Explorer upgrades

[Evan]

I have been focusing most of my attention during the past 8 months on the new job, but after settling in a bit I figure it's time to start working on the Explorer again. For a while I was unsure of the route I wanted to take, but I've finally decided.

Ford 8.8 rear with discs, 5.13s, No-Slip locker
Double cardian rear shaft
New rear bumper
5.13s front with lunchbox locker
Double core radiator, performance e-fan with auto thermostat
Front winch
Jeep hubs
35x12.5s on steel wheels
New clutch, starter, flywheel

I'll be documenting progress and providing pics as I go along.

Got a D35 front today with 5.13s set up and a locker. The 5.13s will bring my final crawl up to 117.

I'll be setting up the 8.8 gears myself. It'll be my first time setting up gears and I'll try to document it from a newb perspective.

 

[compleckz]

gonna be even more beastly after.. whats the front locker? richmond lockright?

 

[CheapThrillB2]

cool, hopefully we'll get some wheelin pics, i miss my old sport. Atleast i'll get to see you tearing it up with yours

 

[Evan]

gonna be even more beastly after.. whats the front locker? richmond lockright?

Yes, it will be more beastly, but Punisher will still be able to drive right over me in 2WD.

Don't know what brand/model the locker is. I bought the assembly from JohnnyU.

 

[JohnnyU]

It's a LockRight.

 

[compleckz]

what were you running before, welded front?

since my lockrighted d35 and 4.56s, i cant seem to make 1 trip without breaking a shaft or at least popping a cap (gangsta)... i've caught it twice and shut it down real quick when i heard the noise, preventing a larger failure.. i've got new shafts to go in once i get the caps tacked on (both sets of shafts have 760x's, the bad set has full circles, the new set has stock clips)..

what are u running for axle 'mods'/u-joints?

 

[Evan]

what were you running before, welded front?

since my lockrighted d35 and 4.56s, i cant seem to make 1 trip without breaking a shaft or at least popping a cap (gangsta)... i've caught it twice and shut it down real quick when i heard the noise, preventing a larger failure.. i've got new shafts to go in once i get the caps tacked on (both sets of shafts have 760x's, the bad set has full circles, the new set has stock clips)..

what are u running for axle 'mods'/u-joints?

Right now I'm running both a welded front and rear. My shafts have Spicer 760s all around, with full-circle retainers and welded caps. I have broken 2 joints in my 2 years of offroading, and both occured because I cut the wheel too far and bound the joint.

The 760s make a huge difference over the 297s. Also, it is better to weld the caps in. Using full retainers alone causes the caps to spin in the yoke, which becomes egged out and ruined.

 

[Evan]

Just picked up a set of 5.13s for an 8.8 on Ebay.

On Thursday I'm heading to the yard to pick up a 31-spline 8.8 with discs.

 

[compleckz]

On Thursday I'm heading to the yard to pick up a 31-spline 8.8 with discs.

when i swapped the 31spl 8.8 into my truck i used two right side rubber lines (i put a right side on the left side), that allowed me to run the hard brake lines on the axle similar to the rear drum setup, and that way i could use my existing extended rear flexible line (the one from the frame hardline to the top middle of the diff).. the disc brake rears have a weird left side brake line..

so you might want to grab an extra pass side rubber line

 

[Evan]

when i swapped the 31spl 8.8 into my truck i used two right side rubber lines (i put a right side on the left side), that allowed me to run the hard brake lines on the axle similar to the rear drum setup, and that way i could use my existing extended rear flexible line (the one from the frame hardline to the top middle of the diff).. the disc brake rears have a weird left side brake line..

so you might want to grab an extra pass side rubber line

I don't have any lines at all right now running to the rear.

 

[Evan]

Picked up an 8.8 yesterday. 31 spline disc off of a low mileage 95 Ex. It's in great shape. Paid $200. I got it mostly torn down last night. Tomorrow I'm going to relocate the perches.

Was surprised at how beefy the stock discs are on that axle.

Gears and install kit are coming Tuesday next week.

 

[Evan]

A few updates:

I'll post some pics soon. Got the 8.8 all torn down, and one of the spring perches chopped off and relocated for the SOA. Was able to reuse the perch. I plan on moving the other perch tomorrow.

I got my 5.13s for the rear today and damn....that's a tiny pinion!

 

[compleckz]

sounds like good progress, my 31-spl sat in my garage for a year before i finally put it into my truck.
but it was quite pretty when i put it in:
http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v143/207/104/513533454/n513533454_399046_5753.jpg

are you going to be doing the gear install yourself? its the only thing i've had someone else do to my truck (but i removed the diffs and took them in)..

just curious, is there any advantage to running full circle clips, if you're going to weld the caps anyways?

 

[Evan]

 

[Evan]

This weekend with Todd's help I got the perches welded on and the 5.13s set up. Got a pretty good hands-on understanding of how to set up gears. I also got new seals in, and ran some paint over the axle. Should be ready to go in any day.

I also have a pic below of a 302 block that may one day find it's way into the Ex.