Dans 94, RCSB, 4.0, 4x4, 5spd

[Josh B]

Yeah Dan, I finally got it, thanks to yall's patience.
The front axles are engaged, but the front hubs are not

Soon as I get the time I'll go back through to see what we were talking about

 

[Dantheman1540]

I figured out what I did wrong before. I basically had the stack of lock nuts/washer wrong. I think I’ll keep the instruction sheet in the tool box for now on. Luckily the passenger side didn’t have any issues because I had that one wrong too.

The right way

The wrong way

 

[Uncle Gump]

Opps... those spindle nuts have been around since a couple 60's ford trucks I've owned. That lock washer has always been sandwiched.

Another trick... once you get the bearing preload set... if the lock washer won't line up on the pin... flip the lock washer. The holes are slightly off set from the key.

Not exactly sure of the torque spec on the outer nut... but it should be good and tight.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Opps... those spindle nuts have been around since a couple 60's ford trucks I've owned. That lock washer has always been sandwiched.

Another trick... once you get the bearing preload set... if the lock washer won't line up on the pin... flip the lock washer. The holes are slightly off set from the key.

Not exactly sure of the torque spec on the outer nut... but it should be good and tight.

It’s a good system when you do it right. I’m just glad I learned my lesson this way and not the more expensive “wheel passes you on the highway”. Not gonna lie I’d still prefer the unit bearings that come as a pre assembled package and just bolt onto a spindle. But the IFS on those trucks suck and those unit bearings are triple the cost of all the bearings and seals in this system so I’ll just stfu lol.

I also did a thing where I swapped out the Thrush turbo muffler and swapped in the same sized welded muffler. They had it for $35 on Amazon and figured why not! When I redid the exhaust I made it so the muffler was clamped in with no welding whatsoever so it was a super quick swap out. It’s still quieter than I expected, but is lightly audible in the cab on startup and heavy throttle. I’ll whip it around like this a week or two and decide which muffler to return.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Forgot I ordered a new third brake light. I originally thought my windshield leaked so when the guy came to do the rear window I had him check the windshield as it’s only a year old. Windshield was fine and they spent 20minutes spraying everything looking for a leak to find it’s the dang third brake light. I should have guessed that myself honestly.

Anyway here’s some ugly $18 Amazon led third brake light that replaced my hella crusty probably original leaky boi.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Went out and flogged this turd another 50 or so miles off road. Including for the first time towing a loaded trailer an hour to get to the trails. I’ve moved trailers around my neighbor hood with it plenty but never at speed on real roads with other people, it did great! There was a bridge I hit at 50mph in 5th and it started to bog a bit but it still made it up. Had I down shifted it would have accelerated up fine.

Did mostly hunting truck trails that people typically cruise down around 10mph in some banged up stock truck with the bumpers falling off. I was very impressed that I was able to hold 25 in most of the really rough areas and close to 35 in some stretches. This suspension absolutely gets it! I felt more confident this time around with the front strapped so I definitely pushed it. Got it airborn atleast twice and didn’t break anything! Pulled out a friends ranger three times, and a quad once without a hitch. And did plenty of 2wd mud slinging sideways ripper-doodle-dooos.

I freaking love this thing! And cannot wait for the Bilstein 9100 bump stops to come in.

Oh another fun bit was showing my buddy in his 2011 ranger what flexy suspension is all about, he pulled a tire off the ground where mine was still firmly plant. I should have kept going back but my shackle was actually dug into the mound.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Here’s a few short videos I took as my buddy drove my truck around this clay quarry.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

 

[Dantheman1540]

Wasted enough water to hydrate a village this morning trying to wash the clay off this thing. Mud isn’t so bad but thick orange clay seems to never wash off. After cleaning the truck I cleaned up the shop and refound the locktite I have for the front 35ttb. Originally I was planning to run 35s so I was gonna leave the front open, but after actually wheeling the truck I think it’s totally fine on 33s, but I do want the front locker. So I guess I need to plan the miserable tear down of the front to slap that in sometime before summer heats up.

I find it cool that the gears and lockrite I bought were from 2006 and the guy just had them sitting in his garage this whole time.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Well I drove 6 hours today to score a set of wheels I had been eyeing for a few weeks. They should be the perfect size to let me remove my wheel spacers and gain just a 1/4” more clearance from the inside of the tire to the radius arm without going super wide 15x8x-19. Also ordered just one for now 33x10.5x15 Kenda Klever RT, just to make sure I’ll be happy with the 10.5 vs the 12.5 which I’m fairly sure I will be, when I am I’ll order the other 4 and have a matching spare finally.

Also got my order of Off-road Design Kevlar greasable bushings for my deaver pack and shackle. They claim some pretty impressive results in increase articulation with these since the bushings won’t be binding as badly. My bushings weren’t great when I put them in anyway and having a greasable bolt will be a huge plus IMO.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Arg made very little progress today because I’m an idiot. I should have dropped he leafs and measured the bushings before ordering but I didn’t and they were almost all wrong. Turns out my custom deaver pack takes 43mm bushings, with the front using a 5/8” bolt and the rear a 9/16”. I halfass measured and guesstimated 1 1/2” and I was wrong.
Also the knock off Belltech 6400 shackles I had have some obscure bushing size that is just a tiny bit bigger than 1 1/2” like 1.510. So after I cut and beat the old bushing out I realized the new ones didn’t fit.
A quick trip to the local parts store and I got a real set of 6400s for $59 which take a true 1.5” bushing and I got the first one in and done. Then started on the other when a family member got in a domestic dispute across town and I had to go play diffuser.

One neat thing I did get done is that the new greaseable bolts are a different thread pitch than the old ones that had the self holding nuts on the backside. So I made my own!
Calling in sick tomorrow to hopefully finish this project and go move my family member away from the current bad situation.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I had thought of doing something similar with my rear hanger to shackle bolts.

I was in a hurry and I ended up using a crowfoot wrench and a 3/8 breaker bar... let it rotate up against the hanger.

You'd think that round stock would bend.

 

[Dantheman1540]

I had thought of doing something similar with my rear hanger to shackle bolts.

I was in a hurry and I ended up using a crowfoot wrench and a 3/8 breaker bar... let it rotate up against the hanger.

You'd think that round stock would bend.

Funny you said crows foot, at first I jumped up to go grab mine. Then I tripped over my Mig lead I hadn’t put up yet, and thought “future me would thank current me if I make this nut like the old one”.

I was gonna make it out of plate like the OG, but the round jumped out at me when digging in my scraps bin. It worked so far for the first one, can’t tell if it bent a little but I doubt it will bend so much that it will back out or fail.

 

[Northidahotrailblazer]

Whats the model number/part number on the lockrite?

 

[Dantheman1540]

Whats the model number/part number on the lockrite?

Uhhh good question, is old a part number?…… Jk it’s 2310-LR. Google says for a Dana 35 so fingers crossed it fit. Luckily I told my scrap guy not to touch my old diff so I can practice installing it there first. Had to physically double check the little prick didn’t take the diff.

 

[Dantheman1540]

Finished the greasable bushing install to the best that I can with what parts I have. Ended up punching out the poly bushing from the new knockoff 6400s and installing the 1 1/2” bushings and greasable sleeves/bolts. Then on the rear spring eye I simply pulled the original sleeve out and drilled two small holes so the grease will reach the bushings, then installed the greasable bolts. Luckily the rear bushings after being cleaned are in great shape and have the grease grooves in them so I really don’t feel the need to replace them anytime soon. However I will order the Kevlar replacements along with the front spring eye parts.

Time to go flex out on a stump!