Completed Project Turboexplorer's Full Width SAS Build Thread

Hello everybody! It's time to start the SAS on my Explorer. It will be an awesome project and the first project of this type and size that I have ever undertaken. Up to this point the sliders where the hardest thing that I have made myself. I am open to any suggestions and or insights from anyone as the project gets underway. I have bought every last part for the build minus the hard brake lines (axles, and from master to the frame) and the flexible lines that go down to the axles. Those are all easy to make so I am not worried about it for now until I get the axles put together and can see what i want to do with those.

Now for a list of things I will be doing with the project:
1995 F-150 8.8 - I bought this used rear axle that I will strip, lock with a Detroit, convert to Explorer Disc brakes, and mount to the truck. Factory rear sway bar will be used. I will be doing a spring over conversion and will also be remaking the rear V8 anti axle wrap bars to help the leaf springs out with the leverage and TQ the V8 37's and 5.13's will put on them.
1976 F-150 HP Dana 44 - I bought this used axle and will be stripping it of the Ford factory wedges, trussing, and building custom glorified radius arms. Like DB_1 runs and like Rubicon Expresses makes. Front will also have a Detroit Truetrac LSD in it as well. This Dana 44 has 1/2" thick axle tubes.
Fox 14" Remote reservoir coil-overs - I will be building shock hoops for these coil-overs, bracing them, and tying them together across the top of the engine with removable double lock tube clamps.
1995 F-150 Steering box - This will be mounted inside the frame rail and used with the factory PS pump and will build a custom steering link from the box to the column. I picked this 1 to keep it ALL Ford and 2 because they are fairly cheap and easy and can be tapped for hydro assist at some point if I want or need it. In order to fit this steering gear I also have to remote mount my oil filter so that it has room. I will be getting rid of the factory oil cooler and have a Trans Dapt remote filter relocation kit.

Project Parts Section:
-37X13.50 R17 Interco M-16's
-Fox 14" Remote reservoir coil-overs with Eibach Springs.
-Detroit Locker for the 8.8
-Detroit Truetrac for the Dana 44
-Yukon 5.13 gears for both front and rear.
-Both axles will receive ALL new bearings races and seals u-joints etc.
-All wheel studs front and rear and spindle studs have been replaced for safety reasons. To cheap not to.
-Already had EBC brakes on it so those pads on rear will be reused and new EBC 7000 series pads for the front have been purchased.
-New front rotors wheel bearings and new Spicer ball joints, going to reuse the warn locking hubs as they work great and are in good order and easily changed later if i wanted.
-1978 Ford T-Bird calipers have been bought in place of the factory F-150 ones. They are 17% bigger in piston size so will give me a little more brake up front to help stop those 37's.
-Trans Dapt Oil filter relocation Kit and addition mount to hook to the block at a 90*.
-Currie Johnny Joints and Rubicon Express Clevite bushings for the all the link ends.
-GM 1 ton tre's for the steering with a high angle tre at the pitman arm.
-Front axle truss. (wasn't impressed with it at all so will be making some changes)
-Extending current Expedition rear drive shaft and will have a custom double cardon one made for the front.
-Metal used: 2"X.250 wall DOM for lower links, 1 1/2"X.250 wall DOM used for upper links, 1 1/2"X.375 wall DOM used for trac bar, and ALL tabs and brackets will be made out of 1/4" Flat plate by me.
-Double lock tube clamps for the shock hoop cross brace that uses 2 3/8" bolts on each. These are so It can be removed.
-All Grade 8 hardware will be used.
-All flexible brake lines will be braided stainless steel Teflon lined hoses.

I like to follow others projects and often find myself wanting more pictures so bare with me there will be A LOT of pictures of the build. I hope you enjoy lots of pictures as much as I do.


First some pictures of what the truck was! Then onto some parts pictures. Build will start shortly.
1998 XLT Explorer. 5.0L with the 4R70W trans. I have the 4406 T-Case. 3.73 gears with rear LSD. Goodyear 31's. Rock sliders and front skid plate. Links to those builds are in my signature.

And here is some video links! There are a few videos of me wheeling in CO with nssj2!

 

[gmanpaint]

Should be just fine with 1/4" plate. Gusset supports to the vertical inside frame rails will definitely help with pulling stress. Looks like you have room to add a couple grade 8, 1/2" bolts thru the frame rails into the gussets even for weld break Insurance. (I used 4-grade 8, 1/2" bolts with large washers thru the frame rails on mine.)

Jakebrake did a hidden winch using his stock bumper as well. It turned out nice.

 

[turboexplorer]

Yeah I agree 1/4" will be just fine, it will be welded to the frame 6 full inches on both sides on both frame rails and will have some sweet bracing as well. It wont have an issue. Also the actual winch only uses 4 3/8" bolts. I did go and buy the steel for it today and for a few other projects on the horizon. Super excited to get started on it, hope to start it next week after the crazy Christmas week is over.

I looked at jakebrake's hidden winch mount and I like it. Mine will be similar but I have synthetic rope instead of cable so weight is less and my fairlead is a thinner piece of aluminum so it will look super clean on the front.

A little bird also told me that my wife may have got me a curved 50" light bar for the truck. I sure hope so. I bought steel to do the roof mounts if that turns out to be true.

 

[turboexplorer]

Here is a few more pictures from the Southern Utah wheeling trip over Thanksgiving.

My brother did almost roll his X on this dune, he hit it pretty hard and attempted to go up and do a turn down but it was insanely soft and stopped him dead in his tracks. I was behind him and thought it was going over for sure. He thought quick and shut the engine off since it was in low range and the TQ from just being in gear wanted to lift that left front, it was 1-2feet off of the sand before he shut it off and it settled down a hair. I got my truck on top of the dune and strapped him so the nose wouldn't go up as he backed up to get off the dune, the strap held his nose towards the top of the dune and turned him in line with the dune then he backed down as I backed up. Good times

 

[turboexplorer]

First 2 obstacles of the Fault-line trail. Neither are hard but the 1st is crazy how the rock is just a straight ledge like it was made out of concrete. 2nd is a wicked steep climb.

 

[turboexplorer]

 

[turboexplorer]

So this weekend I started on the winch mount. I am super happy with the results so far, but it has also taken a bit more effort than I originally thought as the winch is very tight in there but is a perfect placement.

Front bumper removed.

Got bumper set aside and winch out for fitment.

This is what it started as.

Quick throw in to see a rough idea on placement. I already knew I would have to move the transmission cooler up some.

Holding the winch up higher with 2X4's on the cross memeber and the jack stands on the front. You can see the edges of the frame bumper horns where I had to cut a bit so it will clear easy as the frame horns roll around about 1/2-5/8"

Can see how tight the initial fit was to the motor.

 

[BKennedy]

I need to get back up to that area, just beautiful.

 

[turboexplorer]

You can see how tight it was to the lower part of the core support. This is why the motor is so close to the frame horns.

So it was time to make the winch mounting plate so I can really see where everything lines up and what works best for fitment and strenghth. I made the plate 1/2" longer on each side so I would for sure have enough metal for final fitment.

Mark the plate out so the winch is dead center and drill the 1/8" holes for now until I am 100% sure that it will fit. I also marked the ends where it needed to be bent to fit both winch and frame.

So what I did to bend the steel (1/4" plate) is used my 4 1/2" grinder with a cut off wheel to score the plate. Went about 3/16" deep so to leave only 1/16" left to bend. I did the score on the top of the plate so where it is welded will be hidden and the bottom that you will see will have the nice super clean bend. Then I held it on the floor on a board and hit it with a big dead blow hammer to get it to bend over. The bends allow the which mount part to be 13/16" below the ends where it will be mounted to the frame.

Pictures of the bend. And no worries, where it is bent will be ground out so I get full penetration on the weld to strenghth it back up.

 

[turboexplorer]

I need to get back up to that area, just beautiful.

Its amazing. Not only to be in and wheel but for pictures, the backgrounds are perfect in every direction you turn.

If you are ever in the mood for a trip let me know and I can come and wheel anytime. Only 300 miles from me.

 

[turboexplorer]

So with the plate made and winch sitting on it was time to fit the front bumper and see if there is any issues or not.

Long story short there was issues and the winch and plate needed to go backwards about 7/8" for it to fully clear the front bumper. So options where to cut a bunch of front bumper and make relief cuts in the mounting plate or to cut the core support section and move both back. I used the second one. I spent some time cutting the core support out really well and ground it flush so it looks really clean. It will all be painted and look really good when done. Only removed what was needed and core support remains strong.

 

[turboexplorer]

Cutting the core support and refitting shows it is good to go so tacked the plate in place.

Happy with fitment I burned in 3 inches on the plate towards the rear on the top to make it permanent.

The top of the plate ended up on the bottom of the frame. So where the frame is here in this picture needed a small plate to make it even with the main plate for a great fit and really strong mount.

Here is the small 1/4" plates that go on the bottom of the frame rails that make the fit for the main plate really nice, this also ties it heavily onto the frame rails. And in case anybody is wondering about the gap to the main plate (always get asked) this would be considered a butt weld. And for good penetration and to make the weld flatter to the plates the gap is needed. Remember this is 1/4" plate and it takes this gap to get full penetration for a proper weld. Anyways small tip for others fabricating things. General rule of thumb for butt welds is a gap 1/2 the width of the material you are welding. This is not the case for lap or fillet welds.

 

[turboexplorer]

So was time to fully burn in the plate. Burn in about 3" at a time and let the steel cool in between. Cools quickly as there is the frame rails and my front cross member to soak up the heat. Also when burning it in I put a cardboard piece between the plate and the A/C condenser so stray weld berries didn't find their way burning holes in the condenser.

So where I scored the plate to bend it, I then used a 1/8" wide cut off wheel to open it up so again I can get a proper weld and full penetration. This picture is great to show how proper metal fit and prep is every bit as important as knowing how to weld as is essential for proper welds.

Fully burned in.

Also since the metal warps when welded I welded this small strip of 1/4" to hold the center of the plate down while I welded the seams up. Once fully cooled with all welding done will remove it and plate will still be perfectly flat.

Bottom fully burned in. The frame is lapped over itself here where these plates where and you could still see that and it bugged me so I did a few small welds so the whole area is welded with out anyone questioning why it looked like it was fully welded on even though it was on the lower lap section.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Looks really good. Aren't you eventually going to build bumpers though? I do like the hidden factory look a lot.

 

[turboexplorer]

So now onto some supports. Made a CAD template (cardboard aided design) to fit the frame rails. Had to make the ends to fit the crumple zone bulge on each frame rail. BTW everything for this project I just used a 4 1/2" angle grinder, either with cut off wheels, grinding wheel, flap disc or wire wheel. Best tools for the garage what tools are limited. Also both sides turned out identical so pattern was used to make 2 plates. These plates where made with the winch sitting on a flat piece of steel so I knew the shape and placement as to not interfere with the wires that attach to the back of the motor. Also made them curved so it looks much better and has character than a straight triangle piece. These supports are 1/8" steel.

Held in place and ready to be tacked up. Also small side note for fabrication. Remove ALL mill scale off of the steel on both surfaces being welded. Mill scale is full of contaminates and will make for a weld that has less strenghth and looks poor and can make you think the welder is not set up correctly when really its just the crap that wasn't cleaned off of the steel. Mill scale is there from when it is hot formed.

First burn in sections on the brace plates.

Then fully welded to the frame.

 

[BKennedy]

Its amazing. Not only to be in and wheel but for pictures, the backgrounds are perfect in every direction you turn.

If you are ever in the mood for a trip let me know and I can come and wheel anytime. Only 300 miles from me.

I do like me some clean welds. Nice work.

That would be a fun run, two white SAS coil over Explorers from the two best gens to modify.

 

[turboexplorer]

Burned into the frame on the other side.

Close up of the first burn in section of the brace.

Fully burned in. I am very happy with the winch mount so far. Has turned out great and will be very strong. Let me know what you guys think of it so far!

 

[turboexplorer]

I got the winch solenoid box mounted. Took a bit to find a spot to remote mount it that it would fit and still be serviceable. I did not want to mount it on top of the winch and restrict any more air flow than is needed. Also I can't get to the solenoid box to plug in the remote with it on top of the winch anyways so it might as well be remote mounted.

I was limited to the right side of the truck though due to the length of all the big gauge wires that I did not want to remake or extend. So instead what I am going to do is pull the remote control plug port and extend the 4 small gauge wires and mount just the remote plug port to an easy access and clean looking spot. That way the big solenoid box is hidden yet still have access to service and do not need to get to it to plug in the remote. So that turned out great and will post pictures of it later.

Also I got the new transmission oil cooler mount made. It ended up 3 1/8" higher than the factory location and still uses all 3 factory mounting spots. Turned out good and still fully functional. Needed to move it up since winch is now where the factory lower mounts where also need room for the cooler lines coming off of the bottom of it. Will post pictures of it later.

Question? Since I have my grill off should I paint match it white instead of it being chrome around the grill section and headlights?

 

[gmanpaint]

Looking good !

I had the same ordeal with relocating the box. I was going to run it inside the cab, but decided to eventually get a wireless remote installed. So I put it in the grill to the pass side, and can reach it to plug the controller for now. Some food for thought for ya.

I say paint it.

 

[turboexplorer]

O man. I got all wiring done (minus remote, gmanpaint that's what I was thinking of doing) and plumbing done for transmission cooler. And WOW it fits but is very tight. None of it will have any rubbing problems but it is tight. Wires are barely long enough to go from solenoid to winch motor so attaching them is a little bit of a chore. Technically everything is fully serviceable but none of it is a 10 minute job to service.

Now onto the fairlead. Hummmm....... :scratch: would be easy if I could weld it's mount to the winch plate but if I do then I can't remove the winch without cutting it off. So my option is bolt on. This will take a bit more fab work to accomplish.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Fab up a bracket for the fairlead that is able to be bolted to the winch plate. you'll need more gussets to reinforce it but that's the way I'd go.