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.

 

[FR-425]

When your off road it's good though right? Trans temps I mean

 

[BKennedy]

That would defeat the purpose of having a skid plate, it needs to be a smooth surface to slide over rocks and stuff.

 

[Spudhut]

Understandably. I have never gone out on the rocks.

 

[BKennedy]

When your off road it's good though right? Trans temps I mean

It was great at Truckhaven, not so good at Shaver Lake going up those fire roads with the long grades. In the rocks temps were fine. On the last Mojave Trail trip, it got warm fast going up long off-road grades, but never got over 200. The rest of the trip, it ran cold, 120-140.

 

[FR-425]

I think your mods and heat shield are good for 10 degrees under high load. we'll see.

240 degrees is the damage zone, but 210 is no issue.

 

[BKennedy]

I think your mods and heat shield are good for 10 degrees under high load. we'll see.

240 degrees is the damage zone, but 210 is no issue.

I drove it around today, and hammered it up a long grade in 3rd at 65MPH, 4000 RPM with the torque converter locked. Never got over 160. Its not very warm today, low 70's, but that should have brought the temps up fast and it didn't. Now, I just need to test it on a long grade at higher elevation in low gear and slow speed on a hot day. Sounds like a drive to Borrego is in order.

 

[BKennedy]

I have taken the Explorer on two long drives in the backcountry since my last post. The temps were fine. I guess I need to quit worrying about it and just drive it. Had a bathroom remodel project going the past few weeks, so nothing with the Explorer. I did, however sneak in the purchase of the rest of the material needed to make a false floor in the cargo area. I should be able to get going on that during the middle of this week.

 

[Spudhut]

Thanks good news....great work!

 

[BKennedy]

I spent a little time today making a template for the raised floor in the cargo area. The raised floor is going to be about 6-1/2" above the existing floor so I can put 4 low profile storage containers under there to add space when on expedition type trips, and still keep all of the existing floor space. I was going to make drawers and latches, but decided to keep it simple. This entire project should cost me less than $100.00.

I am going to use a 4x8x3/4" sheet of plywood for the project. I was thinking of making a steel frame, but ended up going simple again with using the same plywood. I think the weight will be about the same and it should hold up just fine. The plan is to have the outer sides of the frame bolted to the flat part of the fender wells, then dividers between the large and narrow containers. The dividers will go back as far as needed to clear the containers, with another divider across the back. Dividers of the frame will be bolted through the floor and to each other, and to the sides, with the top screwed down to the frame. I want to leave the space in front of the containers open so I can lower the back of the seats and access whatever I have in there. I usually put heavier stuff and stuff I am not going to use unless there is a trail repair, in that area such as tool bags to keep the weight low and between the wheels as much as possible. I am going to cover all of the plywood with some type of outdoor material to be determined. I will trim the plastic interior pieces as needed, but wanted to retain the stock look as much as possible.

I always find a piece of cardboard and cut it out to the size of the original piece of wood that I have to work with. Then figure out if I am going to have enough material to work with. I have plenty.

Containers I will have under the floor. Purchased at Wal Mart for about $20.00 total. I used the two large containers on the last Mojave Trail trip and they held all of my non-perishable food, cooking gear and a bunch of other stuff. They fit on my fold down tables and are stackable.

4x8 cardboard template.

Rough floor cut-out, 52-1/2" wide, 40-1/2" deep.

Roughly trimmed to clear all the stuff in the way.

I just got the basis shape and will do the final trimming on the plywood floor. I don't see a way to get the whole piece in there with the cage in the way, so will need to cut it in two sections. The next steps are to pull the plastic trim out again, cut out the frame pieces and fit them in place.

I am going to leave the original carpet in place as it helps with road noise suppression, and will help hold the containers in place as the new floor will fit snugly and should put a little down pressure on the containers. That, and the frame covered with material should keep them from rattling around back there. The floor will have enough overhand that I could install a hatch on the rear if I chose, but for now, I plan on leaving it open and let the hatch be the door.

Not sure when I am going to get more done on this...

 

[BKennedy]

Got the pieces for the box cut out and ready for assembly. I spent a lot of time looking at it and making changes to get the most out of the space. Changed the plywood to use .5 something inch thick because the 3/4" sheet was too heavy, and the pieces would not fit sideways in between the containers. Made a lot of cuts, then more looking, then more measuring, then more cuts... you get the idea. One thing I figured out was the narrow containers in the center are about a plywood's thickness shorter than the larger containers. Left room for me to put a floor down the center, which will make the box more rigid, and make it much easer to bolt down. Took a long time to get the spacing just right to have the same side tension on all of the containers. Will need a spacer of about 5/8" to bolt the driver side through the fender to clear the cage, passenger side is directly in line with the inside edge of the fender. The inside of the box is 40-3/4" wide by 29" deep and 6-3/4" tall. It leaves nearly 12" deep and the width of the cargo area of room behind the container area for storage that will be nearly invisible, even with the hatch open. It will be accessed by putting the rear seat down, but will be kind of a pain to access. The only seat that folds down is the small side, and that will not fold flat due to the "B" pillar cage cross members. The long side has a small platform in the center that is even with the seat height for my dog. She likes to lie on it with her head resting between the padded cage cross members. It prevents the back seat from folding more than a few inches.

Didn't have any time to work on the floor/box top today, just rough cut the piece.

Box mocked up

The side pieces are going to go back to about 3" away from the seat backs, but I still need to trim the interior panels.

 

[BKennedy]

Today, I spent a little time trying to figure out how to securely mount the box to the floor. The sides are not an issue, but the bottom had me worried about bolting through the floor with all the stuff I already have under there. I figured out I can use the existing cargo hook bolts and threaded mounting holes. They are right next to the outer sides of the box. I just need to fab up some brackets. Wrote up a list of hardware I should be using. If anyone is interested, I will keep track of everything, and all the measurements, and post it in a separate thread.

 

[5spdman]

I'm gonna keep an eye on this...was thinking of doing something right around the lines of what you're doing, down to using the holes for the bolts securing the cargo hooks. Figured it'd be a better idea than the cargo cover (that I don't have anymore) flapping around while the half doors are on to keep things still in the back. Looks good so far!

 

[BKennedy]

Besides the cargo hook mounting points, I am going to use 1/4x20 screws with T nuts in the center through the floor and flat part of the fenders. Once I get it all lined up and tight, I will pull one screw out at a time and use thread locker. Because of the cage, I cannot mount the top to the box and then install. I have to mount the top in two sections to the box, so I am planning on using epoxied in hex threaded inserts in the box with flat head screws to hold it down. Its kind of a pain to do it that way, but if I glue and screw the top down I won't be able to remove it without causing damage. Without the cage, I could just rotate the box up on one side and pull it out intact.

I also have ten cargo D rings and am going to repurpose the original cargo mounts. I am going to use 1/4x20 screws with T nuts on those as well.

I made a Home Depot run today for some household stuff and found the material to cover the box. Its a tan 6x8' piece of carpet made out of recycled water bottles. I got it because it was cheap, and very thin so it will be easier to glue down and form around the curves in the top. Marshall's Hardware was closed due to a power issue so I couldn't get all the fasteners. Forgot all about the Grainger store ten minutes away.

 

[BKennedy]

Over the past two days I have made progress. I was thinking about how I did not like the planned mounting for the box. It seemed like it would take too long to make bendy brackets to use the old cargo hook mounts, and I did not want to drill holes through the floor because the screws would be long and through the carpet. Then I remembered I have a welder and angle grinders. 40 minutes later, I had 10 mostly the same tabs made from some 1.5" wide 1/8" thick flat bar I had in the junk steel box.

About 30 minutes after that, I had the tabs welded to the floor.

20 more minutes, carpet was installed and box was test fitted. It fit great.

Marked the holes, drilled, installed T-nuts and reinstalled. Everything lined up first try.

Spent the rest of the time working on smoothing out the wood, rounded the edges with a router and they are mostly ready to be covered. Still need the nut inserts epoxied into the boxes so use to mount the top and I am thinking about filling that little gap on the driver side next to the cage tube.

 

[Stic-o]

Looking good. Are you going to put carpet on the top?

 

[BKennedy]

Looking good. Are you going to put carpet on the top?

I have a 6x8' piece of carpet I got at Home Depot I am going to glue to the top and to the box.

 

[josh40601]

looks great buddy!

 

[410Fortune]

very nicely done!

 

[johnny499]

Very cool!! Ive been slowly working on a similar solution for mine

 

[BKennedy]

Thanks, everyone. I should be able to spend most of Wednesday on this. My problem is I keep adding to the project, which is killing my original idea of keeping it simple.