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welndmn

welndmn

Well Done Man
Joined
May 21, 2020
Member Number
1008
Messages
776
Loc
Concord, CA
I've never followed anything Ranger/B2 well I drug one home the other day.
1990 2.9 5 speed.
Rear hatch handle is broken and full of crap, so I have no idea whats back there yet.
It's got 2" puck lift (drivers side missing the puck in the front) and 31's. It had a winch on it, but was torched off for a cheaper price to me.
Yes, the wheels are that bitchin'
Should I swap in dana 35 /8.8?
I was also thinking a dana 30/44 set from a JK would be nice and cheap.

This will be a daily driver mild trail runner, rear locker and that's about it.
And fender cutting tips? The wheel wells are small and look pretty integrated.
I have 33's on 5 on 5.5 wheels in the yard so with wheel adapters I'd think I have to cut pretty big to get those on.


I'm new to all of this, all I've done is pressure wash it, put a steering box in it and put the explorer starter on it, then the fuel injector(s) started leaking. I didn't have injectors so I had to amazon some.


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Never seen a broken rack in a steering box before
 
The JK axles will be a great fit for what you want to do as long as you don't make the vehicle too fat by bolting extra shit on.
 
For what you are talking about, the time tested Dana 35 and 8.8 swap from a 1st/2nd gen Explorer is the way to go. The Dana 35 is literally bolt-in, and all you have to do is relocate the spring perches and weld some shock mounts on the 8.8 (YJ swap kits work perfectly for this). I never had any issues with these axles running 35s and no doubler; although, I did upgrade from the factory automatic hubs to the Warn "Jeep" hubs (part number is in my thread).

The stock Dana 28 and 7.5 are junk and I wouldn't invest any money in them, but will hold up alright to 31s with open diffs. You may be lucky and already have a Dana 35 front since yours is a 1990, but you need to watch out because Ford was also doing funky things with a hybrid Dana 28/35 around that time (Dana 35 housing with Dana 28 internals).

The drive train aside from the stock GKN CV driveshafts is decent. If you think the 2.9L doesn't make enough power, a 4.0L swap is bolt-in and pretty much plug and play on a 1990.

Most of the aftermarket lift kits are garbage, and even the ones that aren't junk are not that great. James Duff and Sky Jacker were the only mass-production companies making kits that didn't break and/or punch holes in the Dana 35 back in the day. I wouldn't go over 4" lift, and the steering linkage really needs to be addressed if you ever want to run soft springs that ride nice and give you suspension travel. You will also need longer radius arms if you want clean travel, but it is pretty easy to extend the stock ones. If you want to blow tons of money, Solo, Triple Threat, Camburg, and I am sure many others make really nice TTB long travel set ups, but for a trail rig, beam drop brackets will give you better geometry than cut-and-turn beams.

As I alluded above, the stock steering geometry is responsible for 90%+ of the bad rap TTB gets. It causes massive toe change through travel that result in funky tire wear and quirky handling. All of the aftermarket lift kit companies use super stiff springs to mask the crappy steering, but that results in a crappy ride and no suspension travel. The cheapest/easiest fix is to make custom linkage and line up the driver side tie rod pivot with the beam pivot. It is a huge improvement, but you'll still get bump steer. Look up "Stone Crusher" (a company that marketed this style of steering commercially for a brief period) steering for RBVs to learn more, but I'd consider this the 80%+ solution. Some guys modify the Super Lift Super Runner "K-link" suspension or build their own and report decent results, but the arc of the tie rods is still substantially different from the beams (although much better than stock). The 100% solution is a swing set/cross over set up which will eliminate all the geometry problems, but that is a lot more complicated and expensive to build. I personally run the "Stone Crusher" style and it works well enough for me with some XJ springs which are really soft.

For what you are doing, I don't think a solid axle swap is worth while. The JK Dana 44 is pretty comparable to an 8.8 strength-wise but less available (at least here). It is also going to be really wide for just a mild trail rig (~8" wider than stock and 5" wider than Explorer axles). The JK Dana 30 isn't appreciably stronger than a Dana 35 TTB, but it does have better aftermarket support. For a cheap, light weight solid axle swap, I'd use an XJ Dana 30 front and Explorer 8.8" rear. The XJ Dana 30 is high pinion and matches the bolt pattern of the 8.8" and the width reasonably well. The XJ Dana 30s are cheap and widely available here, and this combo has been pretty well proven in XJs and TJs.

I like the size and styling of Bronco IIs better, but you basically have to swap everything from a 1st gen Explorer over to make them a decent trail rig.
 
'84 Bronco II said:
You will also need longer radius arms if you want clean travel, but it is pretty easy to extend the stock ones.
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There is no reason to extend stock arms when '99-04 (and possibly later) 2wd radius arms will bolt right onto the beams. The brackets are or were $40ish online but are not something you couldn't easily copy with a little fab work.
 
arse_sidewards said:
There is no reason to extend stock arms when '99-04 (and possibly later) 2wd radius arms will bolt right onto the beams. The brackets are or were $40ish online but are not something you couldn't easily copy with a little fab work.
Click to expand...
I wasn't aware the Superduty TIB radius arms would bolt up to the Dana 28/35 beams, so that's good to know. Most people just cut the stock arms and sleeve them with DOM like 4x4junkie did here: Make a sticky for Rad arms and such

A few other things I forgot to mention. A solid axle swap is super easy on these if that is the route you choose to go; the only "hard" part is making a track bar bracket on the frame. Also, it is hard to get decent gearing. 5.13s in the axles might be enough if you really are just going to do mild trails, but if you want more, you either need to do a doubler, Atlas, or a complete drivetrain swap.

TheRangerStation.com has a good tech library for all the basic mods and tricks.
 
'84 Bronco II said:
I wasn't aware the Superduty TIB radius arms would bolt up to the Dana 28/35 beams, so that's good to know. Most people just cut the stock arms and sleeve them with DOM like 4x4junkie did here: Make a sticky for Rad arms and such

A few other things I forgot to mention. A solid axle swap is super easy on these if that is the route you choose to go; the only "hard" part is making a track bar bracket on the frame. Also, it is hard to get decent gearing. 5.13s in the axles might be enough if you really are just going to do mild trails, but if you want more, you either need to do a doubler, Atlas, or a complete drivetrain swap.

TheRangerStation.com has a good tech library for all the basic mods and tricks.
Click to expand...
2WD superduty, 4wd F-series and 4WD RBV all use the same spacing. So aftermarket F150 arms also work. F150 arms are slightly longer but not longer enough to be an upgrade and the shock mount is higher so you lose travel. The 2wd Superduty has the shock mount in almost the same place.

I'll take a picture later today since I'm cleaning my garage and they all happen to be kicking around.
 
I started this last year based around an F150 I got from Arse, but alot of the advice seem universal to TTB.

irate4x4.com

TTB Tech Tips?

I didn't find a thread based around TTB. With the truck I just picked up, Im planning to keep the D44. Normally I would pull it and throw a solid up front so I am in new territory here with the ttb. I'm open to anything to improve the front end basic or not. I'm looking at 4" drop brackets...
irate4x4.com irate4x4.com
 
I love TTB, if you could make it work and swap to longer OEM beams that would be sweet.

Are Exploder 8.8's still commonly available? Or did the Jeep crowd and Cash-for-clunkers kill off that supply?

Definitely keep it on 32-33" max. If you have some skinnies that would be perfect, or look at SxS 32x10s if you can keep the rig light enough.
 
I've not seen many explorers in the San Francisco Bay area to get parts from, most of ours got crushed.
I like the idea of a 4.0 swap, but I do live in a SMOG area and dealing with a smog referee for a engine swap does not sound like a good time.

I'm still looking for axles, but yes, I don't plan on doing anything with the stock 28/7.5.

I got it running last night, but an injector is stuck/leaking and the Alt is bad.
I'm trying to talk my self out of the 3g alt that is in my trail spare bag for my early bronco, vs. just going back to the junkyard and getting another 3g alt.

Where do you guys cut the fenders on these? seems I can cut about 1" up from the lip and not have to do any work.
 
welndmn said:
I've not seen many explorers in the San Francisco Bay area to get parts from, most of ours got crushed.
I like the idea of a 4.0 swap, but I do live in a SMOG area and dealing with a smog referee for a engine swap does not sound like a good time.

I'm still looking for axles, but yes, I don't plan on doing anything with the stock 28/7.5.

I got it running last night, but an injector is stuck/leaking and the Alt is bad.
I'm trying to talk my self out of the 3g alt that is in my trail spare bag for my early bronco, vs. just going back to the junkyard and getting another 3g alt.

Where do you guys cut the fenders on these? seems I can cut about 1" up from the lip and not have to do any work.
Click to expand...
Since the 4.0L essentially slots into the 2.9s spot, would they even be able to tell? or are they checking vin numbers and things on motors out there?
 
welndmn said:
I like the idea of a 4.0 swap, but I do live in a SMOG area and dealing with a smog referee for a engine swap does not sound like a good
Click to expand...
Don’t you have a friend who races anything with property in Arnold? Can’t work out a deal to register it there and smog once when you buy it and never again?
 
Yotota said:
Are Exploder 8.8's still commonly available? Or did the Jeep crowd and Cash-for-clunkers kill off that supply?
Click to expand...

There are still plenty of 1st and 2nd gen Explorers to chose from every time I go to the U Pull and Pay in Albuquerque.

welndmn said:
Where do you guys cut the fenders on these? seems I can cut about 1" up from the lip and not have to do any work.
Click to expand...

You have to cut the shit out of them to fit decent size tires. The Bushwacker cut outs worked well for 35s, but they required cutting into the tub in the rear and cutting up the plastic inner fenders. I had to cut a lot more for 37s and at that point it is a complete hack fest. I have some pictures in my thread, although mine is a 1st gen so the front fenders are a bit different. I can take specific pictures if you want. With 32-33" tires and 3-4" of lift you might not need to cut into the tub at the rear.

Toreadorranger said:
Since the 4.0L essentially slots into the 2.9s spot, would they even be able to tell? or are they checking vin numbers and things on motors out there?
Click to expand...

They would have to look pretty close since the bay would look identical to a stock 4.0L 2nd gen Ranger, and since it isn't OBD II, I imagine they wouldn't catch it.
 
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I was googling around, it seems everyone runs the bushwacker flares, does anyone use an early bronco flare like the ones from Wild horses?
 
Do you care much for the flares to be a specific shape or hard plastic? I would spend much money on them, instead I would get the flexible Pacer Performance Flexy flare material and just cut the fenders to whatever shape they need to be. They also sell a precut kit for Rangers that might work.
 
welndmn said:
I was googling around, it seems everyone runs the bushwacker flares, does anyone use an early bronco flare like the ones from Wild horses?
Click to expand...

Ask and ye shall receive :laughing:

I don't know whose rig this is or anything about it, but I saved it about 15 years ago before I started building mine. I am pretty sure those are the Gorilla War flares from Wild Horses. You would have to cut out a ton of sheet metal to run them, but they look better in my opinion than the Bushwacker cut out flares made for Bronco IIs and Rangers.
39279830-EC81-4FD9-81B5-D7A6C1893914.jpeg


However, if you are interested in the Bushwackers, I have a complete set for a 1st gen new in the box I would be happy to get rid of. The rears would work on yours, you would need to buy your own fronts.

What mine looked like for comparison with 4" lift and 35s
D7020664-FDA4-4FCC-B674-7F5A9FBEE75C.jpeg


Here's what 4x4Junkie's 2nd gen looks like with the Pacer flares Yotota mentioned
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reptillikus said:
This thread makes me want to build a BII

I feel like full exploder running gear on 34x10.5 LTBs would be a pretty fun wheeler.
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I think I'll just save myself the hassle and build an Exploder lol... The RBV temptation is always rolling around in the back of my head though.
 
You could also use YJ fender flares. This is my old BII. ttb35/8.8 locked rear on 35s with a doubler and a 4.0 swap. I didn't daily it but I would drive it down the highway no problem. The 2.9 isn't horrible just have to be careful not to over heat it. I would also second getting rid of the auto hubs. You can find a set of manuals at almost any JY and it's a easy swap.

I have since sold it to build a 94 Explorer Sport so essentially it's a Bronco 3.


IMG_2909.JPG
 
For those fab-it-yourself people, the TJ/XJ/ZJ front 30 - TJ Rubi front 44 is a fairly easy swap.

The TJ coils will fit the BII coil buckets on the frame, you gotta build arms and box in the frame where the arms mount.

I posted pics years ago on the old Bii forums, but looks like the old forum is gone.

We ended up pulling it out of the BII and swapped it into a Ranger for a friend.

Kyle-Ranger-4.jpeg
 
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Opiebennett said:
Don’t you have a friend who races anything with property in Arnold? Can’t work out a deal to register it there and smog once when you buy it and never again?
Click to expand...
I see what you did there….😂

And that 1uglyranger guy is a jackass. He also didn’t come over to this board as far as I know.
 
That thing can/will kick ass with a set of 33's and a locker in the rear.

Check my cheap ranger build thread on the old P site

As said it might already have a D35 TTB, my buddy's '90 B2 had one stock. If thats the case explorer 8.8 rear with a locker and you're set.

Later 2.9 should have the better heads.

I've gone through CA smog 3 times with an OHV 4.0 in an originally 2.9 ranger. My buddy did the same with his B2. Make the swap look 100% factory and don't say a word.

Couple pics of my friends just cause it is awesome

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This weekend I drug home a full width 44/9 inch and a 205 from a 78-79 Bronco. I have a good lead on a B2 to put them under.

What are people doing for rear springs? Will 63" chevy's fit? How far can the axle be pushed back with the fuel tank in the stock location?
 
arse_sidewards said:
Common swap. Move front leaf hanger forward. Leave rear stock or flip and lower if going to tension shackle.


Like none if you want to keep any of the stock sheetmetal.
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I'm more concerned with a little extra wheel base than I am with the sheet metal.
 
I'm still plugging away here, the injectors leaked, so I swapped in some of the explorer 4 hole injectors I had on the shelf, at the same time I put intake and valve cover gaskets on it because they leaked.

I gutted the interior for a good cleaning, the seats came out great, this poor B2 was dirty, but I think the dirt helped protect it all too.

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