Kroussin 93 Explorer build

[kroussinoffroad]

it is jsut a 48, i highly recomend going with the taller so you might be able to actually lift the tire off the ground.

I'm not really sure why it posted the same posting twice. kinda strange

 

[4.0B2]

Rachet strap your suspension up before you hi-lift it...

 

[dangerranger83]

The first post didnt show the high lift picture.

As for the tire not comming off the ground, get a choker chain and wrap it around the axle and to the frame and that should keep the tire from wanting to stay on the ground.

 

[4.0B2]

Thats kinda what I just said lol

If it's your front; use the winch. We do it all the time

 

[kroussinoffroad]

10 times easier and faster and safer to just grab the bottle jack. ive been round and round trying to utilize only the highlift not worth the headache. dont get me wrong it is a great trail too. i would be VERY nervous doing anything more than changing a tire with just the highlift supporting the vehicle. I just throw a tarp down jack the truck up with the bottle jack and move the tarp to where i'll be working. that at least what i have found works the best

 

[kroussinoffroad]

i would never be there with JUST a highlift supporting the vehicle, ive seen WAY TOO many of them come down

 

[kroussinoffroad]

I think ive posted this before but the alternative to a highlift. winch+big tree

 

[kroussinoffroad]

looks like i will be running the irok's as well 1 of the trxus tires has a gnarly bulge in the sidewall

 

[dangerranger83]

I posted the chain then yours popped up before mine, basically posted at the same time.

 

[4.0B2]

I prefer bottle jacks to but sometimes the hi-lift is a helper

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

Nice progress

 

[kroussinoffroad]

BRAKE LINES:

I removed all the abs related parts (more on this later) and ran all new brake lines front and rear. on the mazda I opted for all the poly guard line but on this one i chose standard for some reasone. guess i'll see how long it lasts and if it does rust out 25' only costs me 15 bucks. ran it in a solid run just flared the master with a bubble flare and the rear to double flare.

The rear was pretty easy just did the same as on the mazda to gain length, I removed the factory rubber hose and bracket from the frame. moved it to the center and pointed it downward. welded it to the crossmember and called it good. reconnected my existing lines on the 9" as they are less than a year old. for the axle side mount i drilled the hole out larger and trimed the tap down with a cutoff wheel and mounted it using one of the center section bolts

and for the front i decided against the setup that I had ran last time as I was constantly replacing straps to keep the line on the long arm. the clamps would get almost cut off when the arm would drag over rocks. luckly i never experienced any issues with the lines. when i pulled everything from the mazda one of the upper lines had come into contact with somthing hard as the metal collar was gnarled up.

i ran the main hard line down the center of the engine corssmember and secured it using a standard clamp bolted to the crossmember. i then ran a 28" allstar perfromance S.S. braided line to the top of the diff and into a tee. the line uses A.N. fittings so the appropriate adaptors were also purchased. the line from the tee then runs to each caliper hose. the caliper hose is mounted to the old spring plate as seen previously. the bolt on the drivers side slide broke at some point in time so the old one was drilled out and ran a tap thru the hole to clean up the threads. ordered two new bolts for 2$ and tossed them in.

Main line on engine crossmember

braided line

Tee mounted to top of the diff and you can see the caliper hose mounted as well.

caliper hose

 

[dangerranger83]

So its almost ready to drive other then needing the front shocks to be hooked up?

Exactly how did you get the top mount for the long arms to mount to your D44 diff (ya I know weld but have more details on it) cuz I know that you got a kit from balistic fab.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

Top mount is actually rustys. heated the cast slowly, welded the brackets on and heated lightly as it cooled down. was told not to let it cool too fast. the upper bracket on the diff was kinda odd. had to have both brackets on the one side of the bushing as there was a bolt in the top of the diff. hind sight i should have just removed the bolt and welded the hole closed but oh well it's held up this long. i'll grab some pics at some point in time.

as far as driving: all the shocks are bolted on and ready to go.I dont need many parts but enough that its not road ready yet. gear oil, rear drive shaft, lockouts. and some other minor misc stuff.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

REAR PINION ANGLE / DRIVESHAFT

welp plans were to snag the modified rear shaft off the mazda, remodify it and run it. modify the single joint explorer shaft throw it on the mazda, repostion the perch's on the axle since they arnt yet welded on and call it a day.
reasone for needed driveshaft modification is the lengthened mazda shaft is on the left. and the factory explorer shaft is on the right (too short for the explorer too long for the mazda)

during the last week of driving the mazda i noticed a nasty clack sound while leaving a stop. while taking all the goodies off i never came across anything that parked a concern TILL NOW.

flange side of the double cardan is cracked

so plans now are to just get a junk yard shaft for the mazda, modify the single joint explorer shaft. grind off my perch's and reposition them to correct both my pinion angle and driveline angle's.
here you can see the current pinion angle (that needs to be corrected regardless) and where the factroy shaft falls in relation to the yoke.