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Lift kit purchased...kinda

ovrlndr

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March 6, 2019
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City, State
NS
Year, Model & Trim Level
1993
So after a LOT of deliberation, advise and research, I've decided I don't want to put twice as much $ as the Explorer is worth into a Skyjacker or James Duff lift, and skip putting a bracket lift on, so I bought a bargain rolling 1976 F150 chassis with HP Dana 44 and 9 inch with 4.56 gears.

We get more mud and snow, so I'm hoping the SAS was a good choice.

The 1976 setup is the same as my previously SASd 2002 Xterra, where I used a 1979 HP Dana 44 and full sized 8.8, and that worked really well.

The Xterra SAS wasn't perfect because the front part of the frame was a few inches narrower than the spring perches, so I'm hoping that's not going to be the case this time.

This also has drum brakes up front, so I may have to swap to discs.






 



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SAS is ALWAYS a good choice!
Same as your Xterra, the full width spring perches don’t line up with the narrower Explorer frame, but plenty of people have gone thru that issue, just browse through the SAS registry to see how others did it. PLENTY of knowledge in there, and the the corresponding build threads.
 






'76 would have welded on wedges on the front axle so it'd be super easy to cut them off and move them inboard. Spring issue solved. Why it has drum brakes, is odd, though. '76 should have come with front discs. Is it a high pinion, open knuckle axle?

Or you could narrow the housing. I used a '78/79 D44 for my Ranger SAS and narrowed the passenger side. A factory shaft fits the driver's side and the p/s is early Bronco width.
 






There are no BOM or codes in these axles.
The rear is stamped 73, and the front is HP drums and stamped 447F C35832
My guess is it's a 72/73 and not 76 as the seller told me. He said it was off a 76 F150, so maybe it was fitted with earlier axles from the factory.
I doesn't like theyve been messed with other than the chrome cover.

I really do like the idea of moving the Cs inward to match the Explorer coil towers to keep it as factory as possible.

In an ideal world I would narrow them, but that's beyond my skillset. Right now I'm looking for simplicity so I can get wheeling again once I've replaced the bushings, swapped to disks and replaced the broken shafts.

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Just about impossible to say how it ended up like that. Probably is an earlier axle. Still totally usable, it's just kinda weird that they went through the trouble of putting 4.56's in it and not a disc brake conversion.

Narrowing the axle isn't too hard. You can chop the tube and sleeve it... that's the easiest way... but you need an alignment bar to keep the tube centered as it's welded back together.
 






I think the rig was mud bogged, so better gearing *check*, good brakes *meh good enough* LOL
 






If you decide not to use you factory coil bucket towers, move your coil buckets 2" forward. Thats generally the max you can go before you run into pitman arm and steering linkage issues. It keeps the tires out of the firewall.
 






thanks!
This doesnt need to be a hardcore rock bouncer, so I'm still on the fence with how I want to do this whilst I rebuild the D44.

I'll be using it on the street, so if I get stopped it needs to look as factory as possible. My thinking is to re-use the stock coil buckets and move or make the lower spring mount inbound to fix the coil angle. Then hopefully the rest will be bolt on.
 






What are your fender flare laws? (if any). It takes a minimum of 6" of flare to cover the tires for the front.
My pennsylvania fender flare law states no more than 3". I have spare fenders with 3" flares that I swap on for inspection. Suzuki samurai factory wheels with 30" rubber get me close enough to keep the inspector happy.
 






6" for flare for what tire/rim combo?

Technically 0" is allowed here, so it's going to be a challenge for inspection. For post-inspection 1 or 2" is acceptable, but we can get pulled for more than 0" but it's rare unless they stick out a lot or you attract attention to yourself.

So end game is 35's.
I have a line on some Sami factory rims with 29's I can use for inspection, but I doubt I can use them with 35's ...or can I ?
 






I'm glad we don't have fender flare laws. Not that I have anything against them but they get destroyed pretty quick on the trail... seen it a thousand times. My crawler rig only sees a couple hundred miles a year anyway and virtually no highway time so it's not hurting anyone. No inspections out here either!
 






Link to my sas registry is in my signature below.
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I have my fenders cut really high so i probably lost an inch width that i had to make up with flare

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Back is legal. 3" flare covers the 1989 f150 8.8 axle well.
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That doesnt look too bad TBH.
I'm 10% local, 80% trails & 10% coffee nights, so I'm usually under the radar most times....plus I drive like an old lady LOL

I was also thinking of making sliders with rails to give that illusion of width.

I can't wait for 2022, so I can put the old girl on antique plates and have no inspections....but can still get pulled for tires tho.
 






That doesnt look too bad TBH.
I'm 10% local, 80% trails & 10% coffee nights, so I'm usually under the radar most times....plus I drive like an old lady LOL

I was also thinking of making sliders with rails to give that illusion of width.

I can't wait for 2022, so I can put the old girl on antique plates and have no inspections....but can still get pulled for tires tho.
Next year mine will be old enough for antique plates. Same deal no inspections or emissions.
 






I love full width axles, and I know you said narrowing them is beyond your skill, but narrowed axles would really solve your fender/tire issue. Shorten the 44 passenger side to accept a factory early bronco shaft, run the Explorer 8.8, good to go.
 






Right now I'm waiting for brakes and shafts, and my contact for all that may have gone AWOL on me.

I've got a lead on a 3.50 geared 77 EB axle with no radius arms.
I read EB has smaller 260x u joints. Is that a big problem?
Will my arms fit EB ?
Will TTB 3.73 gears fit the EB?
 






I've got a lead on a 3.50 geared 77 EB axle with no radius arms.
Not as strong cause it is low pinion. Steeper driveshaft angle. Shorting a high pinion dana 44 is the better way. The low pinion eb axle would work though.

I read EB has smaller 260x u joints. Is that a big problem?
Nope they make replacement shafts that solve this issue.

Will my arms fit EB ?

Yes

Will TTB 3.73 gears fit the EB?
No
 






I had an EB D44 in my SAS’d Ranger for a while. The only good part about it was the disc brakes and the knuckles in particular. They allow for higher steering clearance than the typical F150 D44 knuckles do.

The high pinion F150 axle does have its downsides however. The pinion angle being so high leads to clearance issues with the exhaust. But that is minor for all the benefits you get out of it.
 






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