ford 9" swap into 95 ranger

[foxracing5491]

i may be getting a ford 9" and d44 from a 78 f150 which i was wondering the best way to set up the drive shafts. i have a 8.8 in it now with a flange, i know the 9" has a yoke. and then theres the d44, ive read that the 78 d44 and my d35ttb both should have a 1310 series yoke.

 

[foxracing5491]

oh, i almost forgot. will my speedo still work without the tone ring and sensor. my truck either doesnt have abs or it just doesnt work but ive already removed the sensors from the front and havent had a problem.

 

[Hunter95R]

If you have a 5 speed trans dont worry about the tone ring. My brother has one exactly like this. His is a Dana 44 and nine inch like what you're building. I think the tone ring in the 8.8 is for ABS. If it's for shift points, have one made at a machine shop to sandwich between the output on the transfer case and the driveshaft. Fab a bracket and relocate the sensor. My buddies '96 bronco was like that. He built it about 7 years ago and works fine.

 

[t0x1k]

The speed sensor is built into the transmission, no matter what year and trans model. The tone ring is strictly for ABS only! You will just have the ABS light come on.

 

[angelfly]

The speed sensor is built into the transmission, no matter what year and trans model. The tone ring is strictly for ABS only! You will just have the ABS light come on.

Not a true statement but for his 95 ur right

 

[foxracing5491]

d44 sas and d60 swap

the d60 was as simple as the ford 8.8 swap the only difference was getting my drive shaft shortened. the d60 is way long.

i started the d44 swap by getting all the parts necessary and getting it all together before installing in my truck since its my daily driver. this allowed me to put it in, in 4 days.

 

[foxracing5491]

truck before swap

d44 day of pick up

d44 stripped with wedges already welded

axle complete

axle in, but not complete. was waiting on tubing for track bar

 

[foxracing5491]

ill give you guys some insight on parts and fitment

starting out i stripped the complete front down. installed a durasolid full spool with 4.10's.
machined and tapped the right knuckle for high steer arm for drag link. the stock drag link tie-rod end has too small of a tapper because the steering arms are designed for gm tie-rod ends, but what i did was go to autozone and picked up a tie-rod end for a 85 bronco part # es2026r which had the same thead as the stock ranger tie-rod sleeve so all i had to do is thread it in. the thing was the bronco tie rod is a little longer which i also stayed with full width, so if your going to go with a shortened d44 this may not be the best option.

mounting i went with bronco or f150 radius arms wedges and radius arm mounts.

spring's i went with the deaver superflex 4.5 springs since there a little stiffer and i used the f250 blocks in the rear and already had a whole set of explorer leafs except the long one added to my stock leaf with a 2" add a leaf.
spring mounting i wont go into because there is too many choices of after market coil buckets and axle spring plates.

i decided to build my own track bar. got some track bar brackets, rod ends, and tubing from ballistics. ill have a picture of the modified track bar frame mount.

for some reason my front drive shaft was still good length. when i recieved this axle. the drive shaft was cut in half with the axle end of it still attacked to the axle. i thought i would do a little tinkering and what i found out. the slip joint from the 76 f250 driveshaft was exactly the same as my stock ranger one. so to get the right u-joint size all i had to do is remove the boots. and slip the half of the f250 driveshaft right into my stock driveshaft.

im done writing for now, and have a little writers block. ill be back with more information, and feel free to ask question i havent gone over yet.

 

[foxracing5491]

 

[straycat]

I had a few early Broncos and I used one of my 76 Bronco 9 inch rears in my 87 Ranger and it was a perfect fit. The F series will be a bit wider but will work and you will have a great rear end that will love to be abused. The early Bronco rear looked like it was made for the Ranger. I did not care about a speedometer working. I don't need it in the woods or rockcrawling. I never needed one on the street. None of my street rods had them either. But some people want one for some reason....lol

 

[foxracing5491]

speedo does run off the transfer case so it still works, i thought instead of starting a new thread i would just use this one.

got one more pic of the truck with the 37x12.5x 16.5 military oz's on

 

[jovibuilt]

Nice tires I have a set to go on my ranger.

 

[foxracing5491]

Nice tires I have a set to go on my ranger.

ya, im going to try siping the center lugs to get a little more traction on wet pavement. the rubber compound is a little tough. if you do the outers they end up chunking.

 

[2813josh]

Looks bad-ass man!

 

[foxracing5491]

sold the military oz.s sucked even in pine needles, same hill pine needles and all the bfg's drove right up no spinning while the military oz's were spinnin every where, i could even roast them thru second on wet pavement no problem,