daily doubler build

[railman]

like Kyle said....keep ya goals in mind and keep pushin' forward

I have drove a 3.0 and 4.0 back to back.....you will like it

l8r, John

 

[Bray D]

Quit being such a bitch and just get it done, pussy.

I agree.

 

[Bray D]

The trac bar thing has been eating at me, so I decided to go back through my build and see how everything looked when I built the trac bar in the first place. Looking at it, I may be alright if I lessen the bend that I just put in it a couple weeks ago. With it unbent, which is how I ran it for 2 years, it barely gets into the engine crossmember. May not even touch the oil pan.

If I decide that that won't be enough, I think I'll use part of my existing trac bar bracket for the new one. The left side will become the right side, essentially shifting the trac bar forward the width of my bushing. That's more than a full tube width, and would be more than enough to clear the oil pan. Only pushing it forward that much, I think I'd be able to put a bend in the bar, and use my existing axle side bracket.

Thanks for keepin me goin guys. Life is still pretty crazy. Dad's still in the hospital, midterms are this week, work has been nuts. It'd be nice if something would just go smooth for once. It seems like every obstacle I come to while trying to put my truck back together crushes my motivation.

I've taken a step back and assessed this situation, I think my solution will work. My gears are turning again.

edit: just so its all on the same page, here's the pic of the oil pan/engine crossmember.

The bushing at the frame side is 3" wide IIRC. I think pushing the bar 3" forward would be plenty. I may even switch to a flex joint instead of the bushing. hmmm.

edit II: Looked up weld on joints from ballistic and currie. I'd like to go with a 2" joint, so it wouldn't push the trac bar forward as much, but they're only offered with a 1/2" thru hole (ballistic) and 7/16" thru hole (currie). My bushing is 9/16" thru, and if I reuse half of the trac bar mount, I'll need that size for the replacement joint. I could go with another forged 2.63" ballistic joint like I have on my radius arms. A bit pricey, but it would work (9/16 thru bolt), and would push the bar forward about as much as the bushing would. Decisions decisions.

 

[Kyle M.]

You know after looking at that, why not just adjust the bump stops down a little? Then straighten out your trac bar like it was, then you wont hit the diff or the pan.

 

[Bray D]

If I straighten it, it will be exactly like it was. No need for longer bump stops or anything. It'll just be at 3.5" compression like it was too. I bent it looking to gain some compression, shooting for around 5". The trac bar was the limiting factor before. The bend eliminated that. Pushing it forward should eliminate it too. I need to mount the engine with the stock motor mounts that I'll have this coming weekend, and push the axle to full bump to see if I can even get anymore out of it before the diff gets into the oil pan.

 

[Bray D]

Looking at it, the straight bar def wouldn't hit the pan, it it'll be damn close. I think I'd like the insurance of pushing it forward a bit.

 

[JohnnyU]

Wirsch used to have an extra ballistic joint laying around. Ask him about it. I bet he'd let it go cheap

 

[wahlstrom1]

If you need stock motor mount locations or measurements lemme know! Mines all loose and just sitting on the mounts, with all the fender wells and all wiring pulled outta the way so it's easy to get at. If you need pics, the engine will be out in the next day or so.

 

[Bray D]

Thanks man. I went ahead and ordered stock mounts, they were like 12 bucks a piece. No big deal, and it'll make sure the engine will be in the correct location. I may just use em and sell the ruff stuff mounts. IDK.

John - Good thinking. I remember one laying in his kitchen a while ago haha. He probably got the larger thru bolt, I'll txt him and find out.

 

[Bray D]

Got a hold of Wirsch. He's got the same size joints I do, the stud is too big to work with the 1.5"x.250" material I'm using for my trac bar.

I have some money sitting in my Paypal accoutn, so I went ahead and ordered the 2" joint from Ballistic, as well as the spanner wrench for both the 2" joint and the 2.63" joints I've got. If I decide not to use the 2" joint for my trac bar, I'll use it when I build a traction bar.

 

[JohnnyU]

Ah bummer. I'll get a hold of you tomorrow.

 

[Bray D]

10-4 good buddy

 

[wahlstrom1]

Engines out now if you need pics or measurements...

 

[Bray D]

I think I'm good on that stuff. Thanks though. Did you have a manual trans behind it? If so, does it plug into the engine harness with one plug or two?

I had the engine in and out of my truck like 3 times today. arg.

I picked up the factory motor mounts. I ordered ones for a 96 ranger with a 4.0. I figured that way they would fit my engine crossmember for sure, and a 4.0 is a 4.0 so they'd fit the engine as well. Turns out the explorers without ttb have different plates that go in between the engine and the motor mounts. I mounted the MM to my engine crossmember, then put the engine in with the ex. plates on it. Didn't work.

It dawned on me that the older donor I had before had ttb, and a 4.0, so I dug through my parts pile and found the plates that were on that engine. Went to remove the plates on the ex. engine, and broke a bolt off inside the block. Tried the 'weld on nut' trick like 6 times. fail. tried to drill it. fail. So I just decided to mod the plate so it bolted to another hole on the block instead. Fabbed that up (looks like shit - whatever) and bolted it on.

Then lowered the engine in again and checked trac bar clearances. Engine placement sitting on factory MM's.

Straightened out trac bar. Hits both the engine and the top of the diff at the same time.

Minimum amount I'd have to move the bar forward to get it in front of the diff cover.

Moving the bar forward won't effect the range of motion at the axle side joint at all.

At this point I think I'm going to mount the trans (it may change the tilt of the engine) and see if I gain any clearance at the oil pan. I don't like how close things are getting. I think the trac bar needs moved. We'll see how frisky I'm feeling next time I'm down there. I'll have to completely rebuild the frame side mount. I think using the left side of the mount as the new right side will push it too far forward, and jeopardize getting into the steering at full lock/full compression.

There's still a lot of room to open up more compression of I trim the backside of the engine crossmember for to clear the diff. Plenty of room before it gets into the oil pan. I guess I need to install the trans/starter to see if that's an issue though.

 

[RangerSVT]

Bray, here is a thought for you....A popular swap for the OHV 4.0L is the aluminum oil pan swap from the SOHC. So you might want to take a tape measure, take some measurements off of the oil pan mounting bolts (oil pan to block) and hit the junkyard and take some measurments....The IFS ranger/explorers had a tighter oil pan clearance IIRC...might work better for ya rather than trying to mod everything else....
SVT