The Black Pearl SAS and build

Well now that Im Elite i figured Id start a thread to document my SAS build...

 

[KurtECV]

think it might get to 20 this weekend

 

[KurtECV]

Well I think its 8 degrees here right now, or Damn close but I got the upper coil buckets ready to weld into place. Ground down and test fitted the drivers side 1000 times til I got the bulge in the frame taken care of, by that time I couldn't feel my toes so I had to come inside for a bit.

On a side note the SAS just got kicked into high gear, myself and the wife applied for pre approval on a new (and first) home. Not sure exactly where we stand on a house loan but we will find out this coming week.

So that means the explorer needs to be at least able to be loaded on to a flat bed trailer or tow truck

 

[KurtECV]

question for the peanut gallery: gman, bkennedy

ive got the placement of the coil buckets pretty much figured out, but today i was checking on the radius arm mounts and drilling a new hole about dead center to be used with the existing trans mount on the drivers side, that should put the f150 RAs right where i pushed the buckets forward on the frame.

now how to go about the passenger side, thinking ill have to cut the crossmember about where it meets the frame and have it bolt to the RA bracket, instead of it sweeping around and up to the frame...

any thoughts guys?

 

[gmanpaint]

I don't see a problem with bolting to the brackets, as long as they are thick, and also bolt to the frame under and on the sides.

Pretty sure Brian1 makes his brackets that way.

 

[KurtECV]

yeah i spoke with brain, his brackets and trans crossmember wont be worth it to me for only using it for about a year or so.

 

[gmanpaint]

I didn't mean you should buy them . Just as a reference. Lol

 

[KurtECV]

Just a quick update: I haven't given up on the build, we are in the process of buying a house so I have been hyper-focused on that but knew I needed to get the axles/wheels under the truck at least to get it on and off a tow truck if the house hunting comes quicker then the pearl (and my checking account) were ready for.

But I did run on rock auto and bought a set of ball joints (about 5 bucks each) and am getting them installed this weekend but it is still cold (we are lucky to get to 30 degrees right now).

We also had a very close family member pass away this week and it has taken me by surprise how hard it has hit me so motivation this weekend really has been hard to come by right now.

Next weekend it is supposed to get into the 50s here and the plan is to get the front end back up to about ride height and get the upper coil buckets in place.

I am thinking of extended my stock radius arms to somewhere behind the transfer case crossmember.. Still doing research on that but we will see where the upper coil buckets place the axle

 

[KurtECV]

Well now that the snow has melted (for now!) we got the explorer back up to ride height, dealing with the mud sucks but the plan is to get the frame cleaned up sometime this week and get the upper coil buckets welded into place this weekend.

still doing research on how i want to go about extending the radius arms just behind the trans crossmember.

I know it will be more work now (vs just making a quick trans crossmember) we will see what happens. MORE UPDATES TO COME THIS WEEKEND

 

[gmanpaint]

90% thinking, 10% doing.

That's why these take so long. I say, you are right on track with everybody else. Just don't give up, 3/4 of the way thru it, like some have.

 

[KurtECV]

Hell no lol.. i have to/want to finish it

besides someone has my old lift kit and the scrap yard has half of my d35 lol

 

[KurtECV]

Got some work done yesterday. The coil buckets just have a few very small tacks on place right now.

I'm not sure If I like how that one is canted to the rear, thinking I might pull it off and move it forward a bit right to the edge of the bulge in the frame.
EDIT: did some moving around and the drivers side looks good enough to burn it, the passenger side is off by a bit, going to have to check into what's going on with that radius arm.

Thinking about building an extended set of arms with billistic link brackets and poly bushings. I am going to call ballistic tomorrow and see how much adjustability thier 3.0 bushings have.

Also the track bar bracket is just bolts on there for right now. No way is it going to be left like that.

What does everything think so far? don't be afraid to give some constructive criticism.

The closeup of the weld is my first one on an actual project... Not just burning some steel.

 

[KurtECV]

Ok back at it after so long. GmanPaint has been getting on me about updating my thread.

Well we bought our first home and have been in there for about 2 months. The best thing is I have a safe warm home for my family... And the second is that my shop is the same size as the house we were renting. Nothing massive but my explorer does fit in the shop... On 28 inch tires lol.

We have been doing a lot with the frame for right now with the addition of a new warn 10K winch I picked up a few montha ago.

Also thinking about the 5.0 I had sitting in the old shop, the 302 I had put out about 195 hp (1996 f150). The 4.0 put out 160. With all the work that would go into a swap, headers wiring motor mounts etc I traded the 5.0 to a buddy of mine (for his B2 build) for a set of 77 150 axles (for spare parts) and am going to go LS swap on mine (flame away). I will still be using the np435 and dana 20 with the help of an 350 manual transmission bellhousing and a few minor changes to the pilot bushing and the trans input shaft retainer. It will run a 12 inch disk, and a hydrolic (retro fit) clutch setup.

So far the progress I've done on the truck, extended the radius arms, 2x2x.250 A-500 square tube, with 1.25 joints. Plated with .250 steel around the "C" I still have one more to go.

What's left?

I've got the extended break lines ran just need to finish the bleeding the system.

Drag link and Trac bar need to be finished.

Finish weld the spring perches on the rear.


Swap the 3.00:1 center section from the 9 for the 3.50 spare I have (do it will match the front axle)

And finish mounting 3 out of 4 shocks on the truck.

View attachment 163373

View attachment 163375

 

[gmanpaint]

Whoa....... an update?

About time!!

J/K... Glad to see your family all settled into your new home. Pretty happy for you with all that. Congrats on that again!

You have all winter to tinker and build on it. I'm sure next summer we will be hitting the trails and having a blast, with your SAS setup. Then it's just the wheel, break, fix, repeat from there on out.

 

[KurtECV]

That's the plan. I am planning on having the truck ready for a shackdown run in the spring, this winter It will be a mall crawler... I am going to try to convince my boss to let me borrow the forklift to check the flex too.

The LS/NP435/D20 will get rebuilt I'm the spring and get ready for a swap winter 2019... At least that's a good plan

 

[KurtECV]

Also I picked up a spare set of sport doors a few months back to start cutting them up for my tube door project.

The new shop needs 240v wired up for the tig welder, but be ok to run some .025 wire with the mig gun. I will have to go to my dealerships body shop and talk to those guys and see what they recommend for it

 

[KurtECV]

OK so thanks to @gmanpaint for the hookup, Ive got some chromo rock sliders to put on.

But to gain some clearance i am removing my "Tupperware" as he calls it. If anyone is interested in picking them up let me know or else they may get trashed. Take them off my hands if you're looking to restore your X sport (bandit need not inquire )

 

[gmanpaint]

Fresh not frozen sliders, are best.

Your going to like them. Not everybody has a set like those, and will separate yours, from the ho hum run of the mill styles out there.

 

[KurtECV]

Fresh not frozen sliders, are best.

Your going to like them. Not everybody has a set like those, and will separate yours, from the ho hum run of the mill styles out there.

Actually pugly has a set like mine... Copy cat lmfao

 

[gmanpaint]

Wait a minute here benedick cumberbatch.. oh......., yeah it does! Lol

In the overall grand scheme ours are diff.


Better?

 

[KurtECV]

Yeah sure fine lol.