94 Sport D44 and 9" swap

Here are some pictures of my D44 and 9" swap

36X12.5 TSL/SX
4.88 gears
ARB front
Spool rear
Front EB D44
Rear 69 F100
Swapping in a 1354 M t-case
Rear springs combo ranger/explorer leafs (ranger main explorer main and explorer second, no over load)
Front EB 3.5" VR James Duff (soon to be WH 3.5" VR)
78-79 bronco upper coil buckets (modified)
Superlift adjustable trac bar
Custom trac bar mount
Steering will be performance unlimited (tie rod over)
F250 shock mounts
And soon to have lots of fender cutting


Project Page

 

[DB_1]

Looks like the swap is going good, i've got a 97 ranger
with a D44 up front from a 77 bronco but it still needs
some tweaking cause its not working to its full potential
as far as the suspension goes. I'd like to see some pics
of where you are going to have your track bar mounted
on the frame end. According to what i've read, the track
bar and drag link should be parallel and of equal length
or else you'll have bump steer.
Also had a question about the coils you are going to use
Do you find that when they are supporting the weight of the vehicle that they are about the same height of
a 4 inch coil? In other words, would a 4 inch coil made for an explorer actually be a half inch shorter than the coils you are going to be using for a early bronco?
I'd like to know what your experience is because I was thinking of using variable rate springs also from an EB.
Good luck on the rest of the build up and take some pics of the finished product.

 

[RangerX]

LOL, RangerG, I went thru all your pics looking for a straight axle Ranger! What's with your name?

Also, do you have a pic of the overall vehicle, with the 36's?

 

[RangerG]

RangerX,
I picked that name when I first got here and at that time I had a 93 ranger with 35" BFG MT and I go by Grif on other boards so thus...........RangerG!! I have sold the ranger and started this exploder now as a trail rig only. I do not have an over all picture of it yet because I still have to cut the fenders. I will get a shot for you of the over all rig with the uncut fenders tomorrow.


DB_1,

This is were the trac bar mount (blue thing) is for now:

I can try and take some better pictures tomorrow.
I am making a brace that goes from the trac bar mount to the engine cross member to help relive stress on the frame and mount. It is going to be a simple piece of steal stock, nothing fancy but should help solve some of the problems that I have heard of with trac bar mounts ripping the off the frame. As far as the position of the trac bar I might have to adjust that once my steering comes in. I might have to drill new holes to lower or raise it to get rid of bump steer.

As for the springs it is hard to tell. I would have to say the 3.5" VR springs gave me the same amount of lift the SOA did in the rear. So I am guessing about 6" of total lift. Most TTB coils for explores and rangers are stiffer than the EB VR coils. I have been told that ff you but a 4" ranger TTB coil on a EB D44 then you would get about 6"-7" of lift. Most people use the EB coils because they flex WAY better.

 

[DB_1]

I like that track bar mount, I may have to go that route myself since the track bar I have now is shorter than my drag link but it is parallel so it actually steers pretty good. Eventually I'd like to do the tie rod over conversion so the way you have it mounted would work well for me. Anyways, catch ya later...Dave.

 

[RockRanger]

I would like to see more pics of the trac bar mounts. Thats the one thing I am still trying to figure out how to build for my swap. The one you built does look good though.

Matt

 

[RangerG]

I am doing some mods to it tonight I will get you pics tomorrow night!!

 

[DB_1]

How is the swap going Matt? gonna be ready for T-haven?

 

[Isles4evr]

Did you fab that trac bar mount yourself? If so, what did you make it out of..


Chris

 

[RangerG]

Sorry no pictures as of yet but soon. I did not make the trac bar mount. BlueOx over at RRORC.com made it. I believe that it is 3/8" steel but I can measure it for sure tonight.


Anyone know if the ABS "pump" as a proportioning value in it? I am going to get rid of my ABS and want to cut the pump out and pump now brake lines right off the master cylinder. Can anyone see any problems with doing that?

 

[RangerG]

Here some pictures that I took last night. If you need more shots just let me know what kind and I will post them.

 

[DB_1]

looks like your drag link is going to be parallel with your
track bar...maybe you lucked out

 

[RangerG]

Well I am not so sure it was luck!! I had it built that way!! The guy that made it has done many of SAS and knew what type of swap I was doing and that I was going to go tie-rod-over for the steering so he make it about the correct lenght.

 

[DB_1]

Right on...looks like things are going pretty smoothly, any problems so far with the install?

 

[RangerG]

Nope nothing really hard. I think getting rid of the ABS and the doing the brakes is going to be tricky but who knows it might all work out!! One thing I did not expect is that the trac bar was hitting the crossmember. I had to cut it quite a bit to make it work but nothing a sawsall could not handle!!

 

[RangerG]

Got the steering in, new coils, shock moutns, brace for trac bar mount, and hacked the crossmember!!

Looks like I will have some bumbsteer but I will take care of that after I do " real world testing"!!

 

[Isles4evr]

Looks rear good buddy. So what is the ETA until you get it on the road?

Chris

 

[RangerG]

I think around the second week in Dec at the latest. I would guess in the next couple of weeks I should be rolling. I should get the brakes done this weekend and over thanksgiving I should have the crossmember made and the shocks in. After that it will be rear drive shaft and "fine" tuning!!

 

[cableguy]

Just wondering why you switched from james duff to wild horses springs?

I was going to go with a EB D44 but got a full width D44 from a 79 bronco for 50$. Just wondering wich springs to go with.

Thanks

 

[RangerG]

Well I had cutoff part of the top coil on the james duff EB springs to make them fit in the explorer upper coil buckets. Then I changed to 78-79 bronco upper coil buckers and wanted the "thingy" that I cut off of the duff springs so I sold them and got WH 3.5" VR coils. They WH coils seem to sit a little higher than the Duff coils. One tip......make sure you have upper coil spring retainers!! With out them the coils will pop out when flexing.