1993 Splash in SC

[Curious Hound]

Re-installed, and bled the brakes today. Installed sway bar with all new bushings. Re-installed the front drive shaft.

I started installing the steering. But I can't find the instructions for the superlift forerunner steering kit. I'm not sure where the bracket is supposed to mount on the passenger side. I also noticed that the tie rods are different lengths. Will need to figure out which one goes to which side. It might be obvious once I get the link for. The pitman arm installed.

Also noticed torn boot on front drive shaft when I was bolting the shaft in. That should be an easy fix once I get a new one.

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[Curious Hound]

Superlift customer service came through for me. I emailed and in less than an hour had a reply containing a pdf copy of the instructions. The idler arm bracket is a pain to install. I will do a write up later with details in case anyone needs the info. I got the steering basically installed today. Still need to do a rough alignment so I can drive it to the alignment shop. For some reason, the camber appears to be way off on the passenger side even though I never touched the alignment cam thingy. I'm happy with the way the steering geometry looks so far.

I also got some steel to modify the Jeep bumper I had bought from Craigslist. Bumper is installed. But will come off one more time to put a hitch receiver tube on the bottom and do some rattle can painting.

Truck is now supporting itself. No more jackstands.

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[Curious Hound]

Oh, yeah. My steering box leak is worse than I thought. I cycled the steering back and forth (engine off) to make sure it was centered before installing the linkage. Afterwards, there wad oil all over the place. Yuck.

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[BlackBII]

Truck looks great! I bet those coils will settle a little and you'll have some clearance issues with the rear portion of the front fenders when the suspension cycles. Not really a big deal though.

How did you lift the rear? New Skyjacker leaves?

 

[Curious Hound]

Yes. The rear is Skyjacker leaf springs.

I'm down to the minor details now.

 

[jeremysdad]

Fluid loss is normal turning wheels with the engine off, pushes out the filler neck for some reason. Just a Ranger quirk.

 

[Curious Hound]

Thank you. I have not noticed that with this truck in the past. Doesn't mean it hasn't happened. I just never noticed it. I did not notice evidence of runoff around the neck.

However.... There has been a slow drip from it ever since I disassembled the front end for the lift project several months ago. I had trouble getting the pitman arm off. The puller didn't fit between the arm and the gearbox. I probably (wink wink) forced it to fit (in addition to grinding down a brand new puller) and may have stressed/damaged something during that process. The box may also be worn. I felt that it had too much play before my project started and had planned on adjusting it.

So, I went ahead and ordered a remanufactured steering gearbox today. That should put my mind at ease regarding steering reliability. Steering and brakes are not things I take lightly.

 

[jeremysdad]

I was skimming and thought you were talking about your pump, not the box. Box leaks are not normal with engine off, but pump is. First time mine did it freaked me out. Sorry for the confusion.

And it can push out the vent hole in the cap as well. Makes quite the mess.

 

[Curious Hound]

No problem. Let's face it. The two are very closely related.

 

[Curious Hound]

Roughed in the alignment and swapped out the Speedo drive gear today. Then I took it around the property for a few minutes. I need to do this test again with the sway bar disconnected. I still need more fender trimming, too. This was just a rough guess if how much to take off.

I washed all the dust and Bird doo-doo off also.

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[BlackBII]

Truck is looking good bro!

Definitely needs some fender trimming.

 

[Curious Hound]

I went for an alignment this morning and the guy showed me that my driver side lower ball joint was bad. [emoji20] Bought the parts and the tool and got both driver side joints replaced this afternoon. I'll try again on the alignment in the morning. Other side joints will get replaced in the next few weeks. Parts are on my toolbox.

Also have a whole new exhaust system to install. That should be fun.

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[swynx]

I went for an alignment this morning and the guy showed me that my driver side lower ball joint was bad. [emoji20] Bought the parts and the tool and got both driver side joints replaced this afternoon. I'll try again on the alignment in the morning. Other side joints will get replaced in the next few weeks. Parts are on my toolbox.

Also have a whole new exhaust system to install. That should be fun.

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i would just do it yourself with a tape measure. its really simple after the first time, if you can accurately read a tape measure and a magnetic degree finder, you will do fine. as well if you plan to keep the ttb, you might run into needing regular re-alignments, im sure you dont wanna pay 80$ a year for that. truck looks good tho!

 

[BlackBII]

i would just do it yourself with a tape measure. its really simple after the first time, if you can accurately read a tape measure and a magnetic degree finder, you will do fine. as well if you plan to keep the ttb, you might run into needing regular re-alignments, im sure you dont wanna pay 80$ a year for that. truck looks good tho!

This is no joke!

I've had to fix the alignment of every lifted RBV I've owned any time I took them for a rough wheeling trip. TTB is crazy.

My truck doesn't see a ton of pavement and I rotate my tires often so I don't really see a ton of tire wear, even doing my own alignments.

 

[Curious Hound]

I will probably do it myself next time. I was able to stay in the bay and watch him this morning. I actually had it within specs. He fine tuned it pretty quick.

Found a new problem this afternoon. I have a pretty bad bounce coming from a wheel. Pretty sure it's left rear. The wheels I bought had been beat up by a previous owner. I think that one might be out of true. Will do more checking next time I'm off work. It becomes pretty noticeable around 45mph and above. Not always consistent though. The tires are bead balanced and the other 3 seem good. Had the truck on the interstate for about 4 miles. It drove pretty good except for that back corner doing jumping jacks.

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