62 F100

[johncharlesb]

Prelubed, it is supposed to get engine oil, but ships dry.


The tab and base alignment is critical. Here is the old one before it comes out.


'Old out, new in. Of course the oil pump drive did not line up and I had to screw with it to get it to drop in exactly as it came out. It would have been fine as long as the base and the tang lined up even if the base is not in the same position, but I wanted the thing exactly like it came out so the harness would be good. I need to change the oil now the gear is broken in and in case anything fell in the distributor hole during the swap.

[SteveG]

Nice. This is getting some cool upgrades.

FoMoCo is the way to go on that part.

[johncharlesb]

Thanks Steve. I would like to emulate your setup in the rear with some 12" short bodies in the stock location with a spare down there too.

Drilled out needle valve nitrogen fitting and tapped for 1/8" npt schrader:




$50 for a pin wrench or a couple of minutes and some scrap off an old boat trailer.


Internal bypass tube with a bypass hole and butterfly valve.



12mm extra long rod ends that I will bore so they sit down the shaft


The spring retainers set screw froze so drilled and I had to take the torch to the seat to get it to slide off the body. Michigan corrosion at work. I was worried as all hell about drilling too far into the shock body, but no damage.


I still need to remove the floating piston and change out the seals.

[johncharlesb]

Out every weekend around southern Michigan for the last three weeks hitting back roads and mellow trails. We were cruising a lot of the state recreation areas










Owls:


Bears:


Turtle

[johncharlesb]

Freedom:

[johncharlesb]

A buddy is a head machinist at a local tier one shop and a bit of an eccentric hoarder. He helped me countersink my rod ends for the shocks. Here are some of his tools in his back shed.

I dragged this back from Pennsylvania. It lived a previous life aboard a naval ship:




That drill press in the middle is top of the line circa 1910:


Leather belt drive:


My rod end with an alignment dowel in it. It is a bit crooked. Buddy Chris was mumbling something about what he would hear if they turned that out of his shop.


Turning here in the vise to better follow the threads.


SHAZAAM!

[johncharlesb]

This happened. This is the backyard. It is probably ten degrees out in the shop right now.



Cold or not, it is hard to do a good job on a dirty truck.


Tire sitting on the floor, probably with an inch or two of droop left.


Here she is up metal on metal with the tire hitting the top of the inner fender. She would have an inch or two more bump if I clearanced the bump bracket where it hits the lower arm, reworked both inner fenders, added glass, and smoothed the firewall.


Without front axles:

[johncharlesb]

The front end will cycle just over ten without axles and around eight with. The axle inner tripod joint will bind on the axle shaft as it comes around during full droop. A tripod joint theoretically cycles up to 26 degrees, vibrating after around 15 degrees. So drive height will be at 15 degrees and cycle will be at the limit of the arms. I have heard that they will pull apart at too far of travel, but with stock arms everything looks good with plunge.

A little dark, but a stock tripod joint cup:


A little bit of easing on the inner surfaces to allow the axle to clear, I had to give it another go as it was still just hitting the axle:


Hear is the axle in and in the truck at about 8 up and 2 down. The joint has plenty of room, but the axle previously would hit on the raised area between the tripods. Now she spins free.


I will do the other side, debur, clean, and reassemble with an additional two inches of travel. Not bad for a little bit of work.

[johncharlesb]

The internal bypass shocks are in, cycled, and did a test run. It is a tight fit to get around the axles, arms, and hvac or brakes with such a long 2.5 shock. I still need a cross brace since the shock towers are so tall.

Everything will have to come back apart for paint. I will use TSC equipment paint thinned with a hardener and roll or brush it on.


At droop the upper arm will hit the frame and the lower shock will just clear that balljoint as it moves closer to the frame. It looks like some things need some paint.





Butternut squash and beet bread I baked:

[johncharlesb]

Currently the underside of the truck is getting painted. The front end is mostly painted. I have been under the truck for two days straight with a power washer, wire brushes, and putty knives knocking off crud.


Some 12" SAW shocks popped up for sale. Two of these will go in the rear on the outside of the frame rail. Most of the parts for the rear are together other than shock mounts and maybe some shackle bushings.

[mounty71]

I'm interested to see how you set the rear shocks up. I have 2.5 12" SAWs outside the frame on my Mountaineer, and even with a Bronco 8.8 there is barely clearance when articulated, and travel is limited to 12". I hope you can figure out a way to make them work well though, I love seeing Explorers built in different ways.

[johncharlesb]

I'm interested to see how you set the rear shocks up. I have 2.5 12" SAWs outside the frame on my Mountaineer, and even with a Bronco 8.8 there is barely clearance when articulated, and travel is limited to 12". I hope you can figure out a way to make them work well though, I love seeing Explorers built in different ways.

I have followed your truck on Dezertrangers and explorerforum and am familiar with your shock and axle setup. You have a nice setup.

With the Eagle wheel 3.25 backspace the truck has 4.5 inches frame to tire cleance and 5" spring to tire on passenger side. The drivers side is 4" at frame and 4.5" at spring. I plan on angling the shock rearward similar to the under-bed setup geometry. The lower mount will be a couple inches behind the spring pad opposite of the factory mount location. Upper mount will bolt to the frame rail just under the floor line. Hopefully, this will keep the shock out of the path of the tire as it articulates inward.

Crossbrace out of 2" with a big notch made out of an inverted piece of 2" to clear the TPS as it rotates up and over while in reverse. I screwed up the paint and will need to repaint...