Dannyboy's '94 Hi-Pin(shortened) Dana 44 on coils | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Dannyboy's '94 Hi-Pin(shortened) Dana 44 on coils

Like everyone else here who swapped axles, I felt the need to get rid of my TTB after running 35?s for a couple years and breaking everything (shafts, spindles, hubs, joints, bent beams, cracked brackets, even cracked the diff in half upon snapping inner u-joint on pass side). I also wanted to get more flex. I followed the lead of several members here, but READ ON because I also have done some things that no one here has yet to have done or at least openly shared with everyone. Most of this custom work was modeled after my good friend Matt?s Cherokee who swapped 44s front and rear and his setup has worked very well for the past couple years.

I?m also including a parts list as well as the vendor that I located the part if anyone wants to do something similar.

Parts
1978-79 F150 high pinion Dana 44 chopped 6? (I?ll explain this later) w/ welded c-wedges and stock radius arms
1978-79 F150 coil buckets
1978-79 F150 trac bar (shortened) and mount
Wild Horses 5.5? rockcrawler springs (www.wildhorses.com)
Wild Horses long travel shock towers (www.wildhorses.com)
10? 1 5/8? round stock extensions welded over stock radius arms (Capital Metals in Phoenix)
1? DOM tubing for steering (Tube Services in Phoenix)
7 degree C-wedge bushings to adjust angle of axle (www.wildhorses.com)
6 qty ?? heim joints for steering, radius arm mounts (www.4wheelers.com)
2 qty 28? stainless steel brake hoses custom made at All tube and hose in Phoenix
Custom built crossmember that


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bolts in the same holes as factory transfer case skid plate with tabs for heim?d radius arms
2.5? rear wheel spacers adapting from 4.5?-5.5? wheel pattern
15x8 Rockcrawler wheels w/ 3.75? backspacing
37x12.5x15 Swamper SSRs or 35x12.50x15 MTRs both available for bolt up and go.
Detroit Locker, heavy duty shafts and 5.13s up front
EZ locker (currently there) and 5.13s going in the rear.
Custom work done by Jerry @ Fluid Concepts www.fluidconcepts.com call him if you ever need a wakeboard tower, board racks, speakers or ballast! It?s the best out there. I'd also recommend John at Hunter Offroad (www.hunteroffroad.com) since he's my neighborhood shop and got me in the right direction on some stuff. He's talented, give him a call if there's something you need.


The first step was to cut down the full width axle. The reason I used the full width and chopped it down was because you get a high pinion (reverse rotation) with this style opposed to the low pinion found on early broncos. This gives you better clearance over obstacles as well as a better driveline angle. One must be precise and have a good idea of what this entails but I felt that I was up for the challenge. I found that the EB (early bronco) axle was just about 6? narrower on the passenger side and have had various 4 wheel shops give me conflicting stories about whether the drivers side is the same on F150 and EB or different. I will always order shafts for ?79 F150 drivers side, ?77 Bronco pass side and be sure I?ve got it right.

The process wasn?t that difficult with the right attitude. The first thing I did was ground off the c-wedge radius arm mounts on the passenger side. MOST of this section gets cut off anyhow, but you must be careful with grinding not to gouge too far into the tube. After the c-wedges are off (which I was able to retain and re-weld) came time to grind the knuckle off. The weld is pretty thick around this but you want to cut more into the axle than the knuckle since that part of the axle will be history, but again using the same knuckle. I made a few precision markings to make sure that I would get the knuckle back on in the same spot, then beat that sucker off with a big hammer and more grinding. It is sleeved over the radius arm, so it takes a while to get it off. This is good though because the strength is in the sleeve, not the weld when it comes time to remount it. After the knuckle was off, we were left with a bare tube. That got 6? cut off with a chop saw and we were on to welding. I relied pretty heavily on a buddy that fabricates wakeboard towers and racks (www.fluidconcepts.com) for his knowledge and shop in exchange for beer and ordered pizza. At the rate we were drinking I got worried that it may have been cheaper to go to an offroad shop, but then realized that I was learning and taking part in the festivities. We made sure the knuckle was lined up just as it was, then welded that back on, followed by the c-wedges making certain that these were at the same angle as the drivers side.

The next step was painting the axle and putting on the radius arms. Luckily with the brand new c-wedge bushings the axle sat level and all welding was accurate. I did read some good articles at www.wildhorses.com about guys who have problems with their trucks sitting level. This is a result of the wedge bushings not setting up right when you tighten down the radius arms and therefore the axle sits funny like a bent pair of sunglasses. I haven?t seen this problem yet, but haven?t had the truck sitting totally on it?s own weight. When I remounted the lower coil mounts on the axle I flipped them outward getting the coil spring to sit a bit further to the outside since I have seen a few other members coils look like \ / on some rigs on this board.

Now came time to strip the TTB completely off the truck. I took one last wheeling escapade even though a u-joint was on it?s way out and jumped it several times for the fame and glory of using the TTB for what it?s built for. There?s something about the combination of having a trailer waiting not a mile away and a tow rig that is built as well to go up most trails matched with an axle that you have no respect for that made me really beat that thing.

After that I stripped everything down to the frame with the exception of the steering box and pitman arm and started with a bare frame. Several TTB bolts were loose (imagine that) and then a grinder took care of the rivets on the coil buckets. The next project was to make a slight modification to the drivers side coil bucket since the frame notches out for the steering gear. I basically cut the bucket down so it would sit level to the frame. Using two existing holes from the rivets I mounted the coil buckets and then drilled two holes in my frame. The extend shock towers went just behind. Many people push the axle forward, mine might be forward ? to 1? but I?m not certain. It doesn?t really matter since my radius arms are being mounted back 25? from where they used to mount, the range of travel will push the axle forward rather than back with uptravel (or at least this is what my buddy?s XJ is doing and I can?t see how mine will be any different). On a side note, several people cut down the F150 buckets and then use a 3.5? coil, however I left mine 2? taller and opted for a 5.5? EB coil to get greater travel. We?ll see how that works out. IT?S A DANG TALL SPRING!!! But with my 3? body lift I had room in the wheel well for longer shock tower and coil buckets so why not?

Next the axle got hung by the coils and we size up where the crossmember will go. I planned on tubing the end of the F150 radius arms and running a male heim joint, and with further looking I decided that I would add about 6? of length to the radius arm. I cut a 10? section of tubing and hollowed out 7/8? on one end to sleeve the radius arm where it is welded up and then drilled out 11/32? hole on the other where I tapped in for the heim joint. This is what is new to the Explorer crew, but my buddy has done similar problem free for about a year and a half. Next we built a crossmember that is about 34? wide out of 2x4 tubing located 2? down from the frame that mounts up to the holes where the t-case skid plate used to be.

The steering is constructed of 1? DOM tubing that has ?? sidewall and ?? heim joints for the tie rod and drag link. I have plans of a high steer setup and since I had to purchase 23 feet of DOM tubing at $6 a foot and only needed about 8 feet I?ll just start with a tie rod over knuckle setup and sell that to someone else doing a similar setup when I get my hi-steer fabbed up. This should be fairly easy and will raise tie-rod about 5? by putting a spacer above the knuckle and machining a piece to support from the top of the knuckle. The track bar from the F150 and mount are modified and shares the bolt from the steering box as well as some welding to the frame to reinforce it.

I know some people here may frown upon how I?ve done it and others will be impressed. I got as creative as I could on a budget but still made my mind up to build it strong. I?m following the lead of a setup that works and overbuilding a few parts, specifically on the extensions of the radius arms that have yet to have failed my buddy. I?ll be running a Detroit locker in hopes that I will have no issues and heavy-duty shafts but am not ready to shell out for the CTMs or OX joints but probably will in the future when I start breaking the current stuff. I will update as it gets flexed up and what additional mods I may need to make. I?m thinking something will need to be done to the engine crossmember but haven?t flexed it out yet to see specifically where I will run into it.


I'm going home to take more photos at Lunch but here's a coupel of the XJ and mine from a few days ago.
 
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and mine
sas side front.jpg
 
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an another
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how much total lift do you have now? i'm curious to how much lift is needed to get teh 35's and 37's on there.
 






Well my frame is level with the bottom of my front bumper. I assume I'll have 8-9" of suspension lift with the 3" body lift. In the rear I have a SOA that got me a ton of lift. I'll have to see if I need a new pack back there or will stick with the BAJA style.
 






hey dude FYI its:

fluidconcepts.net

hahahaha

LETS SEE SOME CLOSE UP PICS! I want to see the crossmember, radius arms with the heims, the coil buckets and the WH shock mounts you used, okay?

Also GO FLEX IT

:)
 






Oh yeah, thanks Jamie... and if anyone wants to see a few other pics of the cherokee go to www.cobound.com
and look at the '02 trip pics. Brian with the website has the 4 dr, but Matt's is the 2 dr.
 






Well, I finally got a chance to finish the little stuff and take it on the road last night. I drove it without shocks (POGO STICK LOL) up to work about a mile and fork lift tested the suspension. Nothing binds, but I am going to need some LONG shocks. I was impressed, more photos in the light soon to come
.
front droop.jpg
radius arms.jpg
front forked.jpg
 
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Don't forget these are brand new 37s (no tread worn off...yet), not bad wheel clearance eh? That back tire fits in there with no more than 1/4" of clearance!!!
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Look great. Cant wait to see some action shots.
 






Here is a few more photos
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Looks great. Nice clean setup. JamesDuff just came out with some 15" travel shocks (I need them really bad) for $40/ea. Always love any SAS Exploder, no matter how it's done. :bounce:
 






Shocks

Hey Dan!

I have a shock lead for ya. Seeing as how before this D44 you were running my old Cherokee 3" lift shocks in the front, you may want to check out a pair of shocks like I'm running now... Rusty's Offroad long travel shocks. He has them custom made for Cherokees by Gabriel. They are twin tube gas shocks and valved about the same as those Skyjackers I "loaned" ya. If those rode and flexed good for you these would work just as well. I think I recall that they have about a 16" stroke. He may even have something longer now as his lift kits have gotten taller and flexier.

The whole cool thing about these shocks is that they are cheaper than any other comperable aftermarket shocks out there! I also have severe dents in both of mine and they still work fine (Crushed them a bit at Dresser last year when my 5 link front turned into a 3 link).
 






Looks nice Dannyboy, I really like the extended radius arms. I would like to do the same with mine since I have left over DOM tubes.

Does your front tires rub on the RA on full turn. I had to get 2.5 BS 15x8's.
 






NOTAJP said:
Looks great. Nice clean setup. JamesDuff just came out with some 15" travel shocks (I need them really bad) for $40/ea. Always love any SAS Exploder, no matter how it's done. :bounce:

have a part number on these babies Kent? i may go that route when i get mine started. Haven't purchased shocks yet. the chop saw puttin a delay on the brackets?
 






Thanks guys,
actually I have a list of things I need to do to fine tune this setup. My draglink is too long so I turn much harder to the right than the left. I currently do not rub at left turns but I don on right turns. I may run a small wheel spacer or deal with it. One thing I've heard is that guys weld a section of tubing over the EB radius arms so the lugs to tear into the notched out sections of these radius arms.

Dameon-what size tire are you running? My buddy's XJ will rub the 36" swampers so I'm determined the 37s are bound to rub at full lock.
 






Swee294349 said:
have a part number on these babies Kent? i may go that route when i get mine started. Haven't purchased shocks yet. the chop saw puttin a delay on the brackets?

James Duff Shocks

Rebuilt the chop saw, ordered a new grinder, now just waiting on the plasma cutter dude. Wish I had my own.
 






NOTAJP said:
James Duff Shocks

Rebuilt the chop saw, ordered a new grinder, now just waiting on the plasma cutter dude. Wish I had my own.

i think i'm going to go this route for shocks.
 






I have 35's right now, it rubbed when I had 3.75 BS. I'll be going 37 MTR's as soon as ithe tire comes in the mail.
 



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I just picked up a set of shocks too...Rancho long travel Pro series w/ remote resivoirs. 19" compressed!!! That's about how long my stock shocks were extended!!!
 






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