j602's 2wd Beast

[BeauJ]

everyone is gonna have a solid axle on this site except for me... ugh.. i hate you all. j/k lookin good so far.

bmxking5 won't either. He has a collection of parts in his basement he just paints and looks at

 

[j602]

If the measurements are correct, and you get aligned afterwards, then yes, it'll be fine. you still need an alignment even though it's a solid axle.

 

[bmxking5]

LMAO @ Beau That second part is *currently* true (won't be in about a month though), not the first part though.

Looks good Josh. Good luck on your swap.

 

[j602]

Lol, thanks Bryan.

I'm picking up all the steel I need for my crossmembers/hangers tomorrow, and hopefully welding my perches on and painting if I have time.

 

[j602]

Welp, this thing is officially SAS'ed, and I'm psyched. After working on it for about 6 days in a row, we finally finished it up yesterday. Everything went relatively smooth, and the whole process was actually less difficult than I thought it would be. At the last minute, I ended up going with shackle forward, due to clearance issues with bracketry in the front. The shackle angle turned out perfect, as well as the pinion angle (not that it really matters anyway ). We made custom brackets for the brake lines and welded them to the shock towers. The front hanger crossmember is 1/4" 2x3 box tubing and the rear mounts are 1/4" flat stock with 3/16" guessets. The rear mounts are bolt on, and use the preexisting radius arm bracket mounts. The whole thing came out great, and sits just about where I wanted it to. The front end now sits approximately 3" higher than it did with TIB, and sits about and inch and a half higher than the back. I think I might wait until the springs settle to see where it's going to sit, and possibly put 1" blocks in the rear. Anyway, on to the pics!

Old junk:

No junk:

New junk:

Detailed pics of the suspension and bracketry coming soon.

The only things left to do are to replace the steering bushings and most likely order a bent drag link. We bent the stock one slightly, and it doesn't hit even at full lock, but only has about 1/2" of clearance, and would most likely hit the passenger side spring off road. It'll work for now, but I'm going to order a Skyjacker bent drag link soon.

 

[bmxking5]

Awesome Josh! Can't wait to see the rest of the pics. Nice work :smoke:

EDIT: How is it on the street (handling, etc)...and when are you gonna get some 37s?

 

[mynameisaric]

Grrrr... even 2 wheel drive trucks have solid axles and i dont.
Awesome job josh. it looks really clean. you should drive it up here for a winter and see how black it stays(it may turn a few shades of brown actually). You and 034X4 have me thinking about this leaf spring idea.

 

[95offroadx]

very very nice! every day i kick myself wishing i would of spent the money on a sas rather than puttin over a grand in to my ttb

how much was the total cost?

 

[96limitedX]

that looks awsome! great job with it.

 

[j602]

Thanks guys.

Bryan - Minus needing an alignment (it's pretty close right now) and bump steer from the steering angles, it rides like a dream. Tracks straight as hell on the freeway and I've had it up to 60 so far without any issues. It rides smoother than the TIB did. I've been watching Pirate for some 37's but I think I'm gonna hold on to these for a while to save myself some cash. Plus, I'd mostly like want to regear and all kinds of crazy new ****. I've gotta give my wallet a break.

Aric - Haha, that's why I'm glad I live in the South.

95 - Including the axle and all parts so far, the total is at about $700. Of course, this does not include internals like gears, lockers, etc. That will come later.

I'll get some more pics up shortly.

 

[j602]

More pictures -

View from the front:

Shackle hangers/crossmember:

Shock tower/brake line bracket

Rear mount/stationary hanger:

More full views:

The truck isn't slanted, it's the angle of the picture and driveway

 

[sn0border88]

very very nice! every day i kick myself wishing i would of spent the money on a sas rather than puttin over a grand in to my ttb

how much was the total cost?

Im sorry, but I can't resist. Told Ya SO.

Anyways, awsome truck man. Love the looks, how does that d30 match up width wise, ive considered one as a caniadate for some time.

 

[FROADER]

What, no flex shots? Looks good.

 

[j602]

Thanks.

Hehe, flex shots are coming soon. Still a couple bugs to be worked out though. For example, the shackle hangers don't provide quite enough drop off the crossmember, resulting in the top of the inner shackle plates rubbing the crossmember. I need to take them off, and grind them down some more to clear the crossmember.

As far as I can tell, the width is nearly identical to the 8.8, maybe a tad wider than my old setup. It just looks right under the Explorer.

 

[j602]

One more pic - view from the back:

 

[HappyGilmore]

very nice josh. im impressed. you gonna still use the stock tranny/ tcase of an explorer?

 

[BigDave!!!]

lookin really good, i like a lot

 

[j602]

Thanks guys. Yeah, when the time comes to replace the tranny again, I'll put in a stock A4Ld with a manual BW1354 t-case.

 

[BeauJ]

Hey, your truck looks slanted in that one pic. You probably need an alignment

 

[j602]

Yeah, I do. Thank you.