Bkennedy's SAS and Rebuild Thread

As some of you know, I am working on building a parts list for a shortened Dana 44, long radius arm with coil overs SAS. 5:13 gears to match my rear axle and an ARB, maybe an electric locker. I have a pretty good list so far. At the same time, I am going to swap out the rear drum brakes for discs off of a 99 Explorer.

Please note: The plan is to keep this project as simple as possible with mostly off the shelf parts. I am not a fabricator, just a decent welder with a what I would consider the minimum required tools (chop saw, cut off wheels, air tools, welder, etc.), who likes doing his own work. Your opinions are welcome, but what I really need is technical advice. I have been thinking about this for several years and now have the time and cash to make it happen. Please keep on topic with your advice and don't go off on a side track about how you would do it as a four-link, or caged arms, or leave the axle full-width because that is not what I want. I want a simple-ish set up that works.

 

[josh40601]

Thanks again Brian for all the parts and liquid bread! You were definitely right with how rusty and crusty this pile was. I'm sure it will be melted down into a fender for a camry or something. Good chattin with ya too. Can't wait to hit some trails with you and see how well the Explorer performs.

For those who follow this thread that haven't seen this truck in person, it is one of the cleanest, most thought out rigs I have seen. Everything has a purpose, and everything is done so professionally. It does have dents and some pretty significant body damage, but you would never notice it if you were not looking to find it. By far the nicest explorer I have seen in person.

 

[BKennedy]

Thanks Josh. I can tell I am going to worry about beating it up because its never been this nice before. The body has been straighter, but the overall rig has never been this well put together. Hopefully its just a phase and will wear off soon so I can go back to where I was before the redo. I did not go looking for body damage, just did not care that much when it happened.

I posted earlier that the speedo was now 5 MPH fast after I changed out the gear. Its actually very close at speeds of 45-65 MPH, but gets progressively faster as I go slower. Huge improvement over the old speedo gear.

Weird thing happened the other day while I was test driving the Explorer. I took it out for about an hour to get some highway time and make sure all was right again with the world. Shifted great, just a little early. I can adjust that out later. Drives fine, did not catch on fire, which was good. Then I noticed the tachometer was not working. Upon closer inspection, the needle was on the wrong side of the stop. What the ?? I removed the stereo and the ash tray, pulled the front piece of the dash, and unscrewed the clear cover off the instrument cluster. Sounds like a lot of work, but I have gotten good at it by now. The needle stop for the tachometer had to be removed to get the needle above it, because there is not enough play in the needle to get it over the stop. I have no idea how that could possibly have happened. Works fine now.

 

[BKennedy]

I posted these pictures on the Truckhaven 2018 thread, but felt they should be here as well. I did not get a picture of the nice dent I put in the driver side quarter panel while at Truckhaven, but here a couple of pictures of it after I got most of the dent out. I could have spend another hour or two smoothing out the ripples. I decided to leave them, since I have hit that exact spot at least five times.

A little bit of information I did not know; If you remove the transfer case off the back of a A4LD transmission that is resting on a cart with the tail angled down, about 4-5 quarts of ATF come with it. I did not realize the transmission uses the transfer case as the rear seal/cover. My 700R4 and NP231 are completely separate units. A little messy, but its ready for pickup, RJ.

 

[josh40601]

Thanks Josh. I can tell I am going to worry about beating it up because its never been this nice before. The body has been straighter, but the overall rig has never been this well put together. Hopefully its just a phase and will wear off soon so I can go back to where I was before the redo. I did not go looking for body damage, just did not care that much when it happened.

Guess that phase wore off quickly. haha

and now you have a nice clean spot of concrete thanks to the detergent wash you gave it yesterday

 

[BKennedy]

Yeah, red detergent

 

[BKennedy]

I posted about my Daystar Stinger bushings on the Truckhaven 2018 thread. They work great for me as they limit the suspension while crawling, but allow a little more compression upon hard hits while moving faster. Would not work well for racing applications because I don't think they would hold up. On the Truckhaven trip, the driver side bump's shaft unscrewed itself and was lost to the desert. I called Daystar and they eventually agreed to warranty the lost items. Shipped superfast, since I received a box from them today. Unfortunately, they sent the wrong parts. I received the shaft and an end cap, not the external bump that went missing with the shaft. A quick phone call, and they are now sending me the correct part, I hope. The customer service dude almost sent me a complete bump, but then located the single part I needed. Said I could keep the end cap for a spare.

After a few conversations with TDavis about my failing power steering pump, I decided to add a cooler. I ordered a nice little plate cooler today. I will go into more detail when all parts arrive and I do the install.

 

[BKennedy]

Power Steering Pump Cooler Mod:

The power steering pump started overheating and foaming up the fluid on the last Truckhaven trip. It was puking fluid the entire time I was up in the Sierra's, so I figured it was on its way out. Its a reman from AutoZone with a lifetime warranty. Good thing, as this will be the second one gone bad since the SAS. My plan was to pull the OEM pump off the donor engine and use that, as the original pump on my Explorer lasted 20 some years, and replace the AZ one under warranty to keep as a spare.

I spent a few hours pulling the power steering pump off the donor vehicle. About 3/4 of the time was working the pulley off, since it was rusted solidly in place. Finally got it moving after a bunch of soaks with PB Blaster. After I pulled the pump, I noticed signs of leakage where the reservoir seals over the pump. Decided I did not want to install this one on my Explorer after all.

Waiting for the cooler to come in before I pull the pump and return to AutoZone. I ordered a little 7 row plate cooler about 12"LX2"WX3"T, that I can easily mount to either the passenger side bottom edge or side of the radiator core support. The only problem I see so far is it has AN -10 fittings. I will need two 90* female AN-10 to 1/2" ID barb fittings. Each fitting costs about as much as I paid for the cooler. I guess I should have checked before I ordered the cooler. Figured out how to run hose to the cooler using the OEM return line to keep costs down and parts availability. If the hose or cooler fails while far from home, I can reattach the OEM return line to the bottom of the pump reservoir. I will post pictures and more detail when I get all the parts together.

I also need to find several more quarts of Mobile-1 ATF, which has been scarce around here lately.

 

[josh40601]

similar setup I have. I ended up using the power steering cooler off a super duty truck. Its a double pass vane style with a pretty good sized tube. I then bubble flared the return line up to the hydroboost and hose clamped in the line. If you need the conversion fittings, Industrial Rubber Supply probably has them on the shelf, and they are awesome to work with. They've helped me out a lot during my power steering rebuild.

 

[BKennedy]

Thanks Josh, I think I might go by there tomorrow.

 

[roscoe 0202]

another idea on fuel pump is go to agr steering they have a kit to install a Delphi pump like gm uses much better than the Thompson pump you can modify the pump bracket to mount.the pump like oem I didn't know what I was doing on the end mill and only have three bolts on ac compressor but could be redone on different bracket to look oem.
roscoe

 

[BKennedy]

Thanks for the info. I don't want to spent that kind of money right now, when I can get a replacement pump for free.

I picked up all the components for the cooler mod, including the pump. Got all the hose and fittings at one stop from Industrial Rubber Supply, thanks Josh. Just waiting on the cooler to arrive, supposed to be here tomorrow. Should have it all wrapped up by Saturday.

 

[BKennedy]

One thing I am not sure about is mounting of the cooler. I want to mount the plate cooler vertical along the passenger side of the radiator core support as its a great spot that will not interrupt much flow to the radiator and get air pushed through while moving. It should also negate any possibility of air pockets in the cooler. I will mount the incoming line on the bottom to push any air out the top and through the return line.

The only issue I can see is the out flow will be above the reservoir. I was concerned about back flow filling up and overflowing the reservoir when the engine is off. I have been searching and do not see any issues with having the cooler above the reservoir. Any thoughts?

 

[josh40601]

got a picture of the cooler so we can see the visual orientation of how the inlet and outlet are?

Here is how mine is mounted

 

[BKennedy]

Cooler is supposed to arrive today, but I pulled this picture off the advertisement.

Outlets are on one side at each end, so if I mount it vertical, it will have one at the top and one at the bottom. I got a plate cooler because they are more efficient at cooling than tube and fin types. Plan is to weld two flat bar tabs to the core support and just bolt it up so it will stand off a few inches from the radiator.

You had any issues with your cooler being above the reservoir?

 

[BKennedy]

I want to mount it where the cardboard template is in this pic.

 

[JW]

Wouldn't having the cooler (or any of the plumbing) higher than the cap make it difficult to bleed?

 

[BKennedy]

It shouldn't need bleeding. It should push the air out of the line in front of the fluid. Just like the transmission coolers do, but with a lot less pressure.

 

[BKennedy]

I found this from PSC. The cooler should be mounted below the height of the reservoir.
http://www.pscmotorsports.com/pdf/tech/cooler_mounting.pdf

 

[tdavis]

I've also found that you enter the bottom, and leave from the top of the cooler.

Glad to see you've got this underway. It will make a huge difference.

 

[BKennedy]

I couldn't mount it like the cardboard template in the pic above. It would be above the reservoir. I think that's a no no. I mounted it along the bottom of the radiator on the passenger side with the ports facing up. It was the only way it is going to work. It keeps everything below the mid-line of the reservoir.

I had a very frustrating day. Spent several hours trying to press the pulley on the new pump. My cheapo pulley tool keeps loosening and allowing the shaft to turn. Going to get a better one and try again.

Edit: It wasn't totally frustrating today. I realized to mount it upright I would need another AN-6 female to barb elbow fitting. The place I knew would have them was closed. Of course, I found that out after I drove over there. On the way back, I went by a fabrication shop on Miramar Rd that has done some bending for me. They were closed as well, but the owner's brother was working on his own go fast truck. He dug around and found one, and only charged me $10 cash. The one I purchased yesterday was $18.