d44 knuckles or d44 sas?

[maroon ranger]

so guys...i am having one hell of a time deciding on what i wanna do and what would be cheaper on my 94 ranger. My thoughts were to lift the truck with skyjacker brackets and extended radius arms with dana 44 knuckles on the outers of the dana 35 arms and with chevy leafs with belltech shackles in the back.

Then a buddy of mine got me thinkin in putting a dana44 solid axle under there with springs and radius arms with the chevy leafs and bellteh shackles out back.

I cant choose! i do wheel it alot and have a solid piece drive shaft and an explorer 8.8 with discs in the back with limited slip. it's only a 3.0L that is about to go tits up but i got a new truck and am lookin to make the ranger a project truck, so you can get the idea, hahaha.

 

[Downey]

sas it with coils

 

[twoll86]

44 knuckle swap

 

[ChrisR1S]

Personally i would just holdout till the ranger isnt the DD any longer; then let the fun stuff begin like SAS and maybe address the 3.slow.
its what im doing and it really gives you time to fine tune things and do them right instead of rushing so you can say... have a ride to work tomorrow!

 

[94BonB]

Do the D44 SAS swap with coil and extended radius arm setup.. check this link out... http://www.rmftc.com/howtos/extendedradiusarms/extendedradiusarms.html .. this guy used EB D44 and modified the stock radius arms.. check out the flex... I'm doing this exact swap in the spring except with a narrowed full sized HP D44.

 

[dangerranger83]

I would do the SAS with coils.

 

[levi17]

4.0 swap is pretty simple just takes a little time, i have an 84 ranger with 2.8 i swapped in a 4.0 and i can't wait

 

[4x4junkie]

What is your goal here? What size tires, how much lift, etc.?

The Knuckles swap (or the whole D44) will get you bigger brakes, but changes your lug pattern.

The TTB suspension is good up to 6" lift, but above that the steering gets impractical to deal with (SA steering works better at 8" & up).

Overall strength is going to be pretty much the same no matter which way you go with it (there is a minor strength increase with the D44 axle stubs vs. the D35's, but more often than not a u-joint will still be the first thing to let go).

 

[Bent Bolt]

Yeah , you really need to sit down and figure out what your ultimate goal is. If trail riding and no bigger than a 35" tire, the D35 is good.

You going mudding ? The D35 is a plow so a D44 and 36"ish tires will be OK

You wanna run with the big guys? 37" , 40" tires ? skip the D44 and go D60.

I am going to do a D44 spindle and rotor swap in the spring so I can get a wider track , bigger tires and pound on the truck a bit harder. But still doesn't address the plow effect that I get going through deep snow and mud with the D35. At this point of the truck build, I kinda regret not going SA but I have too much time and $$ invested to give up on the D35 just yet.

 

[maroon ranger]

well i would like enough lift to clear 35s...which i can do with the sky jacker...maybe a fender mod. But i was lookin a wahlstrom's sas ranger and the one mentioned in the link 94BonB mentioned and those are ultimate goals of what i want my ranger to be.

so with my mind set on sas what is the easiest way to figure out the steering when the axle is thrown in and where i like it?

 

[94BonB]

Your best bet for steering is a high steer set up. I have read that just running the stock style steering set up on a ranger with SA will have a pretty noticeable decrease in steering radius, while running a high steer set up will actually increase your steering radius slightly. That and if your ultimate goal is a truck like the one mentioned on the link and your going to be wheeling it hard, then a high steer is the obvious choice. As far is steering set up, just get the axle where you want it and measure for your links. Use 1-ton rod ends and make sure that your track-bar(panhard bar) link for the suspension and drag link for your steering are as close to equal length as possible and as close to parallel as possible. This is done to eliminate bump steer.

 

[86ford]

If you are going to be REALLY wheeling I would swap in a d44. The d35 is a PITA when its locked and you cant run hydro assist steering. If you are content with a open front you can run a d35 up to 35s. A d44 can be filled with bling bling stuff and run up to 37s or 38s without much if any failure.

86

 

[4x4junkie]

×2 on the high-steer setup if you go SAS.
High steer will get rid of some of the suspension's quirkiness from having the draglink & trackbar running down at a steep angle as well if you put a lot of lift on it (which it sounds like what you're looking for).

If you are going to be REALLY wheeling I would swap in a d44. The d35 is a PITA when its locked and you cant run hydro assist steering. If you are content with a open front you can run a d35 up to 35s. A d44 can be filled with bling bling stuff and run up to 37s or 38s without much if any failure.

86

Completely untrue. The centerlink on a K-link setup gives you the perfect place for a hydro assist ram (which I've been going back & forth with the thought of putting on mine). I've heard of a couple people rigging one up on the stock steering too, although that's a bit hack IMO.

But blinging out a D44 is gonna run you what just getting a D60 would cost (and still not be as strong). Might as well go for the good stuff if you're going to do that.

 

[maroon ranger]

yep...my plans are to timber wheel and some snow wheelin for it. and thanks alot for the advice guys...i got exactly what i wanted out of my question. now i need a recomendation of a d-44 axle...i would do the early bronco with radius arms but finding one of those is like winning the lottery. I read something about an 03 jeep d44 with 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern...but are those a high pinion? What is a list of hp axles with disc brakes with generally the high count of splines...im not sure of the spline count for d44's.

 

[4x4junkie]

The EB D44 is weaker than what you have now anyway (smaller u-joints). It's also a lo-pinion too.

I would be looking for the axles out of a '76-'79 F-150 or Bronco. Being that you want to lift it pretty high, their extra width will go a long way in keeping the rubber side down.

Also, virtually all D44s are 30 spline with either 27 or 19 spline outer stubs (the 19 being a coarse spline, and the most common). Only some very early D44s have 19 spline inner shafts.