Well, after two weekends, a couple of nights, and a lot of head scratching, my 44 solid axle swap is done. Kind of.

It's not as high tech as Ricks because I used factory radius arms, but there were nearly no fabrication costs involved either since all the work was done by me at home in the garage. The only thing sent out was the long side axle to Moser to be resplined.

I still have some things I'd like to improve on, the radius arm crossmember and bracket is first but that will all come in time.

Initial impressions are very good, I'm happy I did it. I have some bump steer I have to work out, I know whats wrong, I just have to figure out how I want to fix it.

Here's a short list of what I have and what I did, and remember, it was all done at home in the garage. *Note* I have access to a machine shop to fab what I need to and get cut offs and new scrap metal from a shop I deal with for my job. They build rock crushing equipment.

-Dana 44 form a 79 F150. Sectioned and sleeved, narrowed 8 inches. 58 inch track width.
-Rebuilt the axle with all new components, ball joints, ujoints, bearings, 4.88 gears and a Lock right.
-Fabbed a radius arm crossmember, used 3/4"x 6" plate (thats what was available) spaced it down from the frame with 2 1/4" square tube for converter clearance. Cut the old radius arm crossmember for the actual mounting tabs, welded and braced them to the crossmember. This is plenty strong enough but I'd like to make something that looks a little better.
-Got a steering setup from performance unlimited www.performanceunlimited.com and set it up over the steering knuckles. It's a rod end type of linkage.
-Cut the stock ford trackbar, buttwelded and sleeved it.
-Used a 6x6x3/4" plate to mount the trackbar to the frame. Drilled it to the steering gearbox pattern and bolted it through the frame to the gearbox. The frame is boxed in this area.
-Used the 4" trailmaster coils I've always had on the ranger and fabbed a set of adapters to mount them to the radius arms. The adapters gave me 2" of additional lift. Also made a set of these for Riffman for when he swaps his out.
-regeared the rear end to 4.88 as well, already had a locker in the rear.
-At the present time I'm running the smaller bolt pattern on the rear cause I ran out of funding to buy new axles, but that will be the first thing addressed as funds become available.

The truck now sits about two inches higher in the front than the rear so I'm working on a buggy spring set up to even it up and help my flex. You need all the help you can get with a 126" WB.

I welcome any and all questions, I'll do everything I can to answer them.

Heres a couple pics and the link in my sig goes to more.

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1153055&a=11767821&p=41928613&Sequence=0

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1153055&a=11767821&p=42604569&Sequence=0

Wow!! Looks really good Kampy!
Does Moser do good work and are they a fair price for cutting and re-splining axles? I am going to be narrowing 2 axles soon and I will have to have 3 re-splined and shortened.

Brian, I think they do good work, this is the first thing I had them do but the fit and finish was perfect. I sent them the shaft and told them how much to whack off. I had it back in a week and that was with shipping both ways, I live fairly close though. Cost was $50 plus shipping.

Kampy,
Looks great! I love the look of a solid axle on the Explorer. Let me ask you one question - how long did you have the axle on before the 2nd pic above? The first pic looks brand new - the 2nd looks like you have been putting it through a "testing" period :)

Jon

Hey that looks great how is it out on the road ? Solid axels are cool off road

In the 2nd pic it had about 50 miles on it, none off road, just slop spray from the road into the quarry I work at. Haven't done any offroad with it yet, it handles fine on road, it's tighter feeling than the old TTB setup it had.

Took it for a shakedown run to Andre's house today for the NoIEC get together, and all was fine. Planning to fine tune it this week and flex her a little to check for bugs.

What did you do to solve the problem of the u-joint? I have a 79 axle that I'm putting in and the ujoint length for the axle is 4", and the driveshaft is only 3 1/4"?? I've looked for adapter joints, but haven't found any yet.

aphsu92XLT
92 XLT(obviously)

The u-joint is a piece of cake, go to your local NAPA store, tell them you need a 353 u-joint and hand them $15.00, you'll walk away with a new ujoint and some change.

what kind/size tires are you going to run kampy?

Planning on 35's at a minimum or 36's if I can find what I want for a decent price.

Very nice Kampy, looks great! Add some more photos when you get them.

I assume the mismatch in angle between your steering rod and your trackbar is what is causing the bump steer. I have heard that that angle is critical to eliminating bump steer.

Can't wait to wheel with you and Riff at the Badlands!!

Thanks Rick.
Yes, the problem with the bump steer is the difference in angles, hopefully I can get that solved this weekend. There are more pictures in my photopoint acct which can be accessed thru my signature link, I didn't want to post a bunch here and chew up alot of bandwidth. I can't wait to get back to attica also, it's been driving me nuts, man what a long winter!

Well, I ramped my new solid axle setup on the weekend. I still have a few bugs to work out but it ramped 900 on a 20 degree (I was running 10.5" tires not really aired down either). But I think that's respectable anyways. I'm running basically the same setup as Kampy, except I have factory steering and factory radius arm brackets, oh and I think my axle stayed a bit wider - I only cut 6 3/8" out. That brought the axle to early bronco specs so if I need to replace the inner R axle shaft that's cut I can buy a Warn stock replacement (nothing custom).

Cheers

Dale

ps. If you want real articulation, you have to wrist a radius arm. Some guy with an EB ramped 1120 on the weekend. Told me without the wristed radius arm, his truck ramped less than 1000.

Dale, glad to hear from you. I wish this long ranger would ramp 900, don't think that will ever happen.

I would have used the factory radius arm brackets but I didn't have them, I think you made a good choice, The steering was junk on the old 44 and new stuff from moog was almost as much as this setup so I decided to go with it.

I think at the present time my springs limit my travel more than the R arms, I have stiff old 4" lift trailmaster springs and they really don't flex too well, I was looking at Rick's pics last night and I see he's cheating, it looks like his are setup to drop the springs out of the spring pockets on top for added flex. I'm going to have to look into that a little farther.

Do you have any info on the wristed arms? Riffman and I talked about it a while ago but I was never able to find anything on it.

Before he post......just don't ask what that setup is called. I'm not too sure if it's ok for the board.....HEHEHE

I must say....I can't wait to see this rig. I'll keep you updated if I head back.

well todd....you ready for work this weekend? got my stuff...so ill be up there...

a guy down here mentioned somthing to me about the wristed arms, and they are supposed to do great! so im doing a little research on them too....you can make the wristed arms out of the stock bronco ones...so who knows...maybe a possibility down the road...

here is the site that a guy told me about....aparently he has just produced these, but they are a bit pricey. and he says that they will out perform a 4 link...i dunno......

http://www.vintagebronco.com/coby/twisterarm/

Very easy to do the wristed radius arm thing yourself. No need to pay a big price. Do a search on the 'net and you'll find tons of links.

http://www.greatnorthern.net/~fearme/tech/page2.html

Cheers

Dale

ps. When I talked to James Duff, they told me their coils with stock radius arms will do 12" of travel. Same coils with a wristed arm with do 17". Wow is what I said...

The reason Coby's arms are so much $$$ is its his first run so he wants to gain some $$ back and them dudes are NOT going to break EVER. :) Plus they are upgradable to the hydrolic kind I think thats what he was saying. Basically someday there will be a kit that pulls the pin for you and it will be activated on the dash. Or so the plans go as I have heard. His bronco is trick. Its been in one of the mags listed under Shelby powered EB. Or something like that.

I agree, those arms are trick. But what I'm saying is that you don't have to pay that much or do something that trick to get the same results. The James Duff radius arms are similar to the Coby ones. With a wristed arm, you only have to do 1 side, usually the passenger side by convention.

Cheers

Dale

The axel looks great I'm just about to put in my own solid axel set up. I'm also using a bronco axel.44 up front and 60 out back.Moser does do a great job on axel shafts,I sent mine out on monday and got it back on thursday.By the way where do you guys live? I live in Laporte up by lake Michagan.I've been down to Attica a couple of times and I haven't seen any Explorers,last time are club"Hard Core Off-roaders" went down there I rolled my 92 Explorer it was pretty wild.

Is it possible to get custom axles for the Dana 44 so that you could keep the old bolt pattern, instead of doing so for the 8.8? That would save alot of the expense (new wheels).

Also, all you guys with D44's, what track width are you running? What are the measurements as far as from flange to diff to flange?

The axle width that I am running is 61 inches. The rear is 66 inches.The reason I left the rear full size is because in order to fit a 15 inch rim on 3/4 ton axels the rim will need to be back spaced so it will not hit the brakes. That will bring the front back out to 63 inches and then the rear rims are off set a 1 1/2 each to match the front at 63inches.

If you want to save money, instead of getting new axles made just by two rims for the front. The only problem is you won't be able to rotate the tires without breaking down and changing the rims. But if you are going to do all the work you might as well go all the way and change the rear. I have a Dana 60 with a power lock in mine.

So you can't get axles for the Dana 44 that use the 5 lug 4.5" configuration?

I don't think so because the hub is so big.You really wouldn't even be getting new axles, the hub is where the lug pattern is. And the hole reason for getting rid of the old setup is to get away from the small weak parts.

Randall, yes, you can get a 44 with that bolt pattern BUT, you really don't want to. They were available in 77-79 dodges 1/2 tons and ramchargers, but they were a piss poor design, very similar to todays front wheel drive bearing design. They had drive flanges instead of hubs, hubs were not/are not available. You would need everything from the knuckles out. The bearings were very expensive for them, like $300 for a set and they have to pressed on. 33 inch tires eat the bearings regularly every 5000 miles. Now that thats over, (I hope you're not still considering it), a couple of $40. wheels look pretty cheap.

I cut my axle for a 58 inch flange to flange track width, and Riffman had his cut to 59 inches. We are putting his in right now.

Jim, run your brake/wheel setup by me again, this time a little slower. To put 15" wheels on a 8 lug hub, disc or drum, you need alot of offset to the outside and very little backspacing. Sounds to me like the rear tires are going to stick WAY out.

After weighing my options, I have decided to go with the 5 on 5-1/2" bolt configuration. So when you guys are done with Riffman's install you are going to swing down here to Houston, TX to help with mine, right? ;)

Yea, be right down. j/k

The guy that's helping me said he'll do more of them if anyone wants it done, but I need some time off, this is 4 straight weeks, 2 on mine and 2 on riffs. I'm starting to have nightmares.

The best route to go is the bigger bolt pattern, no doubt.

I cut mine down 6 3/8" (I think) so that it measures exactly the same as an EB axle. This way, the inner axle shaft you have to cut can be replaced with an EB inner shaft if you ever break it. I thought that was better than having a custom length shaft.

ps. MuddWhore, I still haven't done a write up. Sorry.

Cheers

Dale

Lol!! Poor Todd! Well, the only condolances I can offer are, it's in the name of off roading! Don't worry Todd, I will cut ya a good chunk of time till we do that dana 20 rebuild;) I shouldnt get it till may, and I'm not expecting to do it till late june early july.....Should that be enough rest for ya?
Pete

Can you guys email me all the info on how you set up the radius arm brackets, the trackbar and well basically all the info you have on the swap? I am thinking that if I can do it for cheaper than gears + setup I'm in.

Hix, I'll try to get something off to you tomorrow night.

Kampy: it looks in the top pic like you have some sort of spacer under the coils. Why did you use that? Or do my eyes deceive me?

About your steering, how do you like it? As far as fit and finish and ease of installation, and ofcourse how it performs?

All in all i'm jealous! Bad thing is right now i've got all this artillery (so to speak) under the hood and no front axle worthy to put it to the ground. Thanks

Hey Kampy, anyway you could 'manufacture' some peices and send them my way? Like the coil spring mounts, track bar mount, etc.? When you get a chance, of course. I'm in no hurry. :)

Randall, the only thing I would feel safe in making for you would be the coil adapters and maybe the plate that the trackbar bracket mounts to. They are both very easy to make. Everything else kind of needs to be fitted to the vehicle.

Nightranger, I'll combine a couple of comments from your post to Scott (Riffman) and this one, I did his swap and his R/A brackets are better than mine, I just cobbled mine up cause thats all I had at the time. The best brackets to use are the factory ones for a 79 bronco, they give you the most clearance and are stronger than the dropped ones like Scotts. Combine those with 7 degree C bushings and you should be ready to go.

The steering works great, it's powder coated and it was easy to install. Just have to drill the knuckles and pitman to 3/4 inch straight holes.

Your eyes are fine, I did make coil adapters to make the ranger coils fit the radius arms, the f150 coils are bigger and mount differently on the bottom. For me it was easier than making new upper perches. And I got to use my old coils so it kept the cost down. The reason I made them 2" thick was for lift, you get about 1/2" from the axle itself, I had 4" coils but I needed some more so now I have 6 1/2" over stock. Enough for the 35's with a little trim job. Thats whats on the truck now.

I emailed Hix back and forth about the EB axle and I'll tell you the same thing I told him, I haven't used one so I don't know for sure but you might have driveline problems with the low pinion and alot of lift, if you end up with around 4" it might be ok but if you use 5" or 6" coils or space it that high like I did, it's like adding 4 more inches to the driveline angle cause the pinion is that much lower than the high pinion. Then you'd have to cut and turn the knuckles to get the pinion higher to relieve the driveline angle. It would be alot of jacking around when you could have just used a reverse cut diff in the first place. On the other hand if you got nothing in the axle and can cut and turn it yourself that would be fine. We all have to decide whats best for us. (wallet)

That's just one persons opinion, it's what worked best for me and my budget.

hey hix if you would be so kind as to forward that email with the info to me I would be very very grateful, and might bring you a steak to the BBQ if you come!!!

Just a slightly off-topic question... What's the bolt pattern on my stock '93 axles? Is it 5 lugs at 4.5 inches? Or what? I'm looking to replace my rims with 15x10 wheels for bigger tires. (only 33's, no worries about strength)

yep, 5 lug 4-1/2" spacing.

I know a guy who did an EB44 in the front of his Pathfinder. He cut and turned the axle and pointed the pinion up. Problem was, the oil didn't bath the ring and pinion enuf and he quickly burned out his front end.

Just my 2 cents.

Kampy, You should have used the '79 Ford Radius Arm Brackets. The right one has one bolt hole that matches the Explorer frame.
I used them and it has worked out so far, they have a location to mount a transmission mount/cross member (Home Made of Course).

I want to add the new Duff radius arms down the road so I have only bolted the brackets in so far.

My Track Bar frame mount is made of 2x4 box tubing, 7/32 wall. Notched it to fit the frame and to clear the bar and movement. That worked out well and it is rugged.

The coil spring buckets are from an Early Bronco and welded in the same location as the Explorer's were. The height of the EB buckets and the Explorer buckets are the same and that sort of set me up to use EB springs.

The only problem I am working on now is the removal of the cross member, or I should say the replacement of it. I want to cut out as much as possible and then weld in a removable one, alot shallower than the original.

Time will tell.

Keep it on all four