Completed Project jamest's "RE-SAS"

... or SAS pt.II, or SAS redeux, or axle remix thread. :

As some of you know, ive recently got a 94 sport that is the typical fullwidth HP44 with coils/arms, fullwidth 9" type swap. Its currently on radial 36" Iroks.

Right now im lowering it down 4" and extending the wheelbase a couple of inches. It wheels great but its just too tall for what i want to do. Ive got some Bilstein 7100's in the mail and my general idea is to make this more of a dual sport type rig that can get it on the rocks and also be able to blast some fire roads and play on the sandbars here in the summer.

Currently the truck has 4" blocks under the back and a "W" shaped set of hybrid 4 door packs. Im going to take the blocks out, throw on a freshened set of low mile 4door leaves with the overload removed, run anti-wrap pertches with the holes redrilled to move the rear back on the springs 2".

Pic below is why you DONT run shock boots. This was an Arizona rig and never really saw any mud after sureshot40sw bought it-

 

[james t]

Yea, its kinda funny... you look at an Explorer and wonder "how does something so small weigh so much?" - then you start cutting on one and it all makes sense.

 

[james t]

Preping the 2x3... ends boxed in with some .25" plate-

 

[section525]

Those welds make my pants tight.

 

[james t]

Haha, ive never thought of my welds as aesthetically pleasing, but thats probably because i work around a bunch of hydraulic and steam lines that are stick welded and look better than any tig ive ever seen.

Too bad these are getting ground down smooth. :

 

[Kirby N.]

Are you going to weld that square tubing to the body and the frame?

 

[james t]

Just to the frame with 2" .25" wall square tube and plates on the frame... ill have pics next week. There will be 3 legs on each side, with the cage tied to them.

 

[Kirby N.]

Your cage is tied to your body too, then? I was thinking it would be pretty cool to do this to mine and weld them to the body too so they are pretty much seamless, but then I wonder if the body will flex and break the sheet metal or welds. Cool mod. My sliders need some freshening and I have a little rust down there.

 

[james t]

Yea, the cage bolts through the floor with different sized plates on either side. Then, itll be tube from the underneath plates down to the 2" square that runs from the frame to the sliders.

I dont think itll hurt anything if you welded the sliders to the body... i know alot of desert guys weld cage and frame parts to the body with no ill effects. Ive also seen a few early Bronco's with rectangular tube in place of the rockers welded directly to the tub however the EB skin is quite a bit thicker than an Explorer's.

 

[james t]

I started tacking the rockers into place today... gotta go get some flux wire to finish welding them. Ill be putting them to the test saturday at Hot Springs

 

[Dannyboy]

nice work as always, never was much of a 2-door fan, but yours is definitely my favorite. Every mod is well thought out. Whats next?

 

[Paul]

never was much of a 2-door fan, but yours is definitely my favorite.

You *******!!!:frustrate J/K Danny, great looking rig James, just get it buttoned up . . .

Paul
'91 Sport

 

[james t]

Whats next?

About the only thing i have left to do is airbumps and beadlocks.

 

[james t]

What a day at Hot Springs. Ran with the big dog group and beat the snot out of it. The thing is just about as unstopable as you can get on a 36" tire. The new rocker guards are scarred up pretty good, along with everything else under the rig.

I didnt get any decent pics but here's what i have. Someone got a vid of me bunny hopping so ill post it up when i get it. It rained that morning so it was pretty nasty in some spots.

3rd pic shows why ive decided NOT to add tube to the outside of the rockers. Short legged passengers will just have to jump. :

 

[Trckmagik]

Looks great James. Miss that a lot.

 

[Kirby N.]

Looking forward to looking closer at those rockers in Moab!

 

[james t]

Looking forward to looking closer at those rockers in Moab!

Hell yea man, bring it! We can compare notes. The rockers will hold no doubt now, but they aint pretty. My overhead FCAW skills are somewhat lacking. I did however only manage to set myself on fire 3 times though... so im getting better. :

This is the last damn pack of stock leaves im building. Ive gotta do something... its getting ridiculous. They flex great but they only last 2-3 trips. $30 for a pair of junkyard packs, $15 paint and $8 flap disc each time and i coulda bought some nice leaves by now. This will be the 4th set.

Im a bit of a throttle jockey and i know a traction bar would probably solve my issues, but there's just about no room.

At this point its either going to be Deaver/National/Whatever leaves or a parallel 4 link with panhard so i dont have to move the fuel tank. Im leaning more towards the 4 link because the cost will be about the same and i could get rid of the front leaf hanger brackets that drag on everything.

 

[IZwack]

How are you destroying the leaf packs?

 

[james t]

W-shaping them, which in turn makes them lose ride height. They start out with the rig level, now they are W's and the rear is like 3" low and prerunnered.

Keep in mind i hold it on the rev limiter sometimes... for a while... doing 4-wheel burnouts and whatnot. Hot Springs, Clayton, even Gilmer its all just like eastern wheeling so you understand. You can only crawl half of it.

 

[section525]

four-link-that-shiz. I think you should build a fuel cell and go to town on the rear end.

 

[james t]

I really, REALLY dont wanna move the tank. I worked hard at getting it crushed up above the framerail. It holds like 12 gallons now and works great.