Rox Crusher's frame off refresh and 5.0 EFI swap

[Kinder]

Rox, your avatar is creeping me out.

Ditto!

[landshark]

is this build done yet? ;)

[D&D72]

Rox, your avatar is creeping me out.

Ditto!

X3!

[Rox Crusher]

fixed it.............it was creeping me out too

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks, I didn't want to have to use the forum's Ignore function.

[Gregg]

Welcome back Rox.

[Justin]

Purty!

[Rox Crusher]

is this build done yet? ;)

not quite yet, I have a chest cold that has been kickin my ass

a couple weeks back we mounted the BCB tank and skid plate, expensive stuff but well built.

yesterday, we mounted the fuel lines. I'm not very happy with how BC Broncos made them up and wish I had just had them done locally (and still might)

replaced the gasket between the transfer case and transmission adapter which I damaged the last time I did it a couple years back

[Gunnibronco]

Keep plugging away! It is going be be sweet.

I always keep mumbling "Baby steps, baby steps" and try to do a little something when I get the chance.

(It is from "What About Bob" a Billy Murray movie)

Hope you start feeling better.

[landshark]

I think I will make my own lines as the consensus is the pre made ones are crap.

[Gunnibronco]

Years ago, I bent up a set of 3/8" & 5/16" steel lines with a tubing bender & flare tool and have been happy with them. During my EFI swap, I had to do some gorilla work to make things match, so my lines aren't so pretty as they used to be. I'm sure with the drivetrain out & the body off, it would be pretty easy to get good results.

[Rox Crusher]

Today I decided I am going to get a ViperBuilt 4R70W to go with the 5.0.

[Dukietown]

So is the advantage of the 4R70W having the overdrive and better streetability? Do you need an AOD specific computer for it since it's electronically shifted? Sorry for the newb questions, still reading up on them deciding what I wanna do with mine when it comes time.

[Gunnibronco]

I'm not super knowledgeable, but I think you can either use an OBDII computer w/some kind of tuner, or there is a stand alone product called the Baumenator (sp?) that allows full control of the trans.

The 4R70W also has the ability to electronically lock the torque converter, some add a switch to allow manual control of the lock up. With the tuner or Baumenator, you can really tune the shift points & how the trans acts.

I wanted a 4R70W for a while, now I want a Vip4R70W. I'm waiting till I replace my D20, the 4R70W bolts directly to an Atlas.

[Dukietown]

Hmmm can you use the 4R70W with the D20 though or would you have to go to something else? I'm not looking to do a serious crawler and those Atlas's are spendy

[Rox Crusher]

You can use the AOD / AODE / 4R70W with the D20 but it requires an adapter kit which is roughly 500 bones.

Some guys go with Atlas transfer case which is even more expensive.

Some guys go with a 205 transfer case which is a direct bolt up but it is big and bulky and I think the gearing is less desirable.

I am planning to go with the 4R70W, adapter, D20, and Optishift controller from Baumann.

I have budgeted 1,500 for this upgrade which will really just help me with the overdrive.

C4 4R70W
1st gear 2.46:1 2.84:1
2nd gear 1.46:1 1.55:1
3rd gear 1.0:1 1.0:1
4th gear 0.70:1
Reverse 2.18:1 2.32:1

The more expensive related costs will be re-gearing the axles to get the best of both worlds.

[Dukietown]

thanks for the info, it's good to know. I'm looking to make mine DDable including some extended trips in CO and possibly UT so having the OD on the highway sounds like a better way to go over the C4 since mine needs to be replaced or rebuilt anyways. Does it matter which year/model the 4R70W comes from? I was looking over the 'Building a bullet proof 4R70W' sections at http://www.tccoa.com/articles/tranny/tr ... ndex.shtml and noticed that different makes/models had different strength/size output shafts and a couple other items seemed to vary by year. Wondering if I should be looking for like a late 90's/early 2000 explorer 5.0 and 4r70w.

[Rox Crusher]

The best 4R70W for us would come from 1998 - 2000 Explorer (but don't look just yet as I haven't found one for me just yet)




A couple minor changes in the 2001 model which was only made for half a year as they did a complete redesign for 2002.

[Dukietown]

1998 and up for the electric solenoid? No worries, I don't think I'll be seriously looking until some time in the spring when I start disassembling mine. Hopefully you'll find one by then!

[Gunnibronco]

You really need to regear to take advantage of the OD, if you are running 4.10's w/33" tires, you'll end up running under 1900 rpm at 65 MPH, and you will not like that. When I swapped my f/w axles, I dropped from 4.10s in my stock axles to 3.50s in my big axles, and I dropped from 2700 rpm to 2200 rpm at highway speed, and I wouldn't want to go any lower, unless you have a 351. You can turn the OD off, with the shift controller, but then you are really just running a C4 with a lower 1st gear.

I think lots of guys with 33's end up running 4.83 or 5.13 gears. It puts you back into the powerband at highway speed.

[airbur]

Today I decided I am going to get a ViperBuilt 4R70W to go with the 5.0.

ummm...Viper no buildy 4R70Ws......I already tried that.

[ZOSO]

Today I decided I am going to get a ViperBuilt 4R70W to go with the 5.0.

ummm...Viper no buildy 4R70Ws......I already tried that.

With enough money and the rebuild books anything is possible.

[Viperwolf1]

Today I decided I am going to get a ViperBuilt 4R70W to go with the 5.0.

ummm...Viper no buildy 4R70Ws......I already tried that.

He twisted my arm. And he said he doesn't care if it doesn't work because he just started a 5 year frame-off anyway.

[Gunnibronco]

Typical, a basic EFI swap degrades to "The Decade of Progress" endless build thread & Jeff ends up with truck he doesn't want to see a gravel road, let a lone a 4x4 trail. You know you'll have to say "NO" sometime. Of course you could always go 4BT, full width D60's, 40s & boat tailing, are always an option too, oh yeah 4 links & coil overs are cool.

Jeff, it was cool meeting you and I'm glad we got to run a couple trails before you decided to do this basic refresh & EFI swap.

LOL, just kidding, I hope you can get this thing up and running before summer. Good luck, I'll be watching.

[Rox Crusher]

You really need to regear to take advantage of the OD, if you are running 4.10's w/33" tires, you'll end up running under 1900 rpm at 65 MPH, and you will not like that. When I swapped my f/w axles, I dropped from 4.10s in my stock axles to 3.50s in my big axles, and I dropped from 2700 rpm to 2200 rpm at highway speed, and I wouldn't want to go any lower, unless you have a 351. You can turn the OD off, with the shift controller, but then you are really just running a C4 with a lower 1st gear.

I think lots of guys with 33's end up running 4.83 or 5.13 gears. It puts you back into the powerband at highway speed.

I totally agree, I need to research the gearing options further so I can get the right final gearing and power band.

[Rox Crusher]

Typical, a basic EFI swap degrades to "The Decade of Progress" endless build thread & Jeff ends up with truck he doesn't want to see a gravel road, let a lone a 4x4 trail. You know you'll have to say "NO" sometime. Of course you could always go 4BT, full width D60's, 40s & boat tailing, are always an option too, oh yeah 4 links & coil overs are cool.

Jeff, it was cool meeting you and I'm glad we got to run a couple trails before you decided to do this basic refresh & EFI swap.

LOL, just kidding, I hope you can get this thing up and running before summer. Good luck, I'll be watching.

END OF MARCH is the goal.

Too bad there isn't a countdown timer option on this board.

[airbur]

Yea yea.....I hear ya! I also take donations.....Visa, MasterCard, and CASH:)

[Gunnibronco]

Ha! Ha! Made one just for you Rox! Now you can be reminded when you get on here every-time. I gave you until the end of the year. You getting it done is as good as seeing Chad actually on a dirt road and Airbur running his 427.

That is awesome!

Good luck again.

vrooom vrooom

Of course I'm still waiting on an alternator. I would never have bought one from Canada if I thought it would take over 2 weeks just to get it back for warranty service. I haven't had my truck really running since December, and I'm not even making any progress. I've still got all the EFI bugs to work out.

I miss my Bronco.

[Entourage]

Summertime in Colorado is one hell of a motivator - top down and music up. I bet Rox, 777, Dsmith, Pony Corral, and Airbur are back on the road before summer.

[Rox Crusher]

got my welder out and started stitching some of the inner fender seams back together

Apparently welding isn't like riding a bike, especially when the parent surface (metal?) looks like this.

bad cowl.jpg

Let the "booger welds" comments fly !