2wd SAS conversion?

[pchastain12]

Hi guys love this forum only there's something I can't seem to find. I have a 1997 XLT 2wd v6 sohv Explorer and I was wondering if there is anyway to put a solid axle in the front sort of conversion from control arms and all that to a solid axle? I'm hoping its not a 4x4 conversion thanks to all in advance!!

 

[Spdrcer34]

What?!?

The only reason to do a SOLID AXLE SWAP is to get a stronger axle on a 4WD vehicle.

 

[pchastain12]

Well it would be strictly for lift purposes or if not to difficult two wheel to four wheel drive I figure this the front can e lifted with either spindles, torsion keys, or bigger tires so hence if I can do a conversion of putting a solid axle in the front with braking and steering then it would be easier to lift it via coils or blocks which can achieve a higher lift am I better off doing a 4wd conversion?

 

[CodePoet]

How bout just a good quality 2wd lift. You are in for much much (MUCH) more work doing an sas than a bolt on 2wd kit.

 

[colintrax]

Go figure, you're from Bama

Seriously though, if you're asking this... you can't do a SAS. If you really want a solid front axle, make it 4wd. Otherwise, 3" BL and TT/warrior shackles. There's a good 5" of lift. Throw 33" tires under her, and you'll have the ultimate mall crawler. It'll work pretty good offroad to, my 2wd does just fine in the woods so don't be afraid to venture off the asphalt.
Look in the "lifted 2nd gen" thread. Should give you some better ideas as to what you want, and what's practical.

 

[pchastain12]

The only lift I could find worth anything was the lift by btf fabrication I believe and that's to much money for me upfront hence I figured throw a solid axle under there and some good coils and shocks and get some good flex when wheeling I guess I'm looking for a good way to get some good long travel suspension lifts. I've been working on some blueprints for a custom long travel suspension lift but doing it on all four wheels but am running into alot of problems.

 

[pchastain12]

Go figure, you're from Bama

Seriously though, if you're asking this... you can't do a SAS. If you really want a solid front axle, make it 4wd. Otherwise, 3" BL and TT/warrior shackles. There's a good 5" of lift. Throw 33" tires under her, and you'll have the ultimate mall crawler. It'll work pretty good offroad to, my 2wd does just fine in the woods so don't be afraid to venture off the asphalt.
Look in the "lifted 2nd gen" thread. Should give you some better ideas as to what you want, and what's practical.

I have about fourteen inches of shackle in the rear maxed out on my leafs and I bought torsion keys with a bigger offset than stock and I'm sitting at 19" from ground to bottom skirt nd have 30x10.5x15 tires it sits level and still have more room to twist my keys out I want the mos lift possible but I hate the price of the spindles I'm young and have a baby so saving for things on my truck takes forever! Lol
And yeah hey do it big with lifts in bama

 

[01STrunner]

If you just want it for looks, get a body lift and a superlift for the front and do a spring over axle (SOA) conversion in the rear to match the superlift and TT. With those and the BL you'd be looking at around 9" from stock plus the extra 2.5" youd get if you ran 35s over 30s. There's a lifted 2nd gen (red mounty) that has a BL and TT/AAL running 35s. Looks pretty clean too. With an SAS you are looking at big bucks and a lot of custom fab work to make something fit.

 

[corkey]

doing all of that to a 2wd is pretty useless really,,
it won't flex very much, as 2nd gens never did have much flex anyways
unless you did the superlift and left off the bumpstops, they just didn't have much droop,,,

but unless your going to do a crazy high horsepower prerunner kind of deal it's just not worth it,,

 

[pchastain12]

Well thank you for all of your help you guys!! I think I'm going to look more into this superlift. Paired with a body lift and those oh so beautiful nitto grapplers(35's).