nssj2's SAS 5.0 Build | Page 3 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

nssj2's SAS 5.0 Build

Here goes nothing. Time to get rid of the IFS and go soild. Just picked up the Dana 44 yesterday, so I guess I'm allowed to start my thread. The planning thread is here. I'm hoping to have this wrapped up in a month or so, and I'm sorry in advance for the newbie questions lol.

So this is what's going down.
97 Mountaineer 5.0 w/ 4406

Front:
79 HP Dana 44 FW, 4.56 gears, Superior chrome moly axles and soild ujoints, warn premium hubs, tbird calipers
Wild Horses 12" Extended radius arms, 4* bushings (need 7*)
6" Deaver Coils
12" travel procomp 9000 shocks
93 Toyota IFS Steering box
79 Bronco tie rods
Track bar from BC broncos
2010 Jeep Wrangler drag link
mystery pitman arm
94 aerostar steering intermediate shaft, lengthened 4"

Rear:
94 Ford 8.8, 4.56, aussie locked
SOA
4" superlift springs
explorer disc brakes
87 jeep cj7 rotors


Tires: 35x12.5 Goodyear MTR's
Wheels: American racing black classic
And a couple pics, of course.
001.jpg

002.jpg



Stay tuned!
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





thanks for the quick reply. I think I've seen a member do the c-channel with the full width axle, and wanted a second opinion. I'd rather do that then drill out the bottom mounts to A) maintain axle strength and B) give me more room for steering linkage with the outboard box.

About the angle, the reason I ask is since the radius arms (hence the name right lol) keep the axle on a circular range of motion, I will never have just straight up and down axle travel. I have the truck set at ride height, with the axle at tire height, and the coil is sitting perfectly vertical on the axle. So would it be any benefit to set the bucket like \, to make use of the range of motion? Or keep it aligned with the coil on the axle? Any input is greatly appreciated.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





i'll pay for the shipping on the 4.10 axles if you'll "give" them to me lol


JK
 






About the angle, the reason I ask is since the radius arms (hence the name right lol) keep the axle on a circular range of motion, I will never have just straight up and down axle travel. I have the truck set at ride height, with the axle at tire height, and the coil is sitting perfectly vertical on the axle. So would it be any benefit to set the bucket like \, to make use of the range of motion? Or keep it aligned with the coil on the axle? Any input is greatly appreciated.

I think the "correct" way is to have the springs end up straight at full suspension compression. if that makes sense.
 






I know it's probably too late to help but I used 2x4 tubing to space my buckets out. The stock f150 (cut down) buckets and f250 shock mounts are welded to the tubing which is all then bolted to the frame.
 






Looks GREAT so far
hump.gif
 






Thanks for all the helpful comments. Codepoet, the welder rescheduled for Wednesday, so I got a little time bought. With that in mind... you just ran the 2x4 tube probably a foot or so along the frame? I think the shock mounts are going to end up perfect. Bolting it makes me nervous, as that extra 2" of bolt has an increased moment. Was there an advantage of that to welding everything?


kert0307: That's exactly what I was looking for. If I sit the stock bronco coil bucket with the bottom lip flush against the bottom of the frame, it has a slight lean, which would make the coil straight at full compression.

Toypaseo: thanks man! i'll be moving back up north in a month, definitely should grab a beer and check this crazy thing out
 






Thanks for all the helpful comments. Codepoet, the welder rescheduled for Wednesday, so I got a little time bought. With that in mind... you just ran the 2x4 tube probably a foot or so along the frame? I think the shock mounts are going to end up perfect. Bolting it makes me nervous, as that extra 2" of bolt has an increased moment. Was there an advantage of that to welding everything?

The bolts are sleeved as well so there won't be movement. All I did was take some tubing with an ID just a bit bigger than the bolts. I drilled spacer so that I could slide the tubing in and then welded it in. If they were not sleeved and the tubing deformed they'd loose tension and my bucket would start to move around just like you mentioned. There is also a large backing plate that sandwich's the frame. I did not want to weld simply because it'll probably be changed up some time in the future and didn't want to hassle with cutting everything out. Nothing really more than that though.
 






So as the clock ticks down until I get the buckets mounted, I finally found a picture that answers my questions. It has the slightly offset coil buckets, and a good reference for other component geometry. If someone sees something out of wack here, speak up!

131_0901_19_z+ford_bronco_lt_suspension+king_shocks.jpg
 












Looks like an f150/bronco bucket.

The coil looks like it is bowed forward. Do you just need to adjust your caster or something?

Looks real nice though man :)
 






not my truck. Its an EB with a dana 44, so the same setup as mine. My buckets are off the 79 bronco which I got the axle from. The bow is where my ? resides. That coil will be perfectly straight when the axle is compressed. The axle travels in an arc, not straight up and down. Being as how I have no point of reference on my frame, as long as the buckets make coil straight at compression, I will leave this subject alone and weld them on :). This is a learning experience for me, but I figure I'll never learn until I do it.
 






woot!
DSCN0039.jpg


A huge thumbsup for Larry's Mobile Welding. He went far above and beyond what I had expected him to do, and the quality of his work is better than some shops I've been to. He even custom fabbed the c-channel on the spot to match the taper of the frame.


Now, to figure out wtf to do with shocks..... I'm thinking hoops?
 












Its best to do shocks last. That way you know your ride hieght is set, you know your tire clearance, etc. etc. and you dont have to go back and change it or (even worse) order different shocks.

Looks good. :)
 






subscribing- looks good
 






Longarms are up next. Does anyone have any recommendations? How it looks now, the existing radius arms are about $400 to get fabbed, with all the shops I visited having strength concerns. If I get new ones, I'm thinking duff, as they end up being not much more then the ones from wildhorses4x4 after shipping the cores. But what about the stability of the heim? This truck will be driven to and from the trails, so she needs good road manners too.
 






My stock arms weighed 38 lbs and cost 36.00 to ship back. This made the total 150 less than Duff arms, using cheaper radius arm bushings for replacements when needed. Also I might mention the Wold Horses arms have larger "studs" .
Seeing how Stico's truck works with bushings, and the better ride quality were the selling points. Plus, I like the angle for steering clearance, and the flat sliding surface the square tubes made--JMHO because I am a wheelin newbie. Don;t forget to add the cost of the heims in there if you go the Duff route.


A come along , a wrench, and some elbow grease will change radius arm bushings pretty easily , should the need arise.

Actually, just like everything else both has their advantages and disadvantages. The Duff products all look to be of high quality. It's a toss up isn't it?
 






A come along , a wrench, and some elbow grease will change radius arm bushings pretty easily , should the need arise.
Low range, chain running from the front housing to a tree, back up SLOWLY while a friend watches and do one side at a time. Ive changed them this way and it takes all of 15 minutes. ;)


I agree with the Turdle man... ive ran both bushings and heims and once you get an extended arm it really doesnt matter what you put on the end. A stock rubber bushing is not going to bind considering the arm is a foot longer than factory... you simply cannot get enough travel to get the angle on the bushing great enough to bind it.

Basically, get whatever you want they're all going to flex the same.
 






Haha!! great picture associated with that one. Reminds me of the time my buddy bent his tail pipe on the trails. Drove on the ledge above the j**p and winched him up by the exhaust. Like new :D.

I'm not so concerned with the flex, as you said it's about the same. It's the road manners that I want to address. I've heard with the regular studs, a swaybar is unnecessary, whereas the heims aren't as stable on the highway. Can someone comment on that? I'd rather not fab up sway bar mounts. As of now, JD arms are looking like it (as my wallet wimpers).
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





So parts are all ordered. RAs are from wildhorses. BC broncos makes some really nice ones that utilize the factory mounts with a heim, so when they make them again in the fall, I can upgrade if needs be. Tires are 35x12.5s MTRs w/ kevlar. Brakes and steering are plumbed in, aside from the box. So the last thing is, the mount for the box. Anyone know if the explorer frame is the same width as the '79-'85 toyota frames? If so, I was thinking this
IFS-GUSSET.jpg


Pics will be up thursday/friday when she should be, good lord willing and the crik don't rise, on her own feet! Man, what a feeling finally being in the home stretch.
 






Back
Top