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Explorer Maintenance - Modifications - Performance Upgrades - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street
Explorer Forum Covers the Explorer, ST, Sport, Sport Trac, Lincoln Aviator, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Ford Aerostar
i can get a front axle off of my buds killed wagoneer, ive read the threads and it somes down to one question, how much work are we looking at here, money wise, etc.. hidden costs, skill level, i need more lift and a stronger front end.
How are you going to match your front and rear bolt patterns?
Can you weld?
This is where all my money went:
- Wheels/tires ($1200 or so)
- High steer ($250 for the knuckles, $200 for the arms, $200 for the TREs, inserts, and tubing, $100 for the perches.
I then spent about another $300 to convert it to 5-lug. About $200 more for the steering box. $300 for the stock springs (your buddy's should be fine for you though). Then about $1k on gears and lockers.
i can get a front axle off of my buds killed wagoneer, ive read the threads and it somes down to one question, how much work are we looking at here, money wise, etc.. hidden costs, skill level, i need more lift and a stronger front end.
And its not even a "Jeep" axle, its a Dana Corp axle, used by Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge and so on. Only the unique specifications (like the spring perch thats part of the differential housing) are that of a Wagoneer's. The ring and pinion, axle shaft diam, and so on, are exactly the same as the other other Dana 44s (with the exception of the very rare ones like the closed knuckle 44).
Then your "jeep" 44 gets chevy knuckles added to it for histeer. Toss a Chevy spindle on it with a f150 rotor to get the 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern and then toss some locking hubs from a say a dodge and you have the whole thing all screwed up.
The waggy axle works well in a TTB ranger or explorer. It is a few inches wider than stock for added trac width. The diff is also a bit more to the driverside then on an early bronco axle. This allows you let your truck sit lower without having to cut the engine cross member. I have about 5" of lift on my setup and have no problems with engine cross member interference. The only bad thing is that the leaf springs need to be out boarded on the frame if you go that route. Hopefully soon I will beable to find any drawbacks of using it with a linked setup.
Then your "jeep" 44 gets chevy knuckles added to it for histeer. Toss a Chevy spindle on it with a f150 rotor to get the 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern and then toss some locking hubs from a say a dodge and you have the whole thing all screwed up.
The waggy axle works well in a TTB ranger or explorer. It is a few inches wider than stock for added trac width. The diff is also a bit more to the driverside then on an early bronco axle. This allows you let your truck sit lower without having to cut the engine cross member. I have about 5" of lift on my setup and have no problems with engine cross member interference. The only bad thing is that the leaf springs need to be out boarded on the frame if you go that route. Hopefully soon I will beable to find any drawbacks of using it with a linked setup.
The main drawback of a link setup I have found so far is that you are limited on where you can mount your lower links. My tires are going to rub on my lower links even with them in as far as I can get them on the axle.
The shaded red part is the cast peice I cut off. There were no plug welds there and I plan to weld the tube to the housing just to make sure.
I even cut off the spring perch on the driverside. With that cut Off I have 5" of tube to work with on the driverside which limits me to where I can mount my lowers.