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91 XLT Solid Axle Swap

My 91 Xlt Explained in detail

Ok, I posted in the SAS thread but i figured i would go into a little more detail about my truck just incase anybody finds it interesting.

I did a full paint job on my truck about a year ago. I left it the original color because i liked it. I shaved the holes that hold on the emblems and didnt put any of those or the moldings back on the truck.
To the engine, I did the air box mod and dropped in a K&N. Put on a set of 'nascar' plug wires. I installed Jba headers, a high flow cat, and a flowmaster exaust . We tucked the exaust up as high as you can and put a turned down pipe coming right out of the muffler. I also took the fan clutch off the motor and installed a 'Black magic 150' Primary cooling fan along with an aluminum four core radiator. This fan flows 2800 cfm which was the best I could find and works excellent.
As for the Rear suspension, I have a track-Lock in the rear. I bought the Soft ride springs from National I believe at $210.00 a Piece. These work excellent. No one can ever believe how smooth my truck rides. They only have four leaves to the pack. I believe they are for a four inch suspension lift for a jeep. Then I had them put these new springs Over the Axle(welded leaf mounts), No blocks. The rear shocks mount way up high on the leaf mounts.
As for the Front suspension, here came the Fun part.
I was working on a limited budget so I called a friend who owns a junkyard and got a Dana 30 Front axle out of an '89 Jeep wrangler. I checked the gears by removing the diff cover and to my amazement they were like brand new. They already had the 4.10 gear ratio that i wanted. $375.00 and i was out of the door with my new front end.
After "mocking up" the front end probably 30 times the plan was ready. The springs decided upon use were from a jeep, With some really high arch. Once everything was clamped into place, they made some really strong gusset type brackets to hold the new leaves. Shackles, from a jeep were mounted in the rear of the front springs, like they are designed to be used. After all of the new custom steering compenents were made the front end was almost done. They made me a nice hoop bend for the Dual shocks, and reinforced it to be super strong.The First lower shock mount was in the same stock location. The second lower shock mount was mounted right in place of the sway bar. Bye bye sway bar. Dual 12" Fox shocks were mounted. New Stainless Braided brake lines were installed.
Both axles Are telescopic. Drive line angles are great.
The tires of choice were 37X12.50 R15 Super swamper SSr's. These tires are great. They ride smooth with a Tiny bit of vibe very Tiny. They are not loud at all. About the same as the 31 Bfg all terains I used to run. They are mounted on 15X10 amercan eagles. Cheap, nice looking and very easy to clean.
To get the four wheel drive to work all i had to do was install a manual engagement in place of the "vaccum engagement" that is normally on the dana from the jeep. this was only $200.00 bucks and the handle goes up into the cab conveniently so i dont have to get out to lock into four wheel drive. It is made by '4X4 Posi-Lok' Just push my dash button and turn the engagement handle , and it's ready 'on the fly'.

Future mods include, Alarm, Supercharged 302 Cobra motor Probably strocked to a 347 Ci with the T-5 Manual Tranny and computer. 38.5 Super swampers. Fox shocks in the rear. Air Lockers Front and Rear. Possibly fiberglass fenders and hood in front. keeping the 1st gen look though:) . Warn winch. And A Sick Stereo.
Thanks for checking my truck out guys hope you like it. Sorry about being long winded, Late!
 



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what was done wiht the drag link, did you lengthen it?
also will the end of the jeep draglink bolt to a ford pitman arm?

Looks good
 



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It is definately lengthened and I believe that the end that connects to the pitman arm is different. Not positive though, I could find out for you.
It is all working great though I put it through the test this weekend and it definately passed.
Thanks
-Tim
 






Very nice!! Looks like fun. So everything worked out great, no complaints?? How did the steering do? Any rubbing anywhere?
 






Everything was awesome. I definately put it through the test. My steering works great, it only ever rubs on the leaf spring just s little bit if you tun the wheel to full lock position. It's not a problemat all.
I am going to trim a little bit out of my front fenders in the bottom corner, because it needs a little more room. The only thing I broke was mr trac bar mount, which I found out hinders off road capability and I dont need it at all. So I took it off. I am going to just cut the mounts for it off and you will never know it was there.
Other than that it was great. Hopefully the guy from Off-Road magizine will get back to me soon with my Air pictures. I am anxious to see them again. I will post them as soon as I get them.
Late!
-Tim
 






Dead Link Removed

Check it out 302 and T-5 manual 5 speed tranny are going in!!!

The guy from "Offroad" mag says about 2 months I should see my truck in there. Also, when I get the swap done he says he is gonna feature it in the mag. Great news:)
 






I don't know if this has been asked yet, but is there a way that those brackets can be bought so anyone can do a SAS with leaves? I would like to get some brackets to weld to my X and put in a D44. I really want to run 36's, and don't really trust my D35 to hold up to it. I really like the leaves too, and it looks simpler than coils.

Thanks

Andy
 






Why would you use leafs? Man, a EB D44 coil sprung is made for your truck! They fit in there perfectly in the 1st gens.

But if you want leafs, you might be able to talk with Cory, he could fab some up maybe, just a thought.
 






Leaf sprung is a great set-up. It is also a lot cheaper than Coils. Leaf mounts have to be custom made. There isnt anyone who makes some that you can just buy. If you can weld though it is pretty easy to make them. Just get a chop saw from home depot or wherever, they arent very expensive at all. Use that to cut your steel and then weld them up. Then weld them to the frame where you want it. IT's not too hard. The hardest part is lining up the axle where it goes so that it is center and not too far farward and not to far rearward. Here is a pic of my leaf mounts. Hope this helps you out.

front leaf mount_web.jpg
 






sorry that pic sucks but that was the front leaf mount. This next one is the front view of the rear mount for the leaf. Notice how they are off-set to the side of the truck, this is how wide they had to be mounted because I used the dana 30 out of a wrangler. The leaves had to be spread out a bit to clear the "vaccum actuator" that engages the four wheel drive.
Hope this helps

front of rear leaf mount_web.jpg
 






Cheif, My daily driver explorer is in the shop right now gettting the same install done. Can you please tell me what kind of brake lines you are running?
-What brand?
-What make are they made for?
-Etc, Etc

Thanks so much for your input.

Dead Link Removed
 






Hi,
Sorry for the delay. My brake lines are Braided Stainless Steel made by "Explorer pro Comp." I dont think they are made for a specific vehicle but I could be wrong. I will measure them for you if you like but I am sure you will need a different length. Here are a couple of pics.

braided brake line.jpg
 






here is another....

stainless braided brakeline.jpg
 






Here is a pic that shows the top mount that was welded on. This is where the stock bendable brake line attaches to the stainless steel braided brake lines.

I hope this stuff helps you. Let me know if I can be of any more help for you.
-Tim

brake line mount.jpg
 






Rick said:
Two of the guys that do fab work on my ex had Jeeps with Dana 30s. One had an ARB and the other had a lockright. Both split their carriers in half one took both axle shafts with it.

As far as "pushing too hard" well... If you want to make the obstacle then you push until you either make it or break :D I guess giving up could be an option too, but isn't that why we build the crap out of our trucks? To be able to "conquer" obstacles on the trail?


dont mean to be an a** whole or anything but it really depends on the driver weather a dana 30 will hold up or not, a wheeling buddy of mine is running a 93 jeep wrangler with a dana 30 stock gearing all around 42 inch thornbirds a built small block chevy with a th400 and a dana 20 transfer case and he thrashes it harder than i would he has never had a problem with it
 






holy cow, talk about bringing up a dead thread... :rolleyes:
lol
 






runoveryou said:
dont mean to be an a** whole or anything but it really depends on the driver weather a dana 30 will hold up or not, a wheeling buddy of mine is running a 93 jeep wrangler with a dana 30 stock gearing all around 42 inch thornbirds a built small block chevy with a th400 and a dana 20 transfer case and he thrashes it harder than i would he has never had a problem with it

Umm...yeah. Stock gearing and 42's? :rolleyes:
 






duh, they come stock with 5.13 gears. :confused: :rolleyes:
 






Can we see a pic of the driver side brake line and how it adapts from 1 line too 2 !! What make is it for
 






hey cheif where do you live in SD? i swear i saw your truck one morning like 3 weeks ago in la jolla and it is absolutely gigantic, really clean looking too
 



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maby some running boards that fold down to help out the girlfriend?
 






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