what do i do ???? v8? help greatly appreciated

[burton]

so i have an 84 b2 and the poor little 2.8 finally crapped out on me. well its got rod knock like a mo fo and a massive oil leek that i have been dealing with for abot a year since i bought it.

so the time has come for me to do a motor swap and my question comes in the form of will my weak 7.5 and dana 28 be able to handle the stress that daily driving and occasional light wheeling cause with a 302 in it?

i really want the 302 because i can keep cost down due to the fact that i can keep it carberated.

or if anyone has any better ideas for me i would love to hear them !!!! i have also been thinkin about putting a 4.0 in it but am scared of the fuel injectionness....


i will be doing this swap on a very small budget


any comment greatly appreciated

 

[mn_smokeater]

heres the tech library links on V8 swaps and 4.0 swaps if you haven't been there already:
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/V8Conversions.html
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/AAInstructions.html

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/4L_Conversion.html
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/4L_Conversion2.htm
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/4-Liter_Conversion_wiring.html
this should help get you started, soon more experienced members should be able to get you a better idea of what it involves in it.

 

[burton]

thank you yes i have read through all those tech articles. its actually where i got the idea from. my main question is about the axles though. the way i hear people talk about them makes me feel like there something that should be under a crv or something. i am scared that im going to do this whole swap and then snap my axle the first time i go to take of the line with a lil gusto

 

[red93terror]

If youre wooried about the 7.5, youre a smart person. Mine flew apart 2 months after i bought my truck. the guy before me put 32s on a 3.73 axle. yea the 3.0 busted a 7.5 so i would say a 5.0 would split it in half

 

[Twizzler09]

Some mustangs with 5.0's had the 7.5" in them, dont count em out that easily.

I'd say the 7.5" would be good in the Ranger for the street/daily driving, but if you wheel it real hard, it may not hold up for long periods.

 

[Mudhound]

Considering how dinky the Dana 28 front end is, I wouldn't consider using 4wd unless I had little to no choice, as the torque from a low horse 302, when run through the transfercase to mulitply it, is going to not play nice, and odds are in favor of the axleshft snapping, most likely at the U-joint, esp. if you are turning. The factory upgraded the front axle to the Dana 35 when the 4.0 is installed for a reason, so a V8 would really twist it.

 

[Totalled]

Mine lasted a year.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

I had a D28 once... in my 89 B2... with a 2.9L...

That's the pinion and half the housing hanging off the end of the driveshaft to the right of the picture. Enough said...

... I also had a D35 once too...

 

[red93terror]

I had a D28 once... in my 89 B2... with a 2.9L...

That's the pinion and half the housing hanging off the end of the driveshaft to the right of the picture. Enough said...

... I also had a D35 once too...

Hey thats what happened to my 7.5

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Hey thats what happened to my 7.5

You blew the housing up? or the spider gears?

I'm assuming the spiders blew. It's very common for a open diff to blow the spiders when one tire is spinning more than the other, under a good load, for a an extended amount of time(ei: mud, burnout). The gears and cross-pin heat up and expand. That causes the gears to lock to the pin, which in turn makes everything go boom.

That said(as not to hijack), I would highly recommend as least a trac-lock, if not a locker.

Also If you end up with an 8.8, their weak point is the carrier, and a locker such as a Detroit, or any that replace the entire carrier, is recommended.