Something w/ rabbits. 72.5 pages of BS | Page 6 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Something w/ rabbits. 72.5 pages of BS

So seeing as spring is just around the corner, I thought I'd start a thread on the future undertaking of swapping in the Dana 60.

The axle is from a 1986 "Fawwd" F-threee "fitty", sporting some kingpins and a whole lot of rust. I took this axle apart a few months ago (except stupid me didnt remove the pinion nut before breakdown :rolleyes:) and had it hot tanked. I wanted it sandblasted, but the machine shop owner smirked and said "naaah yo, that junx is too big for my blasting cabinet" .. okay except he didn't really say that cauz he's old and a really cool guy. ANyways *twirls blonde hair*, this is my plaannn:

- WMS-WMS this axle is just a bit over 69" wide so I'm going to cut the passenger's side down a few inches to match 'ye ol General Motors 14-bolt axle. So this is going to require custom axle shafts and I think I'm going to go Chromos and 35-spline outers off the bat from the most awesome guys at Complete Off Road.

- Drive flange or lockouts? They are about the same in price and its a dedicated trail rig so I'm leaning towards the drive flanges. Right now, the cheapest flanges I found are the Teraflexes at $180 for a pair. If anyone knows of a better deal, please let me know :D !!

- High-steer arms and a double-ended hydroponics goodness ("cylinder").

- Opposite-ended panhard bar! The idea is to mount the chassis end of the panhard on the passenger's side frame rail and the axle end on the driver's side. Doing so should allow a more simple and cleaner design since the axle-mount can be mounted on top of or near the differential housing, instead of a tower on the passenger's side (like in my current D44 setup). I also plan to boost the panhard as far up as possible to increase the roll center of the front suspension. Yeah the concept is a little strange but I'm hoping it'll work and won't have any issues (no drag-link to factor into the design). But if anyone knows of any problem running this config, please chime in!

*EDIT*
- Detoit Locker for the carrier. I'm please with how the Detroit in the 14-bolt has performed so I figured I'd run the same in the front. Of course 5.13s to match the 14-bolt.


So here's the little guy, he's been in this position for the past few months just collecting dust:

DSC000871.jpg
 



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Pinion yoke came in yesterday from the guys at FootHill Off-Road.
I decided not to go with the stock yoke and instead switched to a yoke for the 1310 1/2 ton U-joint ;)

Why go with such a small U-joint?
1) the 1310 has one of the best operating angles (not that it matters, its a high-pinion axle).
2) the 4405/1350/1354 transfer cases come with the 1310 at the front output so even if I went with larger U-joints, it won't add any strength to the driveline because of the t-case output.
3) many people have twisted the splines on their 35-spline chromo D60 axle shafts even with 1310 driveshaft joints (example)
4) current driveshaft has 1310 yokes so I wont have to swap yokes out - just change length.

1310_pinion_yoke.jpg
 






Went out this week and measured the 14-bolt and yeah I guess I'll stick to full-width on the Dana 60.

Few things came in today:

Yukon 35-spline chromoly outers :
outer_axle_shafts.jpg


Kingpin rebuild kit (even though the hi-steer arms came with most of this stuff :():
kingpin_rebuild_kit.jpg


And some other little things .. spindle nuts:
spindle_nuts.jpg


Inner spindle bearing and seals
spindle_seal.jpg


Other than new axle-shaft U-joints, calipers, rotors and pads (should all be available locally), I think I have everything needed to rebuild the axle -- but I'm still waiting on the tube bender to finish :(
 






....d'oh, with all those parts i replaced in my dana 35 i could have had that...:rolleyes:
 






Hehe probably. Or at least a Dana 50 which, according to Dannyboy's finds, can be found for less than $500 on CraigsList every now and then. Just as strong as a Dana 60 in axle-shaft and U-joint strength and better clearance than a Dana 60 :thumbsup:
 












did you consider the longfield cv's for this? Those are some pimp shafts.
 






Saw those but they are 3 times the cost of full chromos.
 






Its required to build the front (and the rest of the vehicle):

if thats whats gotta happen Dibbs on that nice front winch bumper.
if you wanna part with that thing or rework it so its use able

did you build it your self or have a shop do it?
 






I did it myself.

But the bumper doesn't hold the winch, the bumper is just a bumper and the winch is bolted to a cross member that I welded to both frame rails. But if you want the bumper, its yours for free -- cauz I'm ashamed in my poor craftsmanship of that bumper (was in a hurry), I frown.
 






Pinion yoke came in yesterday from the guys at FootHill Off-Road.
I decided not to go with the stock yoke and instead switched to a yoke for the 1310 1/2 ton U-joint ;)

Why go with such a small U-joint?
1) the 1310 has one of the best operating angles (not that it matters, its a high-pinion axle).
2) the 4405/1350/1354 transfer cases come with the 1310 at the front output so even if I went with larger U-joints, it won't add any strength to the driveline because of the t-case output.
3) many people have twisted the splines on their 35-spline chromo D60 axle shafts even with 1310 driveshaft joints (example)
4) current driveshaft has 1310 yokes so I wont have to swap yokes out - just change length.

1310_pinion_yoke.jpg



Im running 1310's and never had a issue,ohh and a crossover 1310/1330 on my rear drive shaft.
 






Glad to hear that -- thanks for the input FordBeast98 !
 






Got a few hours this weekend to prep the axle housing.

I cut the old spring perches, panhard bar mount and whatever else was on the housing.

Then I took on the monstrous kingpins. The process I used was run a weld for about 20 seconds at the bottom of the kingpin to heat it up, then torched the surrounding area for about two minutes, and then used a cheater bar (about 4.5 feet long) to break it loose.


Cheater bar -- pre-bent before using it on the kingpin ;) :
cheater_bar.jpg


Kingpin before welding and heating:
inner_knuckle.jpg


Kingpins removed -- with the weld pool at the bottom of the kingpin:
kingpin_removed.jpg


Axle Housing kingpin-less, and cleaned up with a knotted wheel on an angle-grinder:
housing1.jpg

housing2.jpg



I wanted to cut the inner knuckles out so I can have them (and the outer knuckles) media blasted this week but I gotta go ride (bikes) with some friends so I guess that'll have to wait for a few days.

Outer knuckles:
knuckles.jpg
 






can i have your bumper?
 






can i have your bumper?
Ahaha umm Lefy said he had dibs on it (see post 109) but if he doesnt want it, sure you can have it.
 






crap...ok, let me know.
 






nice progress. i'm jealous. I think i've had my 60 longer than you and 97 v8 and you are both going to finish way before i do. i'll be lucky to make the summer badlands run. are you in on that mr. senator?

ps. i hope you beat the fascist feminist lady in the primaries. you scare me less than her...
 






nice progress. i'm jealous. I think i've had my 60 longer than you and 97 v8 and you are both going to finish way before i do. i'll be lucky to make the summer badlands run. are you in on that mr. senator?

ps. i hope you beat the fascist feminist lady in the primaries. you scare me less than her...

I'm already done remember?

I still have to swap my body though.
 









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i'll be lucky to make the summer badlands run. are you in on that mr. senator?
I will try my best to make it -- so my fingers are crossed.
thought I'd let you know, this POS is up in your neck of the woods. Probably can part it out, use a couple tires and maybe some axle parts for spares.
POS
Thanks Danny, I'll look into it when I get home.
 






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