Old member first time posting. My SAS. | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Old member first time posting. My SAS.

Well I've been a member on here for a few years but have never posted. So for my first post I decided I would add my '95 to this SAS thread because I've done a couple of thing different than a lot of the others I've seen on here.

First, let me just say that I'm just an amateur and did all the fab work myself so go easy on me if there is something that you think should be changed. Second, everything has worked well. Besides already doing numerous runs also I've jumped the truck a few times now out at TDS and Lucernce Valley and everything has held up nicely.

So here it is. I used a high pinion D30 out of an '88 Cherokee but used leaf springs to keep it simple and low cost. For the leaf springs I used the main leaf from a front pack off a Wangler. I then took the rest of the front and rear leafs and made my own 7 leaf packs that keep the springs flat like they are on a Wrangler. This gives me enough room to clear 33's. I'd like to have customer packs made to give it about another 2 or 3 inches when I have the money but for now these are working well. For the rear I'm using the main and second leafs from the Explorer pack but then the rest are from an OME pack for an FJ40 with one additional leaf added. So they now have 8 thinner leafs.

Here is what I did for the front sprint mounts. The cross bar is 3 inch and the down bars are 3.5. All are .250 wall.

2.jpg


Here is how I did my shackle mount which is different than any of the others that I've seen on here. I wanted to keep the spring as level from front to rear as I could so the ride would be nice and the geometry would work well. So instead of having even longer mounts in the front I instead went through the frame for the rear and made a shackle that is 1.5 inches longer than a stock Wrangler shackle.



Here's some of it going through Crowbar.



Here's an old one of it before the SAS when it had TT and rear shackles.
 



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wow u been member since jan 2005 and this ur 1st post but here is my welcome to you
 












I am starting my SAS and I was trying to figure out the exact thing you did by using the frame to mount the rear shackle, in lieu of fabbing an offset bracket. If you could send me some detailed info on your rear shackle mounts I would greatly appreciatte it.
 












I am starting my SAS and I was trying to figure out the exact thing you did by using the frame to mount the rear shackle, in lieu of fabbing an offset bracket. If you could send me some detailed info on your rear shackle mounts I would greatly appreciatte it.

I got the stock Wrangler springs from my buddy who had installed lift springs on his Wrangler. So I just measured the distance from the front mount to the rear mount on his Wrangler which was 43 1/2" and used that on my Explorer. For the upper mount I used 1 1/4" .125" wall DOM that the Wrangler spring bushing fit into. I used a 1 1/4 whole saw to cut the whole through the frame. Then I cut the DOM to 3 1/4" and placed them through the frame. I made sure the springs were squared up before I tacked them in place. I used 3 stock rubber bushing by cutting one of them so that the bushings covered the entire inside of the DOM.

Here are some more pictures of it.



Let me know if you have any more question or want more pictures and measurements.
 






Great first post and "welcome" 4 years ago!!

And now we have another member to add to the Truckhaven regulars? :)

Not a regular. Only a couple times a year but my brother and I hit the annual event every year. We usually hit Big Bear and Lucerne Valley.
 






I like it. :thumbsup: I dig the stock wheels w/solid axle. Gives it that sleeper vibe.
 






My only suggestion is to replace the heims sometime maybe in the next few months - the 'collar' part that goes around the eye are not thick enough. I can guarantee that when you remove them, the eye will be very loose after a month of driving. In general, a heim's eye should have enough preload so that the eye will require leverage from a screwdriver in order to rotate. Those heims are more for manufacturing plants where people arent moving at 60 mph :).
 






My only suggestion is to replace the heims sometime maybe in the next few months - the 'collar' part that goes around the eye are not thick enough. I can guarantee that when you remove them, the eye will be very loose after a month of driving. In general, a heim's eye should have enough preload so that the eye will require leverage from a screwdriver in order to rotate. Those heims are more for manufacturing plants where people arent moving at 60 mph :).

What do you suggest I replace the collars with? By the way they have been on there for 5 months and 3200 miles of on and offroad driving without any issues.
 


















heim.jpg
Sorry I'm using the wrong term cauz I have no idea what its called. But its the thickness of the section around the eye (see attached bottom attached image with the green outline).

In contrast, this heim does not have a very thick cross section and therefore would be insufficient for steering:
heim_joint.jpg


In the image above, notice how the threaded section steps down to the right of the jam nut where as in the bottom image, the transition from the threaded section to the rest of the heim is minimal and is pretty much a straight line.
 






But I would still need collars to keep them from binding and I thought the collars were the issue?

Nevermind. I thought you were referring to the misalignment tabs as collars. I see what you are talking about now and I wouldn't mind picking up some QA1's.
 






I mean its just a suggestion because I also ran those cheaper heims at one end of the panhard bar and after one off roading trip to PA, they were really loose and rotating the eye around required no effort where as a high quality heim would still require a screwdriver to rotate.
 


















Thank you. I really never had anything to contribute until now.

Ahh, that's never stoped anyone before :D

Nice work on the SAS- I like the "stock" look too.

What gears are you running? Lockers?
 






Its a welded arm on the knuckle:

DSCF3200.jpg

I used a drop pitman arm and welded it to the spindle. I used .250 plate and triangulated it. I first welded the back plate closest to the tire on and then welded it on both sides all the way around. Then I added the front plate and welded just the outer edge all the way around. Then I added the end piece and welded it all the way around.

Ahh, that's never stoped anyone before :D

Nice work on the SAS- I like the "stock" look too.

What gears are you running? Lockers?

Thanks. This is my wife's favorite vehicle to drive (we also have a Suburban, a Cobra and a 69 Chevelle) so I wanted to keep the ride as nice if not better than it was with the torsion bars which I can say I accomplished. I'm running 4.56's with 33x12.5x15. In the back I just have the stock trac loc with new clutches (stock replacements, not the kevlar ones) and in the front I have an ARB air locker.
 



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