01STrunner's Sport Trac D44 SAS/SOA | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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01STrunner's Sport Trac D44 SAS/SOA

A little planning and 4 months later, my Sport Trac finally has a solid axle in the front.

Current Look:
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Front Axle

- Low Pinion Dana 44 from a 1988 Grand Wagoneer
- 6x5.5 bolt pattern
- 4.88 gears (still open diff for now)
- Superwinch manual hubs
- Disc brakes
- Custom spindles tapped for hi-steer
- Custom 1.5"x.25" wall DOM drag link and tie rod
- Stock Grand Wagoneer 7leaf pack flipped to SOA
- Bilstein 5100 shocks (originally for Jeep JK with 6" lift)
- Ford Super Duty steering box (pre-drilled for hydro-assist in the future)
- Drop pitman arm for Super Duty with 4" lift
- Front stainless brake lines for stock Jeep TJ
- Custom sway bar end links
- New Moog ball joints and bushings
- Grand Wagoneer track bar mounted to frame rail
 
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Rear Axle

- Stock Ford 8.8 31 spline rear
- Stock ST leaf pack flipped to SOA to match front lift
- Rear carrier pitched to lessen the angle of the stock driveshaft
- 5x4.5 to 6x5.5 adapters (push the rear track width out to be even with the slightly wider D44.
- 4.88 gears (also still an open diff for now)
- Sway bar entirely removed (I've had it disconnected for months now)
- Brake lines replaced with braided stainless
- Bilstein 5100 shocks for JK with 6" lift
- Stock drum brakes
 






I havent really had time since I got it back due to work and school to test it out off road more than the 15 min that I drove it around my yard. Here's some pictures with the track bar and front sway bar connected (and it wont flex at all with either of those). The rear flexes even more than it did with the SUA and just TT/shackles & body lift. I found out that my rear driveshaft just barely scrapes on the lip of the gas tank skid plate. That will be easy to fix as there is plenty of room to curl the edge up a little.

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Front

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Front Crossmember
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Transmission crossmember currently in the way for an angle down to the front carrier. Also, the shaft will have to be lengthened or I may go full custom depending on strength and price difference.
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I have a cole of questions:

1) How do the leaf spring ride, truthfully please ?

2) How much lift did you end up with ?

Thanks
 






I just ordered a bunch of parts for my SAS today and found out I have a Dana 44 HD and not the regular Dana 44. It has the 3" axle tubes instead of the 2.75" tubes. From what I've read the Dana 44 HD's were 8 bolt and the regular Dana 44's were 6 bolt pattern, mine has 6 bolt pattern though. What's the tube diameter is your Waggy axle?
 






I have a cole of questions:

1) How do the leaf spring ride, truthfully please ?

2) How much lift did you end up with ?

Thanks

Sorry it's been so long since you asked but I'll finally answer you. I actually like the way the leaves ride. They are much more forgiving than the 2" TT that I had prior to this setup but they are stiff enough to be reassuring in turns and keep the truck from really rolling through turns. The little bit of testing I've done, they flex a good bit and I can really see improvement over the TT on dirt and rock roads, the truck is so much more set.

I ended up with about 8" over my previous setup but that is based solely on the condition of the leaf packs. The leaves that were on the Grand Wagoneer that I pulled my axle from still have a lot of life. They are very clearly arched even under the weight of the truck. You could rebuild the leaf pack to get less lift as I ended up with about 7.75" from a straight spring over conversion in the rear which may be a little different too. I've heard of guys netting as low as 6.5" with the SAS/SOA.
 






I just ordered a bunch of parts for my SAS today and found out I have a Dana 44 HD and not the regular Dana 44. It has the 3" axle tubes instead of the 2.75" tubes. From what I've read the Dana 44 HD's were 8 bolt and the regular Dana 44's were 6 bolt pattern, mine has 6 bolt pattern though. What's the tube diameter is your Waggy axle?

It looks like mine is a 3" tube as well. By eyeballing it with a tape measure it definitely looked more than 2.75" and then I used a string to measure the circumference and figure out the diameter from there. I came up with 2.91" so I'm guess it's a 3" tube. Unfortunately I don't have a set of calipers to really measure it.
 






I used a digital caliper to measure mine, couldn't tell by using the tape measure. I geuss they did make 6 lug HD's, my axle is from an '89 GW.
 






I looked up my axle ID on Danas website but I can't tell from that if its considered HD. Mines from Dec of 88 so basically an 89 so it could make sense that they're both 3" tubes as we have pretty much the same axle.
 






If you look up spring perches (say ruff stuff) where I'm getting SOA perches from. Regular Dana 44 axles have 2.75", HD axles have 3" tubes.
 






I just looked up my part number. It's p/n 6280 and online it says they are for 3" axles so I guess that makes it an HD 44 with 6 lugs.
 






Hey just found this thread! So i am very jeaslous that 1 u have a sport trac and two you have an SAS/ SOA. What was your total parts build? I am honestly considering depending on cost instead of buying a wrangler in a year just keeping the truck and doing this.
 






The parts killed me honestly. I have about 4 grand in parts between the axle with new steering knuckles, hi steer, ball joints, brakes, reman super duty steering box set up for hydro assist, and all the other random little things. Plus a new front drive shaft, front and rear lockers and diff covers. IMO it was worth every bit of it though because of all the awesome looks and questions I get about. Not to mention the reaction Jeepers have on the trails when I follow them up places.
 






If you spend a few months collecting parts like midnight rebel you can definitely lower that price a bunch.
 






If you spend a few months collecting parts like midnight rebel you can definitely lower that price a bunch.

Let me ask you this then... so i honestly LOVE my mounty. but with maxing out the TT/ shackles with 32's (yes i could do body lift with 33's) it did great at bundy hill but it was quite obviously because of small lift and long wheelbase that my friends wrangler was kicking my butt.
Is it worth spending 2-4 grand on a SAS/ SOA which would give me the lift i want, a 4 door offroad vehicle, and bigger tires to clear a lot more trails. or would it be better to just buy a 4door wrangler and build the crap out of it? I cant decide i do love the 4doors but if i could get my mounty to do the same thing and not have to buy a brand new vehicle that would be ideal! (i mean heck my truck hasnt even hit 150k yet (i expect 250k out of it easily)... and if i get into the state police i will have a take home car, and a street bike for DD's. so could make a pretty BA mounty.
Would just need to find someone to assist in the build. so what you think would that be worth all the work to do it? or would it be better to jsut get a newer jeep.... also mine is AWD V8
 






There's a bunch of members on here that have SAS'd Mounty's and love them. V8 power with passenger and cargo room and solid axle, that's a perfect trail rig. I plan on doing a V8 swap on mine eventually especially since I'll be running 37" H1 double beadlocks and tires and the terrain around here. Take your time sourcing the parts (Craigslist is your friend) atleast it's mine. Also check out different local offroad forums, lots of guys around you selling parts dirt cheap. I'm hoping to speed up the build date on mine before winter but we'll see how that goes since I just shelled out $10k cash from savings for a down payment on my wife's new rig.
 






This truck looks awesome, did you have this at Truck Nationals last year? the truck its self looks pretty familiar.
 



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Let me ask you this then... so i honestly LOVE my mounty. but with maxing out the TT/ shackles with 32's (yes i could do body lift with 33's) it did great at bundy hill but it was quite obviously because of small lift and long wheelbase that my friends wrangler was kicking my butt.
Is it worth spending 2-4 grand on a SAS/ SOA which would give me the lift i want, a 4 door offroad vehicle, and bigger tires to clear a lot more trails. or would it be better to just buy a 4door wrangler and build the crap out of it? I cant decide i do love the 4doors but if i could get my mounty to do the same thing and not have to buy a brand new vehicle that would be ideal! (i mean heck my truck hasnt even hit 150k yet (i expect 250k out of it easily)... and if i get into the state police i will have a take home car, and a street bike for DD's. so could make a pretty BA mounty.
Would just need to find someone to assist in the build. so what you think would that be worth all the work to do it? or would it be better to jsut get a newer jeep.... also mine is AWD V8

If I could get the SAS done and get a member to help me since I pretty clueless And it would cost less than 4000$ I would do it. Especially if my truck was running as strong as it is right now. Only issue would be finding help. But I would be willing to drive pretty far for the help.
 






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