SAS Question?

[Exporer91]

I have resonantly purchased a mint '97 Ford Explorer XL for $850 safetied, with only 153KM's. Got to love having an uncle who is the top salesman at a ford dealer ship. I’m looking at lifting it to run 33’s and maybe 35’s to be a daily drive with some weekend fun. Without spending $2000 on a 4” lift from Superlift, when it’s not difficult to do SAS, a SOA and get more lift and better flex.

I have been doing a lot of searching about SAS, and first, I'm not all that into heavy wheeling like rock crawling or wall climbing, just light duty playing around, so a stock axle will be plenty strong for me. Just want to go further down the trail with more ground clearance. What axle would be the best subject for my upgrade? I see a lot of EB D44, and a few D30's from different years of Jeeps. I would also like to keep the ABS if possible (You know how wife’s are lol she already wrote her car off and blamed it in no ABS), if not oh well and coil springs, leaf's if necessary. I know if I go with the D30 I could keep the same bolt pattern. But nothing and adapter in the rear couldn’t fix.

Also, for those have done SAS, who have cut out the IFS, are you guys putting any type of cross member back in? And are you guys running the stock drive shaft, a first get, or something else?

 

[Electrohacker]

I have been in the planning stage of a SAS for the past 2 or 3 years (budget didnt allow, and still doesnt)

I found a nice Dana 44 off a 85 jeep grand wagoneer and plan on useing that.

I plan on useing it the same as you have described, only it wont be a DD so much as a "when I want to drive it". my estimation would be 65-35 on-off road.

first, plan on spending about 1500-3000, if you can get away with less then bank it for repairs down the road. remember that whenever you tear into a project you're going to run into things you didnt know were broke, like on my 4406 swap I'm doing, I found a trans mount and gas tank strap that needed fixing and a lot of rust I plan on cleaning up.

also, the D30's had ABS in some models, so it might be possible to hack these sensors into the explorer ABS. the Dana 44 Solid Axle never has suck features, but the 93-96 bronco had the same ABS system as the explorer and it has Dana 44 TTB, from which the hubs and knuckles are a DIRECT FIT. I hope to hack these into the explorer ABS system and have fitted my explorer with an ABS Disable switch for offroading much like the Bronco owners do.

parts are going to be your headache. the second gen explorer was rack and pinion, so you need to swap in a more traditional steering box. my plan is to TRY a bronco steering setup as it was designed to turn that big axle. other have tried other boxes.

suspension is another point. you will find that the leaf spring setup is popular as it is easy to do since it has no real big geometry challenges, but in my opinion it rides like a brick (haven driven a 2000 F250 super duty for work). Since my truck will be seeing a lot of time on the street, I need a softer setup based on coils. there are several routes here, and they can get confusing... best to do your own homework on this.

I lucked out in having built several customized and from scratch RC trucks based on leaf and 4 link suspensions so I have a rough idea on how that all works



there is a lot to consider and you have to make your own choices about where this type of project will lead... and that's the fun!



I forgot to mention, you will probably need different drive shafts if you lift it over 2" which you will to fit 35's

 

[Exporer91]

but the 93-96 bronco had the same ABS system as the explorer and it has Dana 44 TTB, from which the hubs and knuckles are a DIRECT FIT.

So Your saying that the hubs, and knuckles from and 93-96 will directly fit a 78-79 Bronco dana 44?

 

[Electrohacker]

So Your saying that the hubs, and knuckles from and 93-96 will directly fit a 78-79 Bronco dana 44?

should

on my axle I'm keeping the jeep knuckles so I had to find some GM spindles to adapt... so yes I have a big 3 hybrid axle, lol

ALSO the ABS tone rings SHOULD fit ANY dana 44 hub, the sensor mounting then becomes the fun part