wow, that looks awesome... if i were you i would go pick it up right now man. good find! i love the way it sits

 

Good Buy. You got that for a steal. Truck looks awesome. Get some pics of yor own up.

 

Ill get some pics up after I get the front suspension and rock sliders done. I got new rear brake pads put on tonight. I also took out the aluminum lift blocks and shims and installed some steel ones. While I was doing that a buddy put in the new power door lock switch for me. After work today I went by the Ford place and picked up the EGR tube (and the door lock switch) and spent freaking 90 bucks on that stuff. Then I had to go by a new DPFE sensor, which cost me 80 bucks. The bad news is that I think the EGR valve is plugged up in a non repairable way, so ill probably have to get one of those as well, along with the plug for the DPFE because I think the guy cut the plug off of the harness because I can't find th plug anywhere near where it should be. Oh well, it should pass emissions once I get this bug worked out, hopefully on Wednesday.

 

Welp, time for another update, if anybody wants to hear. Got all the EGR figured out. The engine may be from a 98 (not sure) but the upper an lower intakes and all the wiring harness and computer is from a 96. This is kinda good news. The 96 has an integral EGR system, which means that there is no external tubes for the EGR, it is all done through passages in the intake. Also, the 96's have an EGR position sensor instead of the DPFE. So, I didn't need either the tube or the sensor. I took all of that stuff back, and got a new position sensor, and EGR control solenoid from Ford, along with a new EGR Valve from O'Reilly's. I found out that the old EGR valve was stuck, so I installed the new one (a $120 part!!!) and cleared the codes, drove it around and still got an EGR code. Well, I changed the position sensor out and while doing so noticed that the Vacuum tube had been knocked off. I was unsure if it happened during the install of the new valve or the removal of the sensor, so I went ahead and installed the new sensor anyway. That got that fixed. Well, I was also getting an O2 code, so I replaced the bank 2 sensor #1, and fixed that problem. Now there are no Trouble codes :)! I was also able to replace the pass window motor and got that working as well. Now that I got all of the emissions and door stuff figured out, it is time to start fixing up the other things I want to change. I ordered a new set of 35" BFG Mud Terrain KM2s yesterday to go on my new Mickey Thompson Classic 2 wheels. And today I ordered the Auburn ECTED lockers for the front and rear, and a set of 4.56 gears for the high pinion Dana 30 front (forgot to mention we found out the ratio in the 8.8 when we did the rear brakes). I will be picking up that axle this Saturday in Atlanta. Tomorrow I may remove the HUGE speaker box and the 2 12"JL subs, and build 2 smaller boxes for my 10" Infinitys that I had in my other truck. I loved the sound system in it and it was a lot more space conserving, where as this one wastes the entire back seat area.

By the way, the current wheels and tires, Subs, JBA Headers (from the old 3.0), and the Fabtech lift (also for the other truck) are in the Chattanooga Craigslist if anybody is interested in any of that stuff.

Anyway, thats where I stand now, hopefully in a few more weeks the front axle swap will be done, along with gears and lockers. I'm Pumped!

 

I wanna see, the autotrader ad is gone! Pics please!!

 

yeah never got to see it, but it sounds sweet. Going to be a nice truck when yer done

 

We want pics! :-) Pleeeease?!? Sounds kickass, and you are already on the way to building it up to.. those 35" KM2's are going to be kickass!

 

So, I said I would wait until I was done with it, but that may be a while, as in a few weeks at best. I took the truck wheeling on New Years and was able to snag a few shots for you guys. Unfortunately, after getting up there, I realized that there is a major problem inside the front differential and the 4wd doesn't work all the time, I checked it before we went, but I think the spider gears are broken. Sometimes it will lock up, and sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes it makes very bad noises... Oh well, already got the Dana 30 at home, and the parts to put it in are ordered. Well, enough chit chat, here are the pics.

 

Nice truck.

 

Wow that truck is, well awesome. I'm guessing those tires in the bed are yours. Can't wait to see those on.

 

No, those tires in the back are a set of 37" Super Swamper IROKs. In one of the ppics you can slighly see the grill and headlight of a silver flatfender jeep, they were going on it for our ride. I had to haul them because the jeep wont fit on his trailer with the big tires on it. I like my new tires better anyway lol.

 

Looks good

 

damn that truck is nice, the engine is super clean someone put alot of work into it nice find... im jealous haha

 

Thanks guys, itskinda funny, when I show people under the hood, They usually say something like "Damn! I didn't know Ford put the 5.0 in these little trucks! I just say, "Its part of the SVT Package" lol.

 

Ok, well, I was able to do some more work on the truck over the past weekend, so time for another update. Thursday night when I go home from work, I tore down the front Dana 30 so that I could install the Auburn ECTED locker and 4.56 gears.





Then, on Friday night, I tore down the rear 8.8, and installed the ECTED in it as well. Sorry, due to oily hands and the lack of lighting, I was unable to get pictures of that. Then, of course, I had to do all of the wiring for the Lockers and the Hella lights that I also added on Thursday night, so I spent literally all day Saturday working on that. I didn't want to use aftermarket switches because, well, I prefer the factory style look of the interior. Here's what I came up with:



This is out of a 4x4 explorer. I repainted it, and did some serious yet very subtle modifications to it. Since my truck has "push-button" 4x in the consol, I wanted to use the Explorer's 4x4 switch to activate the lockers. The first spot being "off", the second spot being "rear locker" and the third spot being "both lockers." Well, Ford didn't design the switch like that, so after a couple of hours of tinkering with it, a soldering iron, and some small gauge wire, the switch now functions like I need it to. Unfortunately, the only way I could make it work was to use 3 different relays to power the lockers, but it works great so no big deal. Also, the Explorer had a spot for the rear wiper control, which was in the hole on the top right. Not any more. I took that out and made some slight modifications so that another power outlet (cigarette lighter) could be added in its place. Finally, the Explorer had rear defrost right under the rear wiper control, right above the fog light switch. Well, took that out too, and again modified the switch bracket to accept another fog light switch, One for the Hellas, and one for the rock lights. I mounted relays underneath the center console and wired it so that the LEDs light up when the switches are activated. Then I had to actually make the wiring harness for inside the truck.



It doesn't look like much, but believe me, the wiring for this is actually quite complex.

Well, that's all for this section. I was able to finish all the wring on Saturday, so on Sunday morning I headed up to a buddy's shop to start the solid axle swap. Go hear to see the details on that:

https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...95#post1170195

 

Lets hope you have better luck with that D30 then me and my friends have in the past.

 

Very cool project. Keep us updated as you get the bugs worked out.

 

Well, The reason I used it was because it is as close to bolt in as you will ever get. I would have loved to got a Dana 44 out of a rubicon, but you have a fat asses chance in the olympics of finding one of them for a decent price. I generally build Jeeps, but this is my first 4x4 Ranger. However, a lot of my buddies are still running Dana 30's, (yes, on 35's) and have had great success. Yes they do break from time to time, But if you upgrade the shafts to alloy's and some good U-joints then they hold up just fine. "Well, its different, you got a V8 in that thing." (I get this sometimes) Big friggin deal, it makes a whopping 215 HP! Not anymore than a tuned 4 liter. Im not arguing against your opinions, because I somewhat agree, but due to some circumstances, its what Im using, at least for now... Whatever I end up doing, the truck must stay 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern, which you all agree limits my options.

 

Well, I just got finished reading all of this again. Its amazing at how our trucks grow and evolve over the time we own them. I am astonished at how much my truck has changed, and at how much better it looks now than when I got it. I have been driving and wheeling the truck for some time now, and I am actually very impressed with how it performs. To this day (several hard wheeling trips later) I have yet to break and hard parts in the Dana 30. It is holding up quite nicely. Unfortunately, the ECTEDs are absolute ****. Sorry for the language, but junk just doesn't do them justice. They are fine as far as strength goes, but once the clutches get worn in, they stop locking. They will get tighter when activated, but at best they are a tight Posi. Actually, when unlocked, they now behave as open diffs, not posis like they are supposed to. Good news is that I have a buddy that works at 4 wheel parts in Atlanta, and he is going to help me out a bit. I plan on exchanging the POS ECTEDs for something, well Austrailian, and I don't mean Aussies. Yep, thats right, going to ARBs baby! The only thing I wll have to change is adding another circuit for the compressor, and of course, I will have to find somewhere to mount it, but that shouldn't be a big deal. The rest of my current wiring/switches wil work to activate the air solenoids to lock the lockers.

I really hate to do it, its going to be a lot of work having to tear apart the axles again and all, but I won't have to change anything as far as gear setup. I will just have to check the backlash and adjust as necessary to get it back where it was. It is an aggrivation, I wish I woulve had an extra $500 when I bought the lockers because I wouldve went that route to begin with, but you live and learn I guess. Above all, the biggest reason for the change is principle I guess. I paid $620 each for these lockers, and they don't work. I could have installed factory posis (the rear already had one) and been just as good for less money. Basically, I didn't spend all that money to get crap. I paid for good stuff, I want good stuff. So now its time to spend a little more, and get what I paid for.

 

i envy you, you got a 5.0 for less than what my 03 2.3 2wd cost

 

thats a damn nice truck. i like how you set up the lockers as well. very nice.

 

ive seen tylers truck....do amazing things. including pull my dumb butt out of a deep hole lol opps