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!

 

[turboexplorer]

Getting the leafs set into place. The hole for the pin on the spring perch was a hair under 5/8" so I had to run to ACE and pick up a 5/8" drill bit so I could get them to fit the locating pin perfectly with no pressure or any play at all.

Used ratchet straps to hold axle up to the leafs. Cheesy but worked really well. The straps had enough traction so the axle wouldn't try and roll all all when being lifted.

My rear shocks look sad, they have seen some weather over the last few years and 7,000 miles.

So I tried a cleaning tip that FOX told me to do on my coilovers to keep them clean on these and it really did do a good job, if I would have done it sooner or once a year I probably wouldn't have the spots that are still there. The tip was to use a scotch bright pad and WD40. Spray them down and rub with the scotch bright pad. Rub only in the direction of the grains of the aluminum. If you go across the grain you will see scratches. But hey you decide here is the before and afters. (Now to do my coilovers, haven't had them out since I called FOX about the finish. Dang road salt)

After it is sitting on its own again.

 

[turboexplorer]

Here is the other side sitting on its own again. And after that 30miles and a wheeling trip the ride height is exactly the same as it was with the factory leafs. So as long as they don't settle I will be happy if they do I may call ATS and see what their options are.

Here is some pictures of the rear drive line that I rubbed on a rock last Sunday. Was on an obstacle that I haven't climbed before and I just had my daughter with me. Was spinning all 4 slowly and the fronts dug in the dirt deep 6-8" so that lowered the front of the truck then the rear walked over to the left about 6-12" and "rub rub" O well part of playing. I did take it into Tatton's drivelines where both my shafts where made and it is getting retubed. So it will be back in the truck nice and fresh on Friday. He did say while I was there talking to him that it was dented for sure and that is is possible for it to create a weak spot for it to fail at some point plus it is like slightly off balance. Both of which I expected. So no sense in even living with it so fresh tube it is. I also told him exact RPM that the driveshaft sits when I am on the freeway 3,300-3,400 and he says that he balances them out @ 3,700 anyways so that's perfect.

One side of the driveline, you can see where it rubbed in a spiral as the truck came forward and up the rock.

Other side.

In this picture you can see the upper end of the drive shaft where in Moab I had a rock flip up and land between the fuel tank skid and the drive line and it scratched it there a year and a half ago.

Then in my extra time I got my new RC body finished. Can't wait to get the body mounts all set up and run it. First rollover and scratches are always the toughest.

 

[turboexplorer]

Got the drive shaft re-tubed last week, I had them shorten it by 1/4" since it was a hair long nothing to interfere with anything but hey while they where re-tubing it figured I'll make it just right.

All shiny.

Got it installed but had tons of things to do and family in town last weekend so didn't get a chance to take it out. But I hope to this weekend. I really wish that it would snow.

Some point this week I will try to get the new lights ready to be installed. Also with my curved 50" I think I am going to have to make a mount for it in my door jam. Don't think there is a good way to mount it to the roof and keep it as low as I would like.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Nice work man. Just looking at the pictures of the springs and it looks like the shackles are in upside down. I can't see the whole shackle but it looks like the long side is on the spring end and the short side is on the frame end? Am I seeing things? LOL

 

[turboexplorer]

Honestly I don't know. Either way would not matter shackles aren't close to hitting anything. And on bummer note, I took the X to work and back today and I have a slight vibration and am pretty sure it's the drive line. Starts when the shafts gets to 3,100 revs and continues and get worse the more you push it. Checked when I got to work and whole front end is free and the rear shaft is solid and tight etc. So may have to take it back and have it double checked. While there I'll check the rear pinion and the mounting flange and make sure everything is true. :thumbdwn: kinda bummed lol

 

[MidnightRebel07]

That sucks, probably/ hopefully just needs rebalanced.

 

[turboexplorer]

Yeah I hope so. That would be the quickest and cheapest.

 

[turboexplorer]

Put the truck up on my big jack stands and ran it. Its for sure coming from the rear drive shaft. Even rolling slow I used a scribe to put tiny scratches in it up and down the tube and the tube isn't running perfectly true. So I will take it into the shop and have them throw it on the balancer and double check it.

2nd thing I found was the slip yoke going into the T-Case has some play, wonder if the rear output shaft bearing and the tail housing bushing are worn? Its not a crazy amount of play but enough that if the shaft isn't perfectly balanced it may exaggerate it. So May be looking into that as well have a few buddies with F-150's so will check their trucks and see how much play there is on theirs. And if you remember over Thanksgiving I felt a few pops in the drive train when going from reverse to drive, it did it again when I took it out after welding the front joint cap to the axle, so I'm wondering if the Case is getting worn and starting to show signs. Hummmm......:scratch: Rebuild bearing and seal kits are really cheap, can do both for under $200 but I guess they can show signs of worn parts,

"The BW4406 can show early wear of the shift cam, range hub, shift fork/inserts and input shaft. This failure mode may be manifested by popping or grinding sound in reverse as well as excessive rear yoke end play." Quoted from midwest transmission center. So Maybe that it is showing signs?

 

[turboexplorer]

So a few updates, I jumped under a few of my co-workers F-150's and pushed up and down on there rear drive line slip yoke's and there is ZERO up and down play. (same T-Cases as mine) Mine does have some play. Hummm........ So this means the tailhousing bushing and or the rear output shaft bearing is worn. So the drive shaft is out now so I grabbed the output shaft of the T-Case and tried to move it up and down and it does have some play so this means that the rear output shaft bearing is worn. Front also seams to have a small amount of play also so looks like a T-Case re-bearing is in order.

Also I took the shaft in to be redone Monday and called him Friday about it and he hasn't even looked at it yet. Kind of frustrated about it. I am trying to be the nice customer since I don't drive the truck everyday its really not that big of a deal, and so I waited until Friday to call. I was hoping that he would have had it corrected by Wednesday at the latest since he is correcting a mistake by him not by me. He did mention that he would fix it on Saturday so guess we will find out tomorrow. I'm not holding my breath.

Also I have been fighting a bouncing tire since I did the whole swap. While I had it on the large stands checking the drive shaft I noticed the left rear tire looked out of round, (always thought is was a tire) and in looking closer the wheel was moving as well. The inner bead section of the rim was moving up and down a full 1/4". So in looking further the rim actually looks round but it looks like it isn't centered perfectly. So It was probably this wheel the whole time causing the issue. The wheel company has a lifetime manufacturing and structure warranty so I contacted them twice last week (email is their only contact) and haven't heard back. Would be great if they took care of it. If not I will buy another wheel and use the current poor left rear as a spare rim and put the new wheel on the left rear. So will see if I hear from them over this next week. Man would I be happy if the slight bounce would be fully gone! Guess that's what I get for buying cheap steel wheels. Should have spent more but like most of us I was only spending what was needed when I did the SAS. Spent money in the important areas like shocks, steel, axles etc wheels can be easily changed later. Method 105 beadlocks anyone? Or maybe the double standards? I wish I had the cash for it.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Man you're having a bad week, atleast you hopefully figured out the bobble problem. I know I'll have bobble issues since I'm running recentered H1 double beadlocks, I got four wheels and six tires for $800 though so I couldn't pass it up at the time.

 

[gmanpaint]

Atlas 4 or STaK 3

 

[turboexplorer]

Man you're having a bad week, atleast you hopefully figured out the bobble problem. I know I'll have bobble issues since I'm running recentered H1 double beadlocks, I got four wheels and six tires for $800 though so I couldn't pass it up at the time.

Yeah so still no response from Black Rock wheels. Apparently they don't care to warranty it. Will e-mail one last time tomorrow and see, will also call discount where I bought them through and see what their options are. If none I'll just buy another wheel anyways and use this poor wheel as the spare. Think ill be mounting a tire that's roughly 31-33" so I can tuck it up and under the truck in normal spare spot. It's not a full size but it could get me off a trail etc if needed. Would just have to run it up front if needed.

Atlas 4 or STaK 3

Man I wish. But hey why not its only $. I did look at the Atlas 4 and looks cool but the gear ratio I would most likely use is not shift on the fly. The 2.72 I think, it is the front planetary set and is not shift on the fly, the t-case section is shift on the fly but options are 2.0 (to high) and 3.8 (to low) But I bet I could work around that!

 

[turboexplorer]

So some good news happened today. I did get my rear drive shaft back, FINALLY. He did retube it again and spin balanced it in both directions @ 3,700rpm so will see. I got it put back on the truck tonight so will take the Explorer to work tomorrow and will see. Fingers crossed. Also when he first did the shaft was supposed to shorten it by 1/4" and he shortened it by 5/8" so since he retubed it I had him now lengthen it so it is now at the correct length it was supposed to be the first go around.

Also on happier news that will be correct the first time I got my front sway bar ordered!!! CE-9901-20B 36" sway bar with bent 20" arms. Super excited for it, should balance out the rig very nicely. I bought it now because I saw that Currie raised the pricing on their website by at least a $100 a sway bar. I had e-mailed Currie last night and they confirmed the price raise was permanent and was extending to all vendors, and that vendors where in the process of raising their prices on the product. Most vendors I saw online have already raised the price, but I found a vendor that still had it listed as the lower original price and bought it before they changed their pricing. So I'm very happy with the original price and my soon to be new sway bar. Only paid $399 ($409 with $10 off coupon) for it, I think that's a killer deal.

Also got my Raptor RC body fully mounted, turned out awesome.

 

[turboexplorer]

:thumbdwn: Still vibrates, its probably 30% better is all so still can't really do over 60 without it starting to vibrate and be annoying. So lifted it again and ran it and looked even further because I doubt 2 shafts would feel almost identical as far as them being off.

And I am even more convinced that it my case starting to eat itself With the front and rear output shafts and how much play they have both with end play and vertical play and also I listened to the case with a stethoscope and it doesn't sound good in there at all. And if you rest your hand on the case you can feel how rough it feels. This is with only running it @20mph so way below where you can feel its issues on the road. Also fluid is still full of course but is much darker than it was not long ago and smells burned. Hummm....so the case is coming out tomorrow and I will get it tore down, if lots of issues then I'll go pick up another case. All junk yards around here just want $80 for a case. (good thing F-150's are all over the place)

Also I really want to get new bead lock wheels. Method Race Wheels 105 Matte Black Beadlock

 

[turboexplorer]

I have done a few projects recently and some have been fun others not so fun. First off last weekend me and a coworker built him a nice sled deck for his new sled to go in his F-150. Amazing what making plans beforehand does for you, had all the steel we needed etc and pounded it out in 1 day. At least for the steel work anyways. Not finished in these pictures, a headache rack was added along with the 9ft ramp and cosmetic braces for the side rails.

MY antirock bar showed up!!!!! Can't wait to get it on the truck. I really think it will even out the rig and it will feel amazing. Only time will tell.

Also chasing the rear drive line vibrations I pulled the case. (not so fun projects) I was going to go through the case real quick and double check everything is okay inside. Long story short the case is in perfect order and there was no issue with it. Its always been great and shifts easily, I did have those few pops but from how the case looks it is not coming from the case. So pulled it out the weekend before last, that requires the tank being removed, interior being partly pulled out etc.

 

[turboexplorer]

I took enough pictures to make a good 4406 dis assembly/reassembly how to for the forum that I will get up later. So this is just a few pics.

Made my own makeshift transfer case stand. 1 Board with a hole drilled in it so the alignment pin can sit in it.

The 2 4X4 wood blocks with 2 holes drilled in them to hold the case where the original front drive shaft shield bolted.

And another slid under the trans mating surface to make it nice and stable.

Remove the tail housing first after wire connector has been removed. Remove that. Then need to remove the transfer case output shaft speed sensor tone ring (not used on our swaps its done off the diff) That was the hardest part is removing that tone ring with out any damage or the tone ring breaking. But hey if it does not worries its not needed.

Split the case half's using the case tabs and a few pry bars.

Inside of the rear case half section removed.

 

[turboexplorer]

Here is the front case half with all the guts!

Now for a few picks of what to look for for wear on the 4406. First part is where the pump gets held by the case. This holds the pump housing from spinning. This shows some wear and that is normal, nothing to be concerned about right now. (not wearing the case at all)

One of the main wear parts that takes one of these cases out is if the pump rotor (inside 2 pump housing half's) gets ceased to the housing and the pump quits and the case runs dry. This rotor looks perfect on one side and the other side has a few very light scratches. Its still in good order to keep in service.

Next is the range hub. This hub does the high range, low range, and neutral. Moves the lower external teeth to different parts of the planetary gear set. This has that outer ring that the shift fork holds to move it. If this surface is damaged then it will need to be replaced and was likely caused by a shift fork guide pads that failed so the shift fork rubs on this range hub.

Here is the range hub shift fork. You can see the plastic pads on the fork, this is where the range hub flange rides. They shows signs of use but not badly worn.

That is the main wear parts for the case that wear. The other part that wears if you look in the picture above (top picture of this post) is the 4WD shift fork. It is fully plastic so if it fails it usually breaks and you no longer have 4WD and can cause a grind at times because it is no longer holding the 4WD engagement hub. It does have a spring that usually can hold it in 2WD but again it may grind at times.

Here is the planetary gear set. Always love these things, Awesome piece of engineering and my favorite parts of auto transmissions and transfer cases. Can look at the needle bearing down on the sun gear portion of the gear set and the bushing. Usually not worn but both will come with a new bearing set if you are doing a full rebuild.

 

[turboexplorer]

Can remove the ring gear part of the planetary by removing the large snap ring. All gear surfaces look awesome so no worries here.

Everything cleaned and ready to be reassembled.

Range hub and shift fork reinstalled with everything cleaned a some fresh ATF.

Output shaft and fluid pump installed.

Chain sprockets and chain reinstalled. (chain wasn't stretched at all) If you look at the top part of the drive sprocket you can see the grooves on the shoulder. This is where the 4WD locks in place.

 

[turboexplorer]

Here is the 4WD shift hub and fork installed.

Clutch housing installed. (no frictions or steels in the manual shift version) there is in the Torque on demand version) For some reason the coil to engage it is still in the manual shift version though?

Case half's back together and tail housing back on. They are just siliconed back together.

Then last night I got the case reinstalled, tank up, center console back in, drive shafts and skid plates on, tires back on etc. All I have left is to get the front seats thrown back in.

Another story on the rear shaft so will write that tomorrow. But the issue should be fixed. Pulled the case to just look I guess, .

 

[ZWilson07]

No worries man, glad it wasn't bad.

It was nice seeing the pictures of explanation of the 4406 though.