95 S10 4.8/4l60e

[Dasfinc]

so full weight, your .08 faster than me?! ok

I think tony just wants the fun factor w/a V8 in a small truck, who wouldn't?

There is just something grin-inducing about driving a small-ass truck with a healthy V-8 at the nose. I haven't driven my orange truck in over a week until last night, and its such a bizarre feeling going from my explorer to the orange truck sensation wise (Same interior, totally different animal kind of thing).

lets stop tearing his thread apart here shall we?

I'm already trying to get it back on track like 5 posts ago , Someone made a little jab at me, so I offered a race

I'm just curious if he has any goals in mind, or long term plans for it. (Boost?)

 

[LSx S10]

Haha just giving you shit das. You know I'm a big fan of your build, any mini truck with a V8 is badass in my book. And I would have done the same thing if I was that close to a 13.xx run. Maybe we can get in a race before you tear your truck down. As far as my expectations, honestly I would be happy if I hit anything in the 14's. I would love a 13.9 pass but I really don't think I'll be able to get it.

Made a lot of progress today. For some reason I decided to not test fit the engine before boxing up the notch. Defiantly bit me in the ass today. I had to open up the notch about 1.5 inches on the passenger side and beat the hell out of the crossmember just to get the pan to clear. I learned my lesson lol. After all that, the engine and trans are in the frame hopefully for the last time. Got the new trans filter and seal installed. Had to modify my shift linkage a little bit, but we got the shifter hooked up. Driveshaft went back in without a hitch. Making pretty good progress so far.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get the wiring harness in, also want to get my y-pipe fabbed up and the exhaust hung. I want to hear this bitch run by this weekend. I have to go out of town for work mon-fri next week, so I am really pushing for sunday.

 

[Dasfinc]

Haha just giving you shit das. You know I'm a big fan of your build, any mini truck with a V8 is badass in my book. And I would have done the same thing if I was that close to a 13.xx run. Maybe we can get in a race before you tear your truck down. As far as my expectations, honestly I would be happy if I hit anything in the 14's. I would love a 13.9 pass but I really don't think I'll be able to get it.

HONESTLY, I was expecting a 14.2-14.3 to be the best I could get, especially after my first pass of the day being a 14.7........ (.1 faster than without the blower.....) I REALLY wanted the 13.9, and was really happy when I got it (I was knocking off a tenth nearly every run until the 13.9)

I suspect your truck will VERY close depending upon what you have for the rear-end. I took a look at the specs on those S-10's, and even the super cabs are just barely over 3000lbs dry. I know from seeing smokinghot run (and his trap still being higher than mine) that those LS motors can pick up some serious steam up top with a wide gear. Your truck being like 2000lbs lighter than his will be worlds different.

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

He's got 3.73's I believe

 

[Dasfinc]

He's got 3.73's I believe

Know if it has an LSD? I know that helped my truck tremendously. 3.73's I think are going to be perfect with his setup

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

It would be silly to swap gears without one....so I assume so

 

[LSx S10]

Nah its and open dif 3.73. I swapped out the whole rear end with a low mile unit. My original dif started to howl really bad, found this one for cheap on cl. When this pops I'm gonna swap in an 8.8.

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

I see. I'd still like to do an 8.8 swap. Seems like some measuring and then welding spring and shock mounts on and I'm done

 

[Dasfinc]

Nah its and open dif 3.73. I swapped out the whole rear end with a low mile unit. My original dif started to howl really bad, found this one for cheap on cl. When this pops I'm gonna swap in an 8.8.

I would STRONGLY recommend finding a posi unit for it if they offered them in the 7.5's and tossing it in. Not just for the track, but for bad weather if you are driving this year round. In the rain and snow it makes a world of difference in a V-8 mini truck IMO.

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

Tondo do you happen to know what kind of vehicle to look for in an 8.8? Like what explorer/mustang model or year has what gear, posi and possibly disk brakes?

 

[Dasfinc]

Tondo do you happen to know what kind of vehicle to look for in an 8.8? Like what explorer/mustang model or year has what gear, posi and possibly disk brakes?

1996-2001 Ford Explorer V-8's were only 8.8's with disk brakes.

the AWD models are always posi to my understanding (the V-8 explorers came as 2wd or AWD, the AWD ones are far more common in the midwest)
I think like 99% of them (if not all) are 3.73's.

The explorer rear ends are 31 spline (I dunno when/if the mustangs changed from a 28 spline rear to a 31 spline, but the strength difference is like 27% Stronger with the 31 spline for some reason)

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

Hmmmm that's some good info; thank you Dan!


After this truck is working I think we should go to U-pull-it Anthony and we can snag ourselves a couple 8.8's.

 

[Dasfinc]

Hmmmm that's some good info; thank you Dan!


After this truck is working I think we should go to U-pull-it Anthony and we can snag ourselves a couple 8.8's.

There are TONS of Explorers in yards still, I'm sure plenty left over from C4C.

 

[LSx S10]

Yea we could do that. I'm actually not 100% sure what kind of dif I have. I can roast both tires for as long as I want. With it in the air right now, it acts like an open. I'm leaning towards a gov-lock but I'm not sure. I have and lsd from an f-body 7.5, could always rebuild my rear end with that one of these weekends.

 

[Dasfinc]

Yea we could do that. I'm actually not 100% sure what kind of dif I have. I can roast both tires for as long as I want. With it in the air right now, it acts like an open. I'm leaning towards a gov-lock but I'm not sure. I have and lsd from an f-body 7.5, could always rebuild my rear end with that one of these weekends.

If you get both tires loose quickly/immediatly with an open diff you can roast both. My civic used to do an awesome little 2 wheel smoke show despite having an open diff, an LSD is more 'apparent' when trying to gain traction Vs. loose it

 

[Smokinhot]

I'd swap that posi unit from the f-body in there. It'll help some for the time being

 

[LSx S10]

I'd swap that posi unit from the f-body in there. It'll help some for the time being

Yeaaa but then I have to rebuild the rear end. I really want to find a 2wd 8.5 from a newer s10. It's a direct bolt in and is 10x stronger than my 7.5. With the 8.8, I have to redrill the axles and discs for my bolt pattern and put a different u-joint flange on my driveshaft. Seems like a big pita to me.

Made some progress today, but not enough. What really killed me today was the trans cooler lines. The fittings on the trans are too close to the tunnel for the old lines to fit. So I am gonna have to find some sort of 90 degree fitting tomorrow. May end up just running rubber lines for the time being. I cut up the core support so now the radiator can fit inside of it. Still need to come up with a way to mount it. Got the extensions welded on the exhaust manifolds and the drivers side installed for the last time. Really happy with the way it fits. Also started working on wiring. Getting my body harness to work is going to be a nightmare.

Hard to tell from this pic but I have a solid 3/4 inch between the steering shaft and manifold.

I got these ball and socket couplers from jegs. They take up a whole lot less room than the other style with two bolts.

Taurus 2 speed fan

 

[Smokinhot]

looks like solid progress to me

I agree on the 8.5" being the better option. I just figured throwing the posi unit in would have been the cheaper/easier way to go for now for better traction. Regardless, everything looks good. I want a ride when its down

 

[Dasfinc]

Yeaaa but then I have to rebuild the rear end. I really want to find a 2wd 8.5 from a newer s10. It's a direct bolt in and is 10x stronger than my 7.5. With the 8.8, I have to redrill the axles and discs for my bolt pattern and put a different u-joint flange on my driveshaft. Seems like a big pita to me.

Made some progress today, but not enough. What really killed me today was the trans cooler lines. The fittings on the trans are too close to the tunnel for the old lines to fit. So I am gonna have to find some sort of 90 degree fitting tomorrow. May end up just running rubber lines for the time being.

Taurus 2 speed fan

There are SOOOO many things that are JUST like my project in this build, I love it!

the 8.8 vs my old 7.5 was the same way, I traded+Money for a RANGER 8.8 in favor of a bolt in swap, My trans cooler lines were all kinds of crappy so I ended up just using the ends and rubber lines, and I'm running the same Taurus E-fan.......

My rubber lines trans lines are all starting to 'give way' finally (well over a year later), so I ordered all new OEM Metal lines for the Explorer, was like $55 shipped to my door for the 3 lines (Something like nearly 200 inches worth of pre-bent line, HUGE shipping boxes from Rock Auto)

On a side note, I dunno how weak your 7.5 really is, but some of the ranger guys have pushed the ford 7.5's to their limits, they can handle quite a beating honestly. (Guy was running high 11's on a 7.5 rear that was welded/Locked, Pulled tire on the first pass, Grenaded the diff on the 4th or 5th.

 

[LSx S10]

There are SOOOO many things that are JUST like my project in this build, I love it!

the 8.8 vs my old 7.5 was the same way, I traded+Money for a RANGER 8.8 in favor of a bolt in swap, My trans cooler lines were all kinds of crappy so I ended up just using the ends and rubber lines, and I'm running the same Taurus E-fan.......

My rubber lines trans lines are all starting to 'give way' finally (well over a year later), so I ordered all new OEM Metal lines for the Explorer, was like $55 shipped to my door for the 3 lines (Something like nearly 200 inches worth of pre-bent line, HUGE shipping boxes from Rock Auto)

On a side note, I dunno how weak your 7.5 really is, but some of the ranger guys have pushed the ford 7.5's to their limits, they can handle quite a beating honestly. (Guy was running high 11's on a 7.5 rear that was welded/Locked, Pulled tire on the first pass, Grenaded the diff on the 4th or 5th.

haha nice. How do you like that taurus fan? From what I've heard it moves a huge amount of air.

I'm gonna chance it with the 7.5 for awhile, see what happens

 

[SRT41320]

looks good man - keep up the progress!!

 

[Dasfinc]

haha nice. How do you like that taurus fan? From what I've heard it moves a huge amount of air.

I'm gonna chance it with the 7.5 for awhile, see what happens

The Taurus fan has been great minus one issue.

I ran it 'hard wired' off a switch off the 'high side' *3200CFM or something like that* and it kept melting the switches/popping fuses due to the high initial amp draw.

I ten ran it the low side off a switch and worked fine, but I still got a fan relay kit to ensure I was being safe.

The high side has a 30 amp + Peak/startup draw, the low side is like 12 or 16. so if you are planning on running the high side, you need to get a heavy duty relay (Starter relay?) They sell a good universal one at CarQuest/Napa from what I recall that you can hide in a fender easily.

Even with the blower, I just let the fan run all the time on the low side at the moment (I'll be installing a by-pass switch later to turn off for track/highway), and I've gotten a little 'warm' (Creeped up like 1/8th the way past dead middle while sitting in traffic) on one of those 100+ and humid days we had a week or 2 ago.

 

[LSx S10]

The Taurus fan has been great minus one issue.

I ran it 'hard wired' off a switch off the 'high side' *3200CFM or something like that* and it kept melting the switches/popping fuses due to the high initial amp draw.

I ten ran it the low side off a switch and worked fine, but I still got a fan relay kit to ensure I was being safe.

The high side has a 30 amp + Peak/startup draw, the low side is like 12 or 16. so if you are planning on running the high side, you need to get a heavy duty relay (Starter relay?) They sell a good universal one at CarQuest/Napa from what I recall that you can hide in a fender easily.

Even with the blower, I just let the fan run all the time on the low side at the moment (I'll be installing a by-pass switch later to turn off for track/highway), and I've gotten a little 'warm' (Creeped up like 1/8th the way past dead middle while sitting in traffic) on one of those 100+ and humid days we had a week or 2 ago.

My harness has two relays built in for fan 1 and fan 2. The fans are a computer controlled function. I was thinking I would hook up the low speed to fan 1, and high speed to fan 2. I am not sure if this will work though, does the low speed circuit need to lose voltage before the high circuit can be turned on?

 

[Dasfinc]

My harness has two relays built in for fan 1 and fan 2. The fans are a computer controlled function. I was thinking I would hook up the low speed to fan 1, and high speed to fan 2. I am not sure if this will work though, does the low speed circuit need to lose voltage before the high circuit can be turned on?

the low speed circuit does not need to lose voltage before the high circuit is turned on as far as the wiring goes , I do not know if this has any mal-effects on the fan though as I tested it just for a moment when I first wired it up (Extra Amperage draw, motor burning out, etc).

Wish I could be of more help . A spec more info, from what I've read the low side is 1700-1800 CFM if its any help.

 

[LSx S10]

the low speed circuit does not need to lose voltage before the high circuit is turned on as far as the wiring goes , I do not know if this has any mal-effects on the fan though as I tested it just for a moment when I first wired it up (Extra Amperage draw, motor burning out, etc).

Wish I could be of more help . A spec more info, from what I've read the low side is 1700-1800 CFM if its any help.

Well I guess I'm about to find out haha. Cool, thanks for the info.

So theres a good chance I'll hear it run tonight