Just an idiot teenager who ruined his truck...

[adsm08]

If your drive shaft is out of balance you can do it at home with two hose clamps and a crayon. I will post that up when I get to a real computer.

Postin' from teh Galaxy

 

[Rangurr]

Not really complicated...you seem to have released all the wabbits outta the cage at the same time & don't know which one to chase first

Maybe it's impossible---but you need to write down a goal for the truck knowing it's limitations & stick with it

This is a tough one but I'll do what I can. Basically, the plan for this truck is simply not to look like a 2wd. I want to have it lifted at least three inches. I want extra load capacity. I want at least 28" tires (but I think I'll throw an exp axle in there with 4.10s and get 31"s) - yes, I know 28" tires are tiny but they're better than the horrible stock tires for the 2wds!. I do not plan on upgrading to 4wd, I do not plan on an engine swap...... For now.

Ultimately, I've decided that I want to go ahead and save up for an '06 Ranger with all the possible goodies. I will then lift that 4"s THE RIGHT WAY! Then throw maybe 33"s or 31"s under there, add some offroad lights and a few little goodies here and there and then leave the poor thing alone. At that point I will try to turn my current 2x4 into a 4x4 monster. I'm thinking 4bt/allison swap, dana 65 front and rear, lifted like crazy, and so on. But for now I'll stick with my previous paragraph for this truck.

How's that for a start??

 

[adsm08]

Ok, driveshaft balancing. Go to the hardware store and get two hose clamps that fit around the drive shaft and will get tight. Then go to the toy store and buy some crayons.

Draw 4 lines along the length of the drive shaft (they only need to be about 4 inches long). Put one line in line with each bolt. Then number each area between the lines, one through 4.

Now install one clamp and put the screw in quadrant one. Drive and see if it is better. Then move the clamp around the circle putting the screw in each quadrant and see which one is the best. If two of them seem to be close to each other in vibration quality then put the second clamp on and put one screw in each area.

 

[Rangurr]

Do I do this on the front, rear, or both??

I'm assuming only rear considering you said inline with each bolt.

 

[Rangurr]

I do have an update, by the way. I went ahead and pulled the bed off yesterday, removed my lift blocks, and flipped the rear shackles. I haven't put the bed back on yet (the fiberglass bedsides are much worse than still when you're alone), but I did get the truck up to about 50-55 around my house with zero vibration - just the big, hard bumps from the front suspension. Once I put the bed on, I'll report back with how everything runs. My suspicion is that the yoke angle was so royally screwed up that it was starting to cause the rear, and possibly front, U-joint to fail. Correcting this angle seems to have put it back into a happy place for now but I don't doubt that I will be replacing it sometime soon.

The next project I'm looking at is the front suspension. I'm keeping lift no matter what so here are the choices I'm down to:
1. SAS swap - Not 4x4, not worth it
2. Leave it alone - I personally think this is a horrible idea but hey, it's out there now
3. Return to stock springs and put a spindle lift under there - I'll have to buy the lift but it's not the worst, I suppose.
4. Fabricate custom upper control arms - I don't want to do it all that bad and a shop quoted me $400 for just the uppers. That's too much for what i'd get.
5. Fabricate, or locate, lift brackets - just to relocate the control arm mounting points. I'm actually pretty comfortable working something like that up. I would, however, like to find some that are already made for my truck if I can.
6. A guy I know has an '05 Ranger Edge that he is currently in the middle of a SAS on. He has offered to sell me his entire front suspension (Steering setup, control arms to wheels, front diff/driveshafts, torsion bars, trans bracket, so on/so forth. I would love to do this (even if I don't make my truck 4x4 for a while, I can throw manual hubs up front and leave it disconnected) but I think I may have found a few problems. Looking in AllData, it appears that our engine bay crossmembers are in different places and mine would get in the way of the differential. It also looks to me like the 4x4 truck has a shorter lower control arm that mounts more to the outside of the frame than the 2x4. Can anyone confirm this? (05 4x4 vs 01 2x4). The shocks also mount differently but that's nothing I can't just relocate in one way or another.

Now let's hear your opinions. Any additional options (besides returning to stock)? Maybe knowledge of where I can get some lift brackets or something similar? Possibly someone selling 3" lift spindles and stock 2x4 springs? I'm open to anything!

 

[Rangurr]

Hate to be the guy who tries to bump his own thread up but I need input. I can't find any new brackets for the 2wd suspension. Maybe mill some out of steel or aluminum? I could try to throw something together in SolidWorks or something? Would it be more secure to weld a bunch of .25" steel plate or to mill something out of a solid block?

 

[doorgunner]

beats me......


but--if you are willing to spend the time milling a block of steel---


go for it................................post pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Rangurr]

beats me......


but--if you are willing to spend the time milling a block of steel---


go for it................................post pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the route I'm currently gravitating to. I just got SolidWorks which should work with DelCam to throw out a program for me to cut the stuff out and I have access to lots of CNC goodies so we'll see what I can produce. If I don't get to the point of milling the things out, I'll at least throw together some CAD files for people to use for future reference. d

 

[doorgunner]

10-four.......

 

[JoshT]

Dude, sorry I forgot about this thread. I forget that there are other theme options than the default that mine stays on. Makes much more sense to use GREEN against a dark background, than it does a white one.

Seems that you are getting things sorted. I was going to suggest undoing the shackle flip and seeing what happened. Seems like it got you moving in the right direction, did it also help with centering the axle better in the wheel well?

Cant really help with your other questions it's all a matter of your preference. I can say that as you suspect choice 6 above will not work the way you want. If you truck was a torsion bar truck it would be a relatively easy swap, but on a coil spring truck the cross member is way too different to bolt in in any form. The actual frame rails might even be different enough to kill that idea, but the engine cross member would definitely have to be changed for the torsion bar one.