'97 V8 D60/70HD swap.....finally | Page 3 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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'97 V8 D60/70HD swap.....finally

Well, it all started with me breaking an axle on friday. Had to drop the diff to get the broken shaft piece out. Then the seal was ruined as well, scrapping a trip that i had planned for 2 weeks in advanced for on saturday.

I was thinking, why waste 50 bucks on the ifs axle when im gonna be ripping it out shortly. So i called my buddy and we started tearing into the mounty at 6:30 pm until 10pm, and monday from 2-10pm. We are on hold for parts so we can make brackets.

I have 2 Rustys off road 180 pound coils, 24" extened, we calculated that it should be around 18 inches compressed. As for the suspension design, its getting a triangulated 4 link. It kinda helps when you are friends with a suspensions engineer.

Well heres the progress so far. More to come next monday.
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You actually remind me of the mounty that was at badlands the other year. D60 front and rear steering
 



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I dont think anyone took any pictures. He drove around the first day by him self.

It was pretty bad....had a dent in every body pannel
 












hey buddy long time no talk, im sooo f'n jealous! i cant wait to get back from deployment, only 9 more months and i will be doing to exact same thing, only with narrowed axles.... and maybe oh maybe a venomous 393 implant... hit me up
 












The calipers i used for the rear were 85 chevy calipers.

Aric, your truck wont be as wide as mine. The reason i say this is becuase with a stock 60, and the stock hummer rims, you will only stick out at what your at now. However you said that you are recentering yours, so if you have 4" of reduced bs on those hummer wheels you'll be just as wide. Speaking of wideness, i am legal.....just shy 7 inches from being in the red.

I still have panhard mount and steering to do. Panhard will be put in tonight, and hopefully coil buckets too.

Burns, that was a ford explorer you saw. Originally it was a 2wd then he converted it to what you saw.

As far as SAS'd mercs on this forum, i do not know of any.

Chris, nope those arent the Krawlers, these are the Iroks i bought and they are mounted on H2 rims that had the centers milled out for the hub on the front of the truck.
 






Chris, nope those arent the Krawlers, these are the Iroks i bought and they are mounted on H2 rims that had the centers milled out for the hub on the front of the truck.

I saw my first set of Iroks in person today. It was an SAS'd mid 90's Yota. 36x13.50... those tires are MEATY!
 






WOW..... i knew my wheels would stick out far... but now i really see about how far mine will be....i LOVE it. keep it up man! I haven't bought anything except for my coils as far as suspension, so if yours turns out real well(which it looks like it is definitely going to) i might just steal your setup. Did you buy the plasma? or borrowing it? i've been thinking about getting one of those $4 or $500 pirate specials. They are supposed to be amazing especially for the price.

edit: your welds are pretty impressive too from what i can see.:thumbsup:

edit #2: what did you do for the rear brakes? did the d70 disc brake kit use 75 chevy 3/4 ton rotors and calipers like the d60? are you running hard lines or soft lines? I was hoping to beat you with the swap, but now i'm glad you are way ahead, so i can pick your brain. :D

edit #3: did you use a conversion u-joint for the rear axle to go from the 8.8 driveshaft to the d70 pinion? is the stock driveshaft long enough?

Aric, NO CONVERSION JOINT!!. The expedition driveshaft bolteds right up.....I was pretty surprised. Also, the u-joint for the front bolted right up to the d60 too, and i dont need to lengthen or shorten either the rear or front shafts. The increased lengths of the diffs make up for the hieght. Actully my rear shaft is a bit long, but i still need to raise the rear 3-4 inches so it should be perfect length when all is said and done.

Brake lines will be hard all the way to the ends, then stainless braided lines from the frame to the axles. I'm hoping i dont need to swap my master, but if i do, oh well, i have one with the cruise control from a f-350 so it shouldnt be a problem.
 






I saw my first set of Iroks in person today. It was an SAS'd mid 90's Yota. 36x13.50... those tires are MEATY!

thats what i have.
 












i may have missed this but what is ur setup for the rear suspension?
 






i may have missed this but what is ur setup for the rear suspension?

super flexy leafs....stock spring bad with some added springs for hieght.
 






we worked until 2:17 am last night.....we ran out of wire :(, so all that got done on the drivers side was a plate was weled in with 2 inches of weld left to go.

1 10 pound spool of mig wire down so far.

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that is just absolutely ridiculous but i love nice work very nice weld and i am definately subscribing
 












i really like the coil buckets, and lower brackets. :D :thumbsup:
 






the front is sitting on its own wieght finally. Tonight the steering box will be put on and some other things will be welded.
 






Your such a tease.....Photos we demand them...

Ha ha

Your moving along pretty good then
 



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