full width d44

[madmax401]

No pix yet as i'm still getting my stuff together. i have 2 d44's-1 coil that i found in the junk yard under a mid 80's f150 stepside that the guy cut out for me and 1 leaf from a 68 f250 closed knuckle. going the route of the 44 with the coils as it seems a little easier because the guy cut the frame behind the radius arms and dropped the whole unit in the back of my f250. cant get my pics up now ,but they will be coming soon. my plans are to use the dual shock coil buckets with trip steering stabilizers and steering box that mounts on top of the frame and drops outside and down to open up the engine compartment a little. i need the room with the 357 windsor thats in there. the coils with it are beefy and its free length is 5 inches taller than the stock ranger ttb coils. a 14 bolt gm semi float is going in the rear with 410's. updates and pix are coming(still under construction). hoping to be done with the sas by feb 1st.

[DieselSmoke]

hoping to be done with the sas by feb 1st.

update?

[madmax401]

the 14 bolt just got brand new leaf perches welded to it (39" center to center) to match the rangers stock leafs. i put it under the truck and bolted it up.......looks great to me. the d44 is still in the back of my f250 getting rained on. i just removed the factory ranger coil mounts from the frame and test fitted a f150 coil mount with dual shocks on the passenger side. only 1 bolt lined up.........and that was the lower right on the frame . it looks like its about an 1/8 of an inch (meaning i'll lose an 1/8 inch in wheelbase)no big deal. i cant go any further until i get more drill bits. i have taken pictures of everything that ive done on this truck, unfortunately i havent been able to post them yet. actually i would be embarrassed to post pix of my junk ass truck, especially after seeing some of the things that you guys have done. ill get the pix up .....when im happy with my progress :black_eye:

[madmax401]

suggestions any one ?
after test fitting my f150 mounts and 19 inch coils i'm wondering, will that be enough lift to keep the d44 from hitting the crossmember ? i do plan on trimming the crossmember like it has been suggested in here , but how much can i trim without weakening the cross ? some one also suggested buying new wedges from bronco graveyard instead of trying to re-use the ones that i have to cut off the d44. for what its worth.......i plan on running anywhere from 36 to 40's. 36's for the road and 40's or bigger for play time. 40's would not be legal for the road here in new jersey. (NJ SUCKS)

[DieselSmoke]

mabey move the axle forward a bit. wish i could help more... just put it on and if its in the way trim it... if not dont worry about it. address things as they come up "dont think twice, and cut once measure later" :thefinger: ... just playin , it'll work somehow

[madmax401]

mabey move the axle forward a bit. wish i could help more... just put it on and if its in the way trim it... if not dont worry about it. address things as they come up "dont think twice, and cut once measure later" :thefinger: ... just playin , it'll work somehow

Ha, I like your attitude. thats the way it has been happening ,i do shit......it aint perfect.....and it backs me into a corner and forces me in the direction of another unexpected adventure,lol. looks like we all got sucked into our progects (having absolutely no clue that we havent considered whats next to do after the first step) im guilty of that, i worry about the 2nd phase when im ready for phase 2. i looked on bronco graveyard for new coil springs and wedges. wedges are 89bux for all 4 (reasonable) but do you guys think .....if im extremely carefull removing the old ones that possibly i could reuse them. trying to keep the cost down and not having to wait a few more weeks for them to get here.
the springs that i have are roughly 18.5".
my other spring options are
460 lbs per inchfree standing height: about 23 inches
300 lbs per inch 25" unloaded
415 lbs per inch 20" unloaded length

suggestions anyone?
what have you done ....and how much lift did it give you ?
i wont be thrashing the truck...........but im not going to pick up eggs either.
so ,what ever will fit in there comfortably with out the d44 hitting the crossmember if i hit a speed bump. (or run over a yugo)

[DieselSmoke]

not to sure about the wedges they about the same price everywhere
http://www.jamesduff.com/eb/suspension_components.html

if you get a adjustable coil bucket you can make any ride height you want, use some bump stops so you axle cant hit that crossmember if you want. i dont think you really need to worry about the crossmember much. its east to reinforce the crossmember if you need to cut away at it
some coil stuff here.
http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Coil-suspension-parts_c_32-1-3.html

[madmax401]

i found these mounts from that link you posted. http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Adjustable-coil-buckets_p_32-1183.html"]adjustable coil buckets i found these mounts from that link you posted. any ideas how to attatch them to the d44 ?
thanx...your pushing me in the right direction :)

[madmax401]

the f150 coil mounts are in place on both sides (each held on by 1 bolt only. the passenger side was the easiest though, the frame is flat and doesnt have any contours. the drivers side mount required some triming (i notched out like a "v" to match the frames shape. its not a pretty cut, but hey......they are on there . WOO-HOO:)do you guys think bolts and a good weld to make it bullet proof ? I let the springs hand free and then measured the width of the coils centers. looks pretty close ......soo close that i may not have to relocate the wedges....another WOO-HOO:) i dont get to much time to work on this without the old lady ragging on me. im hoping by sunday i'll have the springs mounted and the raius arms attatched to the d44 so i can let the truck down and see just how much those 18.5 inch springs compress. seems kind of pointless to mount the brackets to the frame at this point. the radius arms are supposed to be -perpindicular- (spelled wrong i tried) with the vehicles weight on the springs, right ? no big deal, i have f150 brackets and another set that are drop brackets. looks like im in good shape. my new hobart 140 should be on my doorstep thursday "i cant wait" picked up a filled bottle and a spool of wire. i'll try a little harder to get my many pix up . somebody in here said that they have yet to see 150 mounts look good. i think mine look fine, im not a perfectionist. i let you guys decide when the pix are up .<a href="http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk257/madmax401/?action=view&current=f150coilbucketpassengerside.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk257/madmax401/f150coilbucketpassengerside.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[madmax401]

<a href="http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk257/madmax401/?action=view&current=f150coilbucketpassengerside.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk257/madmax401/f150coilbucketpassengerside.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
what am i doin wrong ?
oh well, heres my photo bucket page link anyway. im trying guys .
http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk257/madmax401/?start=40

[DieselSmoke]

copy in the "IMG code" one

or link



what headers are you using?

[madmax401]

how do my f150 buckets look ? comments anyone ?
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk257/madmax401/f150coilbucketpassengerside.jpg
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk257/madmax401/14boltsemifloat1.jpg
im using 88400's. only the passenger side is on .......looks like a good choice for the 351. the left side was test fitted, but not bolted up yet.

[mhughes165]

they look like ur gonna need one HUGE ass spring to run in that truck, i usually drop the older f-150 spring buckets 4", they remain stable, still have the same amount of flex and u get a 4" lift for the cost of a total of 6 grade 8 or 10 bolts....oh ya...6 bolts per side.

and u can flip the shackle hanger in the back of those year f-150's aswell to net you 4".....which is why those trucks are rarely stock anymore with how easy they are to lift for dirt DIRT cheap

[DieselSmoke]

i would have cut it and lowered it like so, or your going to need long springs like mhughes165 said


http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/4992/f150coilbucketpassengerfb1.jpg

[mhughes165]

yep, thats the standard way todo those on the 70's f-150's

[madmax401]

i would have cut it and lowered it like so, or your going to need long springs like mhughes165 said


http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/4992/f150coilbucketpassengerfb1.jpg

I apreciate the nice illustration work :) thank you. as they are set up now "it's the perfect width that i need ,with out moving the wedges". if i dropped them the way you have it marked out for me, i will be moving them inward towards the frame again (losing aprx an inch). just above the yellow line is where they start to move outward. hmmmm. other than needing taller springs for the current setup...........is there any problem with the way i have it ? i dont have a problem with buying new springs at $150 pr. although i do like the idea of a cheap 4'' lift. what really sucks is.......im trying to keep it low enough to pass state insp. but high enough to have some fun and throw some bigger tires on the weekend.
how much of that crossmember can i actually cut off ? like 2 inches or is that too much ?
keep those suggestions commin.

[mhughes165]

you wont pass with the solid axle in the front of the ranger....simple as that, been down that path

[madmax401]

you wont pass with the solid axle in the front of the ranger....simple as that, been down that path

new jersey wont pass a sas'd ranger ? how about pensylvania ? illl get it passed..........one way or the other.

[mhughes165]

nj wont pass it thats for damn sure, 7" is the max lift for the truck, look at the liftlaws thread in here somewhere, i overview NJ laws in one of my links

as far as pa, idk

[madmax401]

how about if i hack the coss member out of it ? i just read in another post where it was suggested to hack out the cross member.
who has hacked out their crossmember ? and how did you reinforce it ? thhhat to me sounds like a good idea to sas it and not have to go crazy in height . decisions decisions damn, i'd hate to put all this time and effort into a truck that will never see the road. at this point.........i need to do what ever it takes too be leagal (jersey sux!!). the original plan for this truck was to spank some of kids cruizing around in gt's. this one kid in particular.....after i whoop him....i wanna drive over his car.:icon_thumby:

[mhughes165]

well, you can always make sure youre inspection is current, or take it to a private shop, odds are 99% you wont get bothered by anyone but park ranger

[brizonco]

any updates?

[madmax401]

any updates?

not really, i repaired one of my lower coil mounts (welded the shit out of all of the cracks after i bent it back into position) trust me.....its not a pretty sight . got new radius arm bushings -trying to get it lined up is a pain in the butt. the f150 radius brackets are bolted to the frame by using one existing trans cross member bolt hole (a job well done) , i found a post in here that showed it and had a pic, the pic was a "plus" :icon_thumby::). i'll post pix when i have more time. very hard to find time to complete my stuff when everybody around here has me fixin all their shit. mines allways the last ,funny how the mechanic's ride is allways the last to get fixed. my coil spring buckets should be moved in about 3/4'' on the d44 to get the springs straight up and down ...or maybe an offset:icon_confused: . at this point......i really need to think about how the track bar for the lateral support is going to get mounted and which track bar to use. the 19'' springs might be tall enough to clear the the pumkin, tommorrow is bayfest in somers point , so no truck work......im saving my energy for all the :beer: that im going to consume at bayfest :icon_cheers: