De Ford Explorer Sport Trac a Ford Explorer Sport Trac Islandés. Paso a Paso...

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Before

A stock Ford Explorer Sport Trac is pretty good on the highway in USA, but can it be customized in a way to get it into the rough Icelandic snow and ice driving?

The plan is to make this into a true off road custom Ford Explorer Sport Trac. Starting with the insertion of a Dana 44 whole front axle with disk brake kit in front, but use the Ford 8.8 rear axle in the rear. Both axles to be fitted with air-lockers and 4.88 gear ratios. Four link suspension in the rear and old Bronco suspension in front - except for the airbags that are to be used both front and rear.

Like I had planned I took a trip to fetch the Sport Trac I bought. I flew in from Iceland through Minneapolis and then to Denver Colorado.

When I leave Iceland the sun is just setting - it is still sunset when I get to Minneapolis seven hours later!

My plan is to meet the man I bought the truck from and get to know him. He is willing to find more trucks for me to export to Iceland.

Colorado
Ron meets me at the airport and invites me to his home and family. Unfortunately my luggage gets misplaced in Minneapolis and I only have a tiny emergency bag with a toothbrush and comb


In the morning a little bit of snow had fallen. I feel I have brought something precious with me from Iceland! Weather in Colorado seems similar to what it is often like in Iceland.

The truck looks nice. It has leather seats and a nice stereo.

Ron spends the day showing me around Denver. Of course we take a look at a 4 wheeling shop. In front of the shop we see this typical "American" style off road truck. This is a heavily lifted Toyota Hilux. It looks rugged and ready but a bit too high and lacking proper fender flares.


Preparing and building the front driveline on the custom Sport Trac is going to be the most work.
Dana 44

Front axle (closer) is a Dana 44 from an old 74ish Ford Bronco. I could use the ARB air-locker from my Dana 44 IFS, but had to get new gear ratios. The preparation included having the ratios and the air-locker put into place by professionals in axle work. The axle work was done by Jeppasmidjan.

Rear axle (further away) is the Ford 8.8 from the rear of my old F-150. It has all the goodies I need, but perhaps the bearing need to be replaced.

Wheels off!

My Sport Trac will never be the same

It is now lifted to remove the suspension and the parts of the driveline that won't be used.


Front right suspension unit still in place.


Front left suspension unit removed. Brake disks are almost new and this looks pretty good.


Stuff on the framing needs to be removed to make room for the new suspension system.

The big frame piece containing the steering engine in front of the front differential unit needs to be moved further to the front and will add protection to the cooler.

Putting the large tires in place helps in figuring out how the planned modifications will be implemented.

Oli is doing final cutting of the suspension bracket seats that are no longer needed. Already the steering machine, suspension system and the front transfer case is out.


It is time to see how the tires will fit. Oli also has an Explorer modified for 38 inches, so measuring his gives us a good estimate of the required cutting. White lines mark roughly the size needed for these tires.


We decide to let the Sport Trac lift more rather than less. This will be the final offset.


This gives you a good idea about the final look of the truck. This is a totally different truck. Radical and in my opinion much improved!


Fender flares will need to cover all treading of the wheels to be legal here.


For the next step I need the disk brake kit and the bushing set as well as the air-bags. Ron, my friend from Colorado, is collecting this stuff for me. Then with the help of FedEx it will be in my hands, hopefully next week.

Project Sport Trac is getting more exciting!

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Fitting air-bags shouldn't be more complicated than fitting coil springs...

... but there are a few not so minor details to take care of.

Starting out with the front axle


Oli has already assembled the Dana 44 with the new disk brake system.

The steering rod is in a temporary position only to hold the wheels in the correct direction.


The radius arms should be close to horizontal. Mounting the custom built radius arm brackets to the frame is not to hard once the pieces are prepared. Here it is point welded and will later be fully welded without the bushings.


Building a seat for the upper part of the air-bag includes this iron rod. It is cut in the correct length and tried out in place. To get the intended height of the suspension it will need to get a bit higher on the framing. Also it is clear that the rod will be close to the oil pan and will therefore need to be adjusted.

Kjartan marks lines for cutting.

The rod will add strength since the steering frame has been removed.


The rod with cut-outs for the frame and the oil pan.


Kjartan uses the "old sledgehammer trick" to form the rod in the correct form.


Trying out the rod again with the circular plates used as thickness indicators.


Oil pan must not get to close to the new bar.


Final touches to the bar include closing the gap...


...making holes at the lowest region to allow water to drain out...


...as well as painting.


In place - the rod adds strength and support for the air-bags.


Quite a number of brackets are no longer needed on the frame and are to be removed. This shock absorber bracket has to be located a little bit further back.


Bottom part of the air-bags has to be bolted on the same spot usually used for the coil spring plate.

Oli finds this solution. Underneath the plate is a piece of C-bar at the correct place.


A hole is drilled through the center and a bolt is welded. This makes it easy to screw the air-bag into place.


The welding of the C-bar in place...


...results in the perfect fastening plate for the air-bag.

Plate has been cut out to make access to the fastening bolts possible.


Air-bags in place!
It is a bit tight so close to the upper ball joint. But hopefully that will not be a problem.

Still left to do - getting air into the bags and means of keeping it there and releasing when necessary.


Just to recap:

On the left you can see the original highway tires. On the right is the full size 38 inch Monster Mudder that are to be used instead!

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Removing the rear axle is necessary because the suspension will be a four-link system with the air-bags...

...also - the gear ratios have to be changed and the air-locker put into place.

Some more stripping...

Oli has removed the brake system, driveshaft and everything else that connects to the axle.


Freed from the leaf-springs and the shock absorbers it is now possible to remove the Ford 8.8 rear axle.


Oli removes the leaf-springs.


Testing the final positioning of the 38 inch Mudders shows plenty of space for the larger tires.

This looks radical!


Next thing to do is taking the Ford 8.8 axle to axle specialists for the gear ratio change. They will also modify the bolt pattern - to the same and larger 5 bolt used in the front. The chosen bolt pattern is the same as in the classic Bronco and my old F-150 to name a few...

The project is well on its way and I am confident that the final result will be extraordinary!

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Rear four-link suspension setup is necessary for the air-bags.

Rear axle in place

Already the basic parts of the four link system have been set up. Bottom plate for the air-bags is also in its final position.


Upper bars are designed so that their length can easily be adjusted.

Here they have just been painted and are ready for insertion of the rubber sleeves.


Having adjustable upper bars makes it easier to allow the driveshaft a good working angle against the rear axle.


Cross member mount to the axle must be quite strong to take all the forces going on off-roading.


Left side cross member mount is attached to the frame and has a special bar to support it horizontally over to the other side of the frame.


Black rod on the top is the supporting bar.

Air-bags are in place.

I can use the original shock absorbers with some reinforcements and replacements.


Here it is finally seeing a bit of the daylight peeking in.

If you look closely you can spot a blue hose out of the front bumper. These are air hoses for the air-bags.


Transfer case shows one issue to be solved. The original front driveshaft in the Sport Trac has less built in movement than is required for the new suspension system. A joke like the one on the picture has to be fitted instead of the bowl on the right side of the case.


When the rear is finished - work can begin again on the front end. Air-bags are in place - but the steering box has to be fitted...

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Now that the major buildup has been taken care of...

...some work still has to be done.

Still some cutting to fit the tires and get it outside.


Finally standing on its own tires and out in the open. Getting it out was not too hard but with the steering still not in place turning the Trac is a bit tricky.


Looks good!

Steering

To replace the car-like steering box in the original Sport Trac I got this rebuilt steering box from an old Bronco. It has to be placed on the left side of the framing, just in front of the steering rod. Here it is being tried out, but it has to be moved quite a bit to the front.


In order to get a better working access to position the box and other steering stuff, the whole front has to be removed. First taking out the lights, then the upper front and last the bumper.


Looks kind of weird and faceless...

You can also notice that it is leaning a bit to its right side. This is because one of the radius arms is a little bit bent. This has later been corrected.


With the steering box in place a way to connect to the new drag link is needed. Problem was that the steering box didn't come with any part of the old drag link and I had to search for one. Lucky for me Raggi from 4x4.is had an old Bronco with the original drag link I could use.


Steering rods are now in place with all new tie-rod ends.

Air-bags

As you can see, the front air-bag is a little bit bent.


This is now corrected by positioning the bottom place at the correct angle.

Driveline

With the transfer case in place.


Drive shafts have been made longer both the rear shaft...


... as well as the front.

Both are professionally elongated in a special garage that makes sure it doesn't vibrate.

Shocks

After some careful consideration I decided to use the RS-9000 shock absorbers from Rancho.


Oli is fitting the shocks in the new upper bracket. Lower end on the radius arm comes with a bracket but it has to be moved a bit outwards to free the shock from hitting the frame.

Next steps
Getting the truck ready includes installing the air pump with all the lines and meters, installing the CB and NMT phone with antennas as well as fitting new fender flares to make it street legal here.

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You might as well ask: "Is it going to work?" and even "How good will this prove to be?"...

...These are of course the main questions.


Although the air setup is not finished it is possible to take the Sport Trac for some testing.

To experience the feel and answer those important question Oli and Kjartan took the Sport Trac out of the garage and found a little used rock-mine.

Unfortunately I couldn't make it with them this time. There will be more trips coming up using this truck. And I am sure you will be as impressed with the pictures as I am.



The looks are in my opinion much improved from the original. The ST stands tall on all tires and the balance between tire size and body size is just RIGHT.

This will change a bit when the fender flares are added...



Whole axle in front is easily visible from this angle.



Climbing up this rock is easy and all wheels are on the ground giving perfect traction.



It follows the terrain nicely...



...and the rear setup has even more travel.



FINAL RESULT is that everything works surprisingly good.

For steering it takes slightly more rounds to change from far right to far left than is customary today.

Suspension is extremely soft and as you can see - provides a LOT of clearance and travel.

VIDEO

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Final touches to make the Custom Sport Trac ready for the streets...

...made out of fiber glass fender flares for a Nissan Pickup.

Fender Flares

Since there is nobody making fender flares that will fit the Sport Trac on 38 inch tires we had been searching for something made for a similar truck. We found some 356 inch flares for Nissan Pickup that looked promising and they ware our final choice.


Kjartan did some needed cutting and rebuilding to make it fit. Like on the rear side of the front where it had to be taken apart.


Sanding down the newly built section to prepare the surface for painting.


Front view shows how the new fender flares extend and enhance the look of the original unmodified Sport Trac.

Rear flares needed similar adjustments - making them longer and a bit more open - to handle the 38 inch tires.


After Kjartan did his magic by spray painting them with the same original color - Ford Island Blue - the final look is beginning to show.


Covers the front wheels well and looks good.



Nice!


Two Ford Explorer brothers side by side.



Of course we had to take it out for some more testing...



...see how it handles the suspension travel with the new fender flares.



Not bad!


Fiber glass can also be used to make other parts as needed. Oli made this lid to fit the pressure meters and control buttons for the air-bags and ARB air lockers.

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After

4x4 Off Roads

Finally it is ready to take on some serious off roading challanges!

Here are some FREE Ford Explorer Sport Trac 4x4 wallpaper download pictures. You can use them as a desktop background with some interesting pictures from the Adventure Travel section.

You are free to use the pictures for your own personal use as long as you keep them intact.

The Ford Explorer Sport Trac wallpaper download pictures come in the big size of 1600x1200. You download them by clicking on each picture or by downloading a zip file with all the pictures.

After you open each picture you can set it as your desktop background by right clicking and selecting Set as background.

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[Tany_4x4]

Pero ahi una cosa que no entiendo y es que cómo le ha hecho un SAS si con la suspensión independiente tamb se puede hacer una preparación islandesa 

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[Blizz]

Poder se puede, pero es mucho más sencillo en un eje rígido, si encima le quieres poner balonas neumáticas y demás...

Saludos,

David

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[Brasi4x4]

Si el bicho realmente mola, pero ¿¿y para que sirve esas balonas neumáticas??

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[Blizz]

Para poder ajustar la altura, compensar en caso de carga, y ya en sistemas muy currados, hacer que mantenga el coche lo más plano posible en inclinaciones laterales, etc. También permite bajar el morro hasta abajo a la hora de hacer subidas muy bestias, etc.

Recordáis ese 4Runner con ejes de Unimog y CTIS? Llevaba todo ese tinglado.

Saludos,

David

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[Brasi4x4]

Gracias Blizz

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[BOLT4R]

Ese trabajo esta impecable  .alucino, es una pasada .Un saludox4

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