98 XLT Dana 44 on Leafs

[j_mazala]

Went out and snapped a few more pictures

Some shots of the rear axle showing new shock mounts, spring perches and brake line routing

Finished front end set up and shackle mounts, shock hoops, etc...

New master cylinder, still need to make up a new rear hard line. The one on there now is the stock one chopped down a couple inches and reflared with the proper flare nut for the master. It works fine but its bent kinda funky and it bothers me that it doesnt match the rest of the lines.

Chopped a hole in the side of the console to get the shifter as far to the side as I could to maintain legroom while keeping the full length console. I used the stock explorer shifter boot and cut an aluminum ring to clamp it down with some RTV. The trim around the cut on the console is door edge mold trim that cleans up the look of the chop.

 

[BlakeGordon]

dude this is so clean.. love it

 

[joker1457]

All this time I've been looking for a solution to the full length console and 1354tcase swap and you have solved my issue......many thanks:wavey:

Great build, very clean:notworthy

 

[grant00]

GREAT idea on the front suspension. seems so simple...makes me want to do mine...

 

[turboexplorer]

Great build! Clean and looks like it was done right, good work!

Do you have a pic by chance of you looking straight at the front of the rig so we can see how the tires sit in relation to the fenders?

 

[mjenk430]

Very nice/clean build. I like the Sky Manuf. S10 kit (I think I will go this route) Saves some fab time + it looks cool

How did you decide exactly how far forward/backward to mount the front crossmember/perches and the rear perches?

 

[j_mazala]

For the crossmember mounting I pretty much shoved it as far back as I could while still having about .5" gap between it and the AC condensor.

With the Sky kit and the eye to center pin spacing on the Marlin springs the axle wound up about 3.5-4" forward of stock.

To find where shackle mound should be you need to know the eye to eye length of the spring with the weight of the vehicle on it. After you figure that out and decide how many degrees you want the shackle to be at ride height (more vertical shackle had a stiffer spring rate, laid back shackle has a softer spring rate - theres a bit of an inexact science to this but thats the short and easy of it) its time to bust out the calculator and do a bit of trig!

Mounting Distance = Spring Length - Sin(Shackle Angle) * Shackle Length

With this calculation a 90 degree shackle is flat and 0 degree is vertical

My example...

45.5 - Sin(20) * 4.25 = 44

So I placed the shackle mount 44" back from the hanger.

The Sky kit isn't exactly ideal being that the bottom of the hanger isn't boxed in so a little strenght is lost there and its a universal kit so you gotta work around it a bit instead of purpose building the parts to meet your needs. With that said it was nice just to be able to square up the hanger on the frame, weld it on and be done with it

 

[grant00]

Do you have any side pictures on flat ground to show how far the axle moved forward?

 

[Tif0ez]

Love it, subscribing!

I also posted questions about using an entire Early Bronco and swap out everything from front axle, motor, trans, transfer case, and maybe rear axle if its easier for the width.. If anyone has advice stop in

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=313227

Sorry to use your thread as a billboard

 

[joker1457]

Chopped a hole in the side of the console to get the shifter as far to the side as I could to maintain legroom while keeping the full length console. I used the stock explorer shifter boot and cut an aluminum ring to clamp it down with some RTV. The trim around the cut on the console is door edge mold trim that cleans up the look of the chop.

[/QUOTE]

:scratch: Would it be alot to ask, how the heck you did this? Did you have to modify the shift lever, I did this swap last night and my shift lever is sitting no where near this angle. It sits directly under the front of the console. Please and Thank you

 

[j_mazala]

Yea I cut the lever just above the stock shift gate then welded in a piece about 1.5" or so to dog leg it over to the driver side then welded on the top piece of the stock lever to the dog leg at a bit of an angle to it would just barely clear the console and allow the most room for the drivers right leg.

I didn't take any pictures during the process but I'll go out and try to snap a few of the finished product.

 

[joker1457]

Yea I cut the lever just above the stock shift gate then welded in a piece about 1.5" or so to dog leg it over to the driver side then welded on the top piece of the stock lever to the dog leg at a bit of an angle to it would just barely clear the console and allow the most room for the drivers right leg.

I didn't take any pictures during the process but I'll go out and try to snap a few of the finished product.

Much appreciated

 

[j_mazala]

Ok the first pictures are in the 2H position and the last is in 4L. Note the welded in dog leg in relation to the shift gate in 2H and the floor in 4L, those are the only real clearence issues I had other than getting the angle right on the upper portion of the lever to clear the console how I wanted. Its a custom fit and required a bit of trial and error but overall wasnt too bad and it works and clears perfectly now. My only concern was with welding the hardened metal of the lever but so far so good!

And heres a few other pics that were asked for

 

[joker1457]

Many thanks sir, off to bust knuckles and hopefully come up with a similar outcome

 

[mrbird09]

hey this is a sweet rig. would you be interested in doing other?? im local lol

 

[j_mazala]

At this point I'm not comfortable doing work for others, maybe in a few years if this one has stood the test of time. I'm sure Any 7 Offroad in San Leandro will be able to knock it out quick and easy for you though. There is also white rhino on pirate4x4 that does fabwork out of I believe Morgan Hill.

 

[mrbird09]

how does it run now how many miles have you driven it with the sas done? any problems thats the route im going lol

 

[j_mazala]

I've put about 2-3000 on it since the swap and it drives great. Only problem I had was too much body roll for my liking but the front sway bar took that all away.

 

[cmhaah06]

Great looking rig! Awesome SAS with a leaf pack. Considering a SAS and seeing this makes the decision hard. Three link was looking like the clear winner, but, this rig with the leaf packs makes me rethink my plans. Seems very simple with a great outcome.

 

[mrbird09]

hows the tranny holding up..i supose thats solved from regearing your axle though