The Lone Ranger – Kage’s ’94 X-Cab Leaf SAS and Bed Bob

[gearhead51]

Side note, anyone have any idea what to do for a speedometer cable? I’m about 3” short from where I need to be. Any other extended cab doubler guys have an answer here?

fox racin used one from a 91 aerostar its page 19 in his build thread (my 91 exlpoder)

 

[Kage]

Awesome! looking great.

On the MC... Did you look into the E250 MC? Seems to me that it would be fairly similar on the front brakes. I know my 91 E-250 had twin-piston calipers up front. Either way, looks like you got it figured out...

I don't know about the E250, should work, but the res might be too tall. That and I couldn't find one locally, so I went with what I had. Good idea though!

fox racin used one from a 91 aerostar its page 19 in his build thread (my 91 exlpoder)

Thanks very much! Here is the post for that information

 

[crawlin91]

Yep I grabbed one from a 90 Aerostar that worked. I have read that 80s F series truck speedo cables will work too.

 

[Kage]

BW1354 Yoke Swap​

I wanted to ditch the flat flange found on the back of my 1354 for a more traditional yoke setup. This allows me to have a greater selection of drive shaft donor’s to make up my drive shafts. This is a pretty straight forward swap as the front and rear transfer case shafts are the same. So you can literally just pull a yoke off at the junk yard (if you can find one) and slap it on the back of your 1354.​

To pull the yoke off, you’ll need a thin walled 30 mm socket. I actually had to grind on the socket some to get it to fit inside the yoke:

Flange and Yoke side by side:

Some quick information on the rear output of the 1354. The shaft measures 1-1/8" in diameter and has 26 splines on it (if I counted right). The seal surface of the yoke (larger OD) measures 1-5/8" in diameter:

Installed yoke (Don’t forget your O ring and Lock tite!) Torque it down to 180 ft-lbs:

 

[Kage]

Diff Armor on the Cheap​

Being the cheapskate that I am, I opted not to buy some fancy diff covers. Instead, I reinforced the stockers that cam on the axles.​

The stock D60 cover that came on the ’99 E350 (Left side) measures at 0.130" thick
The stock D44 Cover that comes on the ’78 F250 (Right Side) measures at 0.170" thick

Since both covers are pretty dang thick, I felt that they only need a little protection around the ring gear portion of the covers. So I cleaned up the covers with a wire wheel:

And added some ¼" x 2 "steel to the ring gear area:

I might add more steel later on, but I’ve got a feeling that these will work just fine for the wheeling I do. If I add more to them, I’ll update this post.​

 

[kris97ranger]

i did my diff covers the same on my samurai but considering they're toyota axles i dunno if its a diff cover or what to call it but i did the whole bottom half in 1/4".

 

[robs]

^^^^ more steel ^^^^

"Hey. Anyone got a D44 cover on them? Mine seams to be leaking!!!"

On the trip home to be fitted back to the Ranger...

 

[Kage]

^^^^ more steel ^^^^

It'll be fine for all the mall crawling I do

 

[4.0B2]

It'll be fine for all the mall crawling I do

you need the clear ones for mall crawling. come on man. get it right

 

[bronco2guy]

Man this thing is looking great!! very nice fab work and quick. Since your in Missouri you really should join us at SMORR May 13-15th for the Ford Invasion, would love to see the truck in person!
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106874


And while back I couldnt get ahold of the guy about DD doubler for anything even left msg that we would purchase 3, o well looks like nice kit.

 

[kris97ranger]

you need the clear ones for mall crawling. come on man. get it right

As much as I hate to say it those things are sick and I'd rock one. Just sucks they can't hold up in real four wheeling

 

[kroussinoffroad]

they rated pretty high in alot of diff cover "test's" stronger than factory according to the "test's"

 

[Kage]

Man this thing is looking great!! very nice fab work and quick. Since your in Missouri you really should join us at SMORR May 13-15th for the Ford Invasion, would love to see the truck in person!
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106874

I'd love to make that, but its not in the cards this year. I will be down at SMORR for SIJA's Jeep Jam June 3rd weekend.

...And while back I couldnt get ahold of the guy about DD doubler for anything even left msg that we would purchase 3, o well looks like nice kit.

I never had any problems getting ahold of him thru ebay/phone. I guess I got lucky


I'll admit, I like the thought of "clear" diff covers, but I have my doubts as to how well they'd hold up off road.

Thanks for the comments guys, some big updates coming up shortly!

 

[Kage]

Test fitting the bed

A few big steps today! The first being that the truck moves under its own power again, which allowed me to move it around enough to slap the bed back on it

Back outside for the first time in a few weeks (Double low is sweet btw):

Robs came by and gave me a hand getting the bed on the truck. I’m extremely happy with how it turned out. Note: The gap between the bed and cab is a little larger than normal to allow for some tube to fit behind the cab for the future cage. I’ll let the photos do the talking for this update:

 

[Kage]

Stretching its legs

I borrowed a cherry picker to help me out with determining how much flex this thing has. It also helped me figure out what needs to be trimmed in the future. Other than trimming the front some, and coming up with some longer brake lines for the front, everything is looking pretty happy.

For reference, there was 34” under the rear tire when it was in the air, and 30” under the front when it was in there air. It still had more to go, but we were a little leery lifting it anymore with the cherry picker.

Photos!: