Time for A sas

[MikeyFord3]

hey guys,
just wanted to let you know that im finally gathering all my parts together for my dana 30 sas on my 1988 ranger. Im getting them slowly, but im getting there :headbang:Let me know if im forgetting anything or if you have any suggestions that would help me out and make this swap better.(besides going to a dana 44)

so far i have a
complete dana 30 off a 97 Cherokee
ford 8.8
4:10 gearing already in both axles
stock jeep steering
im using the buckets off the Cherokee for coils and shocks
6 inch jeep coils
universal track bar mount from poly performance
now for the radius arms, i am either buying stock early f150 radius arms. I was wondering if there was anyway you could use the ttb radius arms on the axle maybe fab something up to make them fit? idk yet.. :icon_confused:

im not sure about the whole driveshaft and transfer case thing still doing some research....

if everything goes to plan.... ill be starting the swap right after i graduate high school.:icon_thumby: Thats about june, i have nothing else better to do but work on the truck and this way i know it will be getting done and wont keep gettin delayed and pushed back .

[Shran]

Get the F150 radius arms and the weld on wedges. TTB radius arms would require a lot of work and probably not be worth it.

[alaskan155]

or some t and t custom/ rusty"s off road cherokee long arms(can use factory brackrey on dana 30

[MikeyFord3]

yeah i was just thinking about making a bracket that has the coil perches on it connect the ttb arms on but idkk... if anyone has a extra set of radius arms let me know id like to buy them..

[machinist]

so this weekend i was at a bog, a guy was running a dana 30 in a newer blazer with 36s. snapped the rightside axle shaft, fixed it. got to play for about another half hour until he snapped the left side shaft. iv never been so unimpressed

[MikeyFord3]

yeah, well i mean im 18 years old and , still in school and working part time. Im on a lower budget then most of the people doing the sas on the forum. Im getting the dana 30 axle complete with steering and 6 inch coils for free from a buddy, he has a whole bunch of extra jeep parts laying around and helped me out. The dana 30 is better then what i do have on the truck now (D28) and i was just going to put a lift on that and 35's... dumb idea..I would love to do a dana 44 swap but dont have the money and all the 44's around where im at are all full length and if there not they want a arm and a leg for them...

[alpinestar]

its all good. i just got done doing a dana 30 swap in my '89 bronco II and they can run 35" tires just fine if your not planning on doing hardcore beating on your truck. my buddy is running brand new 36" Iroks and still hasnt broken his front dana 30 and both him and i have railed the shit out of that truck. there not as bad as people talk them up to be, their just not as desired and dependable as a dana 44 if you plan on running anything bigger than 35 or 36" tall tires.

thats my 2 cents. if you wanna see how mine turned out heres the link. i dont really have good pics of the build process but i can give you any advice ya need.
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45947&page=1

[MikeyFord3]

Yeah i was following the thread when you were posting. It turned out pretty good, congrats.Yeah my buddy has a jeep with 35's and beats the living crap out of the thing hasn't broken anything in the front axle yet . The only thing he broke was the rear spider gears so we just got used ones and welded the rear up. HA turned out pretty good..
Another reason im picking the dana 30 is because it seems to be the easiest. The Cherokee axle is already set up for coils so i shouldn't have to worry about the camber or pinon angles. It seems like a pretty straight forward swap, something i could do in a weekend or so. I mean just take of the old ttb axle put the solid on.. The only fab i'll really have to do is the track bar mount and the radius arm mounts with the transmission cross member. That doesnt seem to hard at all..

[alpinestar]

eh its not that hard if you research before you start screwin shit up... i would definitly make sure your radius arms are either far in enough that your tires wont rub them or but a bend in them. its pretty common i see people who's wide tires will rub while turning and or flexed out.

[MikeyFord3]

i might just end up doing a leaf sas becuase i have a dana 30 from a wrangler he thought it was the one from the cherokee but he already used it and now its set up for leafs.. so now i guess its back to the drawling board for me have to see how to mount the leafs and stuff

[alpinestar]

post a pic of the axle for me.. does it have the crossover steering still? and is it spring over or under? if you want i can take some close pics of my leaf front setup and you can see how it works. and you've seen how it flexes so theres no doubt there.. its still got more too btw, need tall objects and 4wd lol.. but anyways get some pics of what your workin with and i can help you with whatever...

[MikeyFord3]

id have to get the axle from my buddy.The axle is from a 89 wrangler everything is stock from the axle. The gearing is 4:10. The axle is spring under. It's the stock wrangler steering..i guess its the cross over steering?idk now that im thinking about doing it this way...would building this with leafs be cheaper then doing the coils?

[alpinestar]

hmmm sounds like a good deal. well its cheaper if you can get everything for a good price. whats he want for the axle? what can you get for springs? and the perches and shackles and hangers? price it all out... but most of the time leafs is cheaper than coils. you can get more leaf flex for the price than you can to get good flex out of coils. i recommend 4" wrangler springs from rustys. and you can use that stock jeep steering. works good too, only thing i may need in the future would be a Z shaped drag link.

[MikeyFord3]

well my gear ratio is 3.73 so it kinda sucks to get a 4 10 front axle. i want to do the sas like asap before the summer comes up becuase thats all we do is wheel like ever day. There is this place we call silica. its a bunch of blue holes but all around them are like mudd boggs, huge hills, and water crossings. its a really big place there i think four or five blue holes and we call them pit one, pit two exc...I guess if i cant do the solid axle right now, i will just have to get a lift and run 33's on the D 28

[alpinestar]

4.10 is better tho you just need to find an 8.8 out of an explorer with 4.10's... and just start gettin all your parts together... you'll be happy to have a straight axle. and it took me 6 days to do mine, you got plenty of time.

[MikeyFord3]

yeah they want like 400 to 600 bucks for any axle around here its nuts.i really wanna do i just need to save up a little more money

[alpinestar]

holy crap... thats more than i paid for my truck.... well i paid $70 for my wrangler dana 30...

[MikeyFord3]

i know its nuts, the yards here are outrageous. they wany 500 for a dana 30 and even more a 8.8.And they want my other axle off my old truck so its kind of ridiculous ya no?I paid like nothing for my truck because i had to put a new engine in it, but the body and interior are pretty nice. The truck is all stock right now but i have a set of 33's and 35's just lying around from my other ranger. So thats why im trying to do this like asap.
All

[TireIron]

When I did mine I made sure to have everything together before starting. Then it took me friday night to pull all the old stuff, saturday to get the axle in and setup and running, then sunday to lift the rear to match... Then again the ford radius arm axle is almost a bolt in swap.

[MikeyFord3]

yeah well i now need a new axle unless i can find a 8.8 for cheep ...i have coils, the universal track bar mount, track bar and steering from a jeep. and i need to find ford radius arms..anyone know anyone who needs to get rid of some?

[alpinestar]

ya, i would move... haha to hell with those prices. at the junk yard here any axle is $120

[MikeyFord3]

where are you located? ha south jerseys a ripp off

[midget]

I paid $160 for my rear Dana60 and $80 for my dana44 hp lolbut I have to change the gears and u joints in the 44 thats why its so cheap junkyard wanted $160 for one but they didnt have one.

[Bray D]

Then again the ford radius arm axle is almost a bolt in swap.

Lol, I guess it depends on what parts you use. I can't think of one thing that was simply "bolt-on" in my swap. RA's - built, crossmember - built, coil buckets - modded, shock towers - modded, track bar - built, track bar mounts (both) - built, steering - built, you get the point haha.

[wahlstrom1]

Lol, it can be done and works great but there's always room for upgrades.....Mwuhahaha.

-andrew

[alpinestar]

where are you located? ha south jerseys a ripp off

im in Vancouver, Wa... weather isnt that great but theres some places to wheel and parts are cheap haha...


got shocks on friday! used old wagoneer top mounts for the front. i just need longer shocks now...

so you still gonna lift your truck Mikey?

[MikeyFord3]

hell yeah im still lifting it. it wont last around here if i dont... i have a couple of buddy's who have done sas. One on a full size bronco,f150, and a explorer so they are going to help me out with everything sooo right nowww im just saving up money and buying all the parts. i think im sticking with coils tho.
good luck with the shocks btw.

we have a place down here we call silica. its a couple blue holes and theres a whole bunch of hill climbs, water crossings, and mudd pits there. the trail to get there has some nasty holes and then when you get out there theres like five pits there huge..

[alpinestar]

sounds like a good time. i would like to go some where other than washington, never wheeled anywhere else.

and yea i think im gonna hit up the u pull it very soon, im tired of out flexing my shocks while im driving down the street lol. not very fun... well lets see some pics of your truck man, so we can see how it might turn out.

[MikeyFord3]

ha my truck as it sits. stock ass 88 ranger..
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w120/mikeyford3/photo.jpg
this is how it sits now. Except the hoods off and engine is out puttin a new one in..
i have 33's and a set of 35's bfg in the shed with add a leafs and 4 inch block that will be put on soon before i start the sas..but hey 300 bucks you cant beat it


also camoing my interior like my other ranger i had. this is how my other one turned out http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w120/mikeyford3/l_a1a618d12a05433e43be1d8791d606d6.jpg

[alpinestar]

hey man that things straight and looks damn good. and i like the camo interior. what did you use for that?

[MikeyFord3]

ha well dont laugh at this but......... i used a bed sheet that i had extra because i ordered two instead of one out of cabela's :icon_rofl:. then i bought some like spray on adhesive glue and sprayed it on then layed the material on. Then i took like a rounded piece of like plastic and pushed the bubbles out. i also did the door panels and the air bag cover on the passenger dash.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w120/mikeyford3/aribagcamo.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w120/mikeyford3/camodoor2.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w120/mikeyford3/camodoor.jpg

Butt i think im doing a something a little different witht his truck just camoing the headliner and putting diamond plate on the doors.

[MikeyFord3]

ha so the cheapest axle i canfind that has the same gearing as my rear is uhhh 470. and the cheapest 44 is 650.. thiss blowssssssss

[kevinsranger]

yeah well i now need a new axle unless i can find a 8.8 for cheep ...i have coils, the universal track bar mount, track bar and steering from a jeep. and i need to find ford radius arms..anyone know anyone who needs to get rid of some?

i got a nice explorer 8.8 i will sell, its got drum brakes but is 31 spline

[Shran]

You are better off finding a parts vehicle, then selling it to the junkyard after you get what you need.

[alpinestar]

i will ship a d30 front axle to your for less than both of those.

and he needs a front axle 'kevinsranger', 8.8 can wait. my front axle is 6 inches wider than my front, no need for an 8.8 right now... haha

[RumpRangerSTX]

all the 44's around where im at are all full length and if there not they want a arm and a leg for them...
__________________
Mike Ford :shok::shok: i bought a 73 eb 44 and a 66 9 -in for $300.00 for both and i live in nj u just have to look for them

[MikeyFord3]

all the yards that i called want the same price and thats within like 75 miles of me. where are you located at?

[RumpRangerSTX]

mt holly nj but i got them form a guy not a yard. have u tried u pull it yards the ones around here are like 150.00 a rear but u have to keep lookin like every weekend

[MikeyFord3]

yeah well i have been looking like everyday on craiglist and in the papers and askin around. everyone aroud here is either using there spairs or take forever to get back to me on craigslist and do not have the gearing im looking for.

[alpinestar]

u pull it is how i get mine. their $120 an axle here no matter what they are. but i thought thats who your were calling originally right?

[RumpRangerSTX]

regear them if u have to just had my 2 dana44 done for $428.00 more than i wanted to pay but if u wanted play u have to pay

[MikeyFord3]

just yards not you pull its. we have one down im still waiting to get a call back from them.

[alpinestar]

ya u pull it is always cheaper. and theres still good and bad deals, refering to rumprangers statement "u wanted play u have to pay", i did my whole sas for under $200.

[MikeyFord3]

ha yeah thats true.. i still dont know what i really want to do yet coils or leafs. I mean coils is eaiser to swap in..but leafs are cheaper.

[bereaboy]

Hey guys...Sorry for such a newbie question. What is the advantage to a SAS over the original?

[MikeyFord3]

well im pretty sure im just going to get a 410 7.5 for 50 bucks frrom a member ooff the forum. soo now to pick leafs or coils... anyone have any input on what i should do

[MikeyFord3]

so for right now i think im just lifting the D28 and puttin 33's on it. What do you guys think about this? is it worth it? The six inch lift comes with drop brackets extended radius arms trans mount drop pitman arm but no coils? My buddy will give it to me for about 120 to 150 bucks think its worth it?

[MudSlutII]

so for right now i think im just lifting the D28 and puttin 33's on it. What do you guys think about this? is it worth it? The six inch lift comes with drop brackets extended radius arms trans mount drop pitman arm but no coils? My buddy will give it to me for about 120 to 150 bucks think its worth it?

hell i'd do it ; i've beat the piss outta my truck with d28 and 33s and it held up just fine.

[MikeyFord3]

lol well i just need to find some coils i guesss thenn.. still gathering parts for the sas tho

[Mechanickid]

mudslut, what gears were you running with those 33's? I was thinkin about doing the same lol.

[MikeyFord3]

im just running them with the stock 3.73 gearing l/s in the rear... hmm i might weld the spiderss too

[MikeyFord3]

Yeah so a update i just bought a dana 44 from a early bronco for 200 bucks it is completely rebuilt hub to hub it has disk brakes too. came with radius arms and steering. sooo the plans have changed for the better..
the only thing is we need to figure out the gearing= /
swap should start after the engine is in

[91rokkrawler]

lock a hub and turn the pinion. count how many times the rotor turns in relation to how many times the pinion turns.

[MikeyFord3]

yeah i think the gearing is 3.54

[alpinestar]

ya sounds right. thats about the most common gearing around. good deal. lets see some pics

[MikeyFord3]

ill hvae pics up as soon as a find my camera and get time prob some time this week i work everyday soo... but its painted all white. its pretty funny how i was going to do a dana 30 sas and end up doing a 44 lol

[MikeyFord3]

so now that im doing a dana 44 sas i have a couple questions.. steering...can i just use the dana44 steering already on it? just put a 6 inch drop pitman arm on and call it a day? and drive shafts? will i have to get new ones? or will the old one work haha idk. im only running 35x12.50's .. im going to do some reasearch but if anyone knows anything it would help a lot if you let me know..

[91rokkrawler]

should be able to keep the 44 steering. leaves? i'd recommend doin hi steer. driveshafts will probably have to be made up.

[MikeyFord3]

im doing coils and im on a budget for right now would the regular steering just work?

[alpinestar]

yes the regular steering will work. just get the drop pitman arm, im not even running a drop pitman arm. just expect alittle steering play, i have some, you'll get used to it.

[MikeyFord3]

welll i have a drop pitman arm a 6 inch and a 4 inch so then ill be straight.. im excited for the swap should end up pretty goodd

[MikeyFord3]

well finally found the camera sorry i took the pics at night but heres the axle
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w120/mikeyford3/103_0460.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w120/mikeyford3/103_0459.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w120/mikeyford3/103_0461.jpg
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w120/mikeyford3/103_0458.jpg

[MikeyFord3]

well the sas has started the TTB is off and prob wont have any work done untill at least next week got a big concert to go to this weekend and then graduation on the 16th. just an update wish me luck =]