colindo94 fullwidth swap

Well it's about time to start collecting the parts I need for the swap. I wiil be using a Dana 44 front axle and a fullsize 8.8" rear end from a 89 fullsize bronco. please give me any kind of insight on what I plan to use. All commentary is wanted

Edited with final parts
Dana 44 from 76 f-150
-78-79 coil spring towers spaced out with 3x4 steel
-Wildhorse crawler 5.5" coil springs.
-F-250 shock towers
-5.13 Yukon ring and pinion
-Master overall kit.
-Warn primium hubs.
-Cage offroad radius arms.
-78-79 stock tie rod
-Explorer stock drag link
-custom trackbar with heims. Bottom heim is a 3/4" heim and top is a 5/8" heim with 1.5" .25 wall DOM.
-Stock 76 f-150 trackbar bracket welded to a 3/16" plate of steel.
-7* C bushing kit.
-Bilstein 14" travel 5100 shocks
-Open Differential for now
-Timkin wheel bearings and seals.
-All new disk brakes and custom stainless steel brakelines

Fullwidth 8.8 from a 88 bronco
-5.13 Yukon ring and pinion
-Master install kit.
-weld on spring perches/ u bolts/ shock mounts. mountainoffroad.com
-custom shackles that are the same length of warrior shackles.
-skyjacker Add-a-leaf
-Lockright
-new drums with stock fullsize bronco e-brake cables and custom frame bracket.
-skyjacker extended brakeline for explorer.
-extended diveshaft with 1310/1330r basterd u-joint.

Wheels and tires
-36x12.5" TSL Radials
-15x8" black steel rockcrawler wheels.

 

[mynameisaric]

quiet jealous i am. i'm still just working on getting axles i can commit to. springs and gears and such should be begining of next month for me. i'm anxious to see your truck start coming together.

too bad you dont live closer to the midwest. 97 v8 and i are going to try and get a run together when we finish our swaps.

 

[colindo94]

Where do you guys plan on going. I'm getting really excited and also can't wait until it all starts coming together.

 

[mynameisaric]

badlands in attica, IN
probly sometime in August since 97 v8 isnt starting till june.

 

[zainyD]

Looking good. I'm running the same axle combo, full width HP D44 & 8.8. I just went with drum brakes on the 8.8, but I may be swapping it out for a 9" with discs.

 

[colindo94]

Can you put disks on a full size 8.8 or can I only go with drums? I havn't even looked into it though.

 

[lifeguard379]

i believe stic-o has disks on his 8.8

 

[JoshC]

Yep you can do disks on an 8.8.

 

[colindo94]

What all is required to do the swap. I found kits, but the seem expensive and don't even have all the parts needed. Can't I do a swap a lot like the swap for the explorer 8.8?

 

[sn0border88]

you can use all the parts off a 95 or newer explorer with disks. I dont know if that will work on a fullsize but it should. 9" You can use just about anything

 

[colindo94]

The only problem that I can see is that it's a different lug pattern.

 

[FROADER]

Read through stic-o's swap thread. He's got all the info for the FW 8.8 disc swap that he did.

 

[section525]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144541

It may not be in there though. You can never tell with Stic-o. :

 

[colindo94]

well after reading through stic-o's thread I have decided to just go with drums on the rear. Seems like a lot of work to just get rear disks. Kinda makes me wish I went with the 9" instead, but I already bought the gears and locker for the 8.8. O well. I figure the bigger brakes will do just fine, and I have never really had a hard time with drums. What do you all think?

 

[lifeguard379]

sounds good. I'm going to be using drums.

 

[JoshC]

If you still wanted to go with a 9" i'm sure you could sell the gears and locker on here tomorrow seeing as they will work in an explorer's 8.8 also.

 

[colindo94]

Yea I know I could, but that would just slow progress. Alright here comes some questions.
1. What radius arms would you suggest using?
2. What tires? I want 36's, they need to be road and offroad worthy, but more offroad. I just need to get to the weeling spots.
3. How do you decide were to set the rear spring perches?
4. If I decide to go with the duff or cage radius arms do I need to space the mounts away from the frame? And will I have to build a crossmember or will the arms be long enough to use the stock crossmember and mount the mounts past that?



I'm sure there are more questions I can ask, but these are the only ones I can think of roght now.

 

[mynameisaric]

You can get military surplus tires 36x12.50x16.50r for cheap on ebay. i have heard mixed reviews about on and offroad performance. from what i get, they do excelent in mud, but they are a stiffer tire and not as good on rocks as other tires. but everyone seems to agree you can't beat the price.

since your out in CA, you deal more with rocks than mud, so i think the good year MT/R is supposed to be awesome on the rocks and still have good driving characteristics.

 

[zainyD]

Yea I know I could, but that would just slow progress. Alright here comes some questions.
1. What radius arms would you suggest using?
2. What tires? I want 36's, they need to be road and offroad worthy, but more offroad. I just need to get to the weeling spots.
3. How do you decide were to set the rear spring perches?
4. If I decide to go with the duff or cage radius arms do I need to space the mounts away from the frame? And will I have to build a crossmember or will the arms be long enough to use the stock crossmember and mount the mounts past that?



I'm sure there are more questions I can ask, but these are the only ones I can think of roght now.

How much coin are you willing to spend? You can extend your stock radius arms for about $125 or go with something like Duff or Cage. I think my truck flexes pretty darn well with stock arms, but I'm going to be upgrading to extended arms soon.

I've got a wristed arm for sale $100 if you're interested.

Use your stock rear axle as a template for setting up the full width one. That's what I did and it worked pretty well.

I would go with 35's and if those don't fill your needs go with a 37" tire. MT/Rs seem to be pretty solid performers.

 

[colindo94]

Lets see a pic of those arms, But I would like an extended arm.

 

[zainyD]

A pic of the wristed arm that I'm selling can be seen here:

http://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2/showthread.php?t=41078

Scroll down about halfway down the page and you'll see it. Pivot bolt is a grade 8 and the two smaller circles that you see on the flat piece of steal are plug welds for extra strength. Hope we can work something out.

I haven't extended my stock arms yet, but ld50 has done his arms as part of his SAS. Look at his SAS thread and you'll see some pics.