Solid axle ?'s

[A91EBexplorer4x4]

Any more pics from anyone else on the solid axle?

 

[Sandy]

I've been considering that move.

tiessen,
How did you perform the cutting, what did you cut out and where did you weld in the flat stock.

I am at the point in my Navajo Project where I want to replace the Ford bulky cross member with a 2x4", 1/4" walled box tubing.
Ssssoooo, I was think, (wood burning), If I weld on a couple pieces of flat stock across the frame to hold it in place, then bolt in the motor mounts and cut the portion of the cross member between the motor mounts. Weld in flat stock or a piece of 90-degree stock to close up the remaining part of the cross member. Create another cross member out of box tubing, at least 6 inches closer to the motor, and make it removable, bolt it in place and wam bam you have it... probably not that easy.

What do you or anyone else think?

 

[tiessen]

Well I did nothing quite so fancy. I cut the bottom of the crossmember flat and welded some 1/4" or 3/8" flat bar to the bottom. It's still very solid.

Pictures....one of these days.

 

[tdavis]

Sorry to take so long to reply..

Sandy: Trackbar mount - the second one is mucho better than the first one. It's made out of 2x4x3/8" thick square tube. It isn't going anywhere soon.

As for the cross member, with 7.75" of lift in the front, I've only tapped the d44 housing into that cross member. And when we looked at it, we figured we could heat it up and bend it out of the way (it was about a 1/2" wide place).

So cutting, ripping, and building a whole new crossmember I believe isn't totally warranted (unless your into those type of things..)

rockRanger - you still owe me the pics of it. From I what remember, all I could see was dirt, dirt, and more dirt.

 

[Sandy]

tdavis,

Tnx for the info about the crossmember.
I will only be running about 4 to 5 inches of lift (more to the 4 inch side) and the few I have seen with 5 inches of lift hit so that is what started me thinking about the mods.

Here in Massachusetts the lift laws are starting to become a problem. Most of the time the law inforcement does nothing, then all of a sudden they get a hair accross their axx and bam they're all over us. Lifts of moderate size seen to have no problem but anything over 4 or 5 inch are marked for trouble.

How do you guys handle the lift laws in your area ?

 

[rpenner54]

Originally posted by Sandy

How do you guys handle the lift laws in your area ?

There is only one here in Colorado, and it says something like the headlights can't be over 55 inches off the ground or something like that.

I think your doing the right thing going for less lift. You need less lift and lots of drooop and big tires. Of course that means Mr. Sawzall comes out to play.

 

[tiessen]

Ya, I'm running 3.5" James Duff coils for an early Bronco, which gives me about 5.5-6" of lift, about the same as when my Stupidlift coils had settled. I moved the axle forward an inch when I did the swap, giving a bit more room for tires. I'm planning to go 35's with only minor trimming....big tires, lower center of gravity...better for the rocks up here.

Sandy - an EB axle shouldn't be as bad as my high pinion, but my crossmember was really in the way!

Cheers
Dale

 

[tdavis]

I went with almost 8" of lift, because I had cut away the front fenders, and pounded the daylights out of the rear fenders just to get 35's in there.

The tires was rubbing at 5.5" of lift, and nothing, nada at 8" of lift. You can see that in some of the pics, when I crossed it up. Everything stuffed really nice!

Of course, if your staying low (ie, around 5-6" of lift), you will need to modify the crossmember. Once you go over 7.5", no major mods are really needed.

 

[RockRanger]

Tom The pictures are sitting in my truck in the envelope ready to mail. I swear I will go to the post office and mail them out today. I keep forgetting to drop them off.

Matt

 

[tac0meat]

from the looks of yalls solid axle swaps i would think there would be alot of bumpsteer. anybody had any problems with it?

 

[tdavis]

None. I get more wandering from the track bar bushings being shot than bump steer.

Easy way to figure out if your going to have/prevent bump steer:

Like I've said before, draw two lines. First line from the trackbar mount on the frame bolt, to the trackbar mount on the axle bolt. Second line, from the pitman arm, to where the draglink connects. The closer these two lines are to parallel, the less bump steer you have.

 

[HIX]

Did we ever find out the exact amount to cut down the passenger side of the axle housing to make it the same width as the d44 out of the 76-77 bronco axle? I am not concerned about the axle shafts...more w/ making the steering work.

 

[tiessen]

Full size axles are 6" longer on passenger side and 3/8" longer on drivers side. Check out Warn's webpage for axleshaft measurements.

Cheers
Dale

 

[Sandy]

Consider leaving the drivers side as is, 3/8 of an inch is not much and the axles will be available any where.
You will only need a special axle for the passenger side.

Just a little smoke.

 

[tiessen]

Exactly, leave the drivers side 3/8" longer and use stock axle shafts. Cut the passenger side 6" and use any of the manufacturers (Warn, etc) HD inner shaft for an EB.

 

[HIX]

6 inches eh? Cool. I sent the check off for my axle and have an appointment for the narrowing of the housing and the shaft. Now all I have to do is figure out the steering and learn to set up gears.

 

[tiessen]

Steering was super simple for me. I used the factory Ford steering for the 79 Bronco I got the axle from. I cut and re-threading the drivers side tie rod end to width and then cut and threaded my draglink to accept the tie rod adjustment sleeve from the drivers side of my Dana 35. I then used the tie rod from the Dana 35 to link with my pitman arm. No modification of pitman arm necessary.

Cheers
Dale

 

[HIX]

Cnay you shoot me some pics of this?

I am starting the conversion on payday...next friday. I hope to have it done two weeks after that.

 

[Sandy]

Gear Setup !

When setting up the gears:
The first thing is when taking out the old differential keep the shims from each side and the pinion separate from each other and mark for location. Mic out each set and start from there replacing with new shims.

This at least gives you a starting point.

Good Luck on the gear set up.

 

[expobronc]

cost factors

okay what pros and cons are there between using a 76-77 EB front D44??

They arent easy to come by, i have a 76 i know, but they still seem to be the cheaper route between cutting the full size down

i really dont wheel that hard so a HP is not nessacary
i just want a little lift 5 or so inches.

will the D44 basically bolt under my expo i.e. coil cup location, radius arm "tabs" in relation to frame where RA brackets will mount? etc.

i wanna get this done before winter and i have a couple of bites on D44 axles. tell me what you think

on low cost light wheeling will the 76-77 EB axle fit the bill? will it require anyother mods to fit under the expo?

can i really use the f-150 rear drums, from backing plates out, to fit the expo? and what year f-150?
can i steal the f-150 axleshafts and have them cut and resplined?? at $65x2, seems cheaper than $300 for a new set, and probably more strength than i will EVER need.

Sorry about the novel guys and your wisdom is GREATLY appreciated!!