carolinas.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Got the second coat of paint on the bed today. Then went outside and did the other passenger side spring bushings. It was cold, but no wind. Really pretty pleasant to work out there. Now, it's time to give the dog a bath.

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I never think of it when I am somewhere that might have them but I have wondered if the little rubber brake bleeder caps would fit on zerks.

Between gravel and mud I think it might help their lifespan back there.

 

[Curious Hound]

I never think of it when I am somewhere that might have them but I have wondered if the little rubber brake bleeder caps would fit on zerks.

Between gravel and mud I think it might help their lifespan back there.

They might. I'm sure you can order zirc caps. I usually just leave excess grease on them. Then they're easy to wipe clean before the putting the grease gun coupler on next time.

 

[Curious Hound]

For any who are interested, here are my old bushings. They are a few years old, but had less than 10k miles of use. The rears had almost no rubber left. Even the fronts were worn to the point that the inner sleeves were very loose and could be pulled out easily by hand. The upper shackle bushings, not shown, were still on good condition.

Here is my general setup for bushing/sleeve removal. It worked well.

 

[Roert42]

How did it go pushing the new bushings in?



I've been wondering recently if pushing the old one out and the new one in at the same time would make it easier to get the new on in.

 

[Curious Hound]

The new bushings went in easier. They don't have metal outer sleeves. The smaller ones for the rear were pretty tight. The fronts were easier and went in by hand. Creative use of a large C-clamp helped install the tighter pieces.

Removing the old bushings required a lot of force. Using the new as mandrels to push the old out would destroy the new bushings and not budge the old. Most of what I have read on this site about doing this job has involved burning the rubber out, cutting slots in the old bushing sleeves and using a hydraulic press. Granted. Most of those were people in the rust belt. But that is why I wanted to document this procedure as an alternative. On the first rear bushing I did, I used a Sawzall and cut a slot in the outer sleeve. It still took roughly the same force to remove that sleeve as it did for any of the others on this truck. Every job will be a little bit different due to rust, different spring manufacturers, age, etc. I'm glad mine went this easily and smoothly.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

How mine came out...

 

[Uncle Gump]

The last set of spring bushings I did... required fire.

 

[Curious Hound]

Today, I installed the new front coils. Found some little issues, but put them in anyway. I need to revisit them next month. It picked the front end up a bit. To the pint that my alignment was way, way out (4" of Toe in). Did my best tape measure and string alignment and it seems pretty decent except for some positive camber on the passenger side. I only drove it down into the cul-de-sac beside my house and back. The license plate and tail lights were in the garage on the new bed. But it didn't wander and sreturn to center seems OK. Next weekend, I'll be driving it fully loaded on a short overlanding trip with a FB group I follow. That should help settle in the suspension for better evaluation.

I also took care of some wiring details and fixed my exhaust leak from the Windrock trip last fall.


Here's are some pictures for you.

 

[racsan]

Wow! I take it theres enough adjustment ti bring the 4” in to 1/16th? thats a lot of toe, a lot of spring there too, lol

 

[Curious Hound]

Wow! I take it theres enough adjustment ti bring the 4” in to 1/16th? thats a lot of toe, a lot of spring there too, lol

Yes. Plenty of adjustment for that. 1/16" might be fine for original sized tires. I had been runningv1/8" for my 35's but it felt sloppy. I ran it in to 1/4" today. I may back ot off a bit later.

Those springs are about 21" long uninstalled. According to the info someone posted just over a month ago, they are very close to the OEM spring rate for a Ranger. The Skyjacker coils that came with my lift kit were much, much softer and 2" shorter.

I got the camber on the driver side almost perfect by eyeball. The passenger sidevis still positive. Plus, I don't like the way the passenger side coil is sitting. I have some tweaking to do. Might even cut the top of the passenger side coil a bit shorter. The bottom of these springs do not fit theD35 spring seat hardware properly. I need to address that. But they're not going to come out of there. They have some compression at full droop. It took some time with a spring compressor to get them installed.

 

[racsan]

When the frame of my ‘93 was “tweaked” I didn’t have enough adjustment to bring mine in, had to heat & bend one side of the tie rod ends. I was suprized I could get the camber right. It never would return to center afterwards on its own, also had to remove the right rear lift block (just that one) for the back end to be level. The truck was never the same after that. still drove it another 2 or 3 years after that. Ive never played with big tires & alignment, just stock or slightly over.

 

[Curious Hound]

Something exciting happened after work tonight.

Teaser pictures;

 

[Uncle Gump]

That's a strange filter... but I like it.

 

[Curious Hound]

That's a strange filter... but I like it.

Not ready for the official unveiling. Tested lights and found out I seem to have a grounding problem back there. Strange since EVTM says I should be grounded through the harness all the way to a connection on the fender in the engine compartment. Plus, I added a ground connection from my lighting harness to the rear crossmember. I'll get the meter out tomorrow night and figure it out. Meanwhile, I can't get it out of my head so I can go to sleep tonight. The harness ground works at least as far as the splice for the license plate lights. They work. But I have no brake lights and the turn signals are grounding themselves through the third brake light above the cab. Dang it. Looks like a sleepless night tonight.