1995 - Dora the explorer SAS | Page 8 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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1995 - Dora the explorer SAS

Hey guys... this is humbling to be able register here. I know that there are like 4 guys going to register very soon.
lizardtrac, morrisey0, FMExplorer, muskrat, jeffseal... i know there are others, but these are the guys who have helped me out in so many ways. not to mention coryl - the guy is an inspiration.

Started with 1995 XLT with 170,000 on the ticker and a tax refund check! (thanks uncle Sam)

I had torn up 2 sets of wheel bearings in the past year, needed to replace control arms, ball joints, my fourth cv axle... in all it was going to be nearly $1k in parts to replace parts that were just worn out... so the old noggin started working. wife got her a new/used car for her and gave me the go ahead to tackle this project.

Ill detail everything in the days to come and am willing to answer and questions, but ill tell like everyone else - do a search first and/or start with this thread
right now i have a High Pinion dana 30 axle out of a 1992 YJ (jeep wrangler) this was a steal of a deal and i snagged it from a fellow i work with. I was attracted to it since it is reverse cut gears, parts are easy to find and gnerally inexpensive, the axle was in excellent condition, the bolt pattern would remain the same, and i got it, with springs, and steering linkage for $250.

the springs were from a 70s wagoneer.

to achieve lift I relocated springs over the axle.

i gotta cut this short since im at work but ill update as soon as i can.
 



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Originally posted by BUCHVILLEMAN
. now i have issues with my steering boxes but i think i got a bead on that.

What kind of issues are you having
 



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Gabe's issues with the steering are generally "user error" :D

J
 






I have a question for you- what do you guys use to "sleeve" the frame to mount the steering box?
 






i just used 1/4" on each side and 1/2 plate as a spacer. has been working great for me - no bending or anything. cory's setup on robb's and i think joshes used a sleeve - youll have to look on their thread i cant recall what he used.


jon, sweet sweet jon... oh ive missed you. forgot to tell you about the 2 door 93 black ex 4x4 that is being sold on our road. ill send pics. runs and looks mint. they want 2k. ill send you pics tonight if you are nice to me. its heather's distant cousin... its been there for 3 months or so. looks great. same interior as tramp but shiny black paint and alluminum modular wheels.


i think ive created all my box issues by first not having atrac bar - then when i put my trac bar on i was too lazy and didnt have it running parralell with my drag link. i think that the pitman arm/box has been bearing all the brunt. bumpsteer isnt bad but slop in steering gets worse everyday. so ive got a new mount in mind for my trac bar and then will either rebuild or get another box.
 






Send pics buddy! I'll call you tonight at your house after I get the email...

J
 






OK, check it out... I putting together a website (solidaxleswap.com) just for SAS's... trying to get a full resource for other people interested in doing one, or for people just having trouble doing the one their involved in... just want to know if you all are interested in putting some info on your SAS's on the site? Im still putting it together now so the info wont be up for about a week... depending on my free time.

thanx.
 






That sounds awesome
 






recent wheeling trip was awesome - except for the overheating and cable actuator failing. ended up using tie wire to keep front end engaged.



also i got a story to tell:
i went on a pre-run to check conditions for last weekends run. this is what happenned on the pre-run.

as soon as we get to teh entrance we meet a group of guys in a grey chevy on 33s who tell us their buddy has his H1 stuck. we tell that we can get them and we get the "yeah right" look. they got their friend's other truck f-250 with 6.0l diesel on 33s and they almost get stuck - bob helps them air down so they can drive. we drive about a mile or so (30 mins) to where the H1 was stuck. everyone except me and bob said "that winch wont pull him out." #this guy was pretty stuck but we winched him out no prob. so thing was making this godawful noise that sounded somethign bad like bearings in the motor or tranny getting ready fall out. so we finally convince to shut it off - not rev it up - and he did of course now th starter wont work. hitting it with a hammer didnt do it. the ford decides hes going to pull him the whole way - nope he got stuck. so bob crawled under there and started pulling out this water shrowd guard thing that has somehow coem loose (bolted between motor and bellhousing i guess) and had gotten hopelessly ensared in the starter itself. so bob works on that. next thing you bob has this big piece of trash in his hand and the hummer starts right up. the 1 mile trip back was a whole other adventure. this hummer could not stay unstuck. the chevy and hummer had a surprisingly tough time on some sections. so on our way back i decided to take teh low road around this bend only to see a 12 foot near vertical wall of sand in front of me. so i figure ill try it once and if i cant make it ill back out. i made it to the top then petered out of momentum. so ease her back but my tail went sideways and i got myself good and stuck at the bottom of the hill in a water hole and off camber and i was a little scarred of rolling over if i keept backing up. so the hummer hooks up to me to keep tension on the truck. he gets stuck doing this. i winched up the hill on the back of the chevy. i pulled him to me but was able to get out of the hole. bob pulled me the few feet that i needed to get all the wya out. in the mean time the chevy goes to pull the hummer and he gets stuck so now we had to pull the chevvy towards the hummer to loosen the strap between them. pull out the chevy then pull out the hummer.

he was stuck


yeah winch! all the guys were like "man i need a winch"


of course i had to put my big hat on and get stuck but looka tthat hill - would love to see rocky take it.


money shot
(dead links)

i sent the pics to milemarker and they sent me a free tshirt.
 






Wow, what a perfect bedtime story. :D
 






update got the d44 all cleaned up and marked for shortening. i got a doner waggy 44 for shafts and knuckles out. hope to have it shortened and ready to drop in by this fall as i figure thats when ill be getting new tires.

heres some pics from recent wheeling trip




my friends durango on 33s w/3" bl. lotsa power but less flex than stock ex. with open front and rear and low clearance he kept getting hung all day.




it was a fun day. just riding the alapaha trail and enjoying the scenery. we took it easy since there were no other wheelers in sight.

will have pics of d44 build up soon.
 






Hey man, cant wait to see the d44 under it, you gunna go bigger tires? or what?

Do you go riding with the Flexplorers?

I was at Holopaw jsut last weekend and im going to Richloam(sp?) this comign month......

But i was woundering, have you seen any beat up Samis aroud nyou forslae? Im lookign for one that has a Good Drivetrain(motor/tranny.transcase) and thats bout all, THe body cant be rusted out or anythign, but beat up hood/fenders or the like doesnt matter.

If you ever go wheeling down here a little more south, let me know and maybe i can meet up and go.....
 






yep - bigger tires - plan on swapping d44 whenver i got the coin to get the rubbers i want. i have still maintained her as a daily driver so i want to still have her streetable - nothing less than 35s but may be 37s if tirerack.com still has them cheap or local guy can meat their price.

yep i ride with flexplorers - sometimes they ride with me :afro:

i really want to go to holopaw. its a bit far for a day trip so we have been tossing the idear of a camping trip in teh next month or so.
seen a couple samis lately but they keep raising in price since everyone wants one.
saw a sami on 33s with a kick motor go for 3k - it was a beater but they go so well off road everyone wants them.

will post to this thread when next flexplorers run is planned. everyone has been projecting and buying houses and changing jobs so weve only ru about 3 times as club this year.
 






Hey man, i jsut wanted to get some info from ya, You ever been to Richloam? whats it like? from what i hear its WET.... and the pics i seen kinda scare me, but i still plan on going..... I also was gunan see if maybe you would wanna go? im goign with the offroad Club im a member of (dead link). It Planned for June 27th which is a Sunday, It would be cool if you could make it, but i know you kinda live far away..... Just thought i would let you know


Later Man.....

-Caleb
 






Richloam is awesome. i was there when it was "dry" and it was nasty. right now its probably perfect. lots of water and mud. some offcamber stuff on some tight tight trails.

i totally forgot to post to this thread but we are going this saturday to alapaha.
(dead link)
we are planning ot camp friday night and ride most of saturday.

i may be revealing my latest project there...
 






BUCHVILLEMAN said:
Richloam is awesome. i was there when it was "dry" and it was nasty. right now its probably perfect. lots of water and mud. some offcamber stuff on some tight tight trails.

i totally forgot to post to this thread but we are going this saturday to alapaha.
(dead link)
we are planning ot camp friday night and ride most of saturday.

i may be revealing my latest project there...
wheres that at? i didnt check the thread but i will. a fwe of the Big Dawgs from my club went yesterday to pre-run Rochloam and its WET, and i dont feel like Hydro-lockin, i might see about maybe coming with yall guys, im only on 31"s though, and i know some of yall are big.....
 






31s will get everywhere.

its an alapaha run. read the thread for info. it has directions. meeting times and all the goodies you need to know. its nearly in georgia.
 






stripped the front end gears to a fine smooth finish this weekend.

outer seal was bad
filled chunk with water
pinoin bearing went
with pinion gear hopping up and down from torque from the driveshaft the gears just didnt wnat to work together so they broke apart

will have carnage pic when i pull it all apart.


stepping up heat on d44 project. will wheel the jeep until then.
 






Bummer. Sorry to hear about that.
 






i will post some pics and a new thread soon but right now i am swapping in a FS bronco drivetrain. HO 351W/C6/NP208 8lug d60 rear 8 lug d44 front... i gave up on teh d60 front as i cant find one under $1200. the explorer front clip is removed and its sitting on blocks. i plan on 38 TSLs when im done. this is getting exciting.
 



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BUCHVILLEMAN said:
dont have any pics (camera is full from vacation still) ill have to take some tommorrow or the next day... but here is a little diagram that i whupped up while "working"

(dead link)

obviosusly not to scale... i can enhance anything thats not clear.

pretty simple really. mounted sway bar to frame with angle iron brackets then connector to angle iron bracket bolted to spring plate with ubolts.

i was goign to use the jeep sway bar but the explorer on eis twice as thick and with big tires and all that i was concerned about onroad handling (i commute about 70 miles a day in explorer)

was wondering if you ever had the chance to take some pics of the way your sway bar is mounted on the front of your ex? Have been looking around the site for a while and your the only person who has posted anything about this.


thanks
mando
 






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