BigBlueBrick
Active Member
- Joined
- April 11, 2020
- Messages
- 51
- Reaction score
- 65
- City, State
- Los Angeles, CA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1998 Ford Explorer XLT
Lately, I've been doing some pretty heavy research on the different ways people have done their SAS on their 2nd gens as I prepare to start buying parts to do my own. As of now, my plan is a D44 out of a Grand Wagoneer which I will be mounting (hopefully) with CS042r (OME 36) Old Man Emu leaf springs with a SOA using stock springs in the rear. This swap is still a ways away, so I plan to put those OME springs on the rear with a TT up front for the time being. This site has been awesome in terms of the variety of the swaps and different solutions everyone has come up with, but I noticed that everyone seems to ditch the ABS. This got me thinking, and I wanted to run my theories past everyone on the forum.
I figured that the best place to start looking was Ford trucks of the same era due to potential identical parts/systems. Exploring this, I found that the 90s Broncos came equipped with "4WABS" and since they came Dana 44s (albeit TTB), I started thinking there might be a way to make this work. I assume that D44 knuckles are interchangeable, as I imagine that the ball joint placement is identical, and allow the installation of the rest of the bronco hub and brake assemblies. Perhaps this arrangement would complicate the axle shafts by forcing me to use a wagoneer inner, bronco outer, and maybe even a conversion u joint to keep the geometry happy up in the front, but I don't see that as a huge sacrifice. After doing some digging on this, I found that the 1991 - 1996 bronco spindles do have provisions for the abs sensor on both corners (yay), but the tone ring looks to be more like a plastic fan than a gear. This seems to be odd compared to what I've seen other tone rings look like, but I was unable to find a picture of an Explorer tone ring as it's inside the hub. I figured if these two systems, being only a few years apart, could be very similar. Even if the tooth counts are off, the Explorer one could still work on the Bronco hub if the inner diameters are the same or made to be that way, which would work perfectly as I'd be retaining the explorer sensors. Even still, I'm sure there's a tone ring out there that could be made to work based on its tooth count and inner diameter. Again, I still do not know what an explorer's tone ring looks like, but when I get around to my SAS I want to try to retain the ABS. What do you guys think? If there's any info on this I missed somewhere in the forum or in the SAS registry please let me know!
TTB Info Overload
Oreilly's shows the tone ring on the back of their assembly (2nd photo)
I figured that the best place to start looking was Ford trucks of the same era due to potential identical parts/systems. Exploring this, I found that the 90s Broncos came equipped with "4WABS" and since they came Dana 44s (albeit TTB), I started thinking there might be a way to make this work. I assume that D44 knuckles are interchangeable, as I imagine that the ball joint placement is identical, and allow the installation of the rest of the bronco hub and brake assemblies. Perhaps this arrangement would complicate the axle shafts by forcing me to use a wagoneer inner, bronco outer, and maybe even a conversion u joint to keep the geometry happy up in the front, but I don't see that as a huge sacrifice. After doing some digging on this, I found that the 1991 - 1996 bronco spindles do have provisions for the abs sensor on both corners (yay), but the tone ring looks to be more like a plastic fan than a gear. This seems to be odd compared to what I've seen other tone rings look like, but I was unable to find a picture of an Explorer tone ring as it's inside the hub. I figured if these two systems, being only a few years apart, could be very similar. Even if the tooth counts are off, the Explorer one could still work on the Bronco hub if the inner diameters are the same or made to be that way, which would work perfectly as I'd be retaining the explorer sensors. Even still, I'm sure there's a tone ring out there that could be made to work based on its tooth count and inner diameter. Again, I still do not know what an explorer's tone ring looks like, but when I get around to my SAS I want to try to retain the ABS. What do you guys think? If there's any info on this I missed somewhere in the forum or in the SAS registry please let me know!
TTB Info Overload
Dana 44 & Dana 44HD TTB Front Axles - Blue Oval Trucks
In 1980 the Bronco went from a straight Dana 44 front axle to what Ford calls the Twin Traction Beam front suspension. The TTB system is Ford’s 1980-1996 version of an independent front suspension. Mechanically, the TTB axle is similar … Continued
www.blueovaltrucks.com
Oreilly's shows the tone ring on the back of their assembly (2nd photo)
