MyNameIsAric's 98 FULL width SAS

I will keep this first post updated with my progress so people don't have to weed through all the boring crap associated with these buildup threads.
So far I have:

Front axle:
Dana 60 35 spline kingpin high pinion from a 79 f-250/350
detroit locker
dedenbear knuckles
5.38 gears
alloy usa shafts
longfield u-joints
warn hubs (should have went with drive flanges)
high steer arms with full hydraulic steering

Steering:
2x8 double ended cylinder from surpluscenter.com
steering valve out of an old forklift
misc. hoses and fittings from surpluscenter.com

Rear axle:
Dana 60 30 spline low pinion from a 79 f-250/350 (should have went with a 14 bolt)
full spool
5.38 gears
Disk brake conversion

Tires/wheels:
16.5" hummer h1 8 bolt double beadlocks recentered with custom stazworks centers.
36x12.50 wrangler rt II 6 ply military bias tires(sucky but cheap)

Things I need still:
new rims and tires and hopefully she wont shake so bad at 60mph.


Got axles

Got a new truck so i can dismantle the explorer and tow it around when i'm done.
Welded Diff covers

Rear axle almost done

Front axle almost done

Rear axle under truck

Welding up rear driveshaft (yes, it is square)

Machined parts for the upper control arms

Made coil buckets

Made lower control links

Mocking up Front axle and welded up hydraulic ram mount.

Got myself a forklift orbital for my hydraulic steering

welded on lower control arm mounts

Dropped the front IFS

Sent it to the scrap yard

IFS gone

Front axle starting to go in.

off jackstands

Took out the A/C system and cruise control. Also removed ABS brake controller, but I ended up having to put it back in later for the speedo to work.

Mounted new/slightly larger fluid reservoir for the hydro system.

Mounted the stock power steering cooler for the hydro system

Got this mounted in the engine bay where the A/C junk used to be

Had to chop down this thing first though.

Made some tie rods out of 100% grade A beef.

Installed hydraulic ram and tie rods.

View of the filter, and you can see the high pressure hose running from the pump down to the steering valve.

This is how i connected the stock steering wheel to the steering valve. 3/8" swivel

Better view of the steering valve.

Poor planning caused track bar issues

Made a new track bar bracket

Cut off first track bar bracket

Plated for good measure

Welded on new track bar bracket. Still had minor interference so i move the axle forward another 1/2"
Also started putting on shocks.

Tacked a tone ring to the rear d60 carrier

Reinstalled tone ring sensor so i can get speedometer back

blah blah blah tidied things up and poof.... an explorer that can only go 55mph now. If you have questions, just ask or PM me.

 

[mynameisaric]

well i have shock towers and new coil buckets. going to try and do the coil buckets thursday/friday after work. and the shock towers this weekend. but in all reality 24/25th isnt going to happen. i need driveshafts too. these square things were a bad idea. too much slop. i'm going to keep it for a spare, but i cant use it full time.

 

[RFR2212]

Weaksauce! Get it done. I think theres a run to the cliffs in October. It's supposed to be a noob run, so it may be good for a shakedown run.

 

[mynameisaric]

that sounds better

 

[mynameisaric]

Moved the trac bar.

Started by throwing some tinfoil over all the rubber lines to protect them from flying plasma cutter slag.

Cut the old one off.

Cleaned up the frame.

Plated the frame for good measure

And apparently I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.....
IMG_NO_FILE_/IMG

Fixed my coils. Used the old buckets. drilled a half inch hole in the center and used the retainers to clamp in place. My truck doesnt squeak when i bounce it in the driveway. When i drive it around the block i can hear all the other noises i need to fix.

Bought a winch for $400
Ramsey RE12000
Way overkill, slow line speed, but supposed to be bullet proof. Needs a little work though, and a cable.

The guy threw in his winch mount/brush guard for his old excursion. So i'm going to sell this and bring down the overall purchase price of the winch.

 

[RFR2212]

Possible wheelin trip on Halloween weekend. There's your next deadline

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Nice Welds!!!

 

[mynameisaric]

thanks grnmachine! Measured for shocks this weekend. just ordered 4 es9000 shocks last night. just need to call around for driveshaft shops for a real rear driveshaft.

 

[GRNMACHINE]

The ES9000 shocks have been decent especially for the money. They were Super Cheap. Was told a driveshaft place in Alsip area did decent work-never ever used them though.

 

[RFR2212]

Suburban driveline in Villa Park does excellent work. They're on North Ave only a few miles easy of 355

 

[mynameisaric]

thanks guys, when i have the specs of what i want, i'll give those places a call

 

[RFR2212]

Too bad you couldn't have had this together. I flopped the jeep!

 

[mynameisaric]

well a flop is better than a flip. how bad is your rig?

AND, i was working on it tonight. buttoned up a few small things. Had to replace the return line rubber hose. The crap i got from o'reilley's was swelling up and starting to split. so i bought a whole spool of what i thought was transmission hose (turned out to be fuel line hose, so we'll see how this stuff works out) from autozone and replaced the line. I have all my measurements for where i need the shock towers to be and such, so hopefully i'll have shocks this weekend if i can find some time.

 

[RFR2212]

It was easy.... Only some scratches in glass and dented a shock body from the brake line caliper bolt. Oh well. It'll last. I'm pretty sure I'm done wheelin for the year. I forgot to get my brakeline part numbers to order new ones and it's in WI. Oh well..

 

[mynameisaric]

well i hope mines done by winter! I'm just being ridiculous if its not done in the spring. so we'll go wheeling for sure in the spring.

 

[mynameisaric]

1 of 4

 

[mynameisaric]

2 of 4

Hopefully it doesnt rub since i out-boarded them.....

Almost got the other front shock done, but i need lower tabs... I messed up on the quantity for some reason... i need to stop buying things at 3 am....

 

[rookieshooter]

Coming along very nice. I think the shocks wll do just fine.

 

[mynameisaric]

Thanks Rookie!

3 of 4

I still have the factory shock on the other rear corner.... so technically i have shocks on all 4 corners now

 

[mynameisaric]

Slap one of these on

Put this in the diff cover (on a side note, the giant hole in the top for the sensor makes a very convenient filling location when you're trying to pour in 20 degree 80w90)

Still need to make my abs unit look like the thing circled in red and hope for the best.....

 

[mynameisaric]

hooked the ABS controller back up and drove it down the street.... and..... my speedo works!

However, my hydraulic steering valve leaks now. Planned on going off road this weekend, but with the leak, there was no way i'd be able to do anything without pissing Mercon V all over the trails, and having to refill the reservoir every 10 minutes. Time to research where to get parts at for these things....