Kubota Ranger Swap
 

For 9 days now I have had my 03 Ranger Kubota engine swap running. It for sure is no bomb but I can set the cruise at 65 and boogey down the road. Factory gauges all work, oil pressure reads backwards but I'll get the straightened out soon. Anyway I'm awaiting your cheers and Jeers. Haven't figured out how to do pictures but hopefully will someday. Feel free to ask questions and show me no mercy.

cool deal man.......so is this Kabota a 3 cylender or what?

you still runnin the OEM tranny?

It is a 4 banger, 122 cubes, 60 rip roaring horsepower. I have the Ranger transmission with an adaptor plate.

cool beans man...........so where did you find an adaptor for that? manual or auto tranny?

also how are you running all the electronics on the 03 Ranger?

Kubota Ranger Swap
 

I had the adaptor made at local machine shop out of 1" aluminum, Used Kubota flywheel with Ranger 4 banger disc and pressure plate, had to cut a notch in bellhousing for starter pinion, spaced out stock clutch slave cyl. .25" because adaptor should have been .75". Engine is tilted 14 degrees ot drivers side to clear front differential housing and oil pan notched about 1.5" to clear front axle. AC, alt., and PS are on drivers side so things got a little tense but it all works with a serpentine belt. All gauges work, the tach was a real struggle, spent 2 days making a toothed wheel out of .125"x2" bent in a circle and fit inside an Olds serpentine belt pulley. Notched the edge so it looks like a big hole saw. No one was more surprised then I when it worked. It is a new engine I got from Burden surplus and I used the flywheel that came with, just had to turn it down flat and redrill as it was built for a hand clutch

hot damn man.......good job

so what kinna milage ya gettin from this rig?

X2!! :c::5:

Next time I'm up near your area, I'll have to stop by and take a look!! :U:

you need to figure out how to post pics now! Sounds awesome. :c:

Got 20.3 mpg first tank but that was cutting firewood and getting stuck at 20 below. Should have been cutting wood all fall while I was working on this thing. This tank is doing a whole lot better. I cut off everything that I didn't have a place to plug in on the engine wiring harness. Found the hot wire to the distributor box and it goes to a constant duty relay for the fuel shutoff, SSBC vac pump which blows the fuse everytime I start below -15 but works fine otherwise, also to Chevy Cavalier cooling fan. I have a seperate relay for the glow plugs. Oil pressure switch on Kubota is normally close and Ford is normally open so gauge is backwards. So far haven't come up with anything to match weird metric threads. Got rid of Ford electric fuel pump but still have gauge. Ford had 2 water temp senders, don't know why but built a little box right next to the thermostat and put them both in and it workd. They had O rings so I dodged the metrics on that. I also learned that you don't put your spring belt tensioner downstream of the alternator so had to rig up a manual belt tensioner. I didn't have many options on that. It was the biggest hassle of all getting all that stuff hung on and line up. The lower radiator hose on the engine came out about 9" higher then the one on the radiator and close enough together so that no way a hose was going to work so I made a 9" box with 1.5" square tubing vertical with sawed off king nipples top and bottom pointing in appropriate directions and put a small (1440) water heater element in complete with thermostat on the side. Don't need glow plugs if it is above 0. Cruise control works fine. Throttle control is really weird until you get used to it. Industrial governor. By all means come and look it over. I'm pretty easy to find.

By chance, you know who owns the bar there??

Yes, Jay is our friendly local bartender. I have supported the place for years.

:U:
My dad kinda sorta knows the area, and was inquiring about some of the businesses, one of em, well...was the bar. :c:

Kubota Ranger Pictures
 

Called one of my smart daughters and she got me lined out on pictures. Did once before to but it didn't take. Go to Picasa Web Albums - Jerry - Jakebilt Truck and you will find them there along with some other junk I thought was cool. I didn't take enough pictures when I was working on it, too busy trying to figure out what I was going to next. I suppose there is a better way to get pictures out there but I am not much of a computer wizard.:humm:

sweeeeeet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


what is the top speed?

what rpm are you turning at 65mph in 5th?

what is the max rpm on that motor?

what kind of boost are you running?

Thats cool man...the big rig camper is neet too

I can see that yer lil truck needs a new air filter........... go down to NAPA and get a NAPA 2790 filter , it has a 4" lip flange on it ....

It is supposed to max out at 2800 but according to my Ranger tach it is 3000. The tach reads exactly the same as it did with the 4.0 which is 2500 at 65 in 5th. It will run up to 60 in 4th which is good thing because I have to grab that gear occasionally. Without a big headwind or big hills I can set the cruise at 65 and roll along real smooth and quiet. Below 1800 it vibrates a little, about like an early Dodge Cummins but pulls pretty good from about 1300 on up. I can travel most every where around here in 5th at 60 or 65 and just chug right along but is no runaway. I haven't got my boost gauge or pyro installed yet but they are here waiting for me. I am using the stock Ranger muffler and tailpipe, 2", and it is real quiet. There isn't much diesel rattle, not in the cab anyway. The governor makes it so at 1/2 throttle you ony get 1/2 rpm so if you want to go you have to tromp right down on it but once you get used to that it is kind of neat. If you are running along at 1800 it will maintain 1800 everywhere you go until it runs out of power, don't have to move your foot. The engine weighs 410# which I think is about the same as the 4.0, maybe even a little lighter. I measured the ride height before and after and gained an 1/8" That isn't very scientific but works for me. I have cardboard in front of the radiator and still have never had it warm enough to set the start point on my chevy fan. As you can see in the pictures I had to run the exhaust over the top and my heat shields aren't too neat but seem to work well. We'll see what happens when it is 100 above. I can hardly wait.:ok1:

Man that's RANK! I Freak'n Love it. Where did you get the engine? Is that a commercial, industrial, or what. I had an idea once to take one of those out of a high preasure portable washer and stick it in a Suzuki Samuri but chickened out. Great Job Jake, keep us posted.

I got the engine from Burden surplus- (Surpluscenter.com) in Nebraska. I don't know what it was made to fit. I know that they put them in Bobcats. It is an 05 tier 3 and I suppose was rendered obsolete by tier 4 regs. They have 22 of them left, had 36 when I bought this one last summer. When I started this project I had a weekend oil field job lined up and figured I could get rich burning grease at .50 a mile for 500 miles a weekend plus 28.00 per hour. Unfortunately my partner:moon: crapped out so the plan blew up and I may not get rich after all. Now I tell myself that I am saving money but it is going to take awhile to come out even. It is worth it just to drive something that I cobbled up myself and nobody has one like it. Anyway, thanks for the kind words you all.

Update on Kubota Ranger (Kubanger)
 

I now have 3800 miles with no problems other than bad roads and cold. The fuel mileage has improved so that now I have gotten over 26 on the last three tanks. Break in helped I'm sure, but I think the big thing was taking the muffler off. I believe it was worth over 1 mpg. Not loud at all but sounds good. Seems like it helped the power situation to. I still haven't got my boost gauge or pyro installed but one of these days. When spring comes if ever, and I have my gauges in then maybe I will see about turning up the fuel a little bit and searching for a little more horsepower. I have no idea how to do that but I am sure there is some smart dude on here somewhere who will set me on the right path. I don't want to mess with anything until I get the boost gauge and pyro in so that I can see what I am doing. If anyone knows anything about hot rodding a Kubota let me know. Thanks, Jakebilt

sound good man............I think ya have a keeper

I be someone knows how to hop up a Kobota :humm:

this summe I bet ya get better than 30 mpg:rocking:

:pca1:

Man, that little truck is awesome. Nice work! :choochoo:
The Jakebilt looks pretty slick too! :U:

looks graet man. wish i could do something like that.
i had an instructer in college that was in the process of swapping a 3 cylinder kubota into a geo metro, and making his own gearing for the tranny where it would top out around 65, while maintaining 70mpgs. but i dont know if he had ever got it built or not. im sure he has but dont know about milage.

Kubota Ranger Update
 

I finally got the gauges installed after a mighty struggle. I have an autometer pyro and it looks like it is going to max out at about 950. I have the probe an inch or so down stream of the turbo, right after the exhaust flange. I know it would be better to have it before but this looked like the easiest way to do it and I am real big on easy. I think that 950 is probably plenty hot but should be alright since the fuel setting is right where Mr. Kubota put it. If anyone out there knows how to turn the fuel up on one of these I would like to hear about it just in case I get overenthused one of these days. The boost tops out at 8# at 1600 rpm and will not go any higher. Evidentally that is where the waste gate opens. It makes boost right off idle and when I am travelling down the road at 60 it pretty much just stays at 7.5 to 8# and the pyro a little below 800. I am thinking that if I adjust the actuating rod for the waste gate so it opens a little later I can get it up to 10# which might be a far as I should go. Starting out with 22 to Compression probably makes pretty high cylinder pressure. Turbo boost increases the fuel, it has a little pressure can on the pump which works a lever in the pump, I am hoping that fuel will increase at the same rate as boost and still keep me below the dreaded 950 degrees. It is not like some 400 HP Cummins where you can have high temperatures for short bursts. This thing is pretty close to doing it's best all the time so I don't think I had better get to carried away. Anyway if any of you wizards out there can give me any enlightenment on this deal I would sure appreciate it. Thanks much in advance. :c:

shhot this sound pretty good actually........if ya go adjustin on the wastegate actuator do yerself a favor and get shop air hooked up to it and a gauge and adjust it that way so ya know for sure.....its easy to do

Sounds like a good plan . I have a good dial type tire gauge which I should be able to make work. It looks like the kind of project where I could lose parts, most of my projects are like that. Doing it that way you would think that you might get it right the first time and so cut down the amount of droppage and crawling around the shop floor. Thanks Jake :ok1:

you will be suprised as to how little that actuator lickage move to give you full open:humm:

Good job, looks like a factory fit.:U: and injoy the milage with!

Very nice work...:c:

Kubota Ranger swap update
 

I now have 11,000 miles since I did the conversion and have had no problems to date. Fuel mileage averages about 28 on my oilfield route which involves 2.5 hours on the highway at 60 and 2.5 hours chugging around the oilfield with lots of stops and starts, about 15 miles. I never shut it off as I am never stoppped for more then 5 minutes. I made one road trip of 485 miles and got 30.1 mpg but the winds were not too favorable. Nearly all of my driving is in hilly terrain with the cruise and I'm sure that doesn't help. I did pep up the boost from 8# to 10#. Just shimmed the boost controller can with a couple of 5/16 washers on each side. Each washer worth one more pound of boost. I get to 10# at about 2300 rpm and it goes no higher. This has made a noticeable increase in power and dropped egt by about 75 degrees. I could turn up the fuel now and make more power but don't know how and don't much care as I have all the power I really need for my purposes. I think it may have made me one more mile to the gallon but it hard to say for sure. This little engine has steadily gained in power every since I started, even before the boost increase and the fuel mileage has come along commensurately. Haven't had a day yet that got to 80 degrees but it don't look like there will be overheating problems, the fan never comes on as long it is moving. I did put the hammer down one day and ran out of revs at 78 mph on my gps. No wind and no grade, it damned sure won't do it going uphill. I wrote this in the hope that someone might be interest in how this deal worked out. Probably not for everybody but I am well satisfied with the whole deal.:c:

Awesome deal, thanks for the update! :U: Still need some pics though! :pca1:

i wish i lived next door to you jakebilt, your the man!

There is a clickable link with pics earlier in the thread. Not too good, but all I've got. I have been using Walmart TC-W3 2 cycle oil for fuel lubricity, think it works real good, but who knows? Does seem a little quieter and it has to help for lubricity. It is made to be burned so should not leave any deposits. That's the plan anyway. Thanks for your interest, I'm happy to reply to any comments or questions.:c:

Kubota Ranger swap update
 

The latest word on my Kubanger, I now have 17500 miles with no problems to date. Mileage is now consistently over 28 mpg on petro-diesel. I have been using home made bio-diesel, 50% most of the summer and that drops the mileage to about 27. The egt is a little bit cooler and I have just a tiny bit less power. Boost is still maxed out at 10# and with 50% bd I have a hard time to ever get over 900 degrees on pyro. I still don't know how to turn up the fuel, but am not too worried about it, I can pretty much go with the flow now and it is nice not to have to worry about burning it down. The cooling fan has yet to come on when I am going down the road and we have had a few days in the 90's so heating is not a problem. I plan on driving it indefinitely and it will be paying out at around 75000 miles at the rate I am going. Fuel cost on diesel is around 7.5 cents a mile and about 5 cents on 50% bd. After 3 years struggle I am now making good bd, 850 gallons so far this year. I have held off on running 100% bd since fuel cost isn't that big a deal but will give it a try one of these days. I hate to give up any power as I have just enough to get by good now. It is amazing though how much more power it has now then when I first got it running, it really isn't too bad now, I was little concerned to begin with, but determined to drive the damned thing regardless. "Never holler whoa in a bog hole." :w2: I have never yet went on a good road trip with good conditions, mostly just chugging around the oil patch with a lot of idling. I hope some of you find this interesting, I am really pleased with it and like to hear any commentary, pro or con. :c:

What a great project... too bad I don't have the capability to do this kind of work otherwise, I'd be giving it a try myself.

Great job!

It isn't any extraordinary capability that allows a person to do things like this. Just get a wild idea, start right in like you knew it couldn't go wrong, find your self in way over your head, then just slog along with grim determination for a few months and presto, there it is. Just a little re-engineering anjd your ready to go. Right now I am hellbent to build a steel guitar. Just can't help myself. I believe that anyone can do anything if they want to bad enough. May not be a good idea but what the hell. Some people spend their money on boats, motorcycles, golf carts, etc. It's just whatever trips your trigger. Charge ahead,:c:

jake, when i get my diesel jeep done im going to start on a diesel motorcycle. thanks for posting. i think when someone im the middle of a swap hits a point that they could give up, reading the things you post get them back in the shop and busting the tools out. thanks jake

I've been scanning the net the last couple of weeks looking for a good Ranger swap and yours is the best yet. I sure wish somebody would come out with a kit for a standard Ranger diesel install. There are lots of great swaps out there but no two are alike.

Have you given any thought to installing an intercooler on your engine? I imagine that would give you a substantial power increase.

Hugh

any chance you think its possible to put one in a jeep tj? lol a 4 banger 5 speed?