Bkennedy's SAS and Rebuild Thread

As some of you know, I am working on building a parts list for a shortened Dana 44, long radius arm with coil overs SAS. 5:13 gears to match my rear axle and an ARB, maybe an electric locker. I have a pretty good list so far. At the same time, I am going to swap out the rear drum brakes for discs off of a 99 Explorer.

Please note: The plan is to keep this project as simple as possible with mostly off the shelf parts. I am not a fabricator, just a decent welder with a what I would consider the minimum required tools (chop saw, cut off wheels, air tools, welder, etc.), who likes doing his own work. Your opinions are welcome, but what I really need is technical advice. I have been thinking about this for several years and now have the time and cash to make it happen. Please keep on topic with your advice and don't go off on a side track about how you would do it as a four-link, or caged arms, or leave the axle full-width because that is not what I want. I want a simple-ish set up that works.

 

[BKennedy]

Shock arrived last night so this morning I got to work finishing it up. Its cramped back there with the auxiliary battery, air compressor / tank but everything should clear just fine. If I decide there is too much compression and want to move the shocks outward at the top, I will need to move the air compressor / tank back because it looks like the shock body will hit the end of the tank right before full stuff. If I trim the rearmost cross frame member a little bit in one spot I can do that.

I have the shocks on the 5 out of 9 setting for starters. I think I might go for a drive tomorrow.

I returned the old Autozone lifetime warranty steering gear box and hoses a few days ago. They don't carry them in stock anymore and had to order them. When I went to pick up the new stuff, the manager helped me and said the steering gear boxes are from a different remanufacture than before, Endurance. She said they seem to be of much better quality than the old remanufacture. The gears to not seem to have any slop. I used to return a box and have the counter monkey get all of the boxes they had in stock so I could take the one with the least slop. So now I have a spare box and hoses. I also got over $100 back because the core used to be $135 and now its $15. Walking out of a auto parts store with new parts and more money than I went in with is a new experience for me.

 

[Rick]

That's a huge difference in core prices. Score!

 

[410Fortune]

Way to go Autozone!!!
However any box that is just reman and not machined will develop the slop. Thank you Red Head
Let us know how the test drive is, I have my BII shocks set on 7 in the rear 6 up front....no sway bars, works good. For testing I put them on 1 and then on 9 can totally feel the difference!

 

[BKennedy]

Test drive completed.

Put about 120 miles on the Explorer today, maybe 30 dirt. Drove out through Julian, then down into Little Blair Valley in Anza Borrego State Park. Drove into Blair Valley, then down S-2 to Oraflame Canyon to Rodriguez Canyon, back through Julian and back home. I had the Rancho's set at 5. Its great, hardly any sway. Drove it hard around the winding roads and it performed about as much as I could ever hope for a heavy vehicle with 14" coil overs. Drove it pretty fast on the dirt roads to try to hammer the rear suspension. I never got close to bottoming out the shocks. Zip ties are still about 1.5" up the shafts. Drove up onto a big rock to flex everything out and it all looks good.

The steering gear box is much more positive with road feel. Its a little firmer while turning, but not enough to be annoying. There is hardly any play.

The Explorer did everything I asked it to do very well today. I still need to get it out and twist it up real good, but I think I can finally say I am done messing with it for a while unless something breaks. The only thing I am thinking I need to do is load it up with a 2-300 pounds and see how it sits/rides. Maybe fill the 5, 6 gallon water jugs I have here and toss them in the back.

I only took a few pictures while stopped at the summit of Rodriguez Canyon Trail.

Looking northward down into Shelter Valley

 

[Rick]

Looks like it was a great day for a shake down run. That weather should be on it's way over here this week after a weekend of rain.

 

[BKennedy]

Looks like it was a great day for a shake down run. That weather should be on it's way over here this week after a weekend of rain.

It rained hard here yesterday but cleared up by night fall. It was a nice day, cool breezes, warm sunshine.

 

[BKennedy]

I know I said I was done for a while, but......

Now that I know the new shocks and mounts are going to work out, I was thinking of adding a gusset like in the horrible rendering below. Just a triangle gusset to help protect the shock body and the mount from rock hits since the mounts are lower than I would have liked. I know its probably unnecessary because the mounts are as small and as tight as possible to the axle, and they are made from 1/4" plate, but it would protect the shock.

Waste of time, or worth the minimal effort?

I am also gathering parts to redo my rear bumper gas can and spare tire swing-out carriers. I have a trailer spindle with a bronze bushing instead of wheel bearings. Its hard to move them because I have to tighten them up quite a bit to keep them from having any wiggle. The only good thing about them being so tight is I can open them to wherever I want and they usually stay in place without a locking pin. I have been looking at swing out kits for a while now and keep returning to these Spare Tire Spindle. I am going to wait until Ruffstuff has a sale. I will also need two weld in locking T-pins, but those are all over ebay. I am going to wait until the summertime when I am not using the Explorer as much.

 

[Rick]

As you stated, the issue with a freely turning hinge is that it won't stay put unless the truck is level. I have a pin to keep mine wide open. At times it can be a pain when I just want it open a small amount.

As for the gusset, hey why not. It will give you something to do

 

[BKennedy]

As you stated, the issue with a freely turning hinge is that it won't stay put unless the truck is level. I have a pin to keep mine wide open. At times it can be a pain when I just want it open a small amount.

As for the gusset, hey why not. It will give you something to do

When you're right....

I'm pretty sure its a coincidence that the gussets look like Star Trek uniform badges.

View attachment 178715

 

[Rick]

Time for another project

 

[BKennedy]

Maybe I should do something around the house, or...

I already replaced the struts, coil springs and shocks on the Silverado, and all the fluids. I replaced the leaking valve cover gasket on Sarah's Ranger (what a horrible pain that was). I bought the wife another car so I didn't have to deal with the Saturn anymore.

I could work on the boat. It hasn't been touched in a few years and needs some TLC. Needs new carpet and a battery, but that won't keep me busy for very long.

I could buy a Porsche 997 Carrera S or 4S, but don't think I would actually work on that anymore than basic maintenance. I have bid on several on Bring a Trailer and looked at a few locally, but haven't found the right one. Closest I came was to a 997.2 GTS 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Coupe I should have bought this one because if I didn't like it, or decided I was crazy, I could have sold it here for more than what it went for at auction. The road trip home from North Carolina might have been worth it by itself. It was about $25,000 over what I thought was reasonable to spend on a toy, and it has a PDK transmission, but still..

I could also maybe go camping for a week or so to actually use the Explorer and the RV.

 

[410Fortune]

sweet! So glad you got this all buttoned up.
The red head is worth every penny, with my BII I fought and fought to get rid of that slop in the middle of the wheel.....it seemed with the hump in the road it was always holding the wheel either left or holding right, never able to just cruise with it straight. After all new steering, perfect alignment, new steering shaft, 3 different rebuilt Ford steering boxes...........etc etc the "slop" was always there. After the red head = gone. It has never returned.
FINALLY a TTB truck that does not need constant input from the wheel
My James Duff rear bumper uses wheel bearings and it has locking pins that drop down when you get the tire swing fully open.
They are a PITA but it does work well.
Wifes FJ cruiser has a HUGE tire swing and HUGE wheel bearing pivot, the nice thing about her Metaltech rear swing out is it attaches to the stock tailgate with a bar, so when you swing the factory hatch open the tire swing goes with it, the stock FJ shock holds everything open...I wish our Fords had side opening gates for that reason
I saw a BII where the dude put a 37" or larger tire on the tail gate used HUGE hydraulic lift jacks to make the whole thing open and close easily.......something to think about

 

[Rick]

I could also maybe go camping for a week or so to actually use the Explorer and the RV.

I finally replaced the faucet in our truck camper this week. First time dealing with PEX... I decided I don't like those clamps

 

[BKennedy]

Today what I had planned was canceled, so I went for a drive. I was going to go about 50 miles up I-15, and then take SR-79 to High Point Truck Trail, which is located on the back side of Palomar Mountain. it runs into Palomar Divide Truck Trail in total about 40 miles of mild dirt roads with lots of switch backs and steep grades. Cruised up the 15 at 60-65 with no issues, took a few scenic pictures.

When I a few miles up High Point I found this;

Yes, that's right a locked gate. I back-tracked to the highway. On the way out I was going faster than I usually would and felt the Explorer get slightly airborne a few times while coming off of some large "rolling dips" (angled dips in the roadway to control drainage). It was very smooth. I drove to a more rougher, unused trail that connects with those trails about 20 minutes farther down the road. A few miles up, another locked gate. This trail is rarely used so that one was a surprise.
Drove about 10 more minutes once I got back to the highway to the last connector to this trail system and found.....

Another locked gate, what the heck. No reason for this road system to be closed this time of year. Oh well. Now, I'm about 75 miles from home and the only dirt I have seen is the short distance to the locked gates. On the way home, as a afterthought I decided to check out the Black Mountain Truck Trail and Forest Trails. They are located east of Ramona. I should have come in on the east end from Santa Ysabel, but it was a last minute type decision. I drove several miles up into this area. Its very scenic with steep, one lane grades. It was getting late so I didn't take any pictures of the scenery and am going to go up there some time in the near future when I have more time to explore the area. Took a few flex shots when I decided to "check" the rear springs and shocks for clearance issues. Found one minor issue, so that's good. The spring plate on the driver side is contacting the side of the plastic gas tank. I need to cut the corner off of the plate. I always wondered if there was a way to cover that corner of the tank because it seems like its exposed in that location.
Not really flexed out, but its the best I could do.

Springs are into the bumps and there is still a lot of shock left. Its also much more stable. When at the leaf spring shop they did the fork lift flex test. I noticed the leaf springs went inverted and I have always thought that was not good. The shop owner explained that since these springs don't have much arch on them at ride height, they are going to do that and it won't cause any issues.

I played around with the rear shock settings and ended up on 6 because it removed most of the body roll on the highway and slowed the rebound when the springs unloaded. When crawling, I could see turning them down to 3 or 4. Overall, everything seems to be working very well.

 

[Stic-o]

I had the 9000's on the super duty, and they were awesome with loads and the Camper, but it became to much of a pain to crawl under and change them all the time. So I just left them at 9 and ran less air in the tires. Camper made me air them all the way up anyway. Plus I had air bags.

I miss the old school in cab air up and down controls the use to have for the 9000's I guess nobody really bought them.

 

[Rick]

I miss the old school in cab air up and down controls the use to have for the 9000's I guess nobody really bought them.

Very expensive for what it was. I always wanted to get that setup for the Ram but I could never part with the $$$.

 

[410Fortune]

closed and locked gates........sucks
Our taxes paid for those roads....and their gates

 

[BKennedy]

Those locked gates did piss me off a little. My right to pass on public lands was restricted. I have never been a fan of gates unless they lead into private property.

You can still purchase a kit that converts the Rancho 9000's to in-dash adjustments, but its about $1000. The way my shocks are situated, I can reach over the rear tires and turn the knobs, if they weren't so hard to turn that is. I need to pull the adjusters off and lube them.

 

[BKennedy]

Well crap. I saw these on Amazon so I bought a 2. The measurements are exactly the same as the Ruff Stuff units. They also have the weld on locking pins for less than they would be on sale at Ruff Stuff. I am not planning on using them until after the little bit of the this desert season is over, but you never know.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074Q2NY74/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Rick]

Nice find.