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Hybrid D35/D44 TTB

mounty71

It's green, not gray.
Elite Explorer
Joined
February 3, 2007
Messages
3,637
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256
City, State
Oakland, CA
Year, Model & Trim Level
'00 Mountaineer
Forgive me if this has been covered somewhere, since I know people have been mixing and matching TTB parts for decades now. But years back R.J. extended his D35 beams in a way that achieves something I have not seen anywhere else, and I need to get some clarification. I don't have much first hand experience working with beams, and most of what I know is just from reading, so bare with me.

The below thread preceded his actual build thread, but explains his goal of using a combination of stock D35 and D44 TTB axle shafts to avoid having to cut and extend any to match his extended D35 beams.

https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208533

Essentially what he did was extend his beams 2.25" at the beam pivot ends for an overall track width increase of 4.5", and then used a stock D44 passenger side shaft which is 4.5" longer than that of the D35. (This moved the center slip shaft 2.25" to the driver's side relative to the beam pivots. He did end up trimming the splined end of the D44 shaft down about 3/8" so it wouldn't bottom out at droop, but for all intents and purposes, I'll call it stock.) Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe he used the stock D35 passenger stub shaft.

If that is the case, my end goal would be to run the D44 knuckles/hubs/brakes by modifying the lower BJ holes. So with regards to axle shafts, the only difference from his to mine would be the D44 outer stub shafts, correct?

I made this quick drawing to hopefully better illustrate what I'm imagining. The red is D44 stuff, the blue is D35 stuff. D35 beams, D35 pumpkin obviously, D35 knuckles in blue on top, D44 knuckles in red on bottom.

beams_zpsczf0nv5b.jpg


I hope that all makes sense. Thanks!
 



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Whoops, think I got the center slip joint backwards in the drawing.
 






Bump
 






What vehicle would this be going on?
 






My Mountaineer. The hope is to cut off the A-arm stuff and go beams. I'm in the planning stage now and still have a lot of measuring to do, but I need to nail down a game plan first.
 






Oh wow!
Since you're not encumbered by preexisting TTB mounting locations, maybe you can just use a d44 TTB as is, without combining with a 35? Is a gen2 frame any wider than a gen1?
 






I'm adamant about using the D35 beams, I'm all about staying lightweight on my truck additions and the D44 pumpkin is just too heavy. The frame width is something I still need to measure haha.
 






Bump, no one knows?
 






I don't check these forum much anymore. The only problem I see with what you describe is that extending at the pivot end creates a severe clearance issue between the pumpkin and the driver side frame rail at bump.

When I mounted the D44 TTB under my 99 I actually shortened the beams 1" per side to allow for clearance. Still ended up with a track width wider than factory explorer by about 4 inches. I used all D44 shafts except the passenger intermediate because it was too long. I used the D35 intermediate and extended the slip yoke with a section of DOM tubing turned to a precise fit over the yoke, no breakage yet.

I will second the fact that the cast iron D44 pumpkin is really heavy, I really hate taking it out and having it over my head when pulling it. It might be worth the trouble to mount the D35 pumpkin in the D44 beams so that you can easily used all the D44 axles.
 






Should have read the referenced thread before replying, sorry for the redundancy.
 






Dude, thanks for chiming in! I thought I was going to be a pioneer mounting TTB under a 2nd generation stock-frame rail Explorer, but seeing that you did it makes me glad to know it's doable. I'm still really interested in learning more about the setup I asked about originally, but I actually have tentative plans to buy someone's 4.5" extended D35 /D44 combo beams, so if that happens then I wouldn't be dealing with any of the extending and parts sourcing myself anymore.

I found your web page with pictures of your truck, and I have several questions. Is that a ford steering box you used? Any clearance issues with the exhaust and pumpkin/front driveshaft? Exhaust is one thing I'm a little concerned about. Also the oil pan, but I think the stock one should allow enough room.

An old roommate of mine mounted D44 beams under his 93-97 ranger, and he ended up shortening the beams like you did. But I actually have no problem notching the bottom of the frame a little bit to allow clearance.
 






Dude, thanks for chiming in! I thought I was going to be a pioneer mounting TTB under a 2nd generation stock-frame rail Explorer, but seeing that you did it makes me glad to know it's doable. I'm still really interested in learning more about the setup I asked about originally, but I actually have tentative plans to buy someone's 4.5" extended D35 /D44 combo beams, so if that happens then I wouldn't be dealing with any of the extending and parts sourcing myself anymore.

I found your web page with pictures of your truck, and I have several questions. Is that a ford steering box you used? Any clearance issues with the exhaust and pumpkin/front driveshaft? Exhaust is one thing I'm a little concerned about. Also the oil pan, but I think the stock one should allow enough room.

An old roommate of mine mounted D44 beams under his 93-97 ranger, and he ended up shortening the beams like you did. But I actually have no problem notching the bottom of the frame a little bit to allow clearance.

I used a 94 Ranger steering box. I have no clearance issue with the driveshaft or exhaust but I do have the SOHC 4.0. However if the pumpkin is pushed out further driveshaft might interfere with the frame also. I don't think the oil pan will be any problem.
 






I do know you were talking about putting the TTB in a 2nd gen frame but from the research I have done the frame body mounts on a 1st gen frame will line up with the body mounts on a 2nd gen body but the very front radiator core support mounts. The mounts are wider on the 2nd gen body then the 1st gen frame. So the front mounts have to be widen on the 1st gen frame, cant remember how much tho. but the rest of the mounts line up just fine.
 






Oh man I never saw this. So did you get all your questions answered? Obviously the front axle is on your car now.
 






Also, If I would have extended the beams a half inch more, or so, I wouldn't have had to trim my center shaft down. I didn't factor in how much the axle beams move towards each other with that much travel.
 






Well not really, but as you know I ended up getting a set of beams already extended with axles, and obviously they're under my truck already. I actually still haven't put all the axle shafts and pumpkin and hubs in together yet. I have a collection of spare D35 and D44 shafts now too so I can just compare those to the extended ones my setup came with.
 






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