D50 ttb?

[5spdman]

I've had this idea running through my head for the last 7 days and I need someone to tell me if I'm crazy, delusional, imaginative or brilliant.

I've thought of doing an SAS in the past, but the more I think about it, the more I realize "I'm off-roading an Explorer because it's different, and the D35 TTB sets it apart from the rest of the rigs out there..." As far as I can tell though (from reading this forum) the biggest you really want to go in tire size with the D35 is 35" unless you want to be changing wheel bearings a lot, so-on and so-forth.

In my dreams I've thought about building a first gen Sport with 6" lift, full cage, and 37-40" tires to do some heavier crawling, but with tires that big, I'll for sure need something beefier than a D35 TTB and 8.8 rear...something that runs 8-lug would be beefy!

So I've been thinking(as far as the front at this point), "why not swap out the D35 for a D50?" 8-lug, up to the task of bigger tires and heavier wheeling, I'd cut and turn the beams anyway and could narrow them a little while I'm at it...

Has anyone here done this, thought about doing this, or am I just a crazy person?

Tell me what you think!

 

[delexploder]

The D50 is leaf spring , at least the pile of them at my buddies shop are

 

[94explorerEB]

Seen one at a pull a part one time. Thing is massive, funny you brought this up bc I've thought about doing the same thing before. But I believe it was on coils like our explorers.

 

[94explorerEB]

Just looked it up on Google saw leafs. It can be converted to coils though or coilovers

 

[delexploder]

Yea I see a lot of people are using them now and parts have been developed , its been ten years since I messed with one, always wanted to do a D50 swap in one of my full size broncos with a dully rear and fenders lol ,

 

[5spdman]

It can be converted to coils though or coilovers

Coilovers were what I had in mind...

 

[delexploder]

What rear are you thinking about going with the 50 ? 60 , 70 , 10.5 , I love the idea ,

 

[5spdman]

Haven't thought on the rear yet...figured I'd scour junkyards, Craigslist, classifieds, auto&rv magazine and see if I can get an entire f250 for cheap and just use what it had.

Suggestions for the rear?

 

[delexploder]

I've seen the D50 paired with the 60 and the 70 , the 60 would be my choice, it would handle more abuse than the front and is lighter than the 70 , parts and aftermarket products are plentiful and its a great start for a Frankenstein axle

 

[malohnes]

Why not D44 knuckle on the 35ttb? It'll take larger tires and if you don't wheel hard, it should last. There is ample info on this conversion and you can find plenty donors for the project

 

[madbutcher]

I like the idea and want to see it

 

[mr cribb]

I found this on google. http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/newb.../931128-differences-between-d50-d60-ford.html

I know the later D50's had coil springs. From what I quickly read, it looks as though the weight of the vehicle is a contributing factor on axle longevity.

With that in mind, a really light vehicle such as a first generation sport wouldn't hurt a D50 axle with larger tires.

 

[5spdman]

Why not D44 knuckle on the 35ttb? It'll take larger tires and if you don't wheel hard, it should last. There is ample info on this conversion and you can find plenty donors for the project

I've seen a few threads where the 35 was upgraded with 44 parts, but nothing on a D50, so it would be different for sure. I'd really like to do some hard wheeling, and I know that if I'd want to get into the really hard stuff a rock-bouncer type crawler and solid axles would be what I'm looking into.

I really just want to build something clean, at quick glance still uses stock parts but close up has lots of beef and tricks up its sleeves and is highly capable on the trails.

I like the way this thread is going....my wife might not....lol

 

[mounty71]

Definitely doable, if you want a big project. My friend has D44/D50 hybrid beams on his Toyota Tundra. With a 14 bolt rear.

Just to clarify, he extended his beams, which is now leading to problems sourcing the custom axle shafts that he needs. Do you think you'd stay "stock" width?

 

[5spdman]

Yeah, for sure wouldn't extend them...if anything I'd narrow them; bring the tires more into the Explorer stock width...

And a big project? What's that? Lol...I need an excuse to get a welder and start fabricating again...I'm getting bored lol!

 

[malohnes]

I've seen a few threads where the 35 was upgraded with 44 parts, but nothing on a D50, so it would be different for sure. I'd really like to do some hard wheeling, and I know that if I'd want to get into the really hard stuff a rock-bouncer type crawler and solid axles would be what I'm looking into.

I really just want to build something clean, at quick glance still uses stock parts but close up has lots of beef and tricks up its sleeves and is highly capable on the trails.

I like the way this thread is going....my wife might not....lol

Well, either way is very doable. Hard wheeling is such a ambiguous term as it means very different things to different people. Solo Motorsports has some great packages for those of us that can't fab like you can, but they show some mighty impressive rigs. I'd look there for some inspiration on D35/D44 and long travel suspension that could be tweaked for more trail/crawling use than pre runner stuff.

If you want to keep things more narrow, you might find that the fab work will be a lot more than you might want to get things to fit and perform as you desire if you go D50. I'm not sure the tire size limit with stock components, (IIRC 37-40"?) but there are tons of uber tough components for the series and it's a simple mod our Explorers and your skills.

Did they make coil sprung D50TTB's? I know leaf sprung D50's are everywhere...

Why not try for TTB front and rear for 4 wheel steering? That would be different for sure!

I like where this thread is going too! Very inventive folks out there...

 

[mounty71]

What I was getting at when I asked about extending the beams also applies to narrowing them, and that's that getting custom shafts made with the 50 u-joint is difficult from what I heard from my friend, unless you go all out with RCV axles. I can double check with him if you'd like. I guess you could just shorten and re-spline the stock shafts though.

Also, I'm not sure why people are bringing up the stock leafs vs. coils, because either way, if you're custom fabbing the beam mounts then changing leafs to coils/coilovers is no big deal.

And finally, TTB rear would probably behave weird unless you did 4-link style links instead of radius arms, which is doable, but if it's only to gain rear steering, you can gain that with a solid axle already anyway. Doesn't sound like that's really in your game plan but just thought I'd mention it.

 

[delexploder]

If it was me I would just go with a 44 ttb , the 50 is heavy and like already shown in the link it will break at the points that neck down to the same size as the 44 , if you want to match the wheels with a eight lug rear then there are swaps for that using the 44 , but for the weight of the truck and practical parts availability I would go 44 front

 

[5spdman]

Yes, shortening and resplining was what I was thinking.

TTB rear would be extremely different, but no, not something I had in mind at all lol. And again, the 44 has been done before from what I can tell, and I'd like to do something a little out of the box.

This is a project that will be a few years away...I'd like to get a Sport (first things first) and do some more research on the D50 and other axles. If it can be done relatively cheap and easily, I'll give it a shot. Just a thought at the moment, but I like to keep my creative juices flowing so-to-speak...

 

[94explorerEB]

I say go for it man I'd love to see this done.