The Tan 89

[P93suafilo]

Well i am proud to say that i am now a owner of a b2. I got it on a good deal but now comes the fun of figuring out the good and the bad. Here is what i know so far.
Good:
6 in lift with extended radius arms
35in tires in alright condition
dana 35 and 8.8 (drum brake)
93 explorer 4.0 swap
Custom bumper and skid
82,000 miles on the body(idk how many on the engine)
warn manual hubs
auto to manual transmission (4speed not sure what its out of) and transfercase swap (not sure if this is good or bad)
body is in good shape
trimmed fenders
parking brake works
runs great and starts right up

Bad: that i can find as of now
Speedometer doesnt work (any ideas not really sure how to fix this)
random lights are out
steering is pretty loose (compared to my 97 ranger)
steering pump whining
clutch is short and alot of play in the transmission shifter
lock on drivers side isnt there its just gone
brake pedal feels like its spongy or something like that.

Unkown:
what gears are in the axles
lockers?
does the heat or a/c work
why is it so hard to shift the transfercase (they did a auto to manual swap)
i am sure there area other things just cant think of them at the moment.


I picked this truck off a towing company so they didn't know really anything about this truck but from what i saw it has a ton of potential. Its a pretty unique rig for out here in utah so i am hoping someone in the area will know some of the work that went into this truck.

My goals for this first couple weeks/month:
clean and change/fill all fluids
clean out the interior pretty good(so my wife will ride with me )
fix the speedometer
pass safety and emissions
Hit the Trail and see what the B2 can do.

ILL post pics when i can.

 

[BlackBII]

Lets see some pics bro.

The loose shifter will likely be fixed by replacing the shifter bushing. http://amzn.com/B00BJ4EF0C

As far as the speedo and steering, you're going to have to crawl under there and look. The speedo cable might just not be hooked up(in the rear of the transfer case) and the steering could be a number of things; tie rod ends, draglink, steering gear, rag joint, etc.

 

[bronco2fan]

Glad you picked up a BII. Love seeing them on the road. Sound like the PO did a lot to it. You're really gonna have to get under it and check all the mods out. Some people take short cuts that aren't to safe occasionally. The good is most of the problems don't sound all that bad to rectify. Good luck and post pics of her soon.

 

[P93suafilo]

Pics coming soon I promise!! Thanks for the replies they honestly help a ton.

So just to update so far:
Got it back from slc (80 miles of highway) and she did great no complaints. The steering isn't as bad as I previously thought I think I just need to get a steering stabilizer to help with bump steer. I found a small leak in the brake line at the coupler(idk if that's the right term) going to the right tire. I also found the cable for the speedometer I think it was to short so the guy didn't plug it in. Now I just have to figure out how to lengthen that. Also I tried to put it in 4wd but idk if I am doing it right he swapped in a manual transmission so when I think put it in 4hi the front drive shaft isn't spinning but it feels like gears down as if it's in 4lo. I'll take some pics of it later today. Any input is welcome and I'll post pics today if I can.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You might do some poking around, you can do a lot of improvement to a lifted TTB's steering without using a stabilizer/bandaid.

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2008/steering_tech.htm

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/index-wheels.shtml

 

[P93suafilo]

Dont mind my one odd tire haha







what is this strap for? it is bolted to the transfer case.


Here's the tansfer case shifter, i need to figure out how he has it set up so i can acutally use the 4wd. It doesn't follow the pattern on top of the knob

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I'd be curious to know just what transmission was used... seems odd that it's a 4-speed manual unless that's just the knob he used and it really does have o/d. If it's a non-RBV transmission, then that would likely explain why the speedo cable isn't long enough and the transfer case shifter doesn't work right.

 

[P93suafilo]

I'll double check it when I get home tonight. But now you got me thinking. Is there a way to check what kind of transmission and transfercase it is, like a tag or number on it? Where are they most likely found? I was thinking he used all donor stuff from a 93 explorer cause that's where the engine and axles I believe come from.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

If you do a bodylift it will suck the 4wd lever down into the floor like that. You may also run out of travel and need to enlarge the slot in the floor so it will move enough.

There are also two different t-case linkages. Whoever did the swap may have cobbed one to work on another trans/tcase.

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/ManualTransmission.shtml

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103015&highlight=c5+pic+request&page=2

Clean, nice looking rig though

 

[P93suafilo]

85 there is no body lift that's just with it pushed all the way forward. I'll have to get under and take pics and look for markings on both the transmission and the transfer case. But I am curious what he used, if not a rbv transmission.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

85 there is no body lift that's just with it pushed all the way forward. I'll have to get under and take pics and look for markings on both the transmission and the transfer case. But I am curious what he used, if not a rbv transmission.

I think I am seeing spacers between the body mount bushings and the body mounts and the frame is sticking down about enough...

 

[P93suafilo]

Nice spot. I haven't had that much time to tinker around with it. I wonder if the PO did that to help with the 4.0 swap. This afternoon I am finally going to have more time to look into the transfercase, but my question is what kind of things am I looking for? What's the best way to problem solve this?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

If you do a bodylift it will suck the 4wd lever down into the floor like that. You may also run out of travel and need to enlarge the slot in the floor so it will move enough.

There are also two different t-case linkages. Whoever did the swap may have cobbed one to work on another trans/tcase.

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/ManualTransmission.shtml

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103015&highlight=c5+pic+request&page=2

Nice spot. I haven't had that much time to tinker around with it. I wonder if the PO did that to help with the 4.0 swap. This afternoon I am finally going to have more time to look into the transfercase, but my question is what kind of things am I looking for? What's the best way to problem solve this?

There is pics of transmixers in the first link, my guess is it is a TK4 if it really is a 4spd. If so it would use the same shorter 4wd lever that my C5 uses in the second link. Check out the little lever on the t-case also. I recap my 4wd shifter adventure on the last page.

 

[P93suafilo]

I'll get some pics of the linkage tonight if I can... I got a min between classes this morning so I rolled underneath and found these part numbers on the cases.

Transmission:
Ford
F17A
A168044

Transfercase:
Borg Warner R8
13-50-065-903

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

1350 probably means it is a 1350 tcase. I don't know things by number that well.