sport track dana 30 sas project

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.

 

[01STrunner]

I really like how clean your build is. Much more sophisticated than my SOA leaf springs on all 4 corners with a LP44 up front. I'd hoped to document more than I did with my SAS but I slacked off on that aspect. I know this thread will be useful to the next wave of SAS's. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product and if you have any questions feel free to shoot me a PM and I'll try to answer it as best I can.

 

[explorinitup]

very cool!!!! i have never seen the ranger brakes mod on the dana 30!! :notworthy

 

[atvfred]

I received my DOM order today. 2" x .25" wall. Cut it to length and ran it on the lathe to build my tube sleeves. I threw the sleeves in the freezer to shrink them. After I drilled what seemed to be a million 9/16" holes in the housing I preheated it with a rosebud on the torch and dropped the sleeves in then proceeded to start welding them in. They fit perfect and turned out great. Hope you guys enjoy.

 

[atvfred]

started building my y-link today. 2"x.25 dom for lower link, 1.5"x.25" dom for upper link. Im going to try using a trail gear creeper joint for the frame side of the link. hopefully it has enough articulation. This stuff looks so heavy duty. not sure I will ever bend or break this setup.

 

[Sheepdogg]

Looking good

 

[atvfred]

 

[atvfred]

I still have to cut the upper part of my axle bracket off as it sits to high for frame clearance when bottomed out.

The drivers side link will have a pin that I can pull when offroad or leave it in when im on highway or highspeed offroad

 

[01STrunner]

Looks extremely well done.

 

[atvfred]

Heres some more progress shots. Ballistic fab coil buckets installed. I also opted to notch the frame about and inch for some 6.5"x3/8" thick pipe. this will gave me some more coil room without rubbing the frame rail.

the coil mount brackets that are welded to the frame are actually welded to the 3/8" thick pipe. I wanted to stay away from welding the brackets to the papery frame rails so I cut the pipe to match the width of the bucket mounts. I will never tear these out of the frame.

 

[zjrog]

very cool!!!! i have never seen the ranger brakes mod on the dana 30!! :notworthy

Same here. I will admit to being away from the RBV forums for the last 18 months or so for a number of reasons. But this has my curiosity up. So I have some questions.

What year TJ axle did you start with?
What year and model Ranger hub fits the Jeep knuckle?
What year and model Ranger brakes just all but bolt in like that?
And do the Ranger brakes offer a better/bigger brake performance?

I drive a 95 Grand Cherokee and will gladly mod the knuckles for better brakes. I've been considering a hydroboost setup or the master cylinder from a Ford E350 van (also called the Kung Fu Brakes mod!). Having an inexpensive parts choice for brakes is a win-win situation to me. EVEN if I have to switch to 16" wheels.

Normally, I'd say the Explorers and bigger vehicles are too much for Dana 30, but if you stay with 33s or smaller, you might be able to keep that D30 alive. Awesome work!

 

[atvfred]

i believe the tj axle was from a 2002
the wheel bearing hub, brake rotor and caliper that i am using is actually from a 2002 ford explorer (im not sure how much different they are from a ranger)

This wheel bearing is a direct bolt in but the brakes are not. the jeep steering knuckle has to be modified for the caliper to bolt up properly.

This rotor is 12" in diam. compared to the 11" jeep rotor, and also the ford caliper is dual piston instead of single like the jeep.

This system is working with my 15" eagle alloy wheels.

 

[zjrog]

Luckily, unless I'm mistaken, the D30 knuckles are the same for TJs, XJs, ZJs, back to about 1990. Wrangler YJ knuckles might be different though. I see what you cut off the knuckle for the calipers, I don't suppose you have a template for where to cut and to drill? Did you have use any spacers for the calipers, or have to weld anything to the knuckles? 12" brakes are better than 11", and twin pot calipers are much better than singles. Appreciate any and all info you continue sharing.

 

[zjrog]

I'm also going to ask what is the major reason for using the Explorer hub versus the TJ hub? Which crucial measurement makes this swap needed?

 

[atvfred]

I did not make a template. I Kindof used the explorer knuckle to measure off. I measured out from the wheel bearing opening to the center of the caliper minting bolts. I did have to space the caliper out slightly using 2 washers per bolt.. The major reason i used the Ford wheel beating is so that i can keep my abs in tact. The Ford wheel bearing has a tone ring inside it and the abs sensor bolts right to the wheel bearing

 

[rabbit91]

You have me almost convinced to go Dana 30 over 44 because of the abs, first thread I've seen conquer keeping it

 

[atvfred]

Thanks. I have researched these ideas for about 3 months and have not seen any thing like this abs idea. I do not see any reason why it won't work but I won't know for sure until I drive it I guess. It just seems to good to be true.

 

[rabbit91]

I hope all goes well. I'm curious to know why you chose an F150 steering box over the usual first gen explorer box, I'm going to assume it's stronger

 

[Kirby N.]

I hope all goes well. I'm curious to know why you chose an F150 steering box over the usual first gen explorer box, I'm going to assume it's stronger

The boxes are the same.

 

[Kirby N.]

Normally, I'd say the Explorers and bigger vehicles are too much for Dana 30, but if you stay with 33s or smaller, you might be able to keep that D30 alive. Awesome work!

I think he will keep it alive fine especially with the knuckle braces and the tube sleeves. I have friends who have run 37s on 30s locked up for years and not had issue.

 

[atvfred]

thanks guys and yes i do believe the f150 and ranger run the same box. had the f150 one laying around