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Crawlin's Build Thread


Any more progress?
 
Been working on a belly skid and trans mount, and sourcing the right parts to complete my steering and brake setup.
 
Picked up a different master cylinder, 1.25" bore from a 97 F250, bolts right up to the stock ranger booster.
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The fittings are different thread size and on the opposite side on the ranger MC so I had to cut, swap fittings, flare and bend the lines to fit. That sensor apparently comes on models with cruise control, it was once recalled because it was causing electrical fires. It wont be wired to anything under the hood of my ranger though. The ranger harness just plugs straight into the res. If it leaks around the sensor Ill remove it and toss in a plug, but for now Im going to ignore it. The fact that the MC looks nearly brand new makes me think it may have been replaced due to the same recall. I was ready to buy a remanned one when I ran across this one at the yard. I also found extended lines for the KP60, I used part of the tech library two piece lines and oem '86 F350 lines to the calipers.

Dropped the rear an inch or two and it sits level with the front, nice and low... fixed the shackle angle, and removed the overloads from the 63" springs and replaced the center pins. They flex like crazy, going to go ahead and add an anti-wrap bar to my list of things to do. Reused and relocated the stock bump stops out back, capped the frame rails up front, and gusseted the leaf hangers.




Then I looked into steering, I wanted to use a superduty arm (2000 (99-04?) F250 superduty) For others looking at doing a SAS, this arm is about 8 inches long and nearly flat with little or no drop. The superduty arm is 6 5/8th inches from center of hole to center of hole. There are 32 and 36 spline versions with the 32 spline version being what I need to fit the ranger style box. the part number is F81Z-3590-BA and thought I might not have to move the stock steering gear box but there just wasnt room. I would have to move the stock box forward a lot (5-6") to clear everthing which would then cause interference with the lower rad hose, and other issues.

Ill be running a FJ80 box on the outside of the framerail. Ill have to plate the rail inside and out and sleeve it for the bolts and possibly cut a little out for the box to fit right. They are almost identical to the FJ60 and FJ62 boxes... They are all easily distinguished from other Toyota steering boxes as they have four mounting holes and have the pitman arm orientated forward(towards front of vehicle).
Here is a pic of a Fj60 box:
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And here is a pic of the FJ80 box I pulled this week...great shape and no leaks. I need to ream out the pitman for Chevy 1ton TREs and will break the box down and port it for hydro assist before I install it in the truck. Hoping the saginaw HD T-bird pump I have installed is up for the task.
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It seems I am at a crossroads, I'm on the fence between a semi-streetable rig that can be highway driven to the trail and a dedicated wheeler, it seems the more comprimises I make to keep this thing street legal, I find myself wishing I had done things differently. (Linked suspension, Full-Hydro steering, 40-44" tires, more displacement, less sheetmetal, tube out the front and back half or a full tube chassis etc, etc.) Surely I have a decent trail rig here and can eventually do a lot of these things but they all cost money and I want to be smart about managing my debts and assets<<<(guess I picked the wrong sport, LOL)

In all seriousness though my lack of towrig/trailer, storage and build space combined with the fact that I have a few years of school left has got me thinking I would rather wait until I graduate and buy a larger house with a bigger garage/shop, so I can easier build exactly what I want, instead of putting money towards a project that I am not completely satisfied with. So after jumping into this project with both feet....for now...this project is on hold.;brownbag;

I miss being out on the trail, and Id like to build a capable dd/wheeler again with a few improvements that will keep me happy and get me to the remote back country camp sites, hunting grounds, and trails. I sold off my old 33's, ttb lift, etc. and have a decent budget to start something new. Look for a new build thread very soon.:icon_thumby:
 
So what's going on with this thing is it still on hold?
 

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