94 b4000 axle swap/offroad build

[escort_gts]

Haha. I like the Ford tailgate on a Mazda truck.

 

[dangerranger83]

How did I not notice the Ford tailgate sooner.......

 

[kroussinoffroad]

right after i bought the truck i traded mine to my brother.

he had bought my 2wd 302 ranger and the gate was kinda banged up. mine on the other hand "WAS" mint. the ford one has a huge bow in it and is scratched and dented all over the place. but ow well ITS A TRUCK

 

[kroussinoffroad]

welp, did some PM on the truck this weekend that turned into more than just PM work.

started doing a complete tuneup:air filter,fuel filter,plugs, wires, and an oil change.

while under the truck draining the oil and replacing the fuel filter i found my front/front u-joint smoked. so i called in to have one delivered. moved further back doing my typical nut-bolt check and found 1bolt missing out of my trans x-member (replaced it) found 1 bolt loose further back on the trans x-member (tightened it) checked the rear shaft and there was a TON of play in it. the slip yoke was TOAST. so I called in for new rear shaft parts to rebuild a spare shaft i have to throw into the truck, rear swap/refresh was simple. when i went to swap the front/front joint I found the slip=yoke was cracked as well. luckly i have several spare front's and was able to just swap the front slipyoke.

I managed to get everything done except the front bushings still need to be drilled out and installed,I still need to change the plugs and wires, and still need to finish/redesign the rear tire carrier. then i am ready to be back at it. altho i would still like to take about 25 feet of cable off my winch since it's alot more dificult to keep an eye on how the cable is spooling onto the winch. and i would reather have to replace the cable if it gets kinked than have to replace the whole winch cuz it bunchs up and breaks the crossbar(s).

 

[dangerranger83]

One major thing that I need to do is get axle shafts for my D30...hate to pay the price for new ones but may just go to my JY and look for a set that may work to get me home if I snap a CV shaft/joint. My todo list just keeps getting bigger...and that is just to have the min. amount of fun with it.

I weekly do a front to back check on my truck.

 

[escort_gts]

Yeah same here, I am looking over all the bolts and whatnot to make sure nothing comes loose.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

have to take some testing tomorow to try and get a job at the mine here then tie up some loose ends on the truck and then WHEELIN SATURDAY!!!!

 

[dangerranger83]

Theres a mine up there?

 

[escort_gts]

Awesome, hope everything goes good with the job.
Might be doing some wheeling today or tomorrow also. Got to see how it will do before I take the trip to Bundy Hill

 

[kroussinoffroad]

there are 2 mines right now and about to be a third.
Think the 5 hours of tests went pretty good.

as for wheelin 4 trucks went out and 2 trucks drove home 2 trucks limped home. my truck did awsome. brothers k-5 blazer did allright (altho not impressed with the wrangler oz's.)buddy's step side chev did allright until the spiders in the front axle went kaput. and the brother in laws 4.0 B2 was doin as good as the mall terrain's would let it do until the lil 7.5 gave up on life as an axle and passed on to a pop corn machine.
overall spent 8 hours in the woods covered a ton of trails and had an awsome time.

will post some pics and vids once they are uploaded

 

[kroussinoffroad]

 

[Bennybooster]

looks like a really fun time

 

[escort_gts]

^ I agree

 

[4.0B2]

wwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiitttttttt???

that awesome b2? sas'ed and all... still had the 7.5???

 

[dangerranger83]

Im jealous......my truck saw nothing but street and highway use this weekend. I need to get her offroad sometime. Good thing though is it does great driving highway speeds and does great on mileage so traveling shouldn't be a problem for it.