Completed Project Turboexplorer's Full Width SAS Build Thread

Hello everybody! It's time to start the SAS on my Explorer. It will be an awesome project and the first project of this type and size that I have ever undertaken. Up to this point the sliders where the hardest thing that I have made myself. I am open to any suggestions and or insights from anyone as the project gets underway. I have bought every last part for the build minus the hard brake lines (axles, and from master to the frame) and the flexible lines that go down to the axles. Those are all easy to make so I am not worried about it for now until I get the axles put together and can see what i want to do with those.

Now for a list of things I will be doing with the project:
1995 F-150 8.8 - I bought this used rear axle that I will strip, lock with a Detroit, convert to Explorer Disc brakes, and mount to the truck. Factory rear sway bar will be used. I will be doing a spring over conversion and will also be remaking the rear V8 anti axle wrap bars to help the leaf springs out with the leverage and TQ the V8 37's and 5.13's will put on them.
1976 F-150 HP Dana 44 - I bought this used axle and will be stripping it of the Ford factory wedges, trussing, and building custom glorified radius arms. Like DB_1 runs and like Rubicon Expresses makes. Front will also have a Detroit Truetrac LSD in it as well. This Dana 44 has 1/2" thick axle tubes.
Fox 14" Remote reservoir coil-overs - I will be building shock hoops for these coil-overs, bracing them, and tying them together across the top of the engine with removable double lock tube clamps.
1995 F-150 Steering box - This will be mounted inside the frame rail and used with the factory PS pump and will build a custom steering link from the box to the column. I picked this 1 to keep it ALL Ford and 2 because they are fairly cheap and easy and can be tapped for hydro assist at some point if I want or need it. In order to fit this steering gear I also have to remote mount my oil filter so that it has room. I will be getting rid of the factory oil cooler and have a Trans Dapt remote filter relocation kit.

Project Parts Section:
-37X13.50 R17 Interco M-16's
-Fox 14" Remote reservoir coil-overs with Eibach Springs.
-Detroit Locker for the 8.8
-Detroit Truetrac for the Dana 44
-Yukon 5.13 gears for both front and rear.
-Both axles will receive ALL new bearings races and seals u-joints etc.
-All wheel studs front and rear and spindle studs have been replaced for safety reasons. To cheap not to.
-Already had EBC brakes on it so those pads on rear will be reused and new EBC 7000 series pads for the front have been purchased.
-New front rotors wheel bearings and new Spicer ball joints, going to reuse the warn locking hubs as they work great and are in good order and easily changed later if i wanted.
-1978 Ford T-Bird calipers have been bought in place of the factory F-150 ones. They are 17% bigger in piston size so will give me a little more brake up front to help stop those 37's.
-Trans Dapt Oil filter relocation Kit and addition mount to hook to the block at a 90*.
-Currie Johnny Joints and Rubicon Express Clevite bushings for the all the link ends.
-GM 1 ton tre's for the steering with a high angle tre at the pitman arm.
-Front axle truss. (wasn't impressed with it at all so will be making some changes)
-Extending current Expedition rear drive shaft and will have a custom double cardon one made for the front.
-Metal used: 2"X.250 wall DOM for lower links, 1 1/2"X.250 wall DOM used for upper links, 1 1/2"X.375 wall DOM used for trac bar, and ALL tabs and brackets will be made out of 1/4" Flat plate by me.
-Double lock tube clamps for the shock hoop cross brace that uses 2 3/8" bolts on each. These are so It can be removed.
-All Grade 8 hardware will be used.
-All flexible brake lines will be braided stainless steel Teflon lined hoses.

I like to follow others projects and often find myself wanting more pictures so bare with me there will be A LOT of pictures of the build. I hope you enjoy lots of pictures as much as I do.


First some pictures of what the truck was! Then onto some parts pictures. Build will start shortly.
1998 XLT Explorer. 5.0L with the 4R70W trans. I have the 4406 T-Case. 3.73 gears with rear LSD. Goodyear 31's. Rock sliders and front skid plate. Links to those builds are in my signature.

And here is some video links! There are a few videos of me wheeling in CO with nssj2!

 

[turboexplorer]

Hard lines hooked to the drop line.

Right hard line. You can see where the angle across the top of the diff is a little off. But o well. I did reuse the factory hard line holder that held it to the top of the diff.

 

[turboexplorer]

Here is the drop line to the front axle.

Front caliper flex lines attached to the front axle and to the T-Bird calipers.

 

[turboexplorer]

Here is the power steering lines being made. I made both lines new it was easier in the long run. The 3/8" line is the return and the 5/16" line is the high pressure line. I can get some pictures of the made lines later. For the High pressure flex section EVCO house of hose did that for me.

Ignore the leak, I was trying to reuse the factory lines and it kinda just didn't work.

You can see the mounts for the steering box here. The two bolts that go through and are on the top and the bottom of the frame you have seen in other pictures. But they are now fully welded up. and the steering box plate is fully welded to the frame as well. But the back bolt I couldn't go through the frame since on the outside of the frame is right where the trac bar mount is at. So what I ended up doing was I drilled out the threads on the steering box itself to 1/2" and then I tapped the steering box plate and mount then bolted it to the mount and plate and frame from the inside of the frame. Was a royal huge PITA since it is all welded to the frame so I had to do it all inside there and with the engine mount right there was a pain. O well its all done and turned out great.

 

[turboexplorer]

And here are some more pictures of the truck on the grass. Just to get some idea of how the overall rig looks.

 

[turboexplorer]

Here is some crappy pictures but pictures none the less. Driving through this construction site was a blast. I got to see how the turning radius felt which is great I think. I can almost do a full u turn on a two lane street. Also driving on the rough surface and man this thing is smooth!!!!! VERY happy with it. So anyways here is a few pictures.

 

[turboexplorer]

Here it is with 1 tire up and 3 down. It really amazes me how easy it just rolls up it and flexs. It doesn't even think about it its great. Feels really good inside the rig to not tippy or anything. Feels really balanced but of course when I get it on the rocks I will really be able to tell.

3 tires up and 1 tire down.

Its kind of weird though. With the torsion bar front end the truck body leaned and followed the front tires really closely. Now its the opposite. It follows the rear more and the front just does its thing. But this picture shows the front flexed fairly good. I measured it and whats even better is the right front still had 3" more of down travel and the left had 3 1/2" more of up travel. I climbed over several hills on this site including this one without even turning a tire that the truck in stock form in 4wd couldn't do ever. It is all loose dirt. Between the flex and keeping the tires on the ground and the rear locker which is dead quiet and smooth it crawled up everything very easily. The 5.13's are fantastic to I did it all in 2wd high and I could blip the throttle and turn the 37's at any point.

 

[turboexplorer]

Also to add to it I drove it about 5 miles that night. Close to my uncles since It doesn't have a front bumper or mud flaps etc. But it really did feel great other than a little bit of bump steer but that will be fixed when I move the drag link to the top of the pitman arm then the angle of the trac bar and the drag link will be the same. But in order to do that I need a machine shop to ream out the new pitman arm. But it was nice and smooth felt good I got it up to about 40 mph and felt good but man it feels fast in it with how tall it is. The speedo was at 32mph but hasn't been corrected yet. And from factory to the 37's, since the VSS is in the diff, its about 27% off So yup was at about 40mph according to the math. But I didn't want to push it since the feel is so different for 1, 2 still untested, 3 no shimmy shock, 4 no alignment done yet. So yup I don't want any death wobble but it felt great. My caster is great and did a toe alignment with a tape measure etc but I want it all right before it sees much asphalt.

But on this same drive I parked it in a few parking spaces to see how the turning radius felt and it isn't bad at all. Not quite like it was before or my Taurus but it will be able to park just fine. I think I heard that Chad doesn't like his with his leafs. But I tried hard to make it turn. I didn't want it to be annoying to drive as a DD. I also left some of the parking lots really fast to see how it felt when it would hit the gutters and it feels amazing and so smooth. This will be a very nice rig to ride in on the sand dunes and trail riding. Drove over a bunch of parking curbs and things just to play. I also gave it a good half throttle pull from 0-35ish and it moves really well. The 5.13's and the V8 will sure be fun! Didn't really jump on it since the gears don't have any miles on them yet. But they will soon. Anyways that's the current update on the truck.

I just need to trim the front bumper put on mud flaps and stop engine oil leak from the filter lines and align it and it will be ready for some street use!

 

[GRNMACHINE]

1 word INCREDIBLE !!!!

 

[turboexplorer]

Its coming along slowly. Its almost done. Today I got everything done with the front gears set pinion preload pinion is fully in etc. Then went to put in the diff axle seals that are next to the carrier and they wont go in. They drove in about 3/16" then stopped. I think they are hitting on the ramp of the seal, where it has a small ramp to push the axle shaft up and through the seal. Its hitting on the axle tube where it is stepped. So cant put the carrier in cant do axle shafts etc so at a stop. I went to 3 auto parts stores and all had a different seal. Anybody know exactly what I need?

The front is out of a 76' F-150

 

[turboexplorer]

Alright I got the right seals. So tonights plan is to get the seals in and the diff carrier in. front axle shafts cleaned and painted and new u joints in. Also get the oil leak from the oil filter lines fixed. I really hope that the machine shop finishes the pitman arm today so i can get that on tonight as well.

If I get all that done tonight all I will have left is to get the front axle shafts in (easy), then get it aligned, then flex it and measure for front DS length, then get it ordered. So if all goes well then there is a very good chance that this truck will see a trail this weekend! The light at the end of the tunnel is seaming to get brighter. Been a long project but have done it right and I will be very happy with it. All in all what has it been 3-3 1/2 months. Still not to bad!

 

[adamsbro2]

I am seriously in Shock and pretty much speechless!! Dude this is an awesome build and you are amazing!!! I live in northern utah and would LOVE to see this thing in person some time!!!! all i can say is WOW!!! Subscribed For Sure!!!

 

[jaschlum]

Extremely impressive build!!!! Way to go!!

 

[turboexplorer]

I am seriously in Shock and pretty much speechless!! Dude this is an awesome build and you are amazing!!! I live in northern utah and would LOVE to see this thing in person some time!!!! all i can say is WOW!!! Subscribed For Sure!!!

Thanks! And absolutely we should meet up even if just to chat for a bit. always good to put faces with names from the forum. I hope to be driving it this weekend fully done.

Extremely impressive build!!!! Way to go!!

Thanks!

 

[turboexplorer]

So last night I got most of what I wanted to done. I got the oil leak fixed. I was able to pull the line clean and retape it without having to pull the steering box out Next I got the axle seals in and the carrier fully loaded. Then the machine shop called and I went and picked up the pitman arm with it reamed from the top. Then I got the axle shafts cleaned and painted and the passenger side 760 U joint put in. Then installed the passenger side axle shaft into the axle and fully assembled everything all the way out to the hub which locks and unlocks as it should.

So tonight's plan is to get the drivers u joint in, the axle shaft installed into the axle, that side fully assembled out to the hub, cover on the diff, and gear oil in. Then pull the pitman arm that is reamed from the bottom off the box and install the new arm reamed from the top, install the drag link, do a quick tape measure alignment and then last but not least measure for the front DS. Then all that is left is to truly align it at my Ford dealer hopefully tomorrow and have the front shaft made. Then its time to get the gears broken in and to then go and see some trails and start getting used to the rig!

VERY EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's almost done! Can't believe it!


P.S. I do have a few small things to do like install the removable sleeves for the shock hoop cross brace. (currently one solid tube welded to the shock hoops so its not removable at this point) And get a front sway bar installed. I have a feeling it will be and feel very soft on the freeway so a sway bar as soon as i can will be a must for driving on longer trips.

 

[turboexplorer]

Last night I got the drivers side axle shaft assembled and in the axle. I got the new pitman arm reamed so that the angle of the drag link and trac bar are dead parallel. Oil leak has stopped for sure.

Tonight I need to take the tie rod bar out and make the jam nuts on both sides an 1/8" thinner. When I went to truly align it with my tape last night I found that it was toed out by about 1/2". So I don't quite have enough adjustment in the threads I left when I built the tie rod to toe it straight ahead. So instead of taking some off of the bar itself I am going to make the jam nuts a little thinner. That way i will gain a total of 1/4" more toe in adjustment if i take 1/8" off of both jam nuts on either side.

So when I get that done tonight I hope to get the T-Case skid plate on as well and either get it on the trailer ready for tomorrow or just get it ready to drive to align it. (13 miles)

I also got the front drive shaft measured so that will be ordered this morning and I should have it by Friday. I also need to cut out the rest of the original transmission cross member so the front shaft will clear. But the cool part is that fully drooped to ride height the length only changes by 7/8" So a 7" slip spline will be plenty which will put the drive shaft in at $350. Not to shabby for a fully new CV drive shaft with 1350 u joints and a hybrid u joint where it meets the Dana 44.

So tomorrow I will align it at 6:00p.m. Then Friday I hope to get inner fenders done and the drive shaft in. Then it will be ready to hit some mild trails on Saturday to feel the truck out!

 

[dking]

Subscribing

 

[turboexplorer]

Last night I got the steering jam nuts thinner and that will all work great. I got the trans shifted 1/8" towards the passenger side because under throttle it would barely rub the gas tank mount so I could feel it through the floor so that is fixed. I got the front axle fully painted. Got gear oil in the front diff. I locked the hubs and and put T-Case in 4 high and went for a few mile drive to get all the fluids moved around and to make sure my front axle seals aren't leaking. I set toe and camber as best as I could and then set the steering wheel straight. I cut out the rest of the factory trans mount that was still on the frame rails. Made sure brakes where good and still no leaks. Made sure engine oil leak has fully stopped. I checked all fluids. I cleaned out the back of the truck. Re checked rear gear oil since it has moved and things now. Went through and double checked all bolts and nuts (ALL) took forever but I'd rather be safe.

Tonight I will drive it to my old work at the Ford dealer and align the truck. The front shaft was ordered yesterday and I hope will be ready tomorrow but they had to order a CV flange for the T-Case side so I am unsure as to when that will be in. But fingers crossed still. I'm doing a full 1350 U joint front shaft as well, just like the rear.

So alignment tonight, inner fenders tomorrow and hope a front drive shaft installation and it will be done! I will find out today how its road manners are with no front sway bar seeing as how I haven't done that yet. Should be okay to 55 or so but I bet much higher and it will feel very very soft but we will see.

Here's to tonight's first real drive the truck will see!

 

[jaschlum]

Good luck on the first real drive!

 

[turboexplorer]

Thanks! If all goes well I may just take it to my house tonight and drive it to my work tomorrow. Everyone is either dying to see it or doesn't think it exists.

 

[turboexplorer]

So drove it about 40-50 miles yesterday and the truck will be a fun truck to drive! I took it we aligned it to match a 08' super duty (solid axle, radius arms, heavy, coil sprung, big steering components and generally a good sized tire)

The caster was at 2.98 on right side 2.73 on left side
The camber I set both sides to 0*
The toe was set to 1/16" toe in.
The thrust angle was at 0.03*

So Generally in the auto field you set toe in a hair on a rear wheel drive rig because the rolling resistance will pull the tires back and make it 0 for toe in under drive conditions. Front wheel drives are the opposite since they pull the tires forward since they are propelling the vehicle.

So here is my ? to all on the forum that have a radius arm set up with 35 or bigger tires and drives it on the road at more than 55mph.
At speed so 50-60ish (speedo is off) I get a shimmy. It is not the huge scary death wobble that makes you sh** your pants. However it is very noticeable and is annoying and any long trip would have you pulling your hair out. I have read that most will toe out the tires to either 0 or slightly toe out to fix the issue. I believe it is a toe issue but of course it is very hard to tell hanging out of the truck with a shimmy at 55mph It does look like more of a shake than a bounce.

So anyone have any suggestions or things they did with their rig etc? And again I am running the 1 ton GM TRE steering set up in a crossover steer.

Post away!