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.

 

[james t]

Thanks. BC Broncos uses the saddle on the tie rod for the drag link with heims. That is one of the reasons I am going with them.
The pictures helped. The track bar is three inches longer than stock, with six inches of threading so I can cut it down if needed.
BC Broncos steering pic (they also use a tapered "bolt" that I like)

BC Broncos saddle is welded to the tie rod. How about this (I like drawing but I could not get the lines any thicker...WTH)??

If the track bar is raised three inches at the axle mount, then the angle will be less severe and allow me to have a shorter drop at the frame mount. And, with the saddle for the drag link, they should line up with the pitman arm with both being at an acceptable angle, and nearly the same length.
Does this work??
If I used the stock pitman arm, then it looks like the angle of both the drag link and the track bar would be more severe, which I am trying to avoid.

Ok, all of that will work fine. Especially since the trac bar is "adjustable" in length with the long threads and the ability to cut it down a little.

I agree with you both, you can keep the drop pitman arm and it'll work out perfect. I was trying to work around what I thought was a fixed track bar length. If you can shorten it that will be awesome... it probably wont take much at all.

Also, use Kirby's idea and get the Ruff Stuff track bar mount (at the axle) and get the one that pushes it out front a little. This gives you a ton of clearance at the diff when the driver's tire is stuffed. Get that done, and build/buy/install your frame mount and you will be ready to take measurements for the steering.

Almost done homey!!!

 

[BKennedy]

I guess it would help if I provided all the information. I can cut the track bar down up to three inches. I thought I was going to have to get the steering first, then mount the track bar to match the drag link angle, but I can do it the other way by mounting the track bar/brackets, then order the steering to match the track bar angle. Awsome
I think I need to get the coil overs mounted up first.

 

[james t]

Yea, make sure you have ride height set where you want it first.

 

[BKennedy]

The last few days I had a cold and it was raining so no progress. Felt better today, so I decided to get some work done. I was lining up my two options for the lower shock mounts when it was apparent I needed to mount the hubs, brakes and front tires to check for clearance issues before I proceeded any further. I was mounting my new set of Warn Premium Hubs when this happened....

I was just past finger tight and turning it with the long end of a allen wrench when the top of the bolt just fell off. I know they are easily damaged and I was being very careful. I emailed Warn about getting a replacement bolt, will see what happens. Really don't want to return the entire hub set.


Besides the hub issue, here is my predicament: I am trying to decide on wether to mount the lower shocks to the axle housing "C" or the top of the radius arms as originally planned. If I put them on top of the radius arms, the shocks will be nearly straight. On the "C", they will angle inward towards the top, but might have clearance issues. This is why I decided to mount the hubs, brakes, ect. so I can get a tire on there, and cycle the suspension. Here are the two options for lower shock mounts:

The big issue is the master cylinder. The left side shock ends up right next to the darn thing, which limits my options. I am shooting for 5" up and 9" down travel. So I need 27" between the shocks mounts with the FOA shocks. Can't get behind the master cylinder because there is not enough room for the shock to fit and not hit the frame at full drop. I'll figure it out, but its a pain.

 

[Rick]

New feature... Quick release bolt heads

Sorry no answer to the rest. Hopefully the SAS gurus will chime in.

 

[BKennedy]

New feature... Quick release bolt heads .

It did come out pretty easy........

After I posted this, I went to install the new T-Bird caliper kit I got from BC Broncos. Its missing both banjo bolts, two of the four washers, and the caliper support keys. WTH????

 

[Rick]

I went through a lot of that while building the Dart. Some of the biggest name companies have the worst service

 

[RockRanger]

Put the coil over the farther out the better.

Be ready for someone to bang on your door Thanksgiving Day wanting to see the progress in person.

 

[Stic-o]

It did come out pretty easy........

After I posted this, I went to install the new T-Bird caliper kit I got from BC Broncos. Its missing both banjo bolts, two of the four washers, and the caliper support keys. WTH????

I thought the Banjo bolts were sold by themselfs. Did you buy a whole kit? I remember I got my calipers from rock auto or something, but the banjo bolts from BC.

 

[Kirby N.]

I had some of those warn bolts strip so I replaced all of them with grade 8s from fastenal.

It you can't mount the shock high enough then mounting the lower out on the c will help that problem.

 

[BKennedy]

I thought the Banjo bolts were sold by themselfs. Did you buy a whole kit? I remember I got my calipers from rock auto or something, but the banjo bolts from BC.

Bought the BC Broncos T-Bird caliper kit. It was supposed to come with everything.
http://www.bcbroncos.com/frontbrakes.html

 

[james t]

Both of your lower mount options look good... only problem I would see is with the "on the C" mount clearance might be an issue depending on your wheel backspacing.

 

[BKennedy]

Both of your lower mount options look good... only problem I would see is with the "on the C" mount clearance might be an issue depending on your wheel backspacing.

Thanks. 3.5" backspacing. Need to get them on there to see where they line up.
Spent today planning on working on the track bar frame mount. Noticed that there were too many holes in the frame for my liking. Most used to hold the old coil buckets. I also noticed that two of the cut off rivets seemed to do double duty as coil buckets, and engine cross member mounting points. There are actually two more rivets on each side on the bottom of the frames that also are for the engine cross member (I left the rivets sticking out after I cut the heads off to remove the coil buckets so I can weld them to the frame). On the right side the rivets are still in the holes, just no heads. On the left side, no rivets remain. So, I made up some frame plates that have weld holes where the rivets are for the left side frame, and bolt holes for the left side. I made these up with a 4-1/2" grinder, reciprocating saw, and a drill press. See pic.

The top plates are for the left side frame (steering box, track bar, support, etc..). The big rectangle dealios are for where the coil buckets used to sit on the frame. The bottom one is for the right side frame. The narrow rectangle is for the bottom of the frame under the steering box to help support the track bar. The smaller brackets are to follow some bends in the frame.
On the left side, the frame has a bunch of bends, twists and turns so I decided to get all fancy and try to follow the original frame ,instead of just slapping a big plate on there and welding it up. I thought it would be stronger that way. The plate where the steering box bolts up has a bunch of weld holes in it because it looks like the track bar is going to end up straddling the back steering box bolt, and I wanted to make sure the frame, plate and track bar were fully welded together.

I should have the plates all welded up tomorrow, I ran out of daylight today. As some of you know, I live in yuppyville. I have gotten in the habit of trying to end all the noise by sunset. I still need to get the frame all cleaned up. The bottom left steering box bolt hole in the frame was full of dirt. So much so that I could not get the bolt back into the hole once I removed it prior to vacuuming all the dirt out.

 

[BKennedy]

Got a reply email from Warn about the broken bolt. They are sending me a replacement. If I only get one, I will use it to get a new set of grade 8 bolts at Marshall's Hardware. If they don't have them, they can get them.

No reply from BC Broncos yet. I wonder if they know that when I get annoyed due to lack of a quick customer service response that I tend to no longer buy stuff from that vender. I will call them tomorrow and see what they say in person, maybe they don't like email..??

 

[BKennedy]

I found this on Pirate4x4 the other day and made an order. 4-1/2" grinder Dewalt cut off wheels; 20 for $25.00 with free shipping.
http://www.wylaco.com/abrasives/abr...-x-7-8-inch-Metal-Thin-Cut-Off-Wheel-20-Count

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Very Cool Build!! Sure seems like a good deal on those cutoff wheels too.

 

[BKennedy]

Before I cut it off, does anyone know what this is (see pic)??

It looks like it was used to center something. Its not part of the steering box and it appears to be pressed into the frame. I just don't want to hack something off I might need, and can't for the life of me remember what went under there. Its not the left side coil bucket, because I already tried that. I tried to knock it out of there with a BFH, but its not moving

EDIT: It has either a bolt or a rod that goes from the center of whatever it is to the top of the frame. I am just going to leave it alone

 

[BKennedy]

Called BC Broncos about the missing parts. They said they have not had time to check email in a few days and its always better to call. They are sending out the parts today.

 

[BKennedy]

Got all the frame support plates welded up.
Passenger side;

Driver side;

Just have to clean them up a little. No more progress expected until after the weekend.
Next I need to get the track bar axle raise bracket welded up, then the frame mount, then its time to order steering and get to work on the coil over mounts.

 

[Kirby N.]

Great job on the frame reinforcements. They look excellent.