2001 XLT D44-SAS

Ok, I'm going to start this thread since I'm hoping to be done with this by the end of September.

Ok, those were the pretty pics...then I cracked the cover off the pumpkin-

The thing had a ton of water inside...no gear oil came out, only water...

Now the questions for all you axle Gurus...

I can rebuild this no problem right?

Are the axle tubes sealed from the pumpkin, or did the water travel down the tubes?

I'd appreciate any opinions on this cause when the water came pouring out I got disgusted and put the cover back on...I'll have at it again tomorrow and start stripping it down.

From what can be seen- any ideas on what would have to be changed right off the bat?

Or am I looking at a total rebuild?

I want to swap out the knuckles and spindles for 5-on-5.5, they're hard to get here...any body know anyplace in Jersey or PA that I could contact and secure some F150 knuckles and spindles?

Opinions would be greatly appreciated!!

Particularly since I'm hoping to pick up the springs this weekend.

 

[j602]

Damn. That thing is spectaculously massive. Very clean and it looks like it's gonna come out really nice.

 

[cdsl227]

no offense... but are you sure those welds have enough penetration in the last few pics? they look kinda sketchy from the pics. just make sure its all safe!

Oh, hell- if you see something wrong...PLEASE tell me!

Actually there's a lot of consumable in there. I laid down a bead and then went over it once or twice after knocking off the slag. I beat the hell out of everything I weld to check it for strength...and I usually go around to make sure everything has ample coverage. The penetration looks good while I'm welding and watching the puddle, just looks nasty as hell. But I'm getting better.

 

[cdsl227]

I am with Jason. It looks like you need to turn up your buzz box. I would be scared to drive that until you ran a solid bead over those.

I'm cooking it at 105 amps as it is, anything higher and it just spits it right off.

There's a solid bead in there it's just buried under all the booger stuff on top.

I'm thinking of 36x12.50s or 37x 12.50s. I think that'd be enough meat under there, with a 10" rim of course.

 

[Robb]

IMO, find a way to get rid of the drop leaf brackets in the front.............you ended up with WAY too much lift. I told ya those leafs would put you up there , but with them and the added lift of the drop brackets, you are on the verge of "extremely unsafe" high.

Just a suggestion....................

 

[jasonb]

105 is not that high. when we weld 3/16" at work, we put it as high as 210 sometimes but usually around 190. i don't know how thick that stuff is from the pics but just be sure you're melting that stuff good. don't go fast over the area either. go slowly and don't just go in a straight line. make little arcs or triangles or something to melt then puddle it and so forth. i'd just hate to see you come back on after a few drives and say it broke apart on the street.

 

[cdsl227]

105 is not that high. when we weld 3/16" at work, we put it as high as 210 sometimes but usually around 190. i don't know how thick that stuff is from the pics but just be sure you're melting that stuff good. don't go fast over the area either. go slowly and don't just go in a straight line. make little arcs or triangles or something to melt then puddle it and so forth. i'd just hate to see you come back on after a few drives and say it broke apart on the street.

The sticks I'm using are rated for 80-130 amps. When I weld it I use the weave technique...meaning I zig-zag, it's definitely melting in there. The sticks are 1/8" 6011s, the steel is all 1/4" (box tube and plate) except for the buggy spring mounting plates, they're 3/8 plate. I only put the welder up on 225 amps when I need to punch a hole through the 1/4 plate using a stick...that actually works real nice, but then if you have to drill it larger it's a **** because it hardens the steel which means I ate a bit or two finishing out the bumper mounts gave up on drilling and finally just used the 4 1/2" angle grinder the make adjustable slots and cleaned it up a little with the dremel and a sanding wheel (actually about a dozen of'em).

I'm nowhere near finished welding, I have a couple of spots I have to go over and I'll be welding in supports for various things everwhere.

I hung the bumper on 2 bolts, I weigh 180 and I was jumping all over it. Damn thing only brough it down 1/2 inch. I'm not going to lower it up front I'll just bring up the rear to match. In comparison to some of the other leaf setups I've seen here- it really doesn't look that high, I mean it's up there, but once the tires (36 or 37x12.50s) are on it I think it'll be just about right.

I was doing research on stick welding and I found the penetration will run toward the current so I take great pains to place the ground clamp in various places when I'm welding so the puddle flows the way I want it to. When I put the welder up too high the consumable (melted stick or filler) and steel just gets blown off, that's why I'm staying in the rated range for the sticks.

But definitely keep the comments coming because it's just making me recheck things!

I'm gonna take a run at it and try a few higher amperage settings and see if works out better...

 

[cdsl227]

IMO, find a way to get rid of the drop leaf brackets in the front.............you ended up with WAY too much lift. I told ya those leafs would put you up there , but with them and the added lift of the drop brackets, you are on the verge of "extremely unsafe" high.

Just a suggestion....................

wouldn't want to end up- :roll:

I don't think it's too high though...

 

[Kirby N.]

I have been told that the 6011 is a rod that was originally designed for sheet metal. I used to use it all the time until the SOA leaf pads I welded on broke off my axle, then I started to do some research. I now use 70 series rod. Mostly 7018 because it was designed for the type of fabbing I do and it has a tensile strength of 70,000 lbs as uppossed to the 60k of the 6011. For 1/4 inch, I usually run at about 160 or so just depending on how it actually lays down. Sounds like you are doing research and trying to do it right, so I imagine it will be fine.

Cool bumpers.

 

[cdsl227]

I have been told that the 6011 is a rod that was originally designed for sheet metal. I used to use it all the time until the SOA leaf pads I welded on broke off my axle, then I started to do some research. I now use 70 series rod. Mostly 7018 because it was designed for the type of fabbing I do and it has a tensile strength of 70,000 lbs as uppossed to the 60k of the 6011. For 1/4 inch, I usually run at about 160 or so just depending on how it actually lays down. Sounds like you are doing research and trying to do it right, so I imagine it will be fine.

Cool bumpers.

I bought a 5lb. box of 5/32" 7014s, they're rated to 170 amps...I'm gonna go at it tomorrow with those and try to finish up the support brakets and most of the welding then work on steering and shock mounts.

I got a question for you guys...

I positioned the axle under there- measurements were carefully taken numerous times from numerous fixed points under the vehicle.

My axle is forward about 3 inches to clear large tires so I would never have to cut at the rear of the front wheelwell. Side-to-side positioning is just about "perfect", but I come up front to rear on the drivers side about 1/4" to 1/2" off...less than the passenger side. It's slightly different everytime I measure...based on if the truck has been moved at all.

I'm attributing that to a number of variables- slightly uneven ground, unsprung weight distribution, and quite possibly inconsistencies between leaf packs...no matter what you do they'll never be 100% exact.

I don't think the amount I'm off is going to have any impact at all, so I'm not sweating it. I've rechecked my measurements a number of times and in terms of positioning the mounts and all- I'm dead on.

Any thoughts?

 

[cdsl227]

Some pics of reinforcing steel I put here and there. The welds are ugly looking, but believe me the initial beads were nice solid melts of the pieces being fused, the booger stuff is just my habit of overkill on top.

First the crossmember capped off and reinforced.

Bumper rail/mount plate reinforcement.

I'm not too happy with these 3" blocks for leveling up the rear, they're 2.25 x 5 x 3 tall. I'm thinking about having the steel shop cut me some steel, but then I'll only have 2.5" blocks comprised of 1.5" plate on top of 1" plate. I don't like the cast blocks because they look cheesey and I have anti-wrap perches that are 7" long, so I may have the steel shop make blocks so they'll at least be as wide as the springs (2.5") and as long as the perches.

 

[JoshC]

Yeah spend the money and get some solid ones made or buy some steel ones. I've busted some of those cheapos before myself.

 

[cdsl227]

Alrighty, first snag...

Got the front bumper mounted solid as a rock. I trimmed the bumper in a few places so I could actually raise it up a bit higher than it would normally mount. I think it looks better the way it is now. I snap some pics tomorrow.

Anyway I shook the truck to the point I thought it was gonna lift a wheel , next thing I know I snapped a shackle back.

It seems the spring hangers are a little too close, the buggy leaf mounts are welded in there so damn solid that there's no way I'm going to try and move them back a little, so since I had extra holes in the front hangers positioned on both sides (forward and back, JIC) of the holes I was using I moved the spring eyes to the forward hole- only problem is one hole (of a pair) is a little ****eyed so I'll have new hangers made then cut out the existing hangers and weld in new ones with holes in the appropriate location to move the spring eye forward just a little that'll bring the shackles (and rear eye) up just about verticle.

The shackle angle looked fine, but the 300lbs of bumper combined with the V8 just flattened the springs when I rocked the truck hard.

I'm going to go verticle with the shackles because I don't think it'll take too long for the combined weight of the V8 and bumper settle them down to where I have a decent angle.

I think the fact that the buggy leaf gave a little when the shackle angle went way over helped to pop the shackle back, but moving the front eye forward will remedy that permanently.

 

[Doug]

Those are some seriously nasty welds.. You might want to rework those, I would not trust them.. Just remember if one of those welds doesn't hold it could be your life. And not for nothin suspension is NOT the thing to learn how to weld on.. just my 2 cents.

 

[cdsl227]

Those are some seriously nasty welds.. You might want to rework those, I would not trust them.. Just remember if one of those welds doesn't hold it could be your life. And not for nothin suspension is NOT the thing to learn how to weld on.. just my 2 cents.

I know and I definitely appreciate the comments.

I'm pretty fair at welding. The first bead across all of those welds is a straight solid melt of the base metals, I just weaved over a second and in some places a third time to drop some additional filler over the top. I could have grinded to make them pretty, but I'm not worried about how pretty it is, just that it's strong.

Everything I welded there is welded on both sides of the metal.

 

[ForTiLLiaN]

hasnt been a post on here in a while, im just reading along, let us know hows its going, been almost a month since last post.

 

[cdsl227]

hasnt been a post on here in a while, im just reading along, let us know hows its going, been almost a month since last post.

Well it's been a bad few weeks...

My 3yr. old neice passed away from Luekemia, then 10 days later my mother passed away from a heart attack.

Things have been really screwed up, I'm buying out the family home from my old man so he doesn't have to deal with bills and all...basically he can just stay where he's happy and live out the remainder of his time with no worries.

That's it in a nutshell.

I plan to be resuming work on the truck in about 2 weeks...I'm ordering steering components next week, I'll probably pick up tires/rims next week.

I'm hoping to have it somewhat done before the cold weather hits hard.

 

[stretch]

Sorry to hear about you family. I know daily life can get tough during times like that, but it seems as if you're handling it well. BTW, nice work on the X. I wish I had the resources (money, tools, shop, etc...) around here to do a SAS on mine.

 

[Premier]

That sucks man, you have my condolences

 

[cdsl227]

Thanks...

 

[cdsl227]

Latest update-

I got in the tube, and rod ends to build the steering links.

Also got in the 35x12.50x15LT Radial Baja Claws.

Perspective, I'm 5'7".

Rest of the pics can be found by clicking the link in my signature.