Solid Axle With Leafs

[donavon]

Dear Readers;

I was wondering if anybody knows of a solid dana 44 to put under my 91' explorer. I want to convert it to leaf springs on top of the axle. I saw one in salt lake city Utah but I couldn't keep up with him to ask him any questions. Any help would be appreciated. If your in the salt lake area drop me an Email and we can hit the trails.

donavondstrain@hotmail.com

Thanks Donavon Strain
Hope to see you all in moab Utah with my new solid axle.

 

[RFR2212]

I'm kinda curious, but why leafs? I thought Coils were flexier? Or is that incorrect....Also, I believe the Moab run is full for 2001....
Pete

 

[riffman]

the idea of leafs has been batted around a bit. A fella on here named Oknut has done a leaf spring conversion w\ a dana 44 up front. I was chewing on the idea for a while, and decided, that since we already have coils, then it would just be easier to stick with them, ya know what i mean? im not gonna tell you that coils or leafs are better one way or anohter, cause they both have their advantages, and disadvantages. Anything can be done...it just depends on how much work and $$ you want to put into it.

but either way, let us know what you decide!! if you go leafs, id like to watch your progress!! Good Luck!

 

[J91FORD]

i was thinking about doing this in the near future. Very near. I think leafs would be easier. Just have to figure out how the steering will be done.

but i guess if ou went with springs it would be easier to do the steering. but on tthe other hand you would have to weld up spring pearches and fabricate upper and lower control arms.

Any input would be great

 

[jim love]

Originally posted by J91FORD
i was thinking about doing this in the near future. Very near. I think leafs would be easier. Just have to figure out how the steering will be done.

but i guess if ou went with springs it would be easier to do the steering. but on tthe other hand you would have to weld up spring pearches and fabricate upper and lower control arms.

Any input would be great

I am currently doing a dana 44 up front If you measure the coil mounts on top of the dana 44 they should be around 36-37 inches center to center.And if you measure the the same thing on your current axel it will be around 35 inches.So all you really have to do is move the spring buckets on the explorer out about 3/4 of an inch on each side.This can be done easy and safe with a peice of plate and some grade 5 bolts.As for the radious arms remove the stock brackets from the fram and use the mounting brackets from the orignal truck you got the axel from and mount them back farther back on the frame.As for the steering it is very easy use the same tie rod on the 44 that it came with and have a drag link made with a couple of hime joints and some heavy round stock.You can have this made at any race shop.

 

[J91FORD]

what truck did u take the dana 44 out of? Do you have Pictures? thanks

 

[donavon]

Originally posted by J91FORD
what truck did u take the dana 44 out of? Do you have Pictures? thanks

I havn't decided wich 44 to use. That is some of the info I'm looking for. As for the moab trip I will still be down there in that time frame with some buddies of mine. We go down there about once every 2 monthes. I chose to do leafs rather than coils because I have A 4in. lift now plus the back shackled 11/4in. the front has 1in. spacers and skyjacker 6in. coils. I still have neg. camber and the front end sits lower.

 

[jim love]

Originally posted by donavon

Originally posted by J91FORD
what truck did u take the dana 44 out of? Do you have Pictures? thanks

I havn't decided wich 44 to use. That is some of the info I'm looking for. As for the moab trip I will still be down there in that time frame with some buddies of mine. We go down there about once every 2 monthes. I chose to do leafs rather than coils because I have A 4in. lift now plus the back shackled 11/4in. the front has 1in. spacers and skyjacker 6in. coils. I still have neg. camber and the front end sits lower.

the solid axel am using came from a ford f-250.But the ideal axel is out of a 76-77 bronco it does not require to be cut down like the one I am using.

 

[tiessen]

Dana 44 out of an F250 are obviously full width, but they are also thicker axle housings and setup for leafs. Full width axles from a 78-79 Bronco or older F150 are setup for coils.

EB Dana 44, even 76-77, have smaller 260 ujoints instead of 297x on the full width Dana44 or even your stock Dana35. The full width 44's are also reverse cut (read stronger than EB Dana 44) and high pinion (good for driveshafts).

Cutting down an axle housing is simple, relatively, and you can either cut the inner R side axle (see Moser engineering or like) or simply buy an inner R side HD axle for a EB Dana 44 (297x ujoint).

Leafs can get great flex but I think the simple coil front ends are great too. My stock Dana 44 (cut down 79 Bronco) has great flex with the EB coils from James Duff I'm using. If you want extreme flex, then a wristed radius arm will give you 17+ inches.

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers

Dale

 

[jim love]

give me the low down on this wristed radious arm!!!

 

[Sandy]

Been a while since I have been on here !
Rick's vehicle is great, wonder where the pictures are ?
I am doing a Dana 44 front / 9" rear setup in my '92 Navajo.
Dana 44 is from a '74 Early Bronco (EB), Same width. The 9" is out of a '79 Truck and has been cut down.
I changed the coil spring buckets on the Navajo to the EB type because the EB coils are larger in dia. The Dana is already setup for the EB coils so it was the easiest way. The shock mounts will be either the Duff's hoops or the F250 type.
Radius arms are stock EB for now but the new Duff units look good and will increase the turning radius of the vehicle.
The track bar has not been hooked up yet but it is in the works. I need to put the 5.0L in place first to determine the correct height of the vehicle.

The 9" is a bolt in with new spring perches.

My $0.02...

 

[tiessen]

Wristed radius arms, its an Early Bronco thing. Do a search on Google for 'wristed radius arm' and you'll get plenty of info. The short story is, a wristed radius arm is a radius arm with a pivot point close to the axle. On early Ford solid axles, the limiting factor in articulation is that the axle binds rotation (think about that for awhile). A wristed arm allow the axle to rotate while moving through its range of motion.

Cheers
Dale

 

[Sandy]

Chk out Duff's for a trick radius arm.
There are other manufactures working on hiem jointed and johnny jointed models. If you can wait to buy them it might be worth the wait.