Ultra cheap offroad race Explorer turned rock crawler

[Shran]

Rock sliders are mounted and done except for a quick coat of paint. I also ran breather tubes for the diffs, added a couple recovery hooks on the front, and put a new winch rope on. My to do list is getting very short.

 

[ryan]

I'm at the part in this project where I feel like I'm starting to half ass stuff.

Man, I feel that

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Man, I feel that

I am pumping the brakes on that urge too...

 

[Shran]

I used a rubber hose from an air mattress pump for the rear axle breather tube and one from a sink sprayer on the front. Tonight I am going to look at welding together at least two stock skid plates and reinforce them to make one that will sit under the t-case and won't collapse. I think starting with a rig that was pretty rough has successfully tempted me into using stuff that I otherwise wouldn't have.

I'm really just ready to wheel this thing. I'm tired of buying metal, very close to being tired of welding on it. I've gone through two 10lb spools of wire and two gas cylinders. My bill at the steel supply place this month alone was over $500. Good thing I have not kept very many of the receipts from this build.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I used a rubber hose from an air mattress pump for the rear axle breather tube and one from a sink sprayer on the front. Tonight I am going to look at welding together at least two stock skid plates and reinforce them to make one that will sit under the t-case and won't collapse. I think starting with a rig that was pretty rough has successfully tempted me into using stuff that I otherwise wouldn't have.

I'm really just ready to wheel this thing. I'm tired of buying metal, very close to being tired of welding on it. I've gone through two 10lb spools of wire and two gas cylinders. My bill at the steel supply place this month alone was over $500. Good thing I have not kept very many of the receipts from this build.

At least it looks different though.

I worked on mine for three hours last night to reroute two wires.

 

[Shran]

Small things in progress:

Rear skid plate is about half done. I have a bit more welding on the inside and will be reinforcing it with a couple pieces of angle iron. I think that should be fine. I used two factory skid plates and a piece of 3/16" for the rear part. It's not pretty but I don't want to go overboard building a nice one that I have to redo if I end up putting a doubler in this rig. Planning on picking up a piece of 1/4" plate for the front skid plate tomorrow. That one should be easier, no crazy bends and stuff, mainly just flat.

I got my tool boxes mounted last night too. I was going to build a metal frame so that these would be turned 90 degrees and up against the seat but that's a lot of work and I'd have to buy more metal. It also affected my visibility out the back because they'd sit about 7" higher. So instead I riveted packout plates to the floor. Still a lot of room for other stuff so I am pretty pleased with it.

 

[Shran]

Skid plates are done. The front one was pretty easy to build.

 

[SenorNoob]

I like the way you used the factory skid plates for the bulk of the material.

 

[Shran]

I like the way you used the factory skid plates for the bulk of the material.

I have a whole bunch of them so I figured why not, they are kinda useless for anything else. I reinforced the inside of that one with 3/4 angle iron too.

 

[Shran]

I went out for the season opener with the Toyota club on Saturday. We ran one of the medium difficulty trails. Just about any rig on 33's or larger with a locker can do the easier lines. I have run it a million times in the Ranger, it's definitely my favorite trail in the area.

The Explorer is a HUGE upgrade even with just a limited slip in the front. Wheel travel in the front is just incredible. I clearanced the yokes on the front pinion and t-case plus several spots on the driveshaft and I basically have full droop in the shocks with no bind. This truck just stays planted on the ground and is way easier to control over technical stuff.

It is a lot to get used to, since it's on full widths the tires are in different places and that made my lines much different. VERY happy with it, can't wait to take it out again after a few minor changes/fixes.

 

[Shran]

Since my test run was very successful, I decided that I need to start a new to-do list for this build, so I burned the old one for good luck last night. The new one is MUCH shorter. Looking forward to this next phase of the build!

 

[Shran]

lEtS gO wHeElInG tHiS wEeKeNd..........Yeah OK let me throw my RCVs in real quick.

Real quick process:
- Passenger side spindle on the Ranger is bunged up, the tab on the washer failed and trashed the threads. Found that while removing the RCV assembly from that side
- New longer RCV inner won't fit in my full width D44 for some reason, seems like it's 1/2" too long
- Driver side axle tube on the Explorer is full of mud and schmoo. Great. No good way to pull that out & clean it, really needs to go IN...
- Pulled the diff cover, first thing I see is broken springs in the limited slip staring me in the face
- Might as well replace the axle seals too since now I have the carrier out and one was leaking which is why the d/s axle tube was a mess.

So I didn't go wheeling last weekend, the whole front axle is blown apart across the shop floor and I'm waiting on parts and tech support, and two more rigs are immobilized at my house. Way she goes I guess

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Maybe your backup needs a backup?