help:sas or ttb?

[hiridin]

as long as you have the ability to do a sas i'd go with a dana 30

 

[FROADER]

You'll be just fine with lifting the ttb. I did plenty of hard trails with my old X that had 4" lift and 35's on the ttb. Look for BKennedy in the photo gallery, he's got the superlift 5.5 with 35's.

 

[410Fortune]

Josh, the bolt on 6" TTB kits are good, but they can be real tricky to get to ride well on the street. The biggest drawback is the bump steer, without modified steering you can only remove so much of it, the stock inverted Y steering setup Ford used creates a huge amount of toe change through the travel cycle.

To keep your truck a daily driver and use the TTB it will be difficult to get it to ride as nice as a truck that has a properly setup solid axle. Now with that said, you can always add on to your TTB over time to improve it, I went this route and my truck drives like a dream (TTB) on the street but my setup is no where near the bolt on kit it started life as and now I want to rip it out and completely re-do it with a custom set of beams, etc.....

Solid axle may be the way to go for you, it sounds like it to me. I kept the TTB because I am a big fan of it for what I use my truck for, a long travel 4x4 TTB setup has advantages, but you will get real familiar with how it works, why, and how to keep it together real quick, especially daily driven with 35's on a D35 TTB.

 

[Creager]

you can always weld the TTB beams togeather to make a solid axle haha

 

[95offroadx]

well the ttb would probably be the cheapest way, but i would also like to know the prices for a dana 30 or dana 44 swap just all the parts

this would help me out a lot
thanks josh

 

[bmxking5]

Search around. There is a thread with some prices somewhere around here. The dana 35 Skyjacker Class II + SuperRunner Steering + gears + install + 35s + wheels is close to the price of a dana 30 swap. It also isn't too far off from a dana 44 swap. That is of course assuming that you aren't upgrading all of the shafts and doing a huge build-up on the axle. Plus you have the added strength of the new axle.

There isn't much more people can tell you about the swap. Most everything has been covered and it is now up to you and your wallet about what setup would best suit your needs.

Oh by the way, you said that you're 16 so you can't do a full-width swap. I'm 17, almost 18, and I will be doing a full-width swap on mine ASAP. Also, "351wExplorer" is 18 and just completed his two year(about) full-width/motor swap...and he said he did 90% of the work. So it can be done, you just need the access to the tools and more research than others would need since someone at this young age obviously doesn't have as much experience as others.

 

[95offroadx]

i didnt mean to say that i cant do a full width swap, i just dont want to, i dont like the look where the tires stick way past the fenders, and im broke! lol this thing eats gas like crazy! :thumbdwn:

 

[410Fortune]

You can convert a TTB equipped truck to a Dana 44 ala early bronco style in a weekend for the cost of the parts from the donor, or you can go all out and do it all right from the start and spend tons of $$$$.

Of course there are always things like gear ratio's and wheels, but I have seen it done, under $500 for everything + welder + weekend = solid axle truck.

 

[95offroadx]

wow! maybe i will be installing a dana 30 or 44 after all, i thought the cheapest it would cost around $1750, im willing to throw up to $1250 on this swap

i also want to keep a front sway bar, is this possible with the solid axle swap?

410fortune- thanks alot man you've been a huge help!

 

[410Fortune]

The difference in your frame and that of an early bronco are not all that much...

go check out BroncoII4x4.com and check out the owners D44 conversion.

 

[95offroadx]

so i can make a sway bar work?

 

[410Fortune]

Sure you can, a sway bar is easy on an explorer, you just have to make a place to mount it to on the axle tubes, however I would worry more about the trac bar mount and steering at this time, sway bar is an afterthought, and if you do this conversion right you may not even want it.....I drive around 95% of the time with my front sway bar off and my rear sway bar on......the front is nice and soft without the sway bar for daily driving, with a top heavy BII the rear is a good idea for the twisty mountain roads....

 

[95offroadx]

quick question, the guy that installed my lift, when he did my soa he took the rear sway bar off can i put it back on with out to much trouble?

 

[410Fortune]

it depends on where he moutned your shocks, but yes its possible. I have a modified BII sway bar on an Explorer axle with ranger doglegs, so anything is possible.

 

[95offroadx]

damn, i cant install the rear sway bar because he mounted the shocks really close to where the sway bar would go! i think i would need a front or rear sway bar to, most of the turns i go around from a dead stop i get on 3 wheels, it looks crazy but can be really scary at times

 

[95offroadx]

well guys i can actually afford a dana 44 swap! i got a new job where pay is great, so its time to start looking for parts.

where can i find a nice coil spring that will give 7" of lift?

 

[FROADER]

Wild horses 5.5" rock crawlers

 

[95offroadx]

also, im thinking about running 35x12.5" tires. but which gears should i run 4.56s or 4.88s, (note this is on a daily driver)

 

[FROADER]

Don't think about going 35s... Go 35s. A daily driver with occasional off road you'll be happy with 4.56s. That's whay I had in my old one that was a daily driver and I did a lot of off road. The one I have now is going to get some 5.13s since it's mostly for off roading and only on the street to get from my house to the off road destination.

 

[95offroadx]

would i have to make my own radius arms? or will the ones off the 66-77 bronco's work?