has any one swap ttb from bronco to expo

[310expo]

so has this ever been done?fullsize bronco ttb d44...front swap into explorer????

 

[Flip4ford]

Its a full width-- so all your measurements would be off-- it would take allot of fab work.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

Why would you want to replace one TTB with another?

 

[310expo]

Why would you want to replace one TTB with another?

my expo has a dana 35 front....broncos come with dana 44 front...i would say it would be stronger...

 

[KPSquared]

A lot of the desert racing guys run the D44 TTB. The beams are longer, so you would have to change shock mounts and coil mounts, and do something about the drive shaft but it should work. What are you running on your Ex that you need tougher than the D35?

Are you breaking a lot of shafts? If you are than switching to a 44 isn't going to help you much. At least from all the advice I've been given... May as well go SAS and get a D60.

Expecting 4x4junkie to chime in here as his posts have made me think about such things recently.

 

[Freshmeat]

This isn't a go big or go home board. There are plenty options between a D35 and a D60. For instance, I know guys running 38.50s with V8s on high pinion D44s and minimal breakage if any. I'm planning the HP-D44 myself- it's almost bolt-in with the radius arms (a D60 will require lots of fabbing for link suspension) and provides cheaper parts, easier maintenance, less failure points, better upgrade options, better steering, and again, it requires minimum fabrication. I'm going to take about 6" out of the passenger side and it'll even be close to stock width.

 

[KPSquared]

that wasn't a "go big or go home" comment I don't believe...

The more I read, the more guys I find that wish they had just bit the bullet on Dana 60's. By the time you get a 44 fabbed up and then spend the cash on decent shafts, you're well into the money to get a 60 built up.

Not saying you can't run D44's, just that when stuff starts to break, guys wish they had gone bigger and stronger.

that being said, I don't wheel hard enough to snap shafts on my D35. Mind you I'm open on both ends and only run 35's so theres a lot less stress than lockers and 37's.

I guess it all depends on budget, skill, and type of wheeling you do...

And I would still hardly consider a D44 "almost bolt in"... There still quite a bit of fab work required to make it stick... if you've got the skills for that, a D60's not that far of a stretch either...

 

[Steve000]

This is what I want to do to my next expo.

http://www.autofab.com/mdl_44_ranger.htm

I was getting tired of the whell bearings coming loose. I also want beefy axles, brakes, hubs, etc... Since I am a desert guy, going from 16" of travel to 22" is a plus also.

 

[Freshmeat]

KP- I apologize if that came out as a strike at you directly. I can see where it may seem so.

I understand what you're saying, but I know guys who went from HP-D44s to 60s and wish they hadn't bothered. These guys thrash their rigs to eight degrees of stupid and weren't breaking the axles. I have a hard time believing they just keep getting lucky over and over.

That said, I'm on your side of the fence. I don't need anything bigger than a D35, but mine needs gears, all new bushings, ball joints, steering, etc. Plus I'm welded, so popping a hub is always a threat. I love the D35, but for the cost to get it back to good, I can build and likely cover the fab costs on a D44 swap. It won't be a D60, but I'll be surprised if I ever break it.

 

[KPSquared]

hey man, no prob.

My plan is to stick with the D35 and figure out ways to make it more flexy. I kinda like the how unique the TTB suspension is. If I start to really break stuff, I may step up to the 44 or do 44 outers on the 35.

I would do SAS but then I've just got the same front end as every other Jeep and Toy out there... I have my explorer 'cause it's unique. Or at least not a Jeep... I'll probably never wheel it hard enough to break my 35 anyway...

 

[410Fortune]

the big advantage of the dana 44 TTB stuffed under a Ranger based vehicle is cheater wheel travel

when done right the full width dana 44 ttb beams give you 8" PER SIDE additional track width = LONG TRAVEL 4x4 without breaking the bank, Autofab is getting 19" of real world wheel travel, and thats with their base kit, inverted Y steering linkage (not swingset) and sitting on coils and shocks with bushing radius arms and pivots I believe... with a bit more work, Heims, coilovers, long travel U joints, ball joints, 24" is reachable

So show me a 24" travel dana 35 TTB that will hold up to desert abuse with 35" tires..and I will show you the $20K it took to get it there..... (cough Camburg stage III cough)

This means 20" of usable wheel travel without extended custom beams, axleshafts, etc...

Plus of course the dana 44 snout has a much superior wheel bearing spacing and a much larger brake setup and a stronger hub.... so if you can pull it off this is a great approach to a IFS long travel 4x4 setup on our trucks

Autofab has it nailed, they are the first to produce a "kit" but this dana 44 TTB under a Ranger is nothing new, it has been done many ways

Autofab just usually does it right the first time and keeps it pretty simple...

stuffing the TTB under your truck requires some doing, custom pivot brackets, radius arms, and steering are the big obstacles....and of course getting the geometry perfect, or at least better then Ford did! LOL

dana 44 TTB under my BII = drool city, I like to be different too... but a solid axle is just so proven on the trail... its hard to decide. Either way its $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

new brakes, bearings, gears, locker, seals, joints, bushings, tie rods, wheels, custom fab work... etc etc it adds up QUICK so choose wisely based on what you use your truck for!!!!

bottom line is when people are talking about long travel 4x4 and any form of IFS youa re also looking at $$$$$$$$$$ big money, the TTB is no equal length beam setup or a center mounted a arm setup like trophey trucks use, but for what it is it can work really really well for a fraction of the cost... the d44 snout eliminates many of the running gear issues us d35 users have when pushing 35" + tires and trying to squeeze all the travel out of it we can... if I could do my setup over I would have gone d44 beams and outers from day 1

 

[310expo]

This is what I want to do to my next expo.

http://www.autofab.com/mdl_44_ranger.htm

I was getting tired of the whell bearings coming loose. I also want beefy axles, brakes, hubs, etc... Since I am a desert guy, going from 16" of travel to 22" is a plus also.

amen to that ####en badass...ima start getting my parts together...or get lucky and find a coplete bronco/f150 donor...truck...

 

[4x4junkie]

This isn't a go big or go home board. There are plenty options between a D35 and a D60. For instance, I know guys running 38.50s with V8s on high pinion D44s and minimal breakage if any. I'm planning the HP-D44 myself- it's almost bolt-in with the radius arms (a D60 will require lots of fabbing for link suspension) and provides cheaper parts, easier maintenance, less failure points, better upgrade options, better steering, and again, it requires minimum fabrication. I'm going to take about 6" out of the passenger side and it'll even be close to stock width.

You can run radius arms on the D60 too (only extra fab is to put some kind of brackets onto the axle for the arms). after that it's all the same process for getting it under your truck.

D44 stock = maybe 5% better strength over the D35 at best (true, you do get better brakes, but they can be had on the D35 too, which will also still carry that small strength margin over to the D35 as well when you swap the outer stub axles over).

D44 all blinged out with upgraded shafts & u-joints = same cost as a stock D60. Simply putting 35-spline outer stubs alone in that 60 will squash any & all hopes for a D44 to ever even come close to matching it's strength. Then you still got a whole new path of upgrades available in front of you if you should find you still need them. Which would you choose?


Only good reason I see to use a D44 over the 35 is if you want the width (which by the sound of it I'm gathering is what the OP may be looking for here).

 

[jprentice94]

Anyone done this to an expo

 

[bats]

Anyone done this to an expo

I'm sure if you search you will find that some one has. As mentioned above, it requires A LOT of fab work. If you are determined to keep a TTB under your truck you would be much better off going with a cut and turn setup with your D35.

 

[jprentice94]

Im just thinking a d50 ttb with coilovers would be the sickest prerunner i know the coils would be hard but i think it would be pretty easy mounting coilovers and it would be 8 lug

 

[newstylecustoms]

I did this on a 99 Explorer but that was a totally different animal. I shortened each beam one inch and mounted them with the same spacing as an RBV. Ended up with about 2" over on each side. Had to extend the slip yoke to make up for the passenger side RBV axle not being long enough and Bronco being too long.

http://s1229.photobucket.com/user/newstylecustoms/slideshow/99%20Explorer

 

[jprentice94]

That looks sick i would leave them full width i like my tires out of my fenders a lot lol

 

[DymondD]

hey, ive got a narrowed 44 ttb under my 93. runs an ex right side shaft. i cut 6 in off each beam. 4 just where the sway bar bracket bolts on, 2 at the pivot bushing. the lower ball joints were cut loose and moved out 1 in. if you can do the fab it wasnt that bad to do. the 50 idea i like. could weld in the radius arm/ coil anchor nuts and extend them to the right length.

 

[jprentice94]

I want to use coilovers so i dont have to deal with frame spcing issues or even coil bow then it would be a true prerunner so it would be about 6 inches farther out of the fenders