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]

Mounted

 

[BKennedy]

Grabbers are very smooth on the highway and quiet. They are new, but are still quiet for a MTR. Only dirt they've seen is the driveway to the Arizona property, so I will have to report back on dirt performance.

 

[BKennedy]

Sister came out for a few days and wanted to go off roading. We decided on Secret Pass to Pass Canyon to Oatman. Went out to start the Explorer and nothing. Just a click. I immediately suspect the starter relay and have a few spares. Swapped one out and same thing. I bypass the relay and it starts right up. Test all the wiring and the trigger wire has no power. It should be on in start only. Trigger wire is from the Park/Neutral Position switch.

I play around with the shifter and no Bueno. I figure out I can screwdriver jump the trigger wire from the main battery. If my sister wasn't leaving today, no way would I have gone out in a remote area with any issue, but this was easily bypassed.

Only picture I took. This is about 2/3 of the way through. There are at least 20 burros on the hillside.

Secret Pass is a left turn off Hwy 68. It's very green on the west side of the mountain. This trail goes along the edge of the Mount Nutt Wilderness area. Beautiful mountain, huge sandstone bluffs and rock features that looks like a lighter shade of Moab.

Tires do very well in the dirt, great traction on rocks and loose gravel.

There are only a few interesting spots on the trail that flexed out the suspension, along with a few very steep and loose grades. Took us about three hours with one stop, about 20 miles of dirt. There are abandoned mines all over this area, and a few active mines. Saw one group of old folks in their side by sides, and a solo Can AM at the panty tree. Panty tree is a interesting sight. It's hung with an array of bras (some pretty dang large, like comically huge, like she should have kept the bra so she didn't knock herself out big) and panties. I took what looks like a newly graded trail that went closer to the foothills than I've ever been, and it petered out at a fence. Strange someone would being a big dozer in there to cut in a road to nowhere. There is a large active mine and buildings past the fence. Trail looked like it kept going but couldn't see it going over the ridge where we needed to go, so backtracked to the next bigger wash. Trail went around the active mine and ended up where I wanted to be, which was onto Silver Creek Rd., a maintained dirt road that ends at R66 near Oatman. Would like to tent camp out there and spend a few days prospecting someday.

By the time we got to Oatman, most everything was closed, and it was a Tuesday, so it was a ghost town. Made it more fun to walk around without it being crowded with tourists. Took R66 all the way back to Kingman and to the property. Nice, beautiful day.

Today, I'll be checking the fuse I noticed in my electrical trouble shooting book, then pulling apart the console to get to the switch. I have a B&M shifter and if it's the switch, it's the second one to fail. I'll bypass it until I get back to San Diego or can find someone to order me in one locally. The B&M shifter has a separate switch for the backup lights, which I now realize I didn't check. Don't remember if they use the same circuit, but its likely. That would tell me if it's the wire to the switches, or the switch. Time to start digging.

 

[BKennedy]

Explorer started right up this morning. Maybe it didn't like me having a passenger. The park/neutral switch feels weak compared to the reverse light switch. They are the same switch and stacked. There is limited space on that side of the console or I would switch them. I think a local parts store can order me a new one. I bent the tab a little to put more pressure on the switch. It seems to be working fine.

I went through all my notes from when I rebuilt the interior and wiring. The two switches are on the same circuit as the OEM single switch. Wiring appears to be fine since the reverse lights function.

 

[BKennedy]

Went for a 120 mile drive today, about 100 in the dirt. Well, graded dirt roads. Never turned the hubs. I took the dirt way over to look at the lots I bought, then found another one I like, with a real old realtor sign. Those seem to be very responsive to low ball offers.

Since I was on the east side of Kingman, I made a left into R66 and headed to Hackberry, then right onto Hackberry Rd. The road is graded dirt and heads due south, eventually crossing under I40, then running into Hwy 93.

I40 overcrossing

I crossed Hwy 93, and the graded dirt road changes names several times as it parallels I40, then terminates at Blake Ranch Rd. I crossed under I40, and decided I didn't want to go on the interstate. I headed westerly, taking several dirt roads and ended up behind Kingman Airport. Headed back to the property the rest of the way on pavement.

 

[BKennedy]

Went into town to run some errands. I found this twisty little trail amongst two developments of big houses with huge garages.

 

[BKennedy]

Went for a drive today. The trail starts south of Lake Havasu City and goes east, then northeast. I figured if I went on a Sunday there would be a better chance of someone else being out there as its very remote. Took me 1.5 hours to drive the 90 miles to the Standard Wash trailhead from the property. I40 is a lot better than a few years ago, but I still spent most of the drive dodging pot holes.

It's very scenic in that area and I wanted to get a idea of the trails there for future trips. There are lots of trails around there, but nothing difficult. Even with a dead end trail after about three miles, it took me less than two hours to get over to Yucca Valley. Dead end trail was fun at least, narrow ridgeline trail that just died out.

After backtracking to the main trail, it winds through the desert and ends up overlooking Yucca Valley, way out in the middle of nowhere.

I took the fork that appeared to be heading down into the valley, and it eventually did. Saw the only other rig of the day where this trail ended at a very smooth graded road. I did have cell service for the entire drive, unusual for Arizona.

I took another very smooth dirt road north east through the south end of Yucca Valley. The valley is subdivided into mostly 40 acre parcels. The streets are all western themed names, mostly of notorious bandits. Among the dilapidated shacks there are a few nice houses out there. That road eventually ran into Alamo Rd, which heads northwest and runs into I40. About 10 miles from the highway, Alamo is freshly paved.

The Explorer doesn't like I40 and neither do I so I took the R66 exit to avoid the grade. Drove through Kingman and back to the property. Approximately 125 highway miles, 75 dirt miles, never turned the hubs.

 

[donalds]

I look forward to these pictures

 

[Fix4Dirt]

Went for a drive today. The trail starts south of Lake Havasu City and goes east, then northeast. I figured if I went on a Sunday there would be a better chance of someone else being out there as its very remote. Took me 1.5 hours to drive the 90 miles to the Standard Wash trailhead from the property. I40 is a lot better than a few years ago, but I still spent most of the drive dodging pot holes.

It's very scenic in that area and I wanted to get a idea of the trails there for future trips. There are lots of trails around there, but nothing difficult. Even with a dead end trail after about three miles, it took me less than two hours to get over to Yucca Valley. Dead end trail was fun at least, narrow ridgeline trail that just died out.
View attachment 451978
View attachment 451979

After backtracking to the main trail, it winds through the desert and ends up overlooking Yucca Valley, way out in the middle of nowhere.
View attachment 451980

I took the fork that appeared to be heading down into the valley, and it eventually did. Saw the only other rig of the day where this trail ended at a very smooth graded road. I did have cell service for the entire drive, unusual for Arizona.

I took another very smooth dirt road north east through the south end of Yucca Valley. The valley is subdivided into mostly 40 acre parcels. The streets are all western themed names, mostly of notorious bandits. Among the dilapidated shacks there are a few nice houses out there. That road eventually ran into Alamo Rd, which heads northwest and runs into I40. About 10 miles from the highway, Alamo is freshly paved.

The Explorer doesn't like I40 and neither do I so I took the R66 exit to avoid the grade. Drove through Kingman and back to the property. Approximately 125 highway miles, 75 dirt miles, never turned the hubs.

the last photo reminds me of black eagle mine rd in joshua tree

 

[410Fortune]

Vw dune buggy would be perfect for these long rwd journeys!

 

[BKennedy]

Vw dune buggy would be perfect for these long rwd journeys!

That or a Baja Bug is on my short list of vehicles.

I really should have got out and turned the hubs at a few spots on that narrow ridge trail. With the Atlas II, I can put it in low range 2wd and it climbs pretty good.

 

[dvdswan]

This would be my choice...

 

[410Fortune]

Sick thing!!
My buddy has a vw manx body buggy it is sweet. My neighbor has a very rare Manx body corvair turbo
I knew she was on your list which is why I mentioned the buggy on a trip like this
They are so much fun

 

[BKennedy]

Went for another long drive today, turned the hubs this time. Went through the town of Chloride, Arizona and up the mountain. One of my favorite trails I've found in this area. It's very scenic, a little rough in spots and very technical. Need to pay attention due to the drop offs next to most of the narrow trail. The Explorer handles obstacles so well I didn't notice I hadn't engaged the front axle until I tried to get up a small rock ledge. The front tires were over it, but the rear wouldn't bump up and over. I hit the front locker and looked out the window, noticed the front tires weren't turning.

We stopped for lunch at what I think is the Lucky Jim Mine. It's perched on the side of a very steep mountain a short distance from the summit. The view is spectacular. You can see across Golden Valley to the Colorado River Basin.

It always amazes me how much work was put into the infrastructure of mining, most of it done by hand. This pump is at the top of a very deep shaft. it must weigh at least 1,000 pounds.

You can see the Explorer off to the right of this picture, parked on top of a 100' of tailings next to a old building.

 

[BKennedy]

We continued up to the summit, which turns into a well maintained dirt road, Big Wash Rd. At the summit it's a short distance to my property, but as the man said, you can't get there from here. It's about six miles in a straight line, but it takes over an hour on the highway, then another 30-45 minutes to get to the end of Big Wash Rd.

In this picture, the peaks on each side of my property are visible, followed by Long Mountain, and the Peacock Mountains. In roughly the center of the picture is the peak that is between the south fork of Vock Canyon and the peak behind my property.

Anyhoo, we continued on through Dolan Springs, then I took a dirt road that I found a few years ago that cuts across a saddle in the mountain and over to Stockton Hill Rd. It takes about the same amount of time as driving around the mountains on pavement, but is at least 20 miles shorter, and it's dirt.

On the east side of the mountain is a steep walled wash I always wanted to drive into. It winds around for about a mile in very soft sand (had to lock the hubs again) then turns into a box canyon. In a large crack in the canyon wall is this huge beehive.

Parked for a photo op, then back to the highway and to the property.

The Explorer performed as usual with the exception of having a hard time getting it out of low range at the end of the trail. I think the Atlas shift linkage might be dirty or need adjustment. Usually, if the levers are hard to move, I can turn off the engine and it frees them up. It has something to do with the auto transmission and neutral still having tension on the drive train. This time, I had to have it in drive and rolling before I could disengage the front axle, then the rear was easy to get into 2wd high.

 

[410Fortune]

Gorgeous!!

Any gold in those hills? And I don’t mean honey. Lol lol new hobby time! The old timers didn’t get it all

 

[BKennedy]

Gorgeous!!

Any gold in those hills? And I don’t mean honey. Lol lol new hobby time! The old timers didn’t get it all

Chloride Mining District, Wallapai Mining District, Cerbat Mountains, Mohave County, Arizona, USA

This district is centered around the town of Chloride in the Cerbat Range. The Chloride ...

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