Well, here it is, finally going SAS after 2 long years of wheeling with my Explorer. Got tired of constantly needing to baby the D35 and replace hubs and such, and vowed that I would SAS before having to replace anything else up front. Now that both ball joints are going bad, my hubs are blown, and my radius arms need new bushings on my D35, I've decided that it's time. Here is my truck as she sits now:
Lets start with the logistical:
I managed to get myself in on a 1979 F150 XLT that was being parted out and scored both axles, the D44 front and 9" rear. $150 for both, including the rear leaf springs and front steering set up (of course, the guy torched the drag link and I need a new one. But oh well.) Both are complete from rotor to rotor and drum to drum, except the 9" needs a new pinion yoke (or flange, depends on what you like calling it.) This is a relatively low budget swap, I don't have thousands to pour into it, so I'm not going to be re-gearing these axles right away and I'm going to be using my existing tires on new 5x5.5 rims.
Axle Pic: (Sorry for low-light, was taken late last night. Will try to get better ones)
Suspension of choice is going to be a leaf sprung front setup, which will suit my needs/budget a whole lot more than a coil setup. I'm leaving the axles full width as well. I'm going for ease/durability/reliability with this build, and while I've got access to an entire airforce base of fabrication equipment, I'm going to be trying to adapt as many parts to this project as possible. For the rear mounts for my front leafs I'm going to try and use two front mounts for rear leafs off of an Explorer. I'm not sure if anyone tried this, but my father and I were looking at my rear leaf setup and were like... "Wait, why dont we just cut the rivets, jack two of those, and put them up front??" and it made a lot of sense. For front springs we have a set of F250 front leafs that we're going to try, and if they are too stiff we're going to modify the pack with other leaves from a ranger/explorer rear pack.
Now, the steering.
I don't have the big $$ to spend on a high steer kit, so when the time comes we're going to mount the axle up to the springs and see how the steering looks pretty much stock. If all else fails, we'll fabricate a bent drag link or I'll put on a drop pitman arm to clear my springs. I plan on running dual steering stabilizers to try and compensate for bumpsteer. If it's too nasty, I'll have to just rob someone and go for a different steering setup.
Driveshafts. Depending on how much lift I end up with (my truck is SUA right now, will end up SOA at the end) I'm most probably going to need new driveshafts. Once everything is mounted and the axles and springs are set up, the driveshafts are going to be my last concern. That way I can take some good measurements and search around some. I'm hoping to possibly use the front driveshaft from another vehicle, like an F150/250, for the front end and possibly a long bed Ranger driveshaft for the rear. But if all else fails, like with the steering, I'll have to get custom shafts made.
Essentially, I'm trying to do it 'right' without spending more than I spent on my truck on it's suspension. The axles were recently rebuilt and are in extremely good shape, they even have new brakes and drums, so I'm hoping that I don't have to put a bunch of cash into just getting them ready for the Explorer. But a proper tear down and inspection will hold the truth.
Here we go
Lets start with the logistical:
I managed to get myself in on a 1979 F150 XLT that was being parted out and scored both axles, the D44 front and 9" rear. $150 for both, including the rear leaf springs and front steering set up (of course, the guy torched the drag link and I need a new one. But oh well.) Both are complete from rotor to rotor and drum to drum, except the 9" needs a new pinion yoke (or flange, depends on what you like calling it.) This is a relatively low budget swap, I don't have thousands to pour into it, so I'm not going to be re-gearing these axles right away and I'm going to be using my existing tires on new 5x5.5 rims.
Axle Pic: (Sorry for low-light, was taken late last night. Will try to get better ones)
Suspension of choice is going to be a leaf sprung front setup, which will suit my needs/budget a whole lot more than a coil setup. I'm leaving the axles full width as well. I'm going for ease/durability/reliability with this build, and while I've got access to an entire airforce base of fabrication equipment, I'm going to be trying to adapt as many parts to this project as possible. For the rear mounts for my front leafs I'm going to try and use two front mounts for rear leafs off of an Explorer. I'm not sure if anyone tried this, but my father and I were looking at my rear leaf setup and were like... "Wait, why dont we just cut the rivets, jack two of those, and put them up front??" and it made a lot of sense. For front springs we have a set of F250 front leafs that we're going to try, and if they are too stiff we're going to modify the pack with other leaves from a ranger/explorer rear pack.
Now, the steering.
I don't have the big $$ to spend on a high steer kit, so when the time comes we're going to mount the axle up to the springs and see how the steering looks pretty much stock. If all else fails, we'll fabricate a bent drag link or I'll put on a drop pitman arm to clear my springs. I plan on running dual steering stabilizers to try and compensate for bumpsteer. If it's too nasty, I'll have to just rob someone and go for a different steering setup.
Driveshafts. Depending on how much lift I end up with (my truck is SUA right now, will end up SOA at the end) I'm most probably going to need new driveshafts. Once everything is mounted and the axles and springs are set up, the driveshafts are going to be my last concern. That way I can take some good measurements and search around some. I'm hoping to possibly use the front driveshaft from another vehicle, like an F150/250, for the front end and possibly a long bed Ranger driveshaft for the rear. But if all else fails, like with the steering, I'll have to get custom shafts made.
Essentially, I'm trying to do it 'right' without spending more than I spent on my truck on it's suspension. The axles were recently rebuilt and are in extremely good shape, they even have new brakes and drums, so I'm hoping that I don't have to put a bunch of cash into just getting them ready for the Explorer. But a proper tear down and inspection will hold the truth.
Here we go
The D44 is stripped down to the spindles, but I'm having one HELL of a time getting those *******s off. I'm going to try the spindle nut/gear puller method. The BFH didn't do the job.
