The Return To Wellsville 2013 (10/05/13) - Official

[zachis4wheeling]

I havnt logged on here in months.

I havnt been an "active member" in years.....



....but....



this may be just the ticket to kick my ass into gear EXTREMELY QUICKLY and get the little 87 Ranger I bought a while back fixed/ready over the next month in order to make it.

I'm debating on this......so some advice from you guys....

I have a Dana 60/Sterling sitting here...and some 42s...and some beadlock rims that I was going to use for my project 1991 Ext Cab Ranger that's been out of commission for the past 7 years.

I bought an 87 last year to use as a little beater/driving around the inner city to work truck.

I didn't want to keep beating the shit out of myself and my Super Duty on the awesome city streets in Baltimore.....

Anyways, the little Ranger was out of commission as well for a while, as it needed a clutch. Got the clutch done last week and I drove it around for about a week and now it probably needs a fuel pump. I tore the carpet out too, thinking I would just bedline the floor.....AAAAND once I got it out, I found a huge hole in the floor. FML. Kind of thinking about just building it into just a dedicated trail rig since it looks like it's gonna start nickle and diming me. So here's the dilemna....

Keep the Dana 28/7.5 open diffs FOR NOW....buy a 4" suspension lift and new suspension bushings before the trip, throw that on and run some 33s I have in my shed and head out to Wellsville and have a ball...I know I eventually want the one tons and 42s under it, but that is a bit more costly to do, even though I have most of the parts already. Plus, if I keep the TTB lift height and tire size somewhat mild on the Ranger now....I can still run it down the road for a while till I can do the one ton swap.

or....

Get fabbing up what I need to for the Dana 60 and Sterling rear axle swap along with the 42s and beadlocks.....since that is the eventual plan in the long run...

Either way, I'm looking at it costing me probably around $800-$1000 no matter which way I go. If I keep the TTB for now, I need the 4" lift and a set of rims and suspension bushings. If I do the one ton swap, I need to buy some more steel for the suspension mounts, and will probably have to have new driveshafts made before the trip. I also would need to fabricate up some sort of crossover steering and buy hi steer arms, as well as all the seals, bearings and hubs for the front axle.

I know that 33s and a Dana 28 are probably disaster waiting to happen, but **** it.....the 60's going in anyways in the future so if I break, I break.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Do you already have gears, lockers, chromos, springs, etc for tons? 42s are pushing limits on tons. Especially if you actually have enough gearing to effectively turn those MFers.

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[sloth69mustang]

I will also tell you as a fairly often wellsville visitor 42s are a little big for out there. not impossible but you can do pretty much any of the trails with 33-36s out there.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I use to run 33's on a Dana 28 in a V-8 Ranger at Wellsville.

If you can find a used 4-inch kit then do that and 33's. If you start a major solid axle swap, there's a good chance you won't get it all done in time.

I wheeled with a Ranger on 31's with a welded 7.5 rear and a Dana 28 front in Hazard Kentucky once (photo above). If I recall correctly, he was also running half doors and a bobbed bed. The truck went everywhere. It has always stood out as a testament that you don't have to sink a ton of money in to a fun wheeling rig.

Just get it trail worthy, come to Wellsville, have a blast, and build it bigger over the winter if you want before the next event.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yup, I was considering swapping in a 4.0 in my choptop but with time running close and still having to get my F-150 put back together, I may just take a couple extra quarts of oil with me and just do the slave cyl for now. I wouldn't try doing a SAS now unless you have a ton of free time and money.

 

[zachis4wheeling]

Do you already have gears, lockers, chromos, springs, etc for tons? 42s are pushing limits on tons. Especially if you actually have enough gearing to effectively turn those MFers.

-I have a 5.13 gearset for them and a welded 4.56 and up carrier a buddy gave me.
-chromos and yukon/ctms really arn't needed if you are running a baby v6, even with a doubler or deep gears. I know anything is possible, and yea they'd be nice to have, but new Spicer u joints and stock shafts are plenty strong for 99% of the time if you arn't pushing big torque to them.
-I have some older cherokee 5" lift springs that I'd be running for a while until I could set up something else.

I will also tell you as a fairly often wellsville visitor 42s are a little big for out there. not impossible but you can do pretty much any of the trails with 33-36s out there.

Yea, I'm thinking I'm just going to go with the ttb lift and 33s max for now. If I could find a set of knobby 31s, I'd be real happy.

I use to run 33's on a Dana 28 in a V-8 Ranger at Wellsville.

If you can find a used 4-inch kit then do that and 33's. If you start a major solid axle swap, there's a good chance you won't get it all done in time.

I wheeled with a Ranger on 31's with a welded 7.5 rear and a Dana 28 front in Hazard Kentucky once (photo above). If I recall correctly, he was also running half doors and a bobbed bed. The truck went everywhere. It has always stood out as a testament that you don't have to sink a ton of money in to a fun wheeling rig.

Just get it trail worthy, come to Wellsville, have a blast, and build it bigger over the winter if you want before the next event.

Yea, I'm a huge fan of the cheap cheap cheap.......I remember when I got my first Ranger back in 2000 and found this site shortly after and you were rockin a regular cab, long bed v8 truck on ttb axles still.

I was looking at the James Duff 3'' basic kit as well. I've heard really good things about it through the years. Definitely stoked about the trip!

 

[PlumCrazy]

Just 5.13s will not be enough to authoritatively turn 42s....

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[sloth69mustang]

Just 5.13s will not be enough to authoritatively turn 42s....

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agreed.

 

[zachis4wheeling]

Just 5.13s will not be enough to authoritatively turn 42s....

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Which is why I'd be running a doubler when I get to that point.

Nobody said anything about "authoritatively" turning them. Just want to get it drivable, even if that means I have to avoid some stuff. Lo gear in the tcase and 1st or 2nd with the 5.13s would be enough to roll me around, but agreed, more gearing is needed for anything more serious.

We're talking budget wheeling here guys, so chromos, big u joints, new coilovers, doublers, etc are longshots right now. I'm not new to this at all, and fully understand what it takes to ideally turn those tires and in a perfect world, everything would work out. But I live far from a perfect world, so sometimes, you gotta make things work for a while until you can get other stuff together to make it work better.

Which is why I'm not starting the one tons and 42s swap till after the trip. Heaven forbid if I were to show up and have to get a yank every now and then or steer around certain stuff so I wouldn't slow you guys down.

 

[sloth69mustang]

well i can tell you right now. there really isnt any flat areas in wellsville. the first trail is an up hill. so i would go 33s. you will have plenty of fun on 33s. i am on 31s and i get most places.

 

[PlumCrazy]

This trip will be a blast... I can already tell.

Fingers crossed I don't break anything major this weekend. lol

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[sloth69mustang]

fingers crossed i get my truck fixed in time for the trip lol.

 

[PlumCrazy]

fingers crossed i get my truck fixed in time for the trip lol.

If need a hand let me know. Ill be down that way the last weekend of Sept

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[Jim Oaks]

fingers crossed i get my truck fixed in time for the trip lol.

Problem?

 

[sloth69mustang]

i ripped my driver side front leaf spring bracket. so we are going to try and replace all my leaf spring brackets, do a chevy 64" leaf swap and if i have the money..... 2" coils and shocks for the front end. hopefully i get some leaf springs this sunday at the junkyard and fix the truck the follow weekend.