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.

 

[BKennedy]

Passed SMOG (Hard to read pic below):

Smog guy looked all around, asked a bunch of questions, I showed him where I put all the smog crap back and he said it all looked fine. Even asked about the old replacement cat (apparently, if you have replaced it since 2009, you need one with a CARB # visible). Excellent!! One less thing to worry about.

 

[Rick]

Excellent I hate going through emissions in the Explorer. They have to run the manual tranny on the dyno, and none of them have felt comfortable doing it in the Pumpkin. They seem intimidated

 

[BKennedy]

So far, no smog person has asked about the transmission. I found out after I did the 700R4 swap that you are required to keep the original model transmission in the People's Republic of Kalifornia.
Guy was really cool. My gas cap failed, and he pulled out his test cap and used that on the promise that I would purchase another cap. I am going to take it to a hardware store I know that has hundreds of O-rings and just replace the ring.

I drove it for about 40 miles on the street yesterday. Still don't think the brakes are quite as good as they should be. Those big calipers should be stopping it better than it does. More bleeding and push rod adjusting hopefully will do the trick.

Also found out a friend of mine's brother has an alignment shop. He said he would check the alignment and make minor adjustments for $40.00. Well worth it for saving $600 worth of tires.

 

[BKennedy]

Oh, yeah............zero bump steer with the new track bar frame mount!! I guess having the track bar and drag link at nearly the same lengths and angles really does the trick.
Mall Crawler shot..

 

[Rick]

Time to test her out

 

[FR-425]

:biggthump

 

[BKennedy]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=404967

 

[DB_1]

Nice sounds like it's all dialed in...time to get out and wheel

 

[BKennedy]

Nice sounds like it's all dialed in...time to get out and wheel

It is nowhere near being all dialed in, but most people would call it good.
On the coil overs, I adjusted the stop ring down so the tender springs only compress 1.5" before the main spring takes over. Took out nearly all of the body roll for street driving. Should help with the dirt as well. The helper springs took out all of the coil "shifting" I could hear/feel while driving down the highway.
Side Note: Its kind of cool when people pull up next to you at a light, then realize they are looking at a SAS'd, coil-over'd Explorer. Most people are clueless, but those that know..................

 

[BKennedy]

Transfer case skid plate:
Backside, unpainted

Installed

 

[Kirby N.]

Do you really need to protect a 231? There's probably 30 of them in every junk yard in the nation. Just kidding great job!

 

[BKennedy]

Do you really need to protect a 231? There's probably 30 of them in every junk yard in the nation. Just kidding great job!

There are many like it, but this one is mine!! (little Full Metal Jacket reference there)
Thanks.
That one is special; it has the 2wd low and slip yoke eliminator mods. Besides, I just filled it with Mobile One AFT, that stuff is expensive...

Next project is mounting the LED rock lights. I have 10, 10 watt round lights to mount and wire up under the Explorer. The relay, fuses and dash switch are already done.

 

[Stic-o]

Looking Good How much does it weight?

I really need to get my skid plates built. Matt and you have inspired me

 

[BKennedy]

Looking Good How much does it weight?

Thanks, its pretty heavy. I am estimating 45 pounds. I was going to add some more 1x2 tubing and decided it was getting too heavy. I think it will hold up nicely.

 

[RockRanger]

Looks good Brian.

 

[BKennedy]

Took the Explorer to an alignment shop that a friend of mine's brother owns. Was worried about my tape measure and plum bob measurements because I have a five hour road trip planned in a few weeks. Had some fun with the alignment guy because he was trying to get it to fall into 1994 Explorer spec's. I told him to put it in as a 76 F-150 instead. Toe was good, camber is good, but a little positive on the left side (he said it shouldn't wear out the tires so I am not going to worry about it), caster was just over 7* positive. Wild Horses says the caster should be between 4 and 9* so I think I am good. I was thinking about swapping out the 7* bushings I have in there now with a 4* set I have to reduce the pinyon/drive shaft angle, but that would bring me down to just over the minimum caster recommendations.

The alignment guy is a crusty old fart very set in his ways. Says it was fine. Complained about the Explorer "swaying all over like an E-ticket ride when you turn", and said the springs are too soft. I thought that was funny since I am running firmer springs than most coil over set-ups. I guess the slight nose dive through a turn scared him. I think it is much more stable than it used to be with the TTB and no sway bars, but I guess you get used to it. He also complained that when accelerating it seemed to pull with the crown of the road. I said that is what rear lockers do, try to push the vehicle towards the path of least resistance. I was going to tell him about the locker, but he seemed like he knew it all.

 

[Rick]

If it handles well at freeway speeds I wouldn't worry about adding any more caster. The lower numbers will help it navigate the ditches a bit easier.

I have met folks like that. Just nod and agree

 

[BKennedy]

If it handles well at freeway speeds I wouldn't worry about adding any more caster. The lower numbers will help it navigate the ditches a bit easier.

I have met folks like that. Just nod and agree

I was thinking about taking away caster so it would turn better and reduce the pinyon / drive shaft angle. If I am getting this caster stuff, the less caster the tighter the steering??

 

[BKennedy]

I am still not happy with the brakes. Spent the better part of yesterday (except the alignment time) working on the brakes; gravity bled them, adjusted the booster push rod. It made a big difference, but they still don't seem to be working as well as they should. The booster made the biggest difference; got the pedal off the floor. I adjusted it so the brakes start to engage with about 1" of pedal pressure. Today, I need to pull the calipers off the mounts, turn them so the bleeder is pointed up, put a piece of wood in between the pads, and try to bleed them again.
To all you Ford brake, Dana 44 crowd:
Take a look at your brakes. Is the anti-rattle clip on top or bottom of the inside pad? I remember it only fitting one way. I can't find any diagram of the front brakes for a 1976 Ford F-150 on the interweb.

 

[Rick]

Tighter as in turning radius.

More positive caster makes it feel tighted at the wheel since it takes more effort to turn at low speeds. I have 10degs in the Dart with manual steering. It's VERY difficult to turn from a dead stop.

I've got Chevy calipers, so no help there...