BMXking's Axle Swap 1st gen. Coils/Radius Arms!!!

[j602]

Lookin' good Bryan! But Caleb's old tires? Ewww, they've been on a heep.

 

[bmxking5]

^^LMAO...he told me $400-450 for 38s that measure 37s and 15x10 5 on 5.5 wheels. If I did that I wouldn't keep the wheels on for long b/c they'd stick out too far with f.w. but $400-450!!!! Even if they were from a Heep that is still one hell of a price.

 

[bmxking5]

I just got everything reassembled. I also (don't ask me how) was able to talk my parents into bringing the axle into our basement. I couldn't stand seeing the axle sit out there and seeing my hard work turn to rust in the middle of the rain.

Anyways, tomorrow or Wednesday I will be coming home with a set of 73 F100 2wd coil buckets. Also @ the j.y. there is a 78 Ford pickup. Don't know if it's 4wd or not, but if it's a d44 coil sprung 5 lug...it will be coming home with me most likely! I'll post the last pics of the rear axle, for a while, tomorrow.(Unless I get some more parts for it.)

 

[bmxking5]

Well, the 78 Ford was 2wd as I figured it would be. I have a lead on a dana 44, but I'm not sure if I am going to get it or not. Almost all of the rivets are out of the coil buckets. They would all be out, but my friend had to go to work, the batteries died and it started raining. As long as it isn't raining tomorrow, my friend and I will get the coil buckets off the rest of the way. Here is the 9" all cleaned up and put together...for now.

 

[jasonb]

When you get ready to do the gears let me know. I have another person for gears that still does them on the side. Good price but he knows his stuff better than about anyone I know. You've seen an olive drab Jeep that he helped build recently.
If you need another drill for a trip with 2 good batteries.. stop by and you can use mine.
Axle looks good.

 

[bmxking5]

Thanks. Depending on the weather, I may see if I can borrow the drill tomorrow...I'll give you a call. I have the bits, I just need more batteries or another drill if the batteries won't fit in my drill.

Who does the gears? Are you talking about Craig's Jeep?

 

[jasonb]

i'll throw the batteries in the charger in the AM. I won't be around after 1:00 so come before then if you need to get it.

yeah.. Craig's

 

[TheFox88]

Hey, just want to say this is a sweet swap and your rig is so sick. I'm hoping to do something similar with my still stock ,(ugggh), 92 sport. Sweet build up.

 

[bmxking5]

Thanks for the compliments man. Oh yeah, Welcome to the site.

I notice that you have a sport too! If you do this swap, you'll be like the 5th or 6th 1st gen(91-94) Sport to do the full-width swap in the past 6 months or so!!! Sweet.

 

[bmxking5]

Well, not any progress on the 9" lately. Got some FREE 31s with wheels to fit this axle, so now I have some rollers for this and the d44. Also bought a Haynes manual for 73-79 Ford Bronco/F-Series, so I'll have all the torque specs, etc. Still looking for a dana 44. :rollesyes:

 

[Hotweels]

errr....... u did measure the pinion offset of that 9" to make sure it will clear yer gas tank eh?

if the axles are equal length then you should have no problem... if not better get the tape measure out.

 

[bmxking5]

Yeah, the axle shafts are equal length.

 

[Hotweels]

kewl! i did a bunch of lookin to find my 9"... ended up with a 81 F150

still close to the gas tank on the pinion end but clears it by atleast 2" at the closest point.... do you have the original 9" spring plates? they use 5/8" U-bolt's that make the OEM exploder u-bolt's look rather wimpy and the explorer u-bolt's are too small of a radius to fit the 9" tube properly..... on a side note... if you dont use the explorer spring plates with the shock mount built in then shock mounting can get a lil weird... the stock shock mounts on the 9" wont really work and about the best spot to put the shock mount is rite where the brake lines run along the diff.

while u have that diff out of the truck maybe think about adding a filler and drain plug, i have a 1" filler rite on the bulge in the rear cover near the top that doubles as a inspection hole that look's straight in on the crown gear.

some guy's add a 3/8" or 1/4" NPT plug in the very bottom of the housing for a drain but i think they see too much abuse in a 4x4 to hold up very long.

if u have any questions just ask...

 

[bmxking5]

Thanks man. I'm sure I'll have more questions soon.

To get the axle out from under the truck ('83 F150), I had to use a hack saw and cut the u-bolts. Major pain in the a$$. No penetrant would get those things to unbolt. I was planning on using new u-bolts anyways. I am planning to put the shock mounts right around the same place as Svande:

 

[Hotweels]

interesting fact... my stock rear shock's had 12" of travel

new 14" travel rancho 5000's are about $80ea here CDN coin

new monroe #34687 13" travel gas magnum's are $53 with tax......

and one thing i have to say about that pic is the shock mount is super close to the brake divider/breather that bolt's to the housing.... if yer going to do it that way make sure u put the mount on first then run the new hard line.... i dident and now it's come around to bite me in the ass.

dont feel bad about the u-bolt's... it's dangerous to re-use them... very bad idea....

 

[JTX]

Hey Bryan, after looking at those blocks and those springs i think in low range you may have some problems with that rear end. What gears you gonna run? To me it looks like thats gonna axle rap bad.

 

[bmxking5]

Are you talking about the pic in post 54? That's not mine. I'm still on 31s with 3.27s. If you read what I put above that, I said I was thinking of mounting the shocks similar to the way they are in the pic.

The pic is Svande???? He's got 3.5" blocks in the rear with 4.88s and 35s.

 

[JTX]

LOL! i was looking at it like wtf that doesnt look like a ttb. My bad, still waking up from a long night.

 

[bmxking5]

Ok guys. Thought I'd share with everyone that using the Ford 9" rear axle, you DO NOT need to have the driveshaft lengthened, etc. "jrgaylor" just PM'ed me and let me know what needed to be done to reuse the stock Explorer rear driveshaft:

I saw a 1310 yoke for a 9" on ebay.

I took my driveshaft in to "the U-joint" in Chehalis WA. and told them I wanted my drivshafted lengthed 1 1/2" inches and new u-joints installed, the guy "Chris" looked at it measured the slip yoke and said all I need was this longer slip yoke and he had just ran out of the 1310/1330 u-joint but I could come back the next day and pick it up.
So yes you can do it you can do it yourself.
part number description
NDP N2-3-8021KX Slip yoke 45.98
NUJ 1-0153 Kit*(3200A) 8.50
NUJ 1-0134 Kit*(3275AE) 16.40

Last two parts are the u-joints

if you want to contact them
the U-joint
360-748-4411

Also, you can reuse the stock Explorer front driveshaft. I talked to " -=Daemon=- " and he told me what little was involved with reusing it. Also you'll need to move the Dana 44 up about 1.5-2", more or less:

I reused the explorer driveshaft. The only thing I changed was the D44 pinion yoke to accept 1310 u-joints. Which is what Explorers have.

Always good to hear that you don't have to spend as much $$$. I figured that this would be some useful info for others doing the same swap(CodePoet, etc.)

 

[Bruces expo]

hey bryan the axle is lookin good