95 ranger SAS. giddy up

[MAranger]

How well do you feel a wj d30 would work for a swap? It would save you from at least redrilling the bj taper, and those calipers are stock wj pieces no? The only thing I don't care for really is the lower coil seat being in front of the axle. But I like your truck alot man. What did you have to do to make the ranger box and pitman arm accept the WJ draglink?

 

[Snurfer]

the trac bar setup is not stock for any of the d30 axles. i made the axle mount and frame mount for the tracbar. the stock tracbar on both the wj and xj axles mount just in front of the passenger side coil seat. i would have had problems with the tracbar binding and hitting the draglink.

MA- i would not suggest using the WJ axle as it uses CV joints and the bolt pattern is different. if you choose to use the D30 the best setup would be to grab a XJ 95-99 front axle. it uses the bigger 297 u joints. i replaced them with 298 as they are the greasable version of the 297. you can use the stock brakes on the D30 too. i just opted to add the bigger brakes and rotors along with the cross over steering since the springs i used were pretty long. i wanted to avoid having bumpsteer and the cross over steering kept my draglink at a good angle. i did not use the wj lower balljoint just replaced all four with XJ ones. havent had any problems. no one that i have talked to about using the XJ ball joint instead of the WJ has had any problems either. some have been running the setup for quite a few years now with no issues. for my drag link i used the stock wj one and grafted the ranger rod end to it. i cut the ranger link just after the threaded adjustment and sleeved it into the wj portion. works great. i get full adjustment and didnt have to taper the pitman arm or drill it out for a different tapered slug.


as far as the the lower seats being on front of the axle i wasnt a big fan of it either but it worked out well. i just pushed the axle forward 1 inch and everything worked great. i would not go any farther than that just to keep the spring from being pushed too far in front of the upper bucket. if i had had more time to complete the project i would have made my own lower bucket mounts and lower link mounts. i was in a pinch with finals and having to move and didnt want to have my truck sitting in the driveway with no front axle under it and paying rent for another month just to keep working on my truck.

 

[yodaman1151]

really old thread i know but if you could post more pics of the tracbar it would be much appreciated

 

[Snurfer]

yeah for sure man ill try to post more pics of it tomorrow. it essentially looks the same but i added a brace from the lower joint of the mount to the engine xmember to make it more rigid. still workin real well. ive got about 5k on the truck since the swap and the only problems ive ran into have been the POS stock rubber bushing at the upper link on the axle. replaced them with a poly set up. and lifted the rear up to match the front. really been slacking on the gettin a front driveshaft made. so im still running around in 2wd and winter is on its way.

 

[fordbrian333]

im kind of confused on why your third link goes from the dif right to a lower link and not the frame, is it becuase that where the mount on your dif was pointed or isd there a benefit of doing it that way? im planning out the three link on my ranger but my front axle doesnt have any tabs or mounts on the dif like yours (its a dana 50), any suggetions?

 

[escort_gts]

Well the D30 has the mount turned slightly and makes since to just mount it to the bottom arm. Makes an easier build.
If you look up long arm lifts for jeeps, most mount to the lower arm to make a 3 link radius arm instead of a 4 link

 

[fordbrian333]

is there a benifit of doing it that way rather thena full length 3rd? and do the bottom links HAVE to be parrallel?

 

[MAranger]

Advantage would be easier to build. You do miss out on the ability to control pinion and caster angles through the suspension travel that is possible with a seperate third link.

They have to be parallel and equal lengths from a side view or it would be a death trap. They do not have to be parallel from a top view, but have to have the same inward angle.

Snurf,

Thanks for answering those questions for me. This is the best done 30 swap I've seen hands down I went the bronco 44 route instead, or I would've used a few ideas from yours.

 

[Snurfer]

i didnt run the third link separate to the frame as on the ranger frame i couldnt find a legit spot to run a third frame link without gettin in the way of the front driveshaft. the three link is fine. a lot of the jeep guys run it the same way when they do long arms. i can still adjust my caster/pinion angle and the ride is nice. i did already burn out the UCA bushing tho so i ordered another set from ironman4x4 that are rebuild able. im also gettin the 63 in chevy springs swapped in along with some adjustable shackles. should be real nice. also just ordered my wideband for the supercharger and downsizing the pullley to run 7psi along with my own tuning software from snipertuning. gonna be putting in my BBK headers with a single high capacity cat when i need to add the bung for the wideband o2 sensor. sooo ill have many more pictures on that. im also planning a 2003 front clip swap this spring along with a mildly built 4.0 )))

thanks again for the positive comments!

ill try to get pictures of the tracbar mount up tomorrow. basically all it is is the same shit i already had but i added a brace to the engine xmember. the frame flexed so bad without it. you really dont realize how much force the axle generate thru the tracbar until you see it firsthand. its nuts. so bracing it is def a must.


and for the third link angles if you need to make sure they travel in the same arc on the same plane. ideally you would want the links to be equal length so they travel within the same arc. the caster would get pretty gnarly real quick if they weren't.

 

[Snurfer]

i woulda gone the 44 route but finding an axle around here was too hard. and when they did come up doods wanted top dollar for a bare housing. for what i do with my truck the 30 does great and hasnt let me down yet.

thanks again MA ranger!!

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

badass build man! that truck looks really nice

 

[fordbrian333]

how long are your lower links?

 

[4.0B2]

glad i found this.. hoping to do a dana 30 swap in my b2 in the spring.

 

[88_Eddie]

yeah, i am def a fan of the d30 swap into rbv's

 

[White94Ranger]

hey snurfer, just wondering how the dana 30 is holding up? any major problems youve came across?

thanks, Dustin.