Newbie's first tech question: Beach sanddunes set-up

bower100 · Post by **bower100** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 7:42 pm

Actually, I got my first tech question in over in the Chit-Chat section in my intro .... lifters tapping/oil pressure issue.

Anyhow, I want to use my bII out in the super soft beach sand. The stock 205x75-15 on 5.5" rims are going. I got four 15x 7 early '90's Explorer rims that came with 235x75's on them. I want to fit 265x75's... very close to 31x10.5's but only 4 plies... so mayby they might "squat" wider when deflated to 15-20 psi. Opinions please.

Thinking I need a min. of 3" of lift, I could buy a body lift kit but fabbing up 10 body spacers using stainless pipe capped off at both ends would be so easy at work, but I can only guess what else's is in the kit.

What size are the ten new body spacer bolts... any guesses? .... 3/8" or 1/2" dia.? 7" long enough?( Yeah, I know their 3" longer than stock.

) Are they all the same size?

The steering shaft extension they sell would be the toughest to duplicate.. Does it attach at the top flex joint or bottom, (at the steering box)? How much does it add to the length of the stock bII shaft? Anyone care to take a photo of theirs?

Wonder if it's hardened or just mild steel. Has anyone ever just cut and lengthened their stock bII shaft?

Also, what else would I need ? (The bumper brackets don't come with the kit I saw at Perf. Acces. , so likely I'd be making them anyhow).

Is the radiator lowered with brackets and if so, what do they look like? Just flat plates?

Kit info indicates the automatic tranny linkage won't need any alterations.

What else? Gastank hose? Heater hoses? Any "now too short" wire issues? Am I forgetting anything? Oh yeah, the emerg brake cable.... I can fix whatevers screwed-up there.

Hey, I know I'm asking a lot of specific questions so thanks for your opinions !! Dave.

mccutcheon4 · Post by **mccutcheon4** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:51 pm

Bower100, I'm watching your post closely, I have the same questions.
I didn't even think about the radiator, but it seems like longer hoses would be the logical solution for that issue. You mentioned the automatic trans link was no problem, which made me realize I may need to extend the hydraulic line from the master cylinder to the clutch slave cylinder. One step at a time.

TC · Post by TC » Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:47 pm

As far as tires go, you want as close to 4" difference as possible. So 7" rims with 10.5" tires is just about right. This allows low tire pressure and still be able to keep a bead.
As far as the body lift. I got a cheap 3" one from JC Whitney for $100. Just longer bolts and the steering extender. Unfortunately I don't remember how long the bolts were and my friend did my steering while I was playing with the bolts, so I didn't even see what was going on. The only thing that was restricting was my rear tail light wiring pulled at the rear bumper, and I didn't buy new bushings because I was in a hurry. Other than that, we did it all in about 2 hours. I still look at my crappy bushings and hate it. Everything else flexed and was okay. Just keep an eye on the fluids after / during some wheeling.

bower100 · Post by **bower100** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 6:18 pm

mccutcheon4:

I've heard the 2.9 motors heads are prone to cracking and any overheating would just invite that to happen even more. That said, I'd rather keep that fan dead center of the radiator and the shroud intact. I did look at the rad's lower supports ... they are brackets welded to the frames front cross member... would have to be cut off and lowering Z-shaped clips made-up... (IMO).

TC
: I was at JCWhitneys website and saw the 3' body kit. It was a Performance Accessories kit... supposed to be good (AND COMPLETE). Did'nt it come with anything else? Like radiator lowering stuff?

Your front/rear bumpers are still mounted on the frame? I guess the gap between them and the raised body does'nt look to bad/ dave

TC · Post by TC » Thu Apr 06, 2006 9:26 pm

They give you a long piece of rubber that looks like a big hot wheels race track. It's flexible and you can screw it in to block the gap and you don't really see it. But the space between the bumper and body does look a little funny. But not as good as bigger tires. In two weeks I am remounting my radiator (V8 conversion) and designing/welding my own front bumper and brush guard... So then I can make it kind of high and fill the strange gap a little bit.
That being said, my radiator is attached to my body (84). The lift just pulls the frame up. But if yours is on the frame... I don't think that you'll have to worry much.
I mean, in reality, your fan doesn't cool your engine as much as it pulls cool air through the radiator. So, keep your shroud and fan intact and cooling should be virtually the same. Just keep an eye on your temp guage... I'm sure that you'll find there is no change with the body lift.

Your radiator should be attached to your frame.
So, no, no radiator lowering stuff.

ranger5.0 · Post by **ranger5.0** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:13 pm

I found that the shmitty-built bumpers almost made it look good with a body lift. Take some aluminum and cover the rear frame so they don't see the tailight wirin harness and other hardware. I also routed my exhaust to bend up with the frame and then you can stuff it three inches higher. If you take hard hits, which I sure you will in the sand, 31's will still hit the steel of the rear off the fender well . Get ready to change the rag joint in your steering, the body lift puts a good angle on it and they where out pretty fast.

Happy_Jack · Post by **Happy_Jack** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:47 pm

Sand is the same for you walkin/running as it is for your truck. It eats power. Either regear or stay with as close to stock tires as you can. 4 ply tires with closer to street tread has done better for me with stock engines. If you want to go with much bigger and wider tires with aggressive patterns you need a lot of power and gear to pull them. When I run in sand at the dunes I run 12lbs front and 10lbs rear. Now this will get you around really well but don't try to take fast corners or you'll stuff sand up in the bead and have a flat. A few flats and you'll bet a feel for it.

The steering extension is up by the flex joint. There is a bolt that holds a clamp on and thats where it goes.

The body bolts are metric. The problem with making your own lift is that the bolts I have found in the hardware store do not have long enough threads. There are at least three different bolts. #1 up by the radiator. #2, #3 and maybe #4 (not sure on this). And #5 at the very back. #1 bolt needs to be almost completely threaded the whole lenth.

Fan shroud mounts to the radiator. Radiator mounts to the body. That was in the 89, 84 and 88 BII's that I have owned. So you can either move the whole shroud down 3" or cut it apart and put it back together to fit.

The gas filler hose should have enough adjustment in it. Just loosen the clamps on both ends. The e-brake should have enough adjustment also but you may need a little work with it with the 3" lift.

Most wires will have enough room but you may need to loosen a bit. Brake lines will take a bit of bending but will be fine. Heater hoses should be fine.

I do not know of anyone who makes bumper brackets for the BII. Used to be some folks that made bumpers that were built for stock, 2" and 3" body lifts.

LMC truck sells new sleeves for possition #1, #2, #3. I have not found sleeves that can be bought new for possition #4 and #5.

To do a good install I would change the body mounts and sleeves(that were bad). As all the ones I have run into were in bad shape. But this is going to cost almost as much as it would to pick up a decent 3-4" suspension lift.

Body lifts are great to make room for non stock drive train. They are great when you want lots of lift and combine them with a suspension lift. I would not put one on a 20 year old truck with 20 year old suspension and body mounts. Not with out up grading body mounts, spring bushings, and would prefer new firmer springs.

Now thats my flavor of icecream. Others will like different flavors than I do. Not trying to say mine is the best or others are bad. Just thats my flavor is all.

Here is a link with some pic's for a newer Ranger install. http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_li ... t_lift.htm

bower100 · Post by **bower100** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 9:52 pm

Happy Jack:

I was thinking if the BII has trouble pulling in high range in the deep sand I would just shift into low range. I'm not looking to go high speed out there... the beach is patrolled by park rangers anyway.
I'm just trying to reduce the chance of getting stuck.

If I do decide to re-gear.... are these parts redily available? ... and what ratio do most folks find appropriate for a 31" tire?
Don't know jack about differentials, so whats involved in a re-gear? Just open up the thing and change out one gear or is ther more to it? Dave.

Happy_Jack · Post by **Happy_Jack** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 7:55 am

But the sand works your truck harder in low range also.

My first BII was an 89 with an A4LD. I put leveling coils on the front and coil spacers for a cheap 2" lift and a long add-a-leaf in the rear and ran 30X9.50 BFG's. Went on a trip with the stock 3.73 gears and was getting really bad gas milage. Came back and had 4.11's installed and the next trip out to Utah it made 20mpg avarage for the whole trip including the wheeling.

This was that truck: http://www.mappyjack.com/hitr.html

It ran really well and ate up the trails. But there was a place or two I could have used a lower low range. And the front Dana 28 has really small axles and I broke one on Radical Hill in Colorado.
I was running a Lock Right in the front and an Auburn in the rear.

So what I'm trying to say is:

1. Gears are important. Stay with corrected ratio's for the new tire size you are going to run. Look on your truck door sticker for the axle code for your stock gear ratio. And stock tire size. Use that info to determine your new gear ratio here: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_li ... hange.html

2. The front Dana 28 is a week part of the little BII. The taller the tire the easier the front axle will fail. Now 31's aren't that bad and if you leave the front open and don't lock it and just do very light wheeling it should last a while. But if you have plans to do more difficult off roading or put a locker in the front differential I would recomend upgrading to a Dana 35 front axle. No use in spending money on that week Dana 28 if your going to replace it down the road anyway.

Now the sand I used to run in was at Little Saharah state park in Oklahoma. Did a bit of sand draging down on the Canadian River in TX. Those places have some very steep hills to climb and really soft sand. Again the bigger tire you put on the more horse power you need to pull them. So you can over tire really easy and just dig holes and not climb well. Stock street tread seems to work really well for stock trucks.

If you are just going to drive up and down the flat beach then you will be fine. But if you plan to drive some of the rougher sections you will soon find out what I'm trying to say.

Many of the old 4 cylinder Rangers had 4.11's in them stock. So you could look for some used parts from one of them if you go with 4.11's. The front would just involve changing out the front pumpkin. The rear housings are different though. So you'd need to have a set of gears installed. You could get by with that but 4.56's would be the way to go I think. Wish they made 4.30 for 31's but you'll really like the lower 4.56's. If your tranny has an overdrive it should do really well on the highway also. If not and you do highway driving then stay with 4.11's.

I pay someone to set up my gears as I drive 900 miles to Utah to wheel. But I can change out the front pumpkin (third member). If you have some one who has taken the front end apart before to help and tools and a place to work on it then do so. Even if you are taking the pumpkin to someone to install the new gears. Then you can service the front axle and save some $$$'s while learing about your truck.

ranger5.0 · Post by **ranger5.0** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 7:53 pm

I liked the 4:11's and 31 combo. The toyota's couldn't touch me in ocean shores. I found that I could air down and get around in 2 wheel high range pretty good. Most times no more than 2nd gear(50mph). The big hill climbs I used 4-wheel if i couldn't make it. You want some sort of ability to maintain momentum. These rigs have heavy front ends cause of the ttb and they like to nose dive. Most of my testing was at Moses Lake, with one trip to Sand Lakes Oregon.