Exploder V2.0 - Waggy 44 & Isuzu Corp 12bolt

Last year I had a 94 X that I threw 35's on a stock everything and went wheeling. The price was damn near free since I had the tires for my Jeep which wasn't done. 3.27 gears didn't treat the tranny too good and killed it. Fixing it sounded like work so I parked it. A few weeks ago picked up a loaded 94 that had been rolled in the snow. Perfect....time to do work! Most important thing is I actually want to do this one decent, but still on a budget. I'm not being a total cheap ass, but I still need some cash to finish my Grand.

V1.0 how I got it. $75 for a runner....looked like hell but it ran and drove awesome.

Cut up and haggard as hell!

The start of V2.0. Decent minus the roof and fender/hood. 113K miles and loaded....with premium sound and memory leather seats :

I took V1.0 and salvaged the body panels, motor, rear axle, part of the roof and scrapped the rest. V2.0 Chop-A-Toppin the front

Replacement tacked in

Just quick ground down and threw some paint on to keep the rust out. Will probably do a hack bondo job when I do a Rustoleum special paint job....need to swap on V1.0's hood, door, and fender before that happens.

Inside put back together

I'll be wheelin in style!

Rear axle was basis for everything driveline related. It's from a late 80's Trooper I scrapped last year. 3rd member design, 58" WMS, 6 lug and STOCK with 4.56 gears. The gearing and 6 lug = money! My dad has some 33's mounted on chebby rims already that I'm borrowing....since I'm "building this for him"...well, once my Jeep is done he can use it.

The wheels....pretty nice rims and very much street tires but they'll work for now. Have a set of 15" steelie rock crawlers I need to find some tires for.

Found a complete, non-disconnect waggy D44 from an 89 or so for $200. A little wide at 62.5" WMS. Spacers on the back axle will fix the difference.

.....and now time for me to go back outside and drop out an 8.8 and slam in the trooper axle. Then go burn some stuff in. I love this thing

 

[Public Nuisance]

Holy Quick Work! Thats coming together faster than a Big Mac! And you are only an hour away I might have to come up to Mad and see this thing in person and then steal those seats (J/K).

I want those SEATS!

Nice work

I gotta get it off the lift so the kids don't get pissed at me tomorrow...speaking of a big mac, that sounds mighty delicious right now. Time for a food break I think. Oh and theres ALOT left to do....but it DOES drive right now, just doesn't stop The seats aren't as nice as you think. They have some cracks which isn't bad but then some jackass went and did a bunch of welding on the roof and didn't cover them

Stuff to do:

-Burn the leaf mounts in and brace
-Brace and burn some bracing at the front crossmember
-Rebuild and regear the 44. Sat at a junkyard for years in a puddle
-Steering...not sure how I want to do that. Have 2 - 3/4" heims/bung and lots of 1.5" x 0.25" DOM
-Brakes
-Perches on the rear axle (+1.5")


Oh and this is what I came up with for the rear driveshaft adapter issue. I had bought a ujoint which was suppose to adapt between the isuzu and exploder. It surely did not, I got pissed, went to an 8.8 I dropped out a few weeks ago from the ZJ in the background, and took off the flange. Proceeded to go to the lathe and got rowdy. That was a beotch!!! to machine. Is it balanced? No. Do I care? No! It'll work for now.

 

[Foxracin]

Hope its centered. lol

 

[Public Nuisance]

Should be. The isuzu piece has a flange that sticks out about 3/16" in the center. I machined about 1/16" off the face of exploder piece and left a similar flange at the center. The exploder sucked to machine with the holes in it otherwise I would have taken more off. The lathes we've got are really small and it started to vibrate like a mother. The cutting bits are the smallest I've ever seen and they deflect way too easy.

 

[rhauf]

Yes on the hubs. PM me.

For the springs I'm going to see how it sits with a full pack. I can always take out a few later.

PM sent.

Looks like you're project is moving right along nicely. i'm surprised to see how much positive caster you ended up with with the springs mounted where they are, I just did a leaf sprung SAS into a first gen as well, and i had issues with the axle leaning backward too far with similar mounting positions. hmm, here's my build thread with tons of pics..
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=293768

 

[Glen4X4]

Nice project. Good Progress

 

[Public Nuisance]

PM sent.

Looks like you're project is moving right along nicely. i'm surprised to see how much positive caster you ended up with with the springs mounted where they are, I just did a leaf sprung SAS into a first gen as well, and i had issues with the axle leaning backward too far with similar mounting positions. hmm, here's my build thread with tons of pics..
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=293768

I checked yours out and are you still running a double cardan joint on the front ds? If so your pinion should be rotated up so it's inline with the ds. I setup my perches to rotate the pinion up and in-line. I'll have to cut the C's and rotate them back but that's not a big deal. What springs are you running?

 

[Public Nuisance]

Ruh roh....it's missing.....

Or it moved under its own power so I can weld the leaf hangers in

 

[Keeper0311]

Nice! So now that it's on all fours again, what's the next step?

 

[Public Nuisance]

Next step is to burn in the front leaf mounts 100% and then get brakes on at least the rear. Cut/rotate the C's to set caster and and address steering. Lots of little stuff like shocks too. Oh, and rebuild the D44.

 

[Public Nuisance]

Any suggestions as where to source parts to rebuild hubs of the D44? I can get Napa parts at cost but not sure of quality???

Example: lower ball joint
1) made by Master ride chassis $12
2) made by Napa chassis parts $39

Uppers are $20 vs $42 respectively

Outer hub bearings $9 from proformer bearing or $17 from Napa bearing
Inner $12 vs $24

Ujoints are $12 for napa proformer or $24 for precision

 

[ragajungle]

"Ruh roh...." LOL Skoobs

Don't skimp on the hub rebuild. Napa performer or gold house branded stuff is is good as OEM...

Especially don't skimp on the UJ's

 

[damarble]

I actually would consider going the other way and using the cheap stuff. These hubs are so easy to rebuild it's worth the gamble.

 

[rhauf]

I checked yours out and are you still running a double cardan joint on the front ds? If so your pinion should be rotated up so it's inline with the ds. I setup my perches to rotate the pinion up and in-line. I'll have to cut the C's and rotate them back but that's not a big deal. What springs are you running?

Yes, in fact the driveshafts are both stock, i just shortened the front one about 1.5 inches. they pretty much worked out though.

i know the pinion should be straight with the DC up top... but this is where it came out to get the caster correct, so i'm willing to live with it being a tiny bit off. (im also not sure which pics you were looking at... it had more angle before i moved the shackles to the front and changed things around, now it's somewhat straighish-er... yeah.. it's not like it'll be in 4x4 while on the highway very often anyhow.

the springs were given to me for free.. i *think* they are ford ranger rear leafs. i added a couple extra leaves to them from an old spring pack i had laying around to give it another inch or so lift since the ranger springs were really soft. it's still pretty soft (but i like that). i may get some AAL's later, since the leaves i put in are not the same size as the rest of the pack.

btw how much you want for the d35 hubs?

speaking of hubs and stuff... on you're new U joints, since they are usually the weakest link in most trucks, i say go with the best.. spicer U joints in every location, no exception. all the over-seas U joints are hardened with a differnet process and are not as strong (i got scolded at the local driveline shop for using Japanese U joints which failed and so i am quoting what the driveline shop guy said)

 

[rhauf]

Yes, in fact the driveshafts are both stock, i just shortened the front one about 1.5 inches. they pretty much worked out though.

i know the pinion should be straight with the DC up top... but this is where it came out to get the caster correct, so i'm willing to live with it being a tiny bit off. (im also not sure which pics you were looking at... it had more angle before i moved the shackles to the front and changed things around, now it's somewhat straighish-er... yeah.. it's not like it'll be in 4x4 while on the highway very often anyhow.

the springs were given to me for free.. i *think* they are ford ranger rear leafs. i added a couple extra leaves to them from an old spring pack i had laying around to give it another inch or so lift since the ranger springs were really soft. it's still pretty soft (but i like that). i may get some AAL's later, since the leaves i put in are not the same size as the rest of the pack.

btw how much you want for the d35 hubs?

speaking of hubs and stuff... on you're new U joints, since they are usually the weakest link in most trucks, i say go with the best.. spicer U joints in every location, no exception. all the over-seas U joints are hardened with a differnet process and are not as strong (i got scolded at the local driveline shop for using Japanese U joints which failed and so i am quoting what the driveline shop guy said)

I thought i'd bring it to somebodys attention..

after posting this, user "Public Nuisance" and I PM'd each other and i paypal'd him $100 for the used hubs.

I have pm'd him a couple times asking where they were "oh you didnt get those yet?" the the more recent pm got ignored.

i try to give the benefit of the doubt that its an honest mistake but it appears i just got ripped off. i guess i should have been weary of 20 post users.

Public Nuisance, i will of course update this thread if/when i receive my hubs or my money back.