Karl,
I got the email address for you. It should be in a PM.

 

I saw you mention this forum on the 460ford.com site and checked it out, It sounds like we're building the excact same truck. I did the ranger body swap last june. pretty easy there,how are you making out with that, what did you end up doing with your steering. I'm in the process of installing a power rack form a 96 explorer, we made a barcket and mounted it to the axle and used the slip yoke form the explorer, haven't tested it yet though just getting it finished now.
running d44 9" bbf , 35" tires, for mud drags

 

Hey Steve, Welcome to FTE.

Thats a nice looking toy you have there.

 

Yep it will be very similar, except mine is a standard cab long bed. But same principal. I haven't figured the steering out, as I am stilling finishing putting the rest of the drive line in. I basically started from a bare frame and I'm working from there. My rear suspension is really different for a truck, but I've seen it work really well, so I'm setting it up. I am looking to do a manual mustang rack that is mounted to a bracket that I need to make. I'm thinking a halo around the diff cover with stand offs that will bolt up to the rack mounting points. If you can get a pic of how your rack is mounted, it would really help me out to see what all I need.

Oh, and nice truck you got there!! How much lift is in it ro fit the 35's? I'm only going to run a 3" body lift to give good clearance around the 460 and c6, the rest will be in cut out fenders.

 

thanks guys

here's a pic of my mounting bracket, not saying its great or even if its going to work, I would of liked a manual rack to, but I got this one cheap, also got the whole truck, so i got pump, shaft and everything



it has 4" lift coils in the front and it had an add aleaf and small block out back, took out 2 leafs and the block, last year, plan on pulling out more this year, also put in stock coils, to try and get the truck lower but then we lowered the coil buckets to make building new headers easier, I bought a new motor(off of 460ford.com)with A heads so it needs new headers, I bought a hedman weldup kit and we built them ourself. haven't cut any out of the front fenders yet but I will when it needs it, would of liked a regular cab, but this is what I got for free, next year I hope to start again with a regular cab and am going to stay with the ranger frame, lighter and lower CG, I hope.

you can check out more of my pics if you want at Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket
just search for touchngo2,

dont have any pics of the steering shaft yet, but there coming. used the shaft form the 78 f150 frame at the column and the explorer shaft at the rack with a ujoint in the middle attached to the frame with a pill block. again don' t know how its going to work. the explorer shaft has a slip yoke built into it, about 4-5" of travel

Steve

 

why did you choose to go rack and pinion instead of full hydro?

 

money and weight, I got the whole explorer, so I have less the $100 into rack setup, plus I think it will be lighter then hydro by the time you add the electirc pump so you can steer when the motors not running, and an extra battery to run it, also don' t know anything about hydro steering don't know where to start, For awhile I thought I might have to go hydralic, any good sites or posts on here about setting it up from scratch?

 

you dont have to buy the expensive systems......you can build your own system for around 400 or soo......depends on the deal

you can still steer with full hydro steering with the engine off, it depends on the orbital valve, also load reactive to non load reactive orbitals will actually let you feel whats going on in the system, so to speak.....

i understand the money, but full hydro is insanely light, you dont need a electric pump, you use the factory power steering pump. so that means you dont need the extra battery...

go check out the billavista article on pirate
Pirate4x4.Com - Extreme Four Wheel Drive

 

Nick,

Hydro in the offroad world is great, but in the racing world, where this truck an mine will live, hydro sucks down too much power. I'm not going to be runnin an alternator, let alone a power steering pump, whic his why I am going with a manual rack and pinion. Whe the truck isn't moving, it will be a pain to try to turn the tires, but, when it's spinning in the bog, they work great and the whole setup weighs less than a standard box with the tierod/drag link setup.

 

we ran the truck for the first time this weekend and the steering worked fine, no problems, will try and get some more pics up this week of the steering shaft

 

what about a 12v motor running the hydro pump?

-cutts-

 

Cutt's it would still suck up too much power. A freind of mine runs an electric driven hydraulic pump so he has power steering. He uses it just to get the truck moving and out of the pits, but needs to shut if off before he runs as it will suck down the battery really fast with no alternator to keep it charged up. He forgot and left it on during a run last year and by the time he made it to the end of the pit the truck lost power and had a drained battery.

 

that comes back to weight as well, add the electric motor and the extra long lines to mount it in the back and a 2nd battery to run it, I'm not dissing the hydro setup I think it certainly has its place, but I'm running strictly mud drags with hardly any mud, and in my situation I have less the a $100 into the rack setup,

Steve

 

My 2 cent. . .I'd stick with the manual stock gear box from a Ranger. Super light weight and it already fits

Steering in the dirt/mud/grass should be pretty easy. . .when you're mall crawlin' though, you might have trouble pulling into and out of parking spots

 

My problem is I have just the ranger body on a 79 F-150 frame. I'm having a hard time finding a manual box for the 150 that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, which is why I'm just going the manual mustang rack as they are fairly cheep and any drag race shop can get them.