LD50 Full-size axle thread `93 Ex

[section525]

Nice job!

Here's some caps.

 

[sn0border88]

in that last pic it looks like your radius arm extension is bent.

 

[ld50]

Thanks for the captures man, that`s awesome.
Negative on the radius arms, they didn`t bend or contact the frame at all.
What I`ve bent is my lower coil cups, they both bent on the outside, now my coils have a mild arc towards the tires. This is something I kind of anticipated, I saw it on Bronco forums, after I had it mounted. The fix is pounding it flat and welding a circle of plate steel to the underside. I sure wouldn`t mind some jounce shocks up front, maybe soon...

On an unrelated note I have a couple other issues that were present before the contest.
My steering box has had a small leak from the sector shaft for a while, probably due to my efforts to take the pitman arm off. Even though I had a puller I had to pull so damn hard on the wrench that I must have tweaked it. I`ve had this come up before, and had to replace the whole box because I couldn`t find a way to have it repaired.

My manual transfer case shift mechanism is wonky. I don`t understand what I could have done in the build to mess it up but I`ll have to devote some time to figuring it out..
The problem is it goes into 4 hi with the slightest of movement on the pull and if I pull it all the way back to where it usually engaged 4hi it will actually go into neutral, so to have 4hi it actually has to sit almost at 2hi. AND it`s a biotch to get it out of 4hi and back into 2hi, I gotta ram it forward a few times, jiggle it, etc. it sucks. On the other hand when it`s in 4lo it`s tight and can`t slip out, and that`s what I ran that course in.

Anyway, if anyone knows a t-case trick to look for I`m all ears.

Woohoo!

 

[ld50]

Okay, front end bottoming; I ordered a set of two light racing Jounce shocks 1.5 inch. The 3 inch ones might have been more ideal, but too long for my application without some big frame mods. The 1.5 inch ones should be a simple install.
My maximum front end compression is 4.5 inches. At 4.5 inches three things happen almost simultaniously, (believe it or not) The track bar mount just contacts my tie rod but is stopped from further movement because the pumpkin strikes the crossmember. The shocks would also bottom out at this point or very close.
I will mount the jounce shocks so that up-travel will stop at around 4 1/4.
I won`t race the Ex again, but I want to thrash it a little without worry.

Anyway, I have to wait for those to come in so I have been hitting other issues.

First was rear bumpstops, I don`t want the rear shocks to bottom out and as far as I could tell through flexing and looking at the shock stems after hard driving, the rear shocks will bottom with only slight compression of my bumpstops. The bumpstops are said to compress two inches, so I lowered them 2 inches. Piece of cake job, just cut some square tube and drilled holes..

In theory the bumps will hit at about 3.5 inches, and fully arrest at 5.5. I don`t think my shocks have actually bottomed back there yet, but this will give me some room..

 

[ld50]

THEN, I worked on the street legal stuff. HERE, the government wants fender flares to cover tread, and rear mudflaps to half tire height -on lifted vehicles. That means this is what police look for, so I had to get some mud flaps on or risk a ticket and/or hassle.
My one wish was that my flaps be completely removable, and I have achieved that. I didn`t want to be wheeling with those ugly things on!

I bought some tractor-trailer mudflap mounts and arms. I trimmed the arms down and welded some flat bar to it, so I could bolt a generic mudflap in place. Also, I used some round stock to create a loop that would keep the flaps away from my tires.
Anyway, the arms fit in a slot in the mount, and come back out very easy.

 

[Trckmagik]

Great job on the flaps.

 

['97 V8]

ive been pulled over twice by rcmp becuase of tires...nothing they could do though being out of country plates.

But on the topic of your ex, its turned out pretty sweet. But arent you worried the mud flap will make contact with your exhuast?

 

[ld50]

Naww the flap is a good 4 inches from the exhaust, it just looks close from the camera angles. Plus, the end of the exhaust never gets hot enough to melt anything, so if it did blow back in the wind I don`t think it would be an issue.

 

[ld50]

Got my butt kicked by this shale hill. I went down to camp by the river and the next day I could not get out. I tried forwards, backwards; I even aired right down to 10psi to see if I could gain a little traction. Unfortunately after I aried down and took a run at it I heard a mighty bang and my passenger side front hub was no longer hubberizing. I think I broke it, but after that I stopped and called a friend for a tow. A friend in need is a friend indeed, THANKS Jason!

You know the really screwed up thing about this episode? I`ve been down there before with my Explorer in it`s old configuration. I couldn`t get out forwards but I backed out -And I never broke a hub before! But then again I never had all four wheels spinning so fast as I had them yesterday. Wierd that my larger tires had so much trouble, perhaps being loaded for camping is what screwed me.
I now officially with stay the hell away from shale hills -they`re not to good for tires either.

Anyway, I`m going on vacation in a couple days so I don`t know if I can tear apart that hub before I go, I am interested to see what exactly happened there.

 

[IZwack]

Loud bang at the front and the hub no longer spinning -- eeep, might be an axle shaft. But yeah that is weird that you couldnt get up that shale path.

 

[ld50]

Well I held the front end up on jackstands and spun the tires. The driver`s side engages and starts spinning the front driveshaft. The passenger side spins into the axle -I can see the u-joint spinning- but does not hook up inside the pumpkin. It does actually look like I busted the shaft. Hmmm keeping the 30 year old axles apparently wasn`t the best option
Well shucks, I can`t go ahead and get a larger spline count now, I`ll have to get some well made shafts I guess.
Good call Izwack, I don`t see it being a locker problem..

I realize afterwards that there was actually work going on alongside that shale hill -it`s a pipeline ROW- since I had been in there. That meant freshly excavated shale strewn all along the road. Kind of like trying to walk up a wheelchair ramp strewn with Dominos, nothing but flat, sharp chunks of stone.

Anyway, I might pull that axleshaft out tomorrow for a look, I`ll have to replace both of course, and depending on where it broke, I might have to open the pumpkin and check for metal shards, otherwise I could broomhandle the broken piece out from the other side.. I have a feeling it sheered off clean, right at the splines tho`
Good times

 

[IZwack]

The D44 axle shaft typically breaks 2-inches from the end-- this is where the axle shaft has the least diameter.

If you have a locker (as opposed to just spider gears), getting the axle shaft out will be a little tricky -- at least from my experience. If you're lucky, the broken axle shaft might have fallen out past the inner-seal. But chances are it has not. Originally I had thought that I could just push the broken shaft out from the other side of the carrier using something long. But the carrier's center pin doesn't allow this and the center pin can not easily be removed because of the thing ring gear (5.13). So what I ended up doing was using a broom handle (as you suggested) to push the broken axle shaft towards the carrier as much as possible. Then I removed the carrier's bearing caps and (after much prying) was able to remove the carrier with the broken shaft in it. This method of course is dependant on what type of carrier/locker setup you have because some might not have enough "play" for the axle shaft to move inwards (I have an aussie locker). Oh and I tried using a magnet but the magnet I had was a POS and didn't really do anything -- if you can find a cobalt or something magnet, there's a good chance that would work.

 

[ld50]

Aha, you are right, I can`t push it through from the other side unless I remove the carrier what was I thinkin`
I can get some rare earth magnets from work but they are so strong I don`t know if I`d get them through the axle that easy, let alone pull them out unless I epoxied one onto the end of a broom handle.. hmm.

it`s a detroit locker, i don`t know how much the shaft would enter it.

 

[Justin Klare]

I just read ALL of your thread and all I can say is "WOW"!! I myself am going to be doing a full width sas here really soon. Your thread gave me more than enough insight on what to look for and do. Thanks for the great thread. Best of luck to you with the truck.

 

[ld50]

Thanks man, just don`t do 4000rpm backwards up shale hills when you are done.

 

[Justin Klare]

haha i don't plan to. lol. i am still debating to do it myself or let a friend do the swap. i want to also swap in a 4.0 sohc motor and a m5r1 manual tranny along with the sas. so i might just get everything together that i want done and drop it off to mr. SVO.

 

[ld50]

Well I`m getting pretty handy at stripping down a D44 anyway.
I tried a magnet taped to the end of a pole to fish out the broke end, but it`s the seal that stops that idea.

Ordering my shafts now, I might as well do both sides with new, since I have it all apart again..

 

[IZwack]

Are you getting chromos?
If so, please let me know where you're getting them from 'cauz I need 'em soon too.

 

[lifeguard379]

that looks like it was cut with a saw. how hard was it to get out?

 

[ld50]

I had to take the carrier out to get it out of there, it seems to be the only way.
Izwack, I`m going for traditional replacement shafts, I think anything else is a little hard to finance now. I just hope I`m not gunna end up buying some next month anyway, I got some wheeling to do. Would suck if this breakage became a regular thing.

~
When I get the shafts back in I can finally finish up my bump-stoppage with these beauties up front, a quick look tells me they should work out awesome in the place they are going.

Light Racing Jounce shocks: