New Project Truck, dana 60, 14 bolt, 44s

[Josh40601]

so..... Whatever happened to the Ex?

 

[1badexplorer]

so..... Whatever happened to the Ex?

It got stripped of the good parts and scrapped. The motor needed rebuilt, the rear housing was bad, the frame was cracked in 5 places. But mainly I the body was getting rough. The rockers and rear crossmember were rotted and I had rolled it so the tub was kinda tweaked. I never liked wheeling with doors and the rear tinted glass sucked too. So after much tought I decided it was best to build a never rig. The explorer was definately cool but you couldn't see to back up especially at night and the tub needed alot of attention to be safe enough to run for another year.

 

[1badexplorer]

Ok not much of an update but heres what I did on it this weekend.

I needed more tool and gear storage room. The only place I have was on top of the rear wheelwells. So I was planning to build boxes that fit there. But I got a little creative and found something else that worked.



The boxes were the exact dimensions I needed once I welded 2 together. I also welded the lids and moved the latchs to each end. They are mounted so they open inward. You can now just stand on the ground or on my tire and look through every box.


I made 2 sets so I now have more storage than ever before.



My next project: I needed a different air tank. My old tank mounted where my highlift and fuel tank now are. So once again I got creative and found something that will hold the pressure and fit nicely between the frame rails where the stock tank went. I only have half the depth though due to my rear winch.



Here it is with the brackets welded to it and ready to bolt in.



I ran all the piping last night. Sorry no pics. Just imagine some black iron pipe and elbows and bushings etc

 

[Josh40601]

It got stripped of the good parts and scrapped. The motor needed rebuilt, the rear housing was bad, the frame was cracked in 5 places. But mainly I the body was getting rough. The rockers and rear crossmember were rotted and I had rolled it so the tub was kinda tweaked. I never liked wheeling with doors and the rear tinted glass sucked too. So after much tought I decided it was best to build a never rig. The explorer was definately cool but you couldn't see to back up especially at night and the tub needed alot of attention to be safe enough to run for another year.

Makes sense to me. Once the Ex gets to that point, i will be following your lead.

The new tool box idea was genius. Love it.

 

[1badexplorer]

Update time. My front leafs were shot. I've ran them now for 3 years. Time to try something different.

Tear down shots.








front leaf bolts had all seen better days.


shackles were pretty beat too.

 

[1badexplorer]

With the worn out leafs my tierod would actually hit the oilpan. I had the oil pan smashed in pretty bad. The new suspension will have even more uptravel than the leafs so I stretched the wheel base 2" from what it was.

 

[Josh40601]

Sticking with leafs or going linked?

 

[1badexplorer]

Sticking with leafs or going linked?

Links with coils.

 

[Josh40601]

Awesome.

 

[1badexplorer]

Leafs gone. Brackets cut off, starting to setup for the links. Ballistic Fab brackets.





Heres the coils I'll be using. Deaver (Jeff's Bronco Graveyard) EB 5.5 "Rockcrawler" coils. 180 lb spring rate approx 23.75" free standing.

 

[Josh40601]

Wow, ballistic IS still in business.


Anyway... I'm looking forward to seeing things. Are you link/coiling the rear as well?

 

[1badexplorer]

shot of my link material. 3/8 wall.



Hows this for a long arm?
Makes my 44s look small.


Fabbing up some link mounts for on my frame.



Clamping up before tacking in place. I already drilled a hole for where my rear link bar will go eventually.

 

[1badexplorer]

Keep in mind these are all just tacked together. They will all be pulled back apart, welded and gussets added where needed.

Top bars.





Doin a quick flex to check clearances.





My coil buckets. 73-79 F150



Trac bar bracket

 

[1badexplorer]

First time sitting on coils.



moking up for top shock brackets. They are factory F250 brackets with a little modification.


The new yokes. 1330 factory 1 ton F350 yoke vs. the new 1410 yoke

 

[1badexplorer]

It will go more. This is before I trimmed the firewall and made a couple adjustments.