stephens sporty 94

Hey, my names Stephen I live in Hamilton, MT and I've been lurking on this forum since I got my first X, it was a 1993 eddie baur that was kinda beat and only had 126k on it. but after discovering this forum I've regretted getting an auto after hearing how much of a pain they are, so not wanting to get invested in something that was bound to fail. That brings me to today! I found a clean 1994 sport, the man who was selling said it was his dads and he bought in 1996 for 11,000 and trading in his 1989 bronco XLT. I decided with how clean it was and some dickering I got it for $2100 with 123k miles on the 6 digit odometer. I'll get some more pictures tomorrow, but its the cleanest X I have seen in Montana.

 

[Kirby N.]

Solid axle for the win. I have run both a high travel TTB and a solid- and I will always reccomend the solid. When setup right, they drive well and work well offload. I love my SAS ranger and drive it everyday.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

Solid axle for the win. I have run both a high travel TTB and a solid- and I will always reccomend the solid. When setup right, they drive well and work well offload. I love my SAS ranger and drive it everyday.

Yeah I'm assuming that's the best idea for longevity and reliability. It just feels like a large task to get from point A to B but that's the fun of it. I'm just stir crazy to do something, once schools in session is when suddenly all motivation to do stuff happens, although I definitely think I'm at least going to try to break something before swapping everything I would like to get my money worth of these current gears. plus I haven't decided If I'm going to trade my dana 44 for another one with removable wedges or just buy a 60. 44 really is helpful for width. all this talk of SAS makes me even more eager to get out of school!

 

[BKennedy]

There are a bunch of SAS with leaf springs in the registry. Your problem is that 79' axle should have the wedgies and inner C's as one cast piece, which would make it hard to add leaf spring perches. Coil over shocks added a lot of work to mine. I thought it would be as easy as coils and shocks, but there is a lot of added figuring involved. And it was over 10K in parts alone.

I have had the Rancho 2.5" lift, 4" and 5.5" Superlifts, modified the Superlift to work better, and none of them was even close to the stability and flex I get out of my SAS. It drives/rides better on the pavement than it ever did and it has gone everywhere off-road I thought I should be taking it.

I always thought it would be fun to have something as beat as that Toyota looks to be just because I wouldn't care what happened to the body.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

There are a bunch of SAS with leaf springs in the registry. Your problem is that 79' axle should have the wedgies and inner C's as one cast piece, which would make it hard to add leaf spring perches. Coil over shocks added a lot of work to mine. I thought it would be as easy as coils and shocks, but there is a lot of added figuring involved. And it was over 10K in parts alone.

I have had the Rancho 2.5" lift, 4" and 5.5" Superlifts, modified the Superlift to work better, and none of them was even close to the stability and flex I get out of my SAS. It drives/rides better on the pavement than it ever did and it has gone everywhere off-road I thought I should be taking it.

I always thought it would be fun to have something as beat as that Toyota looks to be just because I wouldn't care what happened to the body.

Yeah I was thinking about swapping axles with a guy to get non cast wedges, I've see a few leaf SAS with 79 axles using toyota hangers, but Id rather have the shackle in the front than the rear. but another option would be slider boxes, all the stability of shackle rear but reduced ride height. if not I would do shackle forward, actually trying to locate an already geared axle.

 

[Blue m&m]

Dang. You’ve got the big brother to my ride (blue 94 sport 4x4 with 6” lift and goodies). I’m diggin your thread, so keep it up.

For what it’s worth, I’m 6’ and have successfully slept in the sport. It’s a matter of going at an angle and being willing to bend your knees a bit. What if you keep the fold down seats and modified a sliding sleeper so it went over the folded seat? This would buy you an extra 6” without forgoing the seats.

How are you liking the manual transfer case?

 

[stephen93Eddie]

Dang. You’ve got the big brother to my ride (blue 94 sport 4x4 with 6” lift and goodies). I’m diggin your thread, so keep it up.

For what it’s worth, I’m 6’ and have successfully slept in the sport. It’s a matter of going at an angle and being willing to bend your knees a bit. What if you keep the fold down seats and modified a sliding sleeper so it went over the folded seat? This would buy you an extra 6” without forgoing the seats.

How are you liking the manual transfer case?

Thats my plan is to have it fold out from the drawers to make a sleeping platform that goes over the folded seats and maybe an extension to even go a bit further if the front seats were folded forward. that way I would have the storage for wheeling gear tools etc and a place to sleep thats not a RTT.


Manual transfer case is nice, but when I first did the swap I bumped it into neutral and scared myself to death thinking something broke.

 

[Kirby N.]

I did one like that in my exploder. Fit a queen size air mattress perfect. Not a lot of room to sit-up but it was great.

 

[BKennedy]

After the cage went in, I couldn't fold the rear seats all the way down, so I gave up on trying to sleep in the Explorer. While on expedition type adventures, I got tired of unloading it to sleep, then loading it back up to drive so I started either sleeping on a cot outside or in a tent. I recently added fold down tables to my rear bumper's tire and gas can racks that perfectly fit a Coleman 2-burner camp stove, LED light strips on the inside of the hatch and a raised shelf in the back for storage with Tupperware type containers instead of drawers. I have been seriously looking at a awning like
Catuo Tent Awning Rooftop Shelter SUV Truck Car Camping Outdoor 2018 New | eBay
It would nearly complete my expedition type camp setup. For now, I am using a 6x8' Harbor Freight tarp, some parachute cord and ball bungies. I sleep in the RV most camping trips.

 

[cruiseurway84]

What brand of tires are those?

 

[stephen93Eddie]

What brand of tires are those?

Cooper MTP only availbile through discount tire.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

well update time. bought @Four0Sport's front end and some other things.

 

[Four0Sport]

I hope you get as much enjoyment out of that 44 as I did

 

[yostyexplorer94]

Good purchase. Have you decided on radius arms? The duff arms are nice because they have a bend in them to help clear larger tires at full turn.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

Good purchase. Have you decided on radius arms? The duff arms are nice because they have a bend in them to help clear larger tires at full turn.

not really, gonna run stockers tell i decide what im gonna do, but the plan is to fab some up still on the fence on extended vs wristed vs extended and wristed, joints etc.

need to update this thread with some pictures, the explorer now has an atlas 2 speed with 5 to 1 low, 2nd gear in low is about the same ratio as stock case low 1st gear. pretty setup. have some surprises for tires soon.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

Hey any opinions on shocks? expensive vs cheap? almost done with my Wristed radius arm and need a 12 inch travel shock for the front. I'm thinking monotubes for body roll but am open to anything. also really need to get a picture on here with the 38.5/15r16 boggers on the explorer.

 

[fsos]

yeah, he has a heavy foot and a locker, he first broke both U joints then audacity temp mail originthe ball joints came out on that side! It ended up being a fun recovery/ wheeling trip and we had a lot of fun after that, I will post some pictures later but I was impressed with the little sploder but there are some areas in which I'm going to need to address.

Yeah I understand this, like others I find the uniqueness of the TTB awesome just trying to find out what works and what doesn't. Current plan are just to figure out steering and radius arms.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

have been busy with lots of stuff! graduated college got a new job! explorer swapped axles again (tons!) and on some 39.5x16.5r17s. will grab some pictures been trying to put some miles on the gears for snow season!

 

[stephen93Eddie]

I am doubting many still get on here, but I am going to start posting some modifications done to the X if only to preserve the information for future members/ inquiring minds, will post some info on my saginaw swap and ported steering box. looking at fuel cells that will be mounted under the hatch area to make some room for a possible range box behind my Atlas. possibly rear link suspension in the future.

 

[stephen93Eddie]

some newer shots of the explorer in its current form, kingpin 60/10.25 5.38s grizzly lockers in each end, atlas 5 to 1, and stock 4.0/M5od. running some FOA reservoir shocks up front and some Doetsch Tech 8000s in the rear. wild horse 5.5 springs and duff arms up front. spring over and some big shackles in the back. highsteer y- link steering with a surplus center hydro assist ram.

current plans are redo the front trackbar using a different bracket as with the 85-96 d60s the up travel is limited by the duff bracket. move to coilovers(suggestions on springrates?) in the front. redo a bit of the steering with a flat pitman arm and move to regular crossover steering. push the front forward and lower it 2 inches front and rear.

 

[Kirby N.]

Beauty