I bought an aftermarket clutch spring compressor. I like the idea of the cover retainer. My hands may not be as good as yours, lol.

It IS a weird combination of tools for sure. Wasn't much money for it though so I'll take it. The locating pins are useful for assembly.

I wish it had the pump centering tool though. That would have been a real plus.

 

Just another reason to love the o' manual transmission!!!!

Nice work on the SAS, read your cardomain page don't know if that is the latest or not, looked good. It never goes as planned and its always more work and time than one thinks. Guess thats why i'll keep the front locker and 33 boggers going until I just can't take it any more. Plus with my baby boy (2.4 years old now) it's all about spending time with him instead of the truck.

Nice to see the truck on the road!!!! Awesome work and shows one can make a 2wd truck a 4wd. Can't wait to hear and see all the new trails you try now!!! Take care.

 

Adrian! Long time to talk to, Amigo!

It's almost there. The latest is just some clean up work, some fabbing of new draglink/tie rod stuff using heavy DOM and so forth. T-case is ready, though I didn't build the final control system yet. I don't want Ford's controller so I designed my own simple one that can override certain failures and force the t-case to different postions as long as the motor still works.

I'm really, really ready to be somewhat "done", lol. I have the advantage of having just one kid left at home and she's 16 and somewhat more "self-sufficient" which leaves me more -- though not enough -- time to work.

Weather's the big factor: I work on this all in the driveway, lol.

Glad to hear you're still wheeling! For me a front locker is coming sometime. An open front axle is better than a non-driven front axle though, lol -- so it'll still be a step up. I just did some work on the rear locker and it's in pretty good shape now. I had a bad center pin but Auburn replace it for free.

 

John it has been a long time but glad to see an o' (not old!!) wise guy still on the board and still giving detailed answers and updating your website with all the great knowledge you've learned and experienced.

Again, i look forward to coming back to the site and seeing some wheeling pictures of your 2wd truck that was once the model for one touch up/down windows, climate control, key pad entry, ohc, led dash lights, etc etc, all those EE things to now the model truck for both 2wd to 4wd and IFS to SAS, you should've been and ME instead of an EE. You never seem to amaze me! And than to top it off it's all done in the drive way in ice cold PA!

"Self-sufficient" I got a long way before that happens but until than i'll enjoy my dependent boy and all the fun and toy trucks we can handle until we built our own SAS ranger.

As for the wheeling part, I've still got the equipment but made the ranger a tow truck instead of a play truck. If you remember i purchased a 19ft camper trailer last year so the truck now only comes out to pull the ~4000lbs trailer so we can go camping. And in addition to that my father-in-law give my wife and i a 1962 ford econoline pick-up, cutiest little thing you've ever seen. We've been getting road read for just over a year now and finally this week I drove it in to work. Nothing beats no power steering, 3-speed on the colum, 4-drum brake, no power brakes, and 144cu in with 73hp. It is a fun to drive and gets many looks i'll have to post some pictures sometime soon.

Well take care John and if you remember send me an email or pm when you get some wheeling pictures, i would love to see that.

 

I love those things and there's too few of them left. Like the Jeep "forward control" trucks and what not. Definitely a cool design.

Well, if you'll forgive the the patrician tone: you're a young man yet so there will be time for wheeling. Heck, I didn't even get into it until my late 40's, lol. It's something you can always come back to. I was always impressed with the way you finessed your IFS Ranger up rocks and all. I used to enjoy your photo postings as well. We wheel some very different terrain, lol.

Pics should start being around sometime here in April I hope. Just a few things to do if I have time. There's a Wharton meet on the 26th of April I want to wheel and I'm aiming to be ready for that.

ME, EE -- it's all about the "method" to some extent. You do your homework and then you do the work and "pay your dues". I've had lots of mistaken assumptions and missteps along the way, lol.

I'll never be a real ME, or even a "modern" EE these days -- I spend way too much time programming and not enough designing hardware anymore, lol. I'm a previous generation and I'll be supervising the "current" generation more as the years go by -- but I'll keep my hand in.

Thanks for your always kind words though, and my blessings for you and your growing family!

 

can some one make a how to on how to flush the tranny in 4x4 and 4x2 trannys manual and auto.. there needs to be more how tos on maintinence.

 

The tranny in my ranger has 270k on it lemme know when you get there lol Proper maintence on a ranger based tranny is essential!!! AND run a huge cooler to keep it cool!

 

35" boggers 4.0 heavy right foot you could say that

thats why my next tranny will be a c5 Based of the c4 v8 tranny

 

Was that YOUR tranny, Earl? Sorry if I was insulting with that comment. I thought it was just one you had laying around.

Thanks again for the donation though! I have my tranny out and in the basement and I start the rebuild tomorrow.

 

No insult taken i buy used junk trannies and destroy them till i get my doubler and c5 i always have at least on laying around