Bkennedy's SAS and Rebuild Thread

As some of you know, I am working on building a parts list for a shortened Dana 44, long radius arm with coil overs SAS. 5:13 gears to match my rear axle and an ARB, maybe an electric locker. I have a pretty good list so far. At the same time, I am going to swap out the rear drum brakes for discs off of a 99 Explorer.

Please note: The plan is to keep this project as simple as possible with mostly off the shelf parts. I am not a fabricator, just a decent welder with a what I would consider the minimum required tools (chop saw, cut off wheels, air tools, welder, etc.), who likes doing his own work. Your opinions are welcome, but what I really need is technical advice. I have been thinking about this for several years and now have the time and cash to make it happen. Please keep on topic with your advice and don't go off on a side track about how you would do it as a four-link, or caged arms, or leave the axle full-width because that is not what I want. I want a simple-ish set up that works.

 

[Kirby N.]

Hmm. It might be the rod ends in the radius arms. Mine have some slop and really should be replaced but I haven’t had $100 to burn. Mine definitely clunks a little still/ but way less than it did before.

 

[BKennedy]

The rod ends felt real solid, and I checked for slop with a pry bar. I thank they are fine.

I never got any response from Duff. I'm more than a little annoyed with them. Don't think I will use them for anything anymore unless I have to.

 

[BKennedy]

Well, I got nothing. I checked the engine mounts, trans mounts, body mounts, all the rod ends and sprayed them with silicone lube, and the track bar bushing. Except for a squeaking rod end in the steering that should go away after I drive it, everything looks like its in great shape. I think I have it narrowed down to the wedgie or "C" bushings that attach the radius arms to the axles, or something else... Maybe something else...

 

[Kirby N.]

Might be the cs. When does it do it? Mine had some really worn out ball joints a few weeks ago. I started thinking and realized my ball joints had over 100k on them. They were spicers, but still. That’s a ton of miles.

 

[BKennedy]

What's a "cs? Its only when there is a decent bump and the suspension cycles. When I drive off the curb at my house I can feel a bump through my feet. Ball joints are practically new and have no play. Might get my neighbor or the wife to drive back and forth over the curb while I feel try to figure out where its coming from.

 

[Kirby N.]

C bushings are what I meant. These are usually in constant tension with each other- however there is a spot where they are not and are even. Definitely possible that your clunk is when they go from tension to tension in between if there is some worn space. I am curious to know if that is it. Mine have 100k miles on them and I could probably change them out.

 

[tdavis]

Sounds like a good excuse to upgrade to d60's..

 

[Kirby N.]

I did have my first Dana 44 related breakage a couple of months ago. I had both lockers locked, wheels turned hard and winch sucked down with a backhoe on the other end. I jumped out of the truck and didn’t realize I had it in gear and dumped the clutch in reverse when I hopped out. This popped a spicer 5-760x joint.

Lots of miles and abuse and years. I think the Dana 44 is strong enough for my use.

 

[BKennedy]

I've been camping on the Arizona property for several days. Should be here until the end of the month. The noise went away, so I guess I must have fixed it.

Was out driving around and found a nice easy trail into the Music Mountains. Ended at a gate to the reservation.

On the way out I was driving down a maintained dirt road and noticed when I went over a cattle crossing and felt the tires come off the ground that I should slow down. How many rock crawlers can comfortably go 70 down a dirt road?
Very nice day yesterday, today is cloudy. It's been cold here at night, low 30's (cold for me). Posting pictures takes a long time due to poor phone service. Only get 4G when phone is leaning on the signal booster.

 

[BKennedy]

Guess the noise didn't fix itself after all. I went for a drive to the east in the lower foothills. Did not realize how far they extended into the valley. Some nice little ranches and some The Hills Have Eyes type places back there. Then came back across Stockton Hill Rd and into Vock Canyon, which is the canyon north of the one my property is in.

Noise came back. It sounds/feels like it's on the driver side. I am thinking it's the radius arm wedgie bushing or the rod end, or both. There is a metal on metal squeek along with the bump that makes me think it's the bushing. I'll order new bushings and rod ends when I get back home.

Vock Canyon goes way back and up into the Cerbat range. Saw a bunch of wild horses up there. I went a few miles farther than I should because the trail was getting narrow a ways back. Kept going because it looked like the trail was headed to the top of the mountain. Topped a ridge and it turned into a ATV trail. Luckily there was enough room for me to turn around.
End of the trail

 

[Rick]

A great day to be out and about

 

[BKennedy]

Figured out by lying under the Explorer and bench pressing on the sliders that the main squeek is coming from the driver side rod end. Sprayed some penetrating Teflon lube in it and it went away.

 

[Rick]

Well that was easy.

 

[BKennedy]

Not that easy. Bump is still there. At least now I am fairly certain I know what needs to be replaced.

 

[Kirby N.]

When I was driving my exploder daily my 3/4” rod end steering would get sloppy yearly. Creating thuds and eventually death wobble. Just had to count on replacing them once a year. Could you get someone to sit in the drivers seat and give it a wiggle while you look for slop? That is how I find worn parts on Jeeps. You can usually see it and if it’s too small to see, you can feel it by feeling the joint while the movement is happening.

 

[Kirby N.]

By wiggle I meant turn the wheel back and forth between tension.

 

[BKennedy]

I got it. That's how I check steering components too.
Steering feels fine, no drift or wobble.

I went for a good drive today, about 100 miles. At least 40 was dirt. Drove down Hwy 68 towards Bullhead City and turned off on a BLM trail at mile post 10. Headed south along the base of the mountains. Nice technical trail but not too challenging because I was alone. I saw 2 groups of side-by-sides, one wad stopped at a steep downgrade and were looking it over. I drove around them and down the grade, and they seemed impressed. Those ATVers are easily impressed. I eventually ended up at a maintained dirt road that goes between Bullhead City and Oatman. Headed east through the famous switchbacks on R66, then eventually back to the RV. There are dozens of side trails, a few that looked like they were at the edge of what I would consider doable if I wasn't alone, one I almost did anyway because it was a bunch of rock ledges going up a canyon that looked really fun. I am cautious when wheeling solo.

After driving it all that distance I'm sure that driver side radius arm rod end needs to be replaced.

 

[BKennedy]

Pulled the front axle suspension apart this morning. The wedgie or "C" bushings are getting hard, and have small splits at the top of all 4, but I think the culprit of the bump I have been feeling is that driver side radius arm rod end. Not a fan of Duff since they don't answer the phone or emails anymore, but they have a chat feature that I used today. I'm going to order their stuff because I know it fits their stuff.

Also noticed a little bit of coolant coming out of the drain for the heater core so I guess I need to replace that too. It's not a huge job according to my shop manual, but I have haven't had to do that yet. That's what I get for using the heater while at Kingman. First time I have used it in 5-7 years.
Out of these choices from Rock Auto, which one would you go with?

1994 FORD EXPLORER 4.0L V6 Heater Core | RockAuto

RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.

www.rockauto.com

I have a credit card I use exclusively for my purchases. It saves arguments with the wife. It got compromised last week, somebody charged a bunch of door dash to it from San Francisco and the CC company froze the card. Need to wait for its replacement to show up before I order parts.

 

[92302expo]

For the heater core I’ve had good luck with the GPD and TYC brands. The heater core job is pretty easy, for me the most difficult part is just dealing with the plastic clips that hold the cover on under the dash and then it’s four screws to pull the lower cover for the heater core and then the two hose clamps in the engine bay. I recommend doing the hose clamps first that way if any spills into the heater core box it’ll drain out.

 

[BKennedy]

Ordered a TYC heater core and the suspension parts. Duff makes all kinds of excuses about COVID and high order volumes causing delays in shipping. Rock Auto has a much higher volume of orders yet they ship stuff the next day. Duff says it normally takes 3-7 days just to ship. When your business customer base expands, you need to expand with it or lose those customers.