The Deuce

[BONES]

Yeah that's what I kinda thot too, about the vw diesel, he's after a mechanical injected early model engine, he's a major diesel guy so there was no talking down about the swap in his eyes, lol. I was trying to convince him to go tbi or efi 4.3L gm v6, even arguing that the big bad 1.6L would be a good swap, but no go, haha. To each his own I say, lol.

He has a set of Toy 8" axles he's building to swap in, he's also looking for the parts to do the tracker power steering swap, tho I have heard that swap doesn't get you very much power assist compared to the Toy ifs steering box swap.

Web wheeling will have to do for now I guess, living vicariously thru others!! LOL

 

[kris97ranger]

Lol thats where im at living through the keybored. Stupid fact that stuff costs $ i still have to drop another $800-900 into the truck b4 i can go out again. On top of the $800 i just spent on The axles.

At least you got the truck together for when you heal up. And yea i was going to do the tracker power steering but its just as mch work as the toyota box. And considering im going to the toyota axles and steering linkage if i did the tracker crap i have to get a new pitman arm to match the toyota tie rod end or whatever the one is..

 

[Andres629]

What power steering pump did you use?! I would love to be able to rock my 37's and still be able to steer... haha! The pump I have in now barely turned aired down 35's in the snow at a standstill...

 

[BONES]

What power steering pump did you use?! I would love to be able to rock my 37's and still be able to steer... haha! The pump I have in now barely turned aired down 35's in the snow at a standstill...

Well the first pump I had in there was from a 91 Explorer Eddie Bauer, now this new pump is from a 94 Explorer with tow package. Not sure if it matters or not but I'm also using the steering box from that 91 Eddie Bauer Expo too, it was a direct swap and a sealed system at the time when I did the first 4.0L swap.

Turning the aired down 38's easily with 1 hand and my suicide knob on the steering wheel. I'm thinking because the Explorers are a heavier rig they have more power assist in the steering system maybe.

I know I have a couple buddies, 1 running the stock BII box and pump on 35's and the other running the stock 89 ranger box and pump on 36's and they both have a tough time steering them off road. I let them try mine and they both were amazed how easy it is to steer compared to theirs and they both are open front and I'm spool front.

20" to the bottom of the frame, 26" to the bottom of the rocker centered under the door, 74.5" to the top edge of rain gutter above the B pillar, 38" to bottom of headlight, and 31" from the hub center to the body line on the front fender, also measured 78.5" from outside of both front tires. This is with 10ish psi in the tires. I didn't forget about your request Andres, I'm just a little slow.

Lol thats where im at living through the keybored. Stupid fact that stuff costs $ i still have to drop another $800-900 into the truck b4 i can go out again. On top of the $800 i just spent on The axles.

At least you got the truck together for when you heal up. And yea i was going to do the tracker power steering but its just as mch work as the toyota box. And considering im going to the toyota axles and steering linkage if i did the tracker crap i have to get a new pitman arm to match the toyota tie rod end or whatever the one is..

If you do the Toy IFS box, you will still need to get a new pitman as the IFS box has a weird pitman arm with the tie rod end or TRE built in, so either way you'll need a new pitman. The Toy box is made to turn a heavier truck to begin with so you will certainly get more power out of it. Would be my FIRST choice for sure.

Had I not found the Scout II Saginaw box for the Rover I would have went toy IFS steering box as that was actually what I was searching for when I came across the Scout box. Since I already have Chevy power in the Rover the Scout box's lines mate to my gm pump, I still have a couple details to sort out for that swap tho, the pitman and drag link have the wrong size and taper TRE's to mate correctly to the Toy 8" axles center link, but I think a new pitman and DOM drag link with the correct TRE's are the cure. I'd like to replace the stock Toy 8" center link anyways, it's barely larger around that my finger and has been bent several times and reinforced with square tube slid over it. That there is a whole nother money pit in it's own, lol.

Actually I have a set of 1ton's, d60/14BFF GM pass drop that I have been considering either swapping under the Rover or building a tube buggy, but since the Toy's are already there and ready to run, she'll be keeping them for a bit. Got a buddy wanting to sell me a brand new set of Yukon 5.29's for $150 with set-up kit. Once he's ready, those will get installed in mine.

 

[kris97ranger]

jeeze, theres a deal. i just paid double that for my 5.29s (including shipping and setup kit) for my rear alone! and yea im hoping to run the landcruiser steering linkage. then i guess i just have to figure out how to get it to mate to the ifs box. i alrady have the pump. and evrything considering i havce to toyota motor so im hoping to get a whole new pump and box as a sealed system then just swap it out.

theres no way im re using the steering linkage i had on it b4 considering its about 6" too narrow and also is bent is a fancy s shape.

as for doing the 1 tons in the rover i dunno do you really need to? i dont see you breaking anything (except maybe pinion heads soon) and its nicer to be narrow somtimes to actually fit on trails.

 

[BONES]

Yeah the biggest problem with the Toy's under there is they are soo dang narrow, my 40's hit the leafs at about half steering, so I slapped the ifs hubs on the solid axle to gain back some steering angle but the tires still hit the leafs way before steering lock. I replaced the steering stop bolts with longer ones, I'm lucky if I have 2/3rds of the steering angle these diffs can provide. Makes for 3 point corners when off road and turns this nimble rig into a long turner. That the biggest down fall of these diffs for my application.

I get almost all my steering back with 35's on it but who wants to step backwards in tire size? 35's are barely big enough for where I take this thing and besides, I already cut the fenders for 40's back when I was wheeling it on the 38.5 GroundHawgs, lol.

The Toy's have survived somewhat, I have bent the front and rear housings several times, I'm on my second front housing and 3rd rear housing, sheared pinions off several times, broken birfields, ripped off the J arm steering arm once, tore all the studs out of the passenger side knuckle once, bent the steering link several times and basically spent more than I really should have on replacement parts. If I'm going to spend any more big money it isn't going to be on these axles any longer. I'll see if I can make em work for now, but they need upgrading in width at the very least. I have on there a very offset wheel and the ifs wheel hubs and it's still not enough. I'm not a big fan of wheel spacers but either that or get a wider axle all together and if I'm going that route I may as well slap the 1tons under it.

 

[Andres629]

Thanks Bones! I can't believe you remembered that request! Haha!
I'll have to try and get me a pump from an older diesel or something with the v-belt, as I still plan on rocking the 2.9 for a little while.

 

[BONES]

Thanks Bones! I can't believe you remembered that request! Haha!
I'll have to try and get me a pump from an older diesel or something with the v-belt, as I still plan on rocking the 2.9 for a little while.

Couldn't you just swap the V pulley on an Explorer pump? Pretty sure they rotate the same direction for the pump. Not sure if they are a bolt across swap tho. Would be worth a look anyways, most of these pumps bolt up to the bracket the same way with 3 bolts, I wonder if they would be a direct swap too, the 4.0L is the same block as the 2.9L and the steering boxes are a direct swap..... Might need the whole bracket with the pump maybe. 3 bolts on the front of the 4L and the bracket comes off with the pump and a/c pump still attached to the bracket.


OK so I go to fire her up to pull it in the back yard so the kids can wash it up for the father's day show and shine here in town. My club always has 10 or 15 of us there to represent our lifestyle.

Well since I have had a few problems with the fuel pump running over the last few years, I always turn the key on and listen for the pump, well this time no go.

A little back ground here, the 86 BII has a dual fuel pump system, one pump in the tank and one pump along the drivers frame rail beside the trans. The frame rail pump hasn't worked since I built the BII 5 or 6 years ago, or so I thot.

I have had the tank pump fail once and I replaced it, the last few problems were ground wire related. I ended up adding a separate ground wire to the harness back at the tank on the frame. All these problems and the frame rail pump never ran once that I know of.

Well same thing yesterday, I turn the key and no sound, ok so I figure it's that ground wire or the plug near the tank. I piss around wiggling wires and popping plugs apart before I finally pull out the test light, I have my 6year old boy in the drivers seat turning the key on and off all this time, lol, as the system doesn't stay powered up unless the pump works and the engine is running, so it only gets power for a few seconds then turns itself off.

Turns out this time it was the relay not clicking on and I wasn't getting any power to the pumps. So I swap the A/C relay for the fuel relay as they're the exact same relay and a great spot to store a spare fuel relay. With that clicking now I crawl back under to test for power and there's still none, plugs corroded so I clean that and get power finally but still no pumps. So I start wiggling more of the harness closer to the trans this time and suddenly the frame pump fires up!! I'm like all WTF and shit!! Still no tank pump tho and it's less than 2 years old, but since the frame pump fired up she runs again. So off into the back yard she went for a good thorough cleaning and belly scratching!!

Once she's all clean I'll see if I can get the tank pump working again and will finally have the redundant fuel delivery system she is supposed to have!!

This next weekend every year is always the cleanest the Bronco ever gets all year, haha. Wish I had an RTI ramp to bring to the show and shine so I could show off the flex this thing has!!!

 

[BONES]

Frame rail fuel pump is on it's way out and haven't figured out why the tank pump no worky. It's been raining here for ever now and the mud has to be awesome out on the trails!!!!

Taking a buddy on his maiden test run in his Cherokee up to the Bone Garden, he's locked front and rear, 8.8/d30, 4.0L HO, blah blah blah and siting on 34"ltbs, sounds like I'll have a few wheelers there to play in the Garden! Just picked up a new camera so I'll post pix after I get back.

 

[BONES]

Well Bone Garden never happened, everyone pussyed out. Haven't been out wheeling in 2 months and it's killin me!!! Couple more months to go, blah this sucks ass.

I got some new parts for the Bronco tho, nothing pic worthy but new antena and fuel pump.

I noticed that she's sitting about 2" lower on the drivers front corner, I take a peek under and notice my diff is rotated pinion down about 5-10 degrees and making my coils curve funny. Those damn polly C bushings need to be tossed in the garbage and they're only maybe a year old if that. Front suspension redesign might end up happening sooner than later.

 

[kris97ranger]

time for some custom cnc machined bushings outta steel lol that wont be wearing out. and i hear you on the no wheeling thing.... i havnt been scince may 24. i can see the light at the end of the tunnel though! i think i finally orderd the last of my parts

 

[BONES]

Hmmm, that's not a bad idea on the machining steel bushings to replace the poly C's, that would be easier than a whole re-do for now. thx, I'll look into that for sure.

I wonder if that would create binding at the axle with out a flexable matterial there and maybe prevent full flex?

 

[railman]

yeah, I would say no flex where the arms meet the axle would lead to some failure somewhere else....not to mention a reduction in overall flex of the front end.....

either fab up some arms that use Jonny Joints at the axle or keep rocking the poly c's...

l8r, John

 

[kris97ranger]

i was mostly kidding lol id think it would also be a very hard ride

 

[BONES]

Meh hard ride from solid heims dont matter to me as long as it flexs fully. She rides like a Caddy already with the coils up front, a little road vibs never hurt anyone, lol.

Yeah I'll be keepin the crappy poly C's for now.

I'm going to have to deal with it sooner than later for sure, it has lost 2 of the 3 inches of front up travel at the drivers coil and smacks the bump stop every bump because of the diff being rotated this far. Both coil plates are waaay out of alignment now, lol. However I found a rear suspension problem I now have to address immediately.

So took it over to buddies shop yesterday to fix my fuel pump problem. Pump problem was sorted out quickly, turned out it was a bad relay that would intermittently work, as well as a very corroded fuel pump harness connector back at the tank. Once we had that outta the way I started doing a once over on it since I haven't had it out in a couple months. Upon inspection I noticed my drivers rear shackle hanger on the frame is bent up now, looks very rusty and thin and ready for failure. DOH! It's always something isn't it? The shackle hanger is bent up at least an inch and twisting the leaf spring. This is very likely contributing to the lean she now has. She's been abused and is really starting to show it. Just about time to start doing some serious work to her me thinks, before she self destructs. LOL