The Deuce

[railman]

you are running Optima's...just mount them in the back...they are sealed so there is no risk in anything leaking out/fumes...

l8r, John

 

[Andres629]

Oh. Yeah, with Optima batteries I'd just run it in the cab!

 

[BONES]

Thanks for the replies and ideas guys much appreciated!

Yeah a lot of people have said to just run them inside but I'm still not keen on that idea. I realize they're sealed but what happens if there's a battery failure like over charging? Wouldn't it expand and crack the case and leak fumes and acid? I could slap them inside a battery box inside the cab too but also would loose some room for wheeling and camping gear and there's not enough room to start. Not to mention if they're mounted inside the cab the only real space is in the back and then all my camping and wheeling gear would be on top of the batteries, I would like them to still be easily accessible. I'll keep looking around online see what people have done, I don't really want the batteries inside and under neath means there not very accessible either. Any other ideas?

Someone had suggested I cut a hole under the rear seat area and build a sealed box for the batteries with a sealed lid so I can access them from inside the rig, another guy suggested I modify the factory jack spot into a battery holder and do the same on the driver side, but then there inside and I'm still not sold on that idea and the back seats still need to be able to fold and tumble properly. I know I have limited the places available.

To be honest the first place that came to mind was on the tcase skid plate just behind the tcase but then how in the hell would a guy make that easily accessible?

 

[4.0B2]

I think I have some pics on my dual battery setup. And at one time I was running a semi battery the the stock spot and a international box truck battery in my second spot. I'm on my phone so give me a second to try to find my photobucket pic of my second battery.

 

[4.0B2]

Only pic I have at the moment. Where my battery was bad to! Lol

What I did was relocated my overflow tank to the rear by the firewall. Behind the cruise stuff and made a battery tray to go there. First battery is in stock location.

 

[BONES]

Cool thx man, lol, I was actually just on your thread looking at the pics of dual bat set-up, haha.

Here's my engine compartment.

As you can see I have relocated my air box and made it into a snorkel that exits the engine bay above the clutch reservoir, right where you put your over flow tank, air box/snorkel, battery, engine cage and washer/coolant over flow take up lots of space.

I really have no room under the hood for another battery without some drastic rearranging.

 

[dangerranger83]

Say good bye to the washer fluid tank and make a coke bottle as your over flow? Or just make those tanks smaller (re-design) and put the battery where they are now.

Looks like dirt is the only thing holding it all together

 

[BONES]

LOL, yeah forgot to open hood when I washed it the other day, lol.

Yeah I dont want to loose anything in the processs, lol, but a redesign on the overflow and washer tank might be do-able. Was hoping to move some weight to the rear of the rig but it's not working that way lol.

 

[BONES]

I'm thinking maybe the second battery will go under the rig somewhere just behind the tcase and I'll leave the main battery where it is in the factory location.......still just thinking tho, lol.

Started thinking about the up-coming v8 swap and where everything will fit and the air box being larger for the v8, I'll need to redesign the washer/over flow tank anyways but not for battery space, lol. I would like to have the v8 in place when I redesign the rad support and remove the inner fender structure. The cross over engine bar will get a revamp too. I'm still in the parts gathering stage on that swap tho.

Mostly I want to just do it once and not have to re-do it as I start the v8 swap.

 

[Andres629]

I thought heavily about a v8 swap in mine... but a built 4.0 in my mind will be much better for my purposes. What are you planning on swapping in there? I hope a 351!

 

[BONES]

351w yes and no, lol.

Actually I have a running high mileage fuel injected 92 f150 5.0L with ecm and harness that I got the whole truck for free, that will go in when the swap happens, I'm on a tight budget always so I do what I can do with what I can get my hands on for cheap/barter/trade.

If I waited to build an engine it would be a few years before I can v8 this thing

Then once it's wheeling again I'll start building the 351. I also have a running 93 f150 fuel injected 351 with rv cam, headers and msd ign (351w with ecm and harness) but she's a smokin oil burner and needs a rebuild so I may as well throw some goodies at it while its apart, who knows maybe I'll just refresh it and use it instead of the 5oh. Or 351 stroker?

Plans are to just keep gathering parts untill I have all the stuff needed to v8 this thing, then after I v8 it, I can start focusing on the 351 build up. It's taken me a few years now to gather up what I have and the 351 build up will likely take a couple years of budget building to get it where I want it. Who knows maybe I'll stroke the 5.0 instead, we'll see when the time comes. I'm pulling for the 5.8 more than the 5.0, there's no replacement for displacement.

There's no way I can build cheap enough power from the 4.0L for it to be worth it in my eyes, especially when looking at the stock 351 numbers.

I'm only a couple parts away from doing the swap now. I have a mix match of parts so my options are open still. I have a 4x4 c4 with v8 bell housing but need either a matching d20 tcase, an AA adapter to mate my 1354 to the c4, or if I could find a c5 tail housing and tail shaft I could keep my 1354 too, or I could find a sbf 4x4 C6 and slap my np205 behind it. Front digs would ROCK in the Deuce!

I need to get wrenching on my Rover so I still have a wheeler when the v8 swap starts on the Deuce. I don't want to be wheeler-less ever again, lol. I'm hoping to have the Rover wheeling in the next month or so and then I can start realistically thinking about what to do with the Deuce and how to do it. It may end up being more than just a v8 swap as I have plans for the redesign of the front and rear suspension and I've been thinking about moving the fuel tank so I can stretch the rear wheel base some more.....

I'm in the process of buying a house right now! It has a 2car garage that will be my new shop!!!! Concrete floor and heat here I come!!!!!

 

[4.0B2]

i agree. but why do you need 351 power? doubler and gears... be done.

 

[BONES]

Doubler and gears aren't going to help me get thru the deep mud we have around here, need power for that.

I might do a doubler eventually, it would be a nice addition for the creepy crawly trails, tho the auto swap will eliminate the wrong gears problem for the most part, I might re-gear to 410's or 456 maybe eventually.

This thing is built to be a multi purpose rig, not just a crawler, she has to be able to get up and go too and spin these 38's hard on these spooled diffs, gears and doubler won't help any where near enough in that department. I need to be able to light them up in high range in the mud, no way a 4.0, doubler and gears will help with that. I also need to be able to climb long steep hills on the highway as well as on FRS roads at higher speeds.

Besides from the numbers I have seen the v8 will get as good of mileage as the 4.0L in a BII and have power to spare. Win win!

Yes it's time to add some power.

 

[kris97ranger]

351 all the way build it while its out and sell the 5.0 to fun the 351 build.


thats the only thing im worried about with my truck is mud.. it used to be tank on 33s in the mud spun them no problem and now on the 38.5's im wondering if its going to be stuck in the area where 1st gear is spinning alot but at 8000 rpm real quick. and 2nd is not enough power to spin....

only one way to find out

 

[BONES]

Yup, that's what I'm talkin about, I can use 2nd gear low range but only if the muds not too deep or sticky, but no way in hell can I use 1st gear high range. 1st and 2nd gear high range with the v8 rippin 5G are what I would like to use in the deep goo!

I have the same problem on soft sandy hill climbs, would like to use 2nd or 3rd gear low range but 1st gear low range is the only gear that doesn't power out, even with a rear gear it would still power out at the same basic speed, just in a different gear.

I want to be able to hit it and not power out at all, regardless of the gears I'm runnin.

I'm a v8 guy from the get go, this is the longest I have wheeled with no power and I'm tired of it.

My Rover has a healthy sbc and I rarely use low range except when crawling, she can spin em up into drive in the mud, mind you she's only 3000lbs and 350-ish hp!