Hello and thanks for the membership

[SenorNoob]

As both of them have less than 10 posts, I have to wonder it has something to do with the new anti-spam settings. Seems mighty coincidental.

In other news. I see your location says TN. Mind if I ask what part? I'm up in Lafayette myself. Also I'd love know more about your 84 on solid axles.

 

[ShhhhhDougsHere]

You might be onto something there " Noob ".

 

[Slyronious]

A-haa! It works now. Guess it takes some time for a new account. Thanks everyone. /edit Also want to add I just hit 10 posts so that may have something to do with it.

 

[ShhhhhDougsHere]

Yeehaw it works for " Slyronious ".
Now we just need it to work for " JBlase ".

 

[Slyronious]

As both of them have less than 10 posts, I have to wonder it has something to do with the new anti-spam settings. Seems mighty coincidental.

In other news. I see your location says TN. Mind if I ask what part? I'm up in Lafayette myself. Also I'd love know more about your 84 on solid axles.

I live near Greeneville in East Tennessee. I've been to Lafayette a few times working. I travel a lot working on Trumpf lasers and one of our customers is there.

About 15 years ago I had the rear diff rebuilt at a local shop. It's not exactly solid but it's a clutch type limited slip. Factory was an open diff. He pulled apart the differential and installed a clutch pack and I use a friction modifier in the rear to keep it working. It's always been a good off-road truck but with a limited slip I think it would climb a wall if I let it.

Right now I'm in the middle of a rebuild. It hasn't run in 2 years. The distributor gear sheared off and shed metal into the engine so I pulled it apart and am taking my time rebuilding it. Putting in a 2.9 crank with an Offenhauser intake and Aerostar 2.8 factory headers.

 

[SenorNoob]

I was not far away from you a couple days last summer. Round Mountain/Max Patch Campout
That's cool. I mostly work on relatively tame Injection Molding Machines. No travel... I didn't know anybody here used anything like that.

That 2.8 should scream after the mods. What did you use for the front axle? Got any pics of the truck?

 

[Slyronious]

That's cool. I've been to Max Patch quite a few times. I used to hike the AT a lot. I have the factory front diff that came on it. It has manual lockers which I prefer. I pulled the rotors off the front and replaced the bearings and replaced the entire braking system a few years ago. All the hoses were dry rotted so I replaced the entire thing. My dad bought it new in '84 and it was my highschool truck which I still have. It needs painting again and once I get the engine done, that will be my next project. Factory Ford Dark Blue with metal flake, pin stripes and chrome moulding around the wheel wells.

When I replaced the brakes another thing I did was replace all the springs and bushings. Went with Poly bushings, new coil springs and HD leaf springs for an '85 HD Ranger. It's very stout now. I keep a few concrete blocks in the back to give the bed some weight as it makes it drive smoother. Don't have any pics, but honestly it's not too much to look at right now. Not much rust at all thanks to the years of oil leaks, but the paint it pretty oxidized. But it will look nice once it's restored one of these days. It's a 5 speed 2.8 with a Duraspark setup, soon to be stroked to 3.0l, cammed and with the Offy 4 bbl. I also upgraded the cooling system from a Ford Explorer to give it more capacity.That's the thing I like about these trucks, you can swap parts from many different years and models until you make it right.

 

[SenorNoob]

The factory front isn't considered a solid axle like your user info says. That's why I asked what you'd used, but I understand now. I don't still have the factory axle but the later Dana 35. It's an (almost) bolt in swap that's a little easier to get parts for, slightly stronger, and for the last couple years can be gotten with dual-piston brakes.

I know exactly what you mean about swapping parts. My 88 has parts from 86, and 97 Rangers, 91, 92, and 01 Explorers, and some tail light sockets from a fox body...

Edit: and a rear view mirror from an 80 something Japanese SUV..

 

[Slyronious]

Ahh... I see what you mean by solid axle. No, I don't have a solid front axle. I like the twin I-beams. But, as mentioned, I did modify the rear from an open diff to a limited slip. Went ahead and edited my profile.