sweet as candy Bob! i wish you lived closer!

 

Very nice indeed. Your truck makes me jealous.

 

Awsome dude. Looks like all your hard work is paying off. Can't wait to see what it can do!

 

Bob, you know we will will need a fall meet again...

cant wait to see it in person.

plus you know i need to pick your brain some more

 

Can I be next Bob? It looks great!

 

hey bob, i'm not sure if it's been brought up already in this thread or not, but what are your plans for out back? you gonna stay with the rearend you got right now?

you thought about getting a custom setup that will better handle the torque?

 

The 8.8 comes behind the 302 from the factory I'm pretty sure. The 31 spline axle should be alright. And the full-carrier Torsen unit should hold up pretty well too I think.

 

I agree. The 31-spline Level II axle is basically a narrowed version of the F150 axle used behind the 300, 302 and 351.

The weakest point in the drivetrain has to be the front end, specifically the half shafts. Although they are the virtually the same as those on the 302 Explorer, the Ex V8 didn't have a low range in the transfer case. The F150 case I'm using has 2.67:1 torque multiplication and the stock Ex V8 is rated at 50 lb-ft more than the Ranger 4.0L. That means that discretion must be used when operating in low range to reduce the likelihood of half shaft failure.

 

 

Discretion = SAS

I wanna see how factory Bob can make an SAS look onto this beast!

-TJ

 

NO! Bob's truck is way too nice for SAS...

You have to see his truck in person to really appreciate all the work he has put into it!

 

even though i haven't seen it in person, it is too nice for a SAS...

 

If that really is the case I will be excited to see how he improves those half shafts in the front.

You know it will happen.

 

When "OEM Bob" is finished with the V8 swap, he ought to drive his Ranger over to Dearborn and show the Ford suits what could have been...

 

The half shafts are already the weakpoint on the Ranger drivetrain, lol.

 

on altered suspension trucks they are, but if the CVs are in the stock position and taken care of i dont think they are that weak...

i mean how many people break them with stock tires and stock height?

 

So when is this coming?

 

the low range issue was the point i was trying to make...of course i'm also taking into consideration how I drive...i could gut that rearend in my driveway...so i guess for my purposes i'd be money ahead investing in the dynatrac...but our offroad styles probably differ considerably...so best of luck to you with that rearend...

 

I love it how you can take something as simple as "I will need to be careful in 4-Low" and make it sound super technical... lol

I need to find some way for work to send me to Detroit so I can see this thing in person... and meet the man behind it...hmmm

 

you and me bud, haha.

can't wait to see the thing run.

 

have them send you to the ford plant in michigan or the jeep plant in toledo, ohio (bout 1.5 hrs south of detriot)

 

I finally got PATS to cooperate a little while ago and fired it up! It made all the right sounds and everything was working - engine, transmission, transfer case, 4x4 lights, trip computer.

Thinking that I'd hop in and take it around the block, I left it idling and went to get a gas can. As I walked back, I saw a layer of pink fluid forming on top of the green antifreeze in the recovery tank. I'm not positive what this means yet but my first thought is that the transmission heat exchanger is leaking internally into the radiator.

No ride for me just yet. Waiting for it to cool down to investigate....

 

Well that sucks, you'll have it figured out and fixed in no time i am sure

 

sick it runs.

Congradulations Boob!

 

Don't worry about that, that just money juice from a sexy install.