SAS advice...

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Larger wheel bearings with better placement

Can easily be made the same with the D44 knuckle swap.

Ring gear nearly 3/4" larger

Has anyone actually had any issues with the ring/pinion in a D35 TTB?

Real hubs

Again fixed with the D44 knuckle upgrade.

1/2 or 3/8 axle tubes vs. stamped steel beams that crack and act as a plow

I bent 1 beam and cracked another, so I can't disagree with you here. The beams can be plated and beefed to take a pounding though,

Holds alignment better

Never had any issues with the alignment on mine. Ran it lifted on 35" + tires for about 7 years with only 1 alignment in that time. No abnormal tire wear and I was just running the standard drop arm for the steering.

Better steering set up

Again, you got this one. Much simpler steering on a solid axle. I've got about $350 into the steering for my D60. That is with 1 ton chevy tie rod ends, threaded inserts, and DOM tube.

Strong aftermarket support

You win this one big time.

One less u-joint to break

Not too many issues with that U joint as it doesn't operate ant any severe angles.

Simpler suspension set up

Depends on what you call simpler. Doing the SAS you will have to build your own from scratch or use a radius arm style. I went 3 link and it took quite a bit of time and planning to package it all into the truck.

Better design for keeping water and debris out of wheel bearings

Again, D44 knuckle swap will help this issue.

All this coming from a guy who ran the D35 for about 9 years total now. 2 years on 31's stock. 7 years on 35 and 36" tires lifted. 3 of those years with a locker in the front end. I broke 3 hubs (standard style hubs, not the better 37780 hubs) and had to start welding my U joints in as they were egging out the ears of the axle shafts. Never once actually broke a shaft. I figure I was going to end up having these same issues with a D44 as its the same joints/shaft size so I went 1 ton. The d35 wasn't junk, that is for sure. I just finally outgrew it as I was needing to run larger tires.

 

[Maverick]

The D44 knuckle swap is easier said than done. A lot of people talk about it, but few people actually end up doing it.

Sounds like you would have been good with a D44 and some alloy shafts/joints

 

[dirtcowboy]

I did the 44 knuckle swapon my D35 and it was very easy, 'specially after I read the swap where the guy drilled the beams with a 3/4 drill bit b4 reaming, way easy. I had more trouble getting the rear axles swapped to 5x5.5. Went as far as contacting Moser axle and trying to get some custom shafts built. There isn't enuff meat on an Explorer axle to drill 5x5.5 bolt pattern. I ended up getting junkyard F-150 8.8 axles and cutting them down, milling a c clip attachment and resplining the axles. I have a TSM disc brake kit for a F-150 8.8 under the xmas tree right now. Brackets, rotors, nuts and bolts. All I need then is the GM calipers. I didn't use adapters as the smallest I could find was 1.25". I already have new wheels and fiberglas fenders so the extra width was outa' the question. YMMV, I don't care.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

The D44 knuckle swap is easier said than done. A lot of people talk about it, but few people actually end up doing it.

Sounds like you would have been good with a D44 and some alloy shafts/joints

Whats easier than reaming out 4 holes total?

D44 wasn't worth the effort for me. If I was going to go through the trouble of doing a multi link suspension and all the fancy stuff I wasn't going to waste my money beefing up a D44. My D60 also cost me pennies. I spent $300 on 1 front HP D60 and 2 rear Sterling 10.25's. The narrowed axle shaft I got from Andrew for the price of shipping.....everything just kind of fell together on this one. Also running 38" tires and probably going to step to a 40" tire next time I need tires a D44 didn't make much sense to me And did I mention I like blingy stuff!

 

[Maverick]

Purchasing the correct reamer, reaming the beams, reaming the knuckles for steering, clearancing the beams for the knuckles. Okay, so it's not that difficult, but it's more than just reaming four holes.

I wouldn't have put a D44 under your rig either, regardless of the costs. Heavy extended cab, 38's, no reason to waste the time with a D44. I was just pointing out the fact that with how well the D35 survived under your rig with 35's and 36's, that a D44 with real hubs, alloy shafts/joints, and no beams to crack or bend (the issues you had) that by your definition probably would have worked just fine under your truck with 38's.

I'm big on necessity/practicality. I'm building a D44 because my rig is light, short, low power and on 36's. I have a D60/10.25 combo laying around that I traded for a little labor with no money out. Could I have built those for my rig? Sure. Are they a necessity for my situation? No. Lots of unsprung weight on a short rig, poor ground clearance with 36's, general overkill for the whole set up of the truck. Now an extended cab truck with lots of wheelbase, weight, and 38's or 40's... one tons are definitely a necessity.

 

[dangerranger83]

One thing that I keep reading about the D35 is the bearings and how close they are and running big tires and offset rims can kill them fast and who doesnt do all of these things to them? If a D44 knuckle swap or going to SAS can calm this problem then it would be the best thing to do IMO. If these upgrades that have been posted about ways to improve and extend the life of components on the D35 and make it more trail worthy and what do work, then it would be well worth the time to do them IMO. But like any axle setup, they all have there limits and if you are exceding them then do whatever it takes to make your rig do what you need it to do. If you arent exceding the limits of it and its working for you, then keep what you have unless you feel the need/want to do upgrades to your rig. Just my $.02

 

[legoms013]

Hagan, what is your ultimate goal of ability? Do you wanna rock crawl with the hardcores or is this mainly a hunting/winter/fun trails rig?

D35 TTB for the latter, HP D44 for the former.

The D35 will hold up to abuse, and only slightly less than what a D44 will hold up to. Sure you can do chromoly and CTM's but for that kind of money one could have durability of a D60.

 

[bobbywalter]

i realize he has reasoned up and staying 35 but still...

Doing a SAS can add up quick. By the time I'm done my current 1 ton swap i'll have over $5k into the swap.

35's and no plan of a front locker, I'd stick with the d35 you've already started investing money into.

and to think i was whining about spending over 200 bux for some brand new springs

using a running d60....kp type...and using leafs...staying under a 1000 bux is pretty easy to do...that applies to a leaf 44 as well obviously. for anybody with good drill bits and some common sense its a 1 day deal...and 80 -120 dollars worth of shit to set it up.

Full width is too wide. And I would have to put a new axle in the rear. And I don't really want to spend $2500 on a new axle.

So it sounds like a high pinion dana 44 is the way to go for me then!

well apparently wrangler went right by you.

you can get a 410 rubi type axle for 2500 or less brand new shopping around....thats brand new man. tough to beat that.

add a selectable locker/gears and your looking at at least 1000 to 1400 bux additional for about any axle you can scrounge up cheap.... so i leave that stuff as a wash

. so...if that shit comes with a new mopar axle for 2500 bux it makes a brand new axle look like smart money to me for someone that has to ask for advice.




if i were to run a d35 hard again i would likely run a 30 spline arb with custom axles throughout......

but for that cost it would end up 35 spline 44.....

with power i was failing the 35 at the splines quite a bit and killing spiders along with spline issues. running the duff arms its easy to pull the piglet and service it though.....

tough to balance it all out...but worth the forethought.

 

[BRONCONUT]

I would go for the full size axles, finding a 78-79 bronco or f-150 should not be a problem either. I know its not the year you stated but they are easy to find.

 

[Hagan]

I've made my decision to go with a Dana 44

I think this will be the best option for me. I will have to shorten it though.

I believe the d35 is strong and is a good setup but it isn't for me. I was really hoping to show some people in my area what a TTB setup can do but I like the simplicity of a straight axle.

The main reason I want to get rid of my D35 is the steering. I feel like at 5.5" lift you have no steering options except a custom one. And I don't want to build a custom setup.

Thanks everyone for your advice...I'm adding reputation to everyone I can!

 

[4x4junkie]

Sasquatch already broke it down pretty good, but I will add a couple pennies of my own here (red):

There's a very good chance you'll end up doing one anyhow. Very few people that actually "build" a D35 end up keeping it for any length of time. Peer pressure can become pretty strong & convincing, no doubt


Real hubs I didn't know the D35's were fake.

1/2 or 3/8 axle tubes vs. stamped steel beams that crack and act as a plow You're comparing ¾-ton D44s to the D35?

Holds alignment better No issues here either. Now if you can't be bothered to check that your linkage isn't jacked up after you put some poorly-engineered lift parts on it, then sure, all bets are off.

Better steering set up Certainly easier to set up anyway, and is much more friendly toward really tall lifts

Strong aftermarket support True, there is... However posts like this make you wonder if that's about to change


Better design for keeping water and debris out of wheel bearings
How so? I see the same set of seals with the same part numbers for both axles (well at least for '90-'92 D35s, the later ones show some different part #s depending on where you look... So how about simply just putting those D44/early-D35 seals onto the thing if they're that much better??).

One thing that I keep reading about the D35 is the bearings and how close they are and running big tires and offset rims can kill them fast and who doesnt do all of these things to them? If a D44 knuckle swap or going to SAS can calm this problem then it would be the best thing to do IMO. If these upgrades that have been posted about ways to improve and extend the life of components on the D35 and make it more trail worthy and what do work, then it would be well worth the time to do them IMO. But like any axle setup, they all have there limits and if you are exceding them then do whatever it takes to make your rig do what you need it to do. If you arent exceding the limits of it and its working for you, then keep what you have unless you feel the need/want to do upgrades to your rig. Just my $.02

No argument here, I do see people posting about bearing issues with some frequency, though I also see lots who have never have an issue at all. I can only attest that this is most likely a user-setup issue (overtorquing the bearing preload being by far the most common, though using cheap (i.e., NOT Timken) bearings contributes as well). The D35 is no doubt sensitive to this, but it is by no means impossible to have complete reliability out of it.

Purchasing the correct reamer, reaming the beams, reaming the knuckles for steering, clearancing the beams for the knuckles. Okay, so it's not that difficult, but it's more than just reaming four holes.

So why not bolt D44 TTB spindles to the D35 knuckles which then just leaves fabbing up a caliper bracket? (or maybe a Chevy bracket will work)?
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47420&highlight=knuckle+swap

I did the 44 knuckle swapon my D35 and it was very easy, 'specially after I read the swap where the guy drilled the beams with a 3/4 drill bit b4 reaming, way easy. I had more trouble getting the rear axles swapped to 5x5.5. Went as far as contacting Moser axle and trying to get some custom shafts built. There isn't enuff meat on an Explorer axle to drill 5x5.5 bolt pattern. I ended up getting junkyard F-150 8.8 axles and cutting them down, milling a c clip attachment and resplining the axles. I have a TSM disc brake kit for a F-150 8.8 under the xmas tree right now. Brackets, rotors, nuts and bolts. All I need then is the GM calipers. I didn't use adapters as the smallest I could find was 1.25". I already have new wheels and fiberglas fenders so the extra width was outa' the question. YMMV, I don't care.

If you drill the axle flange for thread-in studs, there's just enough room for them to fit. You cannot drill it for standard press-in studs however.

I haven't completely decided. I still have about a week or so to decide.

Maybe I am not seeing hidden costs but here is my price list on my d35;

D35/Lift Brackets - $250
Gears - $250
Locker - $250
Shims/seals - $80
u-joints - $80
Radius arms - $70

I can get an axle for about $300...and exchange my locker so I believe I will be about even.

I'm unsure if I will upgrade to a 4.0 eventually or what. I don't have a problem with the d35 I have never used it. I just thought I have a chance to do something different (than stock) and was trying to figure out if the costs would be equivalent.


And my goal is to build it right the first time. 35's will be my max tire I run. I will use it for hunting, fishing, camping, and some trails.

Here's how mine breaks down:
D35 axle = Free (already have it)
Lift:

• used axle brackets = Free
• XJ coils = $170
• Extended radius arms = $40 (4' 2" DOM tubing to extend the stock arms)
• F-250 shock mounts = $30
• Bilstein shocks = $160

Warn 37780 Jeep hubs = $165
Spicer 5-760X u-joints = $70 (3)
K-link steering = $350 (remember you will need new steering for the SA too, so this might not come out any different in either case)

(disclaimer, some of those are 2004 prices)
I'm not including things like gears, lockers, rebuild parts, etc. though, as you would need these for ANY axle, so their cost isn't relevant.

 

[4x4junkie]

Woops, didn't notice your edit when I typed out my post above .

Cool deal then. Certainly hard to go wrong with it either way, and the SAS is bound to earn you a lot more "cool points". Not sure if I agree on the "it's simpler" part... (maybe if you're talking leaf springs it is) though I do know you're likely to find a lot more resources out there to tap into for info (seems like finding real-world TTB info that doesn't involve high-$$$ desert-running setups isn't so easy to come by outside of around here).

You mentioned an EB 44 for $300... Make sure it's actually a 44 when you go look at it, I've seen a number of older EB D30s being passed off as D44s (perhaps unintentionally, or perhaps not). Quickest way to tell is whether it has ball joints or kingpins at the steering knuckles (kingpins = D30, balljoints = D44). Of course if you're good at recognizing diff cover shapes & sizes, that'll work just as well too.

I've made my decision to go with an EB D44.

I think this will be the best option for me. I won't have to shorten it and when I need the strength (if?) I can upgrade shafts. They are basically a bolt on setup and it will match my 8.8 width.

I believe the d35 is strong and is a good setup but it isn't for me. I was really hoping to show some people in my area what a TTB setup can do but I like the simplicity of a straight axle.

The main reason I want to get rid of my D35 is the steering. I feel like at 5.5" lift you have no steering options except a custom one. And I don't want to build a custom setup.

Thanks everyone for your advice...I'm adding reputation to everyone I can!

 

[Hagan]

Woops, didn't notice your edit when I typed out my post above .

Cool deal then. Certainly hard to go wrong with it either way, and the SAS is bound to earn you a lot more "cool points". Not sure if I agree on the "it's simpler" part... (maybe if you're talking leaf springs it is) though I do know you're likely to find a lot more resources out there to tap into for info (seems like finding real-world TTB info that doesn't involve high-$$$ desert-running setups isn't so easy to come by outside of around here).

You mentioned an EB 44 for $300... Make sure it's actually a 44 when you go look at it, I've seen a number of older EB D30s being passed off as D44s (perhaps unintentionally, or perhaps not). Quickest way to tell is whether it has ball joints or kingpins at the steering knuckles (kingpins = D30, balljoints = D44). Of course if you're good at recognizing diff cover shapes & sizes, that'll work just as well too.

Sorry about editing it while you were posting!

Not so much looking for cool points from anyone. But other than that I am going to use coils not leafs.

And I couldn't agree more. This IS the place for TTB info (not desert running).

I found two for $250. Both are from 78/79. I will definitely make sure it is a Dana 44 and not a Dana 30. That would be a costly mistake.

 

[wahlstrom1]

If you want to narrow it to EB/Ranger width try and get a D44 from an F150 EARLIER then 78' as the wedges will be weld on and not cast in like 78/79's are.

Also, the D44 I got from a 76' supercab had 1/2" wall tubes. Can't go wrong with that kinda beef! Andres629 has it in his BII now.

 

[Hagan]

Well I made a stupid mistake. I was looking at Bronco parts on craigslist and assumed 78-79 were Early Bronco's. I was about to go buy a front axle for $300...but I just figured out that is a different axle...not sure what it is? I think its a HP D44.