MyNameIsAric's 98 FULL width SAS

I will keep this first post updated with my progress so people don't have to weed through all the boring crap associated with these buildup threads.
So far I have:

Front axle:
Dana 60 35 spline kingpin high pinion from a 79 f-250/350
detroit locker
dedenbear knuckles
5.38 gears
alloy usa shafts
longfield u-joints
warn hubs (should have went with drive flanges)
high steer arms with full hydraulic steering

Steering:
2x8 double ended cylinder from surpluscenter.com
steering valve out of an old forklift
misc. hoses and fittings from surpluscenter.com

Rear axle:
Dana 60 30 spline low pinion from a 79 f-250/350 (should have went with a 14 bolt)
full spool
5.38 gears
Disk brake conversion

Tires/wheels:
16.5" hummer h1 8 bolt double beadlocks recentered with custom stazworks centers.
36x12.50 wrangler rt II 6 ply military bias tires(sucky but cheap)

Things I need still:
new rims and tires and hopefully she wont shake so bad at 60mph.


Got axles

Got a new truck so i can dismantle the explorer and tow it around when i'm done.
Welded Diff covers

Rear axle almost done

Front axle almost done

Rear axle under truck

Welding up rear driveshaft (yes, it is square)

Machined parts for the upper control arms

Made coil buckets

Made lower control links

Mocking up Front axle and welded up hydraulic ram mount.

Got myself a forklift orbital for my hydraulic steering

welded on lower control arm mounts

Dropped the front IFS

Sent it to the scrap yard

IFS gone

Front axle starting to go in.

off jackstands

Took out the A/C system and cruise control. Also removed ABS brake controller, but I ended up having to put it back in later for the speedo to work.

Mounted new/slightly larger fluid reservoir for the hydro system.

Mounted the stock power steering cooler for the hydro system

Got this mounted in the engine bay where the A/C junk used to be

Had to chop down this thing first though.

Made some tie rods out of 100% grade A beef.

Installed hydraulic ram and tie rods.

View of the filter, and you can see the high pressure hose running from the pump down to the steering valve.

This is how i connected the stock steering wheel to the steering valve. 3/8" swivel

Better view of the steering valve.

Poor planning caused track bar issues

Made a new track bar bracket

Cut off first track bar bracket

Plated for good measure

Welded on new track bar bracket. Still had minor interference so i move the axle forward another 1/2"
Also started putting on shocks.

Tacked a tone ring to the rear d60 carrier

Reinstalled tone ring sensor so i can get speedometer back

blah blah blah tidied things up and poof.... an explorer that can only go 55mph now. If you have questions, just ask or PM me.

 

['97 V8]

yes....doing it.

bahaha.

You have one upped me though, 35 spline outers. I'll wait until i start breaking axle shafts before i upgrade.

 

[mynameisaric]

a little more progress... sorta.

05' f150 xlt
3V 5.4L V8
4x4
31,x.. miles

 

[RFR2212]

But it's... red! Assuming it's your tow rig, pick up a set of airbags for the rear to eliminate towing sag, and depending on what you do for a trailer, it'd be good to look into a trailer, especially with brakes on both axles. Prodigy3 is supposed to be a fantastic new brake controller, which I'm gonna pickup before Chubfest in August, which you should attend, should the truck be done. Truck will be slow, but it'll get the job done.

 

[mynameisaric]

my dad's friend never uses his dual axle car trailer (hopefully its got brakes on both axles), and picking up a prodigy sounds like a great idea. i have heard nothing but good things about them.

badlands in june is going to be pushing it sadly, but i'll shoot myself if i'm not done by august.

 

['97 V8]

c'mon aric, i need the motivation to fix my mountaineer.

 

[mynameisaric]

ooookkk.... so i just got a 50lb box from ballistic fab full of some diff covers that will hopefully get welded this weekend, ballistic joints, and bushings... and now comes the hard part of deciding the tube i need to buy and still have enough money to pay my credit card.

i'm thinking 1.5" tube with a 3/8 wall. i'm going to tap the tube for 1-14 studs on the joints/bushings.
use the same tube and make inserts tapped for 7/8-18 for the tie rod and drag link.

how long should i aim for on my links? 36"?
is there anything i can do to the links to strengthen them more? like welding angle iron to make them more rigid?

I want to push the axle forward maybe a little bit to clear bigger tires, but probably only 2-4". if you have seen my truck in person, you would know that i have no problem using a zip disk and BFH to do some body work for clearance.

attached are rough sketches of my idea/plan. i believe this is the same as db_1's setup. he made an awesome thread for his SAS, and i plan to closely model that setup. please excuse the innacurate number of bolt holes on the dana60, these are ROUGH.

Comments are very welcome. i'd rather hear them now rather than after everything is boogered.. i mean welded into place.

 

[DB_1]

I'd strongly recommend having upper links on both lower links. You'll have all the suspension travel you can handle and it will be stronger since the loads will be more evenly distributed over the links.
With that said, I'm set to re-do my links here pretty soon but it will be the same design just with beefier parts and tubing. I'll be using all urethane bushings on the axle end and where the uppers connect with the lowers. I'm currently using rubber bushings with a 3/4" stud in those locations. The new bushings will be solid welded to the coped tubing. As for the frame end i'm using 7/8" shank with 3/4" bolt hole hi-misalignment rod ends. These don't offer enough misalignment for my set-up (only 17 degrees one way). New rod ends are 1.25" monsters with hi-mis spacers that reduce the bolt hole to 3/4" and are capable of 30 degrees one wayWay more than enough for what I need.
New tubing will be 2"x.250 wall (lowers) with Currie hex tube inserts.
I wouldn't weld anything to the tube you are going to use to strengthen it.
Just buy the thickest and largest diameter tube that's possible for your set-up if you are worried about bending it.
Good luck with your build

 

[94 Crawler]

Ok when i put the bend in my 2"od 1/4 wall dom tubing for my radius arms the jack in my 12 TON bender was bypassing. I'm not saying you wont but that 1/4 wall is some serious steel. But hey over build I like the way you think.

 

[mynameisaric]

finished assembling the front axle. and welded up one diff cover tonight. i need to weld up the other one, and then take them in to work so i can clear and spot face the holes. and the front diff cover will get an addition to help support the axle bridge. i'm thinking a small 3/8 plate welded to the top with 2 holes that are clearanced for 1/4-20 bolts, maybe 3/8-16... which means i may as well do 1/2-13 or 1/2-20. i'm very indecisive.

so no one sees a problem with 1.5" O.D. 3/8" wall? because i should be ordering that soon. along with 2.5", 1/4" wall square tubing and 2", 1/4" wall square tubing for driveshafts. might make the main links out of this material..... hmmmm... pondering.

thanks for the comments db_1 and 94 Crawler.

 

['97 V8]

Hey Aric, how the swap comin along? I see your using or will be using the same set up i have for the mount.

 

[mynameisaric]

Hey Aric, how the swap comin along? I see your using or will be using the same set up i have for the mount.

Are all of your axle bracket pictures in your SAS page or do you have more? i would love to see as many pics as i could at this point. i'm going to start fabbing up the bridge and coil/mount brackets pretty soon.

either you are really good with a plasma or those are ballistic fab brackets(or some other bracket making company)

 

['97 V8]

ballastic fab sent me thier brackets to try out since i bought there 3" poly joints...i was thier ginny pig. here's some and the flex it made. I did not have the 14 bolt or 60 locked in this vid.

 

[mynameisaric]

thanks alot! this spawns some idea for how to make my brackets. they will pretty much be the same as ballistics, but my trac bar mount will be a little different so that it can support a 4th link. i need to shake off my solidworks rust and get modeling.

 

['97 V8]

hey whats your email, i tried posting pictures of my revised upper link mount on the axle but it was way too big.

 

[RFR2212]

So? If i set another deadline will you shoot for it? Moab?

 

[mynameisaric]

date?

I've got to build a shed to get the junk out of the garage so i can bring the explorer home to work on it. This thread is pathetic, when i actually start building, i feel i should start a new thread so people dont have to weed through multiple pages of me stating my new finish date.

 

[RFR2212]

Don't you have most if not all the parts? Should skip the building of a shed. Store everything in the rear of the f150 (I'm storing axles in the ranger now) and just have a blow out weekend and at least get the truck sitting on the new axles. This has been goin on too long! You've gotta get it finished.

 

[mynameisaric]

Should skip the building of a shed. Store everything in the rear of the f150 (I'm storing axles in the ranger now) and just have a blow out weekend and at least get the truck sitting on the new axles.

well i cant move the crap to the basement, because it is just as bad as the garage, and there is not enough room in the 150 to store all the crap in garage to squeeze the explorer in..... trust me. the rear SOA may be a go over spring break. the front will have to wait till summer though.

so whats the date?

 

[RFR2212]

so whats the date?

2 long weekends could get it at least sitting and rolling on both axles

May 25. That's the day I leave for Moab!

 

[mynameisaric]

oof... i'll barely be out of spring semester by then. i'll give it a shot though.