Ricks Bronco: 1and 1/2

[black91EB]

Originally Posted by rookieshooter

To tell you the truth, if he had 14 bolts instead of D70s that were free and he had extras laying around I'd take the 14 bolts but since it's D70s I'm taking the 70s. It all boils down to economics at this point in time.
I really don't think either one would brake under this truck anyway.

Well I found out that the 52 code on the door says it's a 4:10. This is great cause if it was a 3:07 that means it has a unique case design due to the larger pinion dia of the gears, forget it.

I'll see what I can do to keep the 8 lug 91EB cause I like the way the axle shaft is not supporting the weight of the truck with FF hubs. Like it's going to hurt it anyway with this light rig. But it sure would have a killer look to it. But who knows, time will tell.
I know the fact that the axle is free does not mean that a ton of money will still be dropped on this mod. That's if Joe hurrys up and gets the darn front end loader down there before the snow starts flying.

Yeah, I really like full float axles. IMO they should all be if it is a vehicle designed to carry anything or tow, that way all the axle shaft has to do is provide propulsion, not bear any weight. I have a 4.10 10.25 under my 250, and I've worked with a lot of 14 bolts and 60's. Last winter we converted my father in law's K-10 from having a pair of 10 bolts to 14 bolt FF rear and 8 lug D-44 front. We converted the 44 from 6 to 8 lug, it was as easy as swapping hubs, rotors and backing plates. Made the truck look 50 times better.

I smell more rod burning coming up.

[rookieshooter]

Yeah, I really like full float axles. IMO they should all be if it is a vehicle designed to carry anything or tow, that way all the axle shaft has to do is provide propulsion, not bear any weight. I have a 4.10 10.25 under my 250, and I've worked with a lot of 14 bolts and 60's. Last winter we converted my father in law's K-10 from having a pair of 10 bolts to 14 bolt FF rear and 8 lug D-44 front. We converted the 44 from 6 to 8 lug, it was as easy as swapping hubs, rotors and backing plates. Made the truck look 50 times better.

I smell more rod burning coming up.

There's nothing like the smell of flux burning off the rod first thing in the morning. As opposed to burning Flesh radiating through the freshly burned hole in my Chuck Taylors. (reason you don't weld with tennis shoes on). And the fact that there's nothing one can do once the molten metal burns through your shoe, other then knowing it's going to feel a whole lot better once the pain stops.

Nice to have someone with hands on experience Lurking around black91EB Now to light a fire under Joe's a$$. I'm just soooo impatient
And like Broncobra said, it's nice to get that added weight where it's really needed over those rear tires. What better place to have the added weight, then about 20" over the foot print of the tire. This will give that imaginary COG spot further down into the bellhousing. Maybe behind or slightly into the bellhousing.
One day I'll do the math coupled with a scale and some jacks to lift the front and rear axles and will find that sweet spot. And I would think the best way also would to be sitting in the driver seat. Don't ya think?



First coat of paint on. Would have been done sooner but the rain which has been almost of Biblical proportions all summer long and now even into Fall has dampened the speed of this project.
Also added some more flashing.



For a fleeting few minutes that ball of nuclear fusion made a rare appearance yesterday and I quickly added a second coat.



And then back into the garage as the rain started again and again. Notice the rain drops.
It's now a night and day difference in lighting being I have all that overhead light that would have been blocked by the roll up door. It will even be brighter once the sliding door is painted white on the inside.

Just had an idea as I was looking at that pic of the dark door. I'll check out the price of some white fiberglass sheating they use to line the bath and shower stalls with. It's very reflective.
I might not need to put the 1/4" plywood on before painting, just screw on the siding after insulating.
May even put some reflective garage floor paint down on that nasty floor.
Plus all that shelve space where the roll up door used to be is just so nice.

[black91EB]

I'd paint the floor too, it would make it brighter as well as making oil such much easier to clean up. Look alot sharper too. Something dad and I did in his shop, we got mismixed paint from the paint store, alot of them will sell stuff they messed up really cheap, and we used that to paint walls and such in the shop to brighten it up. Not all the same shade, but definitely close enough for a workshop.

As soon as I can find one I'll be doing an axle swap myself, going to replace the D50 TTB with a D60 out of an 86-97 F-350, make the truck ford should have to begin with. (Ford never offered an extended cab F-350 4x4 until '99, only option was crew cab or standard cab)

[rookieshooter]

Originally Posted by black91EB

I'd paint the floor too, it would make it brighter as well as making oil such much easier to clean up. Look alot sharper too. Something dad and I did in his shop, we got mismixed paint from the paint store, alot of them will sell stuff they messed up really cheap, and we used that to paint walls and such in the shop to brighten it up. Not all the same shade, but definitely close enough for a workshop.

As soon as I can find one I'll be doing an axle swap myself, going to replace the D50 TTB with a D60 out of an 86-97 F-350, make the truck ford should have to begin with. (Ford never offered an extended cab F-350 4x4 until '99, only option was crew cab or standard cab)

Good point on dumping the ttb for a solid 6o especially with your knowledge on how much stronger the solids are and the fact that you have hands on knowledge of the work involved.
Once you find the axle make sure you have a build thread

[black91EB]

Originally Posted by rookieshooter

Good point on dumping the ttb for a solid 6o especially with your knowledge on how much stronger the solids are and the fact that you have hands on knowledge of the work involved.
Once you find the axle make sure you have a build thread

yeah well, it's hardly worth a build thread to do on these. Ford used the same frame and leaf spring mounting points, so its really a bolt in swap. Remove the TTB pivots, unbolt the U-Bolts, disconnect the driveshaft and steering, yank TTB, roll the 60 under there, u bolts, driveshaft, steering and trac bar and done. (I do have some pics of my truck in the last couple pages of my registry)

I think your truck would look pretty awesome with a full float hub sticking out in the rear to match the front. I'm guessing you are going to narrow the rear to match the front track width?

[rookieshooter]

I think your truck would look pretty awesome with a full float hub sticking out in the rear to match the front. I'm guessing you are going to narrow the rear to match the front track width?

Absulutley narrow the rear axle.
And I agree about the looks of the rear hubs sticking out like the front.

[rookieshooter]

Speaking of looks here is a LINK that has the looks. Also it points to some points between the 14 and the 70. But must admit, I found links that say the 14 are better
I would like also to add, due to my never ending research on the 70, That the U series of 70s which is the one I'm hoping to get, has the best ground clearance of all the different model 70s and the 14 which usually has to be shaved off. Nothing a grinder won't take off. The U series has the bottom of case near flush with the bottom of housing.
Another thing that I like is the way Dana added nodular bits of graphit to the iron in the casting of the 70 where the 14 does not. As they did on the Ford 9" hence the "N" designation
This probably why the 70 is about 30% stronger then the 14 (torque values)which also reduces case flex and the main thing, I will later appreciate...welding on the case with the added bits of nodular graphite which makes the welding easier and stronger.
Not to mention that the 14 never came in a Ford, or I'm I wrong?
But put all together it makes for a good read and both are great cases...enough splitting Frog hairs.

[black91EB]

lol, yeah probably getting too technical. You are correct, the 14 bolt is a GM corporate axle, like the 10 and 12 bolt axles. On the 3/4 ton and bigger trucks, GM used a mixed of their own axles and dana, ford used dana up until the mid 80s, and dodge used dana until '03 when they switched to AAM (american axle & manufacturing) parts. (chevy/gm started using AAM stuff in '01 as well)

[janderson4010]

now im a little confused, are you going to do a 70 rear and just convert your 44 to 8 lug? or are you looking for a 60 front?

[broncobra22]

AS in your garage interior now has light and you were very bright to improve it. It really looks good inside and out. 3 walls in my shop, the entire ceiling & the 2 overhead doors are brite white, but 1 sidewall is galvanized & the overheads block lighting when open. Really need to follow your lead and add lighting and get the other side wall painted before next Spring.

[rookieshooter]

Originally Posted by janderson4010

now im a little confused, are you going to do a 70 rear and just convert your 44 to 8 lug? or are you looking for a 60 front?

Join the club, so I'm I LOL.
Here's the plan, just talked to Joe and he said yes I'm getting the 70 for the rear.
I was first thinking of going with 9" ends with disc brakes, but the more I think about using the original 8 lug and convert that to disc brakes the more I like it. Full Float compared to the flanged 9"end sounds so much better.

About the front...I'm thinking of converting the front to 8 lug so all rims will be the same, don't want to have to carry two spares.

Now with that said if a front 60 comes along then I will like to change to that sometime in the future. Or a front 70 if I could find one.

And broncobra it's so nice now inside, you won't regret it. Just need to paint the floor for easy cleaning and also to reflect some light back up off the floor instead of being absorbed by the gritty dirty untreated concrete.

[rookieshooter]

I knew it would be just a matter of time before someone made a Full Spool for the Dana 70. And it seems that it will fit the HD and U series of 70s.
It's not written in stone that I'll get one but nice to know that their's one out there. I know as far as lockers, their's plenty out their. Have to see if Aussie makes one. I've have nothing but praise for my front Aussie.

[rookieshooter]

Well now that I got the never ending door project done, might as well clean up some loose ends on the truck. As in secure that heavy portable crane in the bed from bouncing all over the place.
Can't leave on the front or back receiver mounts cause it won't clear the garage door. And I'm done raising the garage door opening.
So what I did was to make a piece of telescoping square stock to set the crane boom over. It's the 1.5 x 1.5" square piece that I welded to the top of the frame.





I've got it slid over the piece and cinched down. Now if I hit the garage door now, there's something seriously wrong.

[rookieshooter]

Hoo-raw Good for another year.

This is the flexation part of the test where a Metallurgist determines the amount of stress at all the welded joints. ha ha.

[rookieshooter]

Not much going on until I hear from my friend Joe about the Dana 70 so I thought I'd fix some small things like this I'll fitting shroud around the steering column. For one thing it don't go down far enough to the aluminum dash. The bottom half has already been taken off.



So went to my scrap pile of B2 stuff and going to modify one.



Now I think that's a whole lot better looking. Just need to add another coat of black paint.

Been giving the rear axle a lot of thought. What I'll try to do, and this may take until spring to do as far as saving for all the parts I would wish to get and I repeat wish ha ha. Is to get an ARB locker and this would really compliment my striker brakes and Atlas, talk about making some hair pin turns. Example would be if I had to really turn sharp right, throw rear axle lever in neutral engage front axle only and pull up on left rear striker brake. Disengage from locked spool to open. This would cause the right rear side tire to roll back wards making for an interesting turn. But we'll see.

[rookieshooter]

Hey guys, not much going on other then my usual forays out into the woods and fields this time of the year chasing the elusive big bucks.

Got a little pleasant surprise when I visited Advance Adapters face book page where they have their own own album page labeled "Photos of Advanced Adapters" and found this Picture of Samson among other guys pics.
They have a section where anyone can submit a photo if you use any of their products, but to get picked from that section and added to their own was kinda cool.
Mentioned this to the girls at Dunkin Donuts and they weren't impressed, but did give me a Senior discount on my coffee ha ha.
Ok, excuse me while I adjust my Halo

On another note, that little snow storm is a PITA this morning after all that slushy snow froze solid this morning, locked rear and locker in front is not good on ice.
The guy who invented paved roads needs to be shot.
But I will be out on some snow covered fields and woods later today playing with the Atlas twin sticks, front hubs as in both unlocked, both locked and just one locked, low and high range.

Found this on another site, check out the cantilever rear suspension. Like the live rear hook-up of the axle end of the cantilever, interesting to say the least.
And broncobra look at the dimple die work, not that it's not been done many times on other builds.
Has an interesting Old School fuel delivery system also. The more things change the more they stay the same.

Thought that I'd add this stuff since my build is stuck in boring mode for time being.

[black91EB]

Originally Posted by rookieshooter

Hey guys, not much going on other then my usual forays out into the woods and fields this time of the year chasing the elusive big bucks.


On another note, that little snow storm is a PITA this morning after all that slushy snow froze solid this morning, locked rear and locker in front is not good on ice.
The guy who invented paved roads needs to be shot.
But I will be out on some snow covered fields and woods later today playing with the Atlas twin sticks, front hubs as in both unlocked, both locked and just one locked, low and high range.

.

Could just run it in front wheel drive on the street. How's the hunting this year? I won't get to do any until gun season due to my moving and not being able to get a hunting license down here until I have been living here for 90 days.

[rookieshooter]

Originally Posted by black91EB

Could just run it in front wheel drive on the street. How's the hunting this year? I won't get to do any until gun season due to my moving and not being able to get a hunting license down here until I have been living here for 90 days.

Took this doe so far. Passed on some small bucks, but jut got permission from a guy that I pulled out of a mud hole that he was seeing how his jeep would do. Has some nice bucks there judging by the amount of people that see them in his corn field. He only wants some meat if I get any.

Can't wait for you to post some pics of your hunting after the required waiting period...that sucks about waiting.

[black91EB]

Originally Posted by rookieshooter

Took this doe so far. Passed on some small bucks, but jut got permission from a guy that I pulled out of a mud hole that he was seeing how his jeep would do. Has some nice bucks there judging by the amount of people that see them in his corn field. He only wants some meat if I get any.

Can't wait for you to post some pics of your hunting after the required waiting period...that sucks about waiting.

How you liking the crossbow?

[rookieshooter]

How you liking the crossbow?

Love it, just no reason to make a bad shot. If you can split aspirins at 40' there's no reason for a bad shot. It's just that accurate with the scope.
Somewhere back I posted a video of it doing this.
I have the special crossbow permit that i got due to that damn Brown Recluse spider bite that dissolved some of my ligaments in my left shoulder.
Knew I was in trouble after I smashed it. No pain at that time, but never had any bite that itched so much, then over 40 days and nights of shoulder burning while the first layer of skin fell off. Only thing that really saved my shoulder was I went to the doctor the next day and took medicine for so many days straight.
In WV there is only two disabilities that allow for the use of a Crossbow to hunt. One is a shoulder injury the other is a hand. Went for therapy for a year after being bit. Not a fun thing seeing your skin rot off. Got bit while Spring Turkey hunting, darn thing climbed up into my loose fitting hunting jacket.
I just can't hold a bow out with left arm anymore. What I do now is to build a blind and rest bow on limb

I've been shooting a long bow since I was 12 so it's not like I have not shot a long bow. When I first started bowhunting their was no such thing as a compound bow.