4x4 conversion?

[jaymegriffiths]

Sorry meant to say If the truck is insured for collision and subsequently wrecked OR involved in a fatal accident.

Frankly If I met a cop so officious that he insisted on checking my
frame number that number matching or not would be the least of
my legal concerns because I'd probably try (and likely suceed) in
unscrewing the top of his head to shake the shit out of it.

And there's the ever so important point that anyone who cares about
a 20year old trucks numbers matching
would eat that shit out of their own head and ask for seconds.

The jist of my post is that if it isn't specifically prohibited it's legal.

However if you live in california you live under the "German" system
where anything not specifically permitted is "Verbotten, verbotten! VERBOTTEN!!!
you vill be SHOTT!

IF you live in california I have one bit of advice: MOVE.

when I first got my Sirius radio and discovered it was active
Did I call Serius, give them the serial number of the unit and asked why it was still active?

HELL NO!

The principle is "let sleeping dogs lie"

AD

haha i just laughed pretty hard despite having a shitty day. im gonna think about that one, cause in any collision my truck would be T/Led as its 20 years old. ill chack local laws but no california is one place i wouldn't be caught dead living. no, USA is a place. i love canada, and goin to the docter for a surgery and saying ill pay with my health card LOL. but yes. where i live they are fairly niave i think, and no way a frame swap is gonna get caught unless i get safety checked. but my truck just passed a safety less than a year ago, so i probably wont have to worry or a while. I just need to find 5 or 6 willing and able guys to help. i think i gotter covered. just curious is reusing body mounts a nono? they are in mint shape, i dunno if this is just a bad idea?
also, its gonna be mildly mischevious when i have to explain to sgi, the insurance here, that i've 4x4 converted my truck...

 

[AllanD]

Insured for collision and totaled.

Liability only? nobody will care.

Nobody's going to be looking for the frame numbers during a safety inspection.

They are looking for obvious bends and structual rust.

Unless someone takes a sandblaster to your frame the numbers won't be legible.

And if you make it a point to undercoat the frame.... NOBODY is going to scrape off your undercoating to look.

If someone tried that on my truck they'd need surgery to remove the
paint scraper from where I'd put it.

But my numbers match... I converted to 4x4 by swapping the crossmember.

I COULD have swapped frames, I HAVE a gen2 supercab 4x4 frame.
The reason I swapped crossmembers was that I had already done
modifications to the back of my frame to mount my behind the axle
fuel tank that I didn't want to have to duplicate....

AD

 

[jaymegriffiths]

Insured for collision and totaled.

Liability only? nobody will care.

Nobody's going to be looking for the frame numbers during a safety inspection.

They are looking for obvious bends and structual rust.

Unless someone takes a sandblaster to your frame the numbers won't be legible.

And if you make it a point to undercoat the frame.... NOBODY is going to scrape off your undercoating to look.

If someone tried that on my truck they'd need surgery to remove the
paint scraper from where I'd put it.

But my numbers match... I converted to 4x4 by swapping the crossmember.

I COULD have swapped frames, I HAVE a gen2 supercab 4x4 frame.
The reason I swapped crossmembers was that I had already done
modifications to the back of my frame to mount my behind the axle
fuel tank that I didn't want to have to duplicate....

AD

your right i could simply undercoat the frame, its relatively rust free from what i can see! but i gotter home today paid 140 bucks, but it does run like a POS. and the tranny whines. i dunnoo if i just wasted 140 bucks or not...

 

[bullitproofranger]

Hi don't mean to thread jack, but AllanD I have 90' 2wd TTB susp. ranger and I want a 4wd conversion, and I wondered is all you have to do for a conversion is take out the 2wd crossmember swap in the 4wd one, put in a dana 28 or 35 and 4wd tranny & transfer case?

 

[Captain Ledd]

...all you have to do for a conversion is take out the 2wd crossmember swap in the 4wd one, put in a dana 28 or 35 and 4wd tranny & transfer case?

Need a rear driveshaft too. But yes, that's basically it. If you go with an electric T-case you'll have to deal with some extra wires, even on a manual if you want the 4x4 related lights to work, but much less wires.

 

[bullitproofranger]

Thanks, I do plan on going with a manual transfer case and go from a 2.3 to a 4.0. Just one more question, would it be safe to bolt in the 4x4 crossmember in place of the 2wd crossmember with grade 8 or even grade 10 bolts?

 

[Captain Ledd]

Thanks, I do plan on going with a manual transfer case and go from a 2.3 to a 4.0. Just one more question, would it be safe to bolt in the 4x4 crossmember in place of the 2wd crossmember with grade 8 or even grade 10 bolts?

Some will argue Grade 5 is fine, personally I use grade 8 alot, they're only a little more expensive, and we're still talking cents. Grade 8 should be fine. If you're nervous drill out the holes just a tiny bit and fit the next larger size bolt, but I highly, highly, doubt you'd even have to do that, grade 8 is fairly strong.

So.. Grade 8, some kind of locking mechanism, either uber thread lock, jam nuts, or hardened nylon locking nuts. I like to use hardened washers as well personally, and torque 'em down tight. You'll be fine.

 

[jaymegriffiths]

Hi don't mean to thread jack, but AllanD I have 90' 2wd TTB susp. ranger and I want a 4wd conversion, and I wondered is all you have to do for a conversion is take out the 2wd crossmember swap in the 4wd one, put in a dana 28 or 35 and 4wd tranny & transfer case?

haha no biggy dude this threads finito anyways. truck is gettin safetyied and 4 liter swapped. i noticed you said its gettin 4 liter swapped as well. what are you using for a doner?

 

[bullitproofranger]

Well to tell you the truth I haven't got a doner vehicle yet, but plan on going to a u-pull it junk yard and getting a 4.0 out of a explorer and pull a 4.0 4x4 drivetrain, and getting a 4x4 crossmember out an early ranger and swaping it in mine. And I am going to be honest my ranger Is my first vehicle and Im sixteen trying to find a job, so It maybe just a little bit before I can get started.

 

[AllanD]

Thanks, I do plan on going with a manual transfer case and go from a 2.3 to a 4.0. Just one more question, would it be safe to bolt in the 4x4 crossmember in place of the 2wd crossmember with grade 8 or even grade 10 bolts?

Bolts work great to get everything clamped together but welding really is required.

The bolts there are aren't in the right places to resist undesired movement under load and there's simply no way to ADD bolts where they'd be needed.

BESIDES only bolted together is going to creak and groan over
every penny someone drops in the road.

AD

 

[jaymegriffiths]

Bolts work great to get everything clamped together but welding really is required.

The bolts there are aren't in the right places to resist undesired movement under load and there's simply no way to ADD bolts where they'd be needed.

BESIDES only bolted together is going to creak and groan over
every penny someone drops in the road.

AD

while your here can you explain to me why using a 96 aerostar 4 liter wouldn't work in a ranger? t case problems or mostly cause its obd 2?

 

[AllanD]

There are NO exsisting driveshafts that can be used to mate that T-case to
ranger/explorer axles, so driveshafts are going to be a custom made item.

OBD2 is "difficult", but not impossible.

It's just not what I would have chosen.

THE place for extreme difficulty? the emissions system, particularly
the Vapor recovery system.

AD

 

[jaymegriffiths]

There are NO exsisting driveshafts that can be used to mate that T-case to
ranger/explorer axles, so driveshafts are going to be a custom made item.

OBD2 is "difficult", but not impossible.

It's just not what I would have chosen.

THE place for extreme difficulty? the emissions system, particularly
the Vapor recovery system.

AD

well since i've never heard of a vapor recovery system i guess that solves that problem. Maybe ill wait, changin the clutch in my 2wd tonight and tomorrow. gonna be hard to find a machine shop who will resurface my flywheel on a weekend! ugh

 

[fastpakr]

Usually it's only a few dollars more to get a machined flywheel from a parts store than to take your own in and have it done (around here, perhaps $25 for the machine work or $40 for a replacement flywheel). Might be worth it in your case if that's your only option to get the truck up and running over the weekend.

 

[jaymegriffiths]

Usually it's only a few dollars more to get a machined flywheel from a parts store than to take your own in and have it done (around here, perhaps $25 for the machine work or $40 for a replacement flywheel). Might be worth it in your case if that's your only option to get the truck up and running over the weekend.

Since its pouring rain here this job will span into the week. i have a friend who works at a machine shop who will do it for about 25 bucks, otherwise a machine shop charges about $75 here. although my dad has a discount at a machine shop/parts place here and its only $50 for me. Either way ill check into that machined flywheel thing.