nssj2's SAS 5.0 Build

Here goes nothing. Time to get rid of the IFS and go soild. Just picked up the Dana 44 yesterday, so I guess I'm allowed to start my thread. The planning thread is here. I'm hoping to have this wrapped up in a month or so, and I'm sorry in advance for the newbie questions lol.

So this is what's going down.
97 Mountaineer 5.0 w/ 4406

Front:
79 HP Dana 44 FW, 4.56 gears, Superior chrome moly axles and soild ujoints, warn premium hubs, tbird calipers
Wild Horses 12" Extended radius arms, 4* bushings (need 7*)
6" Deaver Coils
12" travel procomp 9000 shocks
93 Toyota IFS Steering box
79 Bronco tie rods
Track bar from BC broncos
2010 Jeep Wrangler drag link
mystery pitman arm
94 aerostar steering intermediate shaft, lengthened 4"

Rear:
94 Ford 8.8, 4.56, aussie locked
SOA
4" superlift springs
explorer disc brakes
87 jeep cj7 rotors


Tires: 35x12.5 Goodyear MTR's
Wheels: American racing black classic
And a couple pics, of course.

Stay tuned!

 

[nssj2]

That's what I was thinking. It's a little lower than ride height (the spring bracket distance is 17", and the spring overall is 26"), but the pinion is parallel with the radius arms. So I would have to go to 7* bushing to get the angle up, right?

And no ideas on what power steering fluid to use?

 

[nssj2]

ok well damn. my track bar is back ordered. I need to know this ASAP so I can form a new plan. Can I flatbed tow this rig with no track bar or sway bar??

And I found out dex/merc will work fine for the steering system.

 

[Cable]

I might be interested in your old superlift parts. PM sent.

 

[nssj2]

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you........

Notice the custom quick disconnect track bar

A bit wider than stock....

Just need a drag link and I'll be rolling out the door. Hells yeah.

Now time to get in on a uhaul, move, and finish the rear. Colorado colors run will be the break in period lol.

 

[r6bikerdave]

what did you use for a steering shaft? and steering lines/hoses? thanks!

 

[r6bikerdave]

looks sweet fyi

 

[nssj2]

son of a $%#%. Tried to bleed the brakes down and the friggen banjo bolt on the front drivers side just pops out. The threads in the casting were junk. Anyone else had bad luck with o'riley remaned calipers?

To do list-
change caliper and bleed brakes again (monday)
drag link (tuesday)
track bar (friday)
have a beer (day ending with "y")

r6bikerdave-thanks! the steering intermediate shaft is started on a early 90's aerostar. tierods are going to remain 1/2 ton ford until I have time to ream the knuckles out for chevy 3/4 ton TREs. The drag link is custom from a shop in town. It will be adjustable to the point of being able to run the 3/4 ton linkage later on. The track bar is from BC broncos, and was the only adjustable bar with a heim.

 

[r6bikerdave]

what about the power steering lines? custom made?

 

[nssj2]

Nope. The pressure line is an OEM replacement, and the return on the gear is from a 99 SOHC explorer, and will go to a cooler, a filter, and then the reservoir all with bulk 3/8" line.

 

[Turdle]

Jim you have made great progress. I don't know of many coil sprung v8 solid axle swaps.

Definitely a leap for mankind

 

[nssj2]

Help!

Thanks Jon!

I have a bit of a 911 issue. Well, 2. The first is I can't seem to stop the banjo bolts on the front calipers from leaking. is there some trick I'm missing? I even tried stacking 2 crush washers to ensure the block was off the caliper. The hoses are from a '72 Dodge, 7/16 x 24 banjo bolts to connect the 79 Tbird calipers.

The second is steering. When I have the truck in the air it turns fine. When I put it on the ground, the whole damn truck moves, but the wheels don't while the vehicle is stationary. Mind you, I don't have a swaybar and my track bar is a ratchet strap until tomorrow. Did I screw up or is this normal? I only turned it about 1/4 to 1/2 of a turn, as I didn't want to go further and send my truck off its springs lol.

I have until tomorrow to fix this or no joke, I have to pay a tow truck to move it instead of a buddy trailer it. I don't particularly have any money left for a tow truck. I really need some input, and thanks in advance.

 

[Turdle]

Are you using copper or aluminum washers? should be copper

one behind the bolt head, one between banjo and caliper-
rotate the banjo a bit back and forth while tightening them in--

only one washer on each surface.


Without a trac bar to hold the axle the truck will move side to side before you see the tires turn. I think if there was air in the lines this would add some shakes to the steering

 

[IZwack]

I was going to mention this earlier but I thought it was obvious and I assumed that ratchet strap was going to be replaced before moving : - you have to have a panhard bar on or else the truck could flop over ('fall off' of a spring if a retainer pops).

 

[nssj2]

The ones I received with the banjo bolts were aluminum. I tried copper on one side aluminum on the other. The copper ones held better, but still a tiny leak. The problem is the indent in the caliper where the washer sits is damn near a flush surface with the washer in it, so I'm thinking that the hose isn't seating 100%. The tbird calipers are designed for a hose connection, not a banjo bolt/block. But I'll try some re-torquing in the am.

The truck itsn't shaking, the body literally pushes itself opposite of the direction I'm turning. But only on the ground.

About that panhard bar, I put a pic of the one I'm getting a few posts ago. I just have to mount it inboard now since the pitman arm just hits the bracket. Luckily its adjustable lol. So that should solve the steering issue?

 

[james t]

Yes, it will solve the steering issue. If you ran another ratchet strap from the other side to form a "X" it wont move much. This way you can also move the front of the truck over the axle left to right depending on what strap you tighten to get it centered.

Right now the steering box is pushing/pulling the top half of the truck across the springs. Its normal.

 

[nssj2]

Well she survived a trailer ride, and the maneuvering to get on the trailer. With the hubs unlocked it has the turning radius of my vdub, which is an awesome improvement. Now then, on to the rear.

Axle is being regeared and will be installed later this week. Then im.... done? SWEET.


The f150 axle I got had an lsd. Or whatever has those "s" clips to hold in the spider gears. Will my aussie locker work in that carrier? Their site says it should, but I'm curious if anyone else has put one in their lsd explorer. Also, I'm coming up with 10* on my pinon angle for the new perches, does this sound right?

 

[r6bikerdave]

so my brother and I are in the middle of his SAS, suspension is mostly done and we are working on the steering now. We are using a Toyota IFS box and he got a early 90's aerostar steering shaft but neither end seems correct to work with the toyota box or the upper part of the explorer shaft.....what gives???

 

[nssj2]

so my brother and I are in the middle of his SAS, suspension is mostly done and we are working on the steering now. We are using a Toyota IFS box and he got a early 90's aerostar steering shaft but neither end seems correct to work with the toyota box or the upper part of the explorer shaft.....what gives???

The end that fits the box has the same spline count but a different design, so I had to rock it back and forth a bit to fit all the way on. The upper part took some dremel work to make it fit. The length of the connection was fine, but it had to be widened about .002 of an inch. I also had to weld on 4" of material onto the slip yolk to have it fit and still utilize the slip joint. It seems like a bit of trouble, but the double u joint has no chance of binding at the angles I have, which was my main concern.

 

[crazyflights]

Anymore pics??

 

[nssj2]

Well I can't get a good picture of the work in the garage, but here she is after the flatbed ride