sport track dana 30 sas project

[atvfred]

Im slightly new to this forum. I used to have a 1992 ranger 4x4 prerunner with about 17" of travel all around sitting on king coilovers, and deavers in the back with king smoothbodies.

This is going to be a new style project for me. im going to take a few pages from the guys that run jeep speed.

Here is how it sits rightnow


My plans:

rear spring over with custom doetshe tech 2.0 monotube rebuildable shocks, and daystar stinger bumpstops

Front dana 30 sas swap:
diff is a Cherokee high pinion dana 30 with tj axle shafts using the larger u-joint.
Ford ranger front wheel bearing so I can reuse the factory abs
Ford ranger brake caliper, pad and rotor bolted to a modified tj steering knuckle.
The modified knuckle will also be reverse drilled for a custom chevy 1 ton high steer kit
Removal of all the factory jeep control arm mounts, and installation of ballistic fab coil mount/radius arm mount kit
custom y link radius arms with removable link on one side for flex
doetshe tech 2.0 monotube rebuildable shocks
Rubicon express 5.5" xj coils
Ballistic fab upper coil mounts, and shock towers
Daystar stinger bumpstops
ford f150 steering box

For tires and wheels I will be running 15x7 pro comp steel wheels, with 33x10.5 bfg m/t`s

I will also be custom fabbing a roof basket, front bumper, rock sliders, and rear bumper.

I think that covers it all for know.

 

[atvfred]

1

 

[atvfred]

here is a pic of my stripped dana 30 hp with the new ballistic fab coil/radius arm mounts tacked in place

a pic of the modified steering knuckle on the bottom to accept the ford caliper, pad and rotor

a pic of the assembled tj knuckle using a ford ranger wheel bearing, abs sensor, caliper, pad and rotor, along with the reverse drilled chevy 1 ton tie rod for high steer

 

[Sheepdogg]

very nice, cant wait to see more!!

 

[4pullingGM]

I'm digging it! Would love to swap all the stuff from my explorer onto a sport trac

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Nice work man. I know a lot of the ST guys are goning to be asking you a lot of questions once the word of this build gets to the ST forum section.

 

[atvfred]

Thanks guys. I have researched this subject like crazy and have not been fully satisfied with the info i have found. Seems like allot of lacking info. I will try to be as specific as i can as i complete the build

 

[newstylecustoms]

I like the knuckle mods, is the outer axle from the jeep the same spline count as the Ranger unit bearings or will you need custom outers?

Looking forward to the updates on this thread!

 

[atvfred]

the jeep outer axle has the same spline as the ranger. if I wanted to get a custom stub axle built I could run the 2000 style ranger wheel bearing and run the rugged ridge manual hubs. I will maybe leave this mod for later if I decide.

 

[atvfred]

here are some recent pictures of my dana 30 gusseting project

next up is to build the axle sleeve kit with some 2" x .25" dom tubing and plug weld them in to reinforce the axle tubes

 

[RangerX]

I'm seeing a "Sorry, this person has moved or deleted this picture. Photoshop" for all the pics you posted today. Maybe it's just me that can't see them?

 

[Sheepdogg]

I'm seeing a "Sorry, this person has moved or deleted this picture. Photoshop" for all the pics you posted today. Maybe it's just me that can't see them?

im seeing it also

 

[atvfred]

pictures are back up. I moved them into another folder in my photobucket account and did not realize that the link changes as well

 

[newstylecustoms]

What process did you use to weld to the inner Cs, I was under the impression that it is difficult to get a strong weld on those.

 

[OffTrac]

Subscribing. Finally another ST solid axle project that doesn't appear an eventual failure due to poor planning. I don't think I could handle another thread ending with a disappearing member and no resolution. Watching with interest!

 

[atvfred]

Im not an avid welder and my knowledge is limited on terms but I went to a buddies house to weld the c gussets and he suggested that I use his double shielded mig welder. by double shield I mean his welder has flux core wire and c-15 gas, so the weld gets double shielded from air and impurities as the weld gets laid down. he said this is one of the best methods for welding to cast steel.

 

[newstylecustoms]

Good to know, I do have some flux core laying around. I will have to give that a try on some old parts.

Thanks

 

[atvfred]

I started mounting my ARB compressor today. compressor will be mounted behind the rear seat. and will mainly be used for airing up tires to start with

I also got my switch mounted in the center console. I left enough room to mount 3 other similar switches. possible air lockers in the future.

you can also see that I did the double fog light switch mod already.

 

[OffTrac]

You're mods are going to be clean too? I like where this going.

 

[atvfred]

I built a flashlight mount the other day for my Smittybilt Led unit. I was bored waiting for some more sas parts to show up. The mount is a piece of tube cut in half with some canopy tape for a soft cradle and then i welded a couple pieces of flatbar on it and then bolted it through my center console by my leg. A piece of velcro holds the flashlight in the mount.
You can also see my second power port in front of it that i received from a wrecked explorer.