1988 ranger on superdut axles

[deranged88]

Here is how she sat before it all started. 6" old school skyjacker front lift on the d28 front. chevy 2500 springs, stock stx block, and drop shackle on the 7.5 rear. sitting on 31s. yes its a dual stacked 2.9 v6 5speed. for now. all noise no power. everything done to the truck was done by myself.

after much debate. sloppy joints. worn out gears. very very limited supply of dana 28 axle shafts due to me stripping junk yards of them in the tri-state area. i finally decided an axle swap was due.

Im currently at a standstill on my project. cant decide on what to do with the front axle.

As my 88 sits. i picked up a dana 60 and 10.5 with 3:73 ratio from a 2003 super duty. got a heck of a deal so decided to use them.

Well i got the easier of the two mounted, the rear. 93 chevy 2500 leaf springs. stock stx block. extended shackle. an awesome fabricator cut me an amazing deal on the spring perches, u bolts, and spring plates for $45





Now im at an entire standstill on the front axle. i really planned on running coils and long arms, but with this being the newer style d60 the driverside C is damn near cast into the diff. i was left with outboarding 6" chevy leafs and building my crossmember and shackle brackets. which i still havent gotten to building to yet due to the diff almost being underneath my frame rail..i have a constant migraine trying to figure it out


anyone want to chime in? my poor truck is currently taking up room in my garage :-(. Im currently on the fence about selling the 10.5 and dana 60. id like to keep it street legal. was thinking about changing my mind and downgrading to a dana 30 and expo 8.8. since i have access to gently used long arms, springs, adj track bar for a d30.

i just love the look of the full width axles so far. ill try to get recent pics of the front end.

 

[brentmc]

Have you considered cutting down the axel to the correct width to fit the truck? Have the passenger side of the d60 shortened and the axel will be moved to the right. If I had the money thats what I would do. The rear would be easier to do because theres a long and short axle. I think it the drives side that's the long one but 100% sure.

 

[brentmc]

Oh yeah, if you cut down the rear you will just use two passenger side axle shafts rather than a driver/passenger ...

 

[deranged88]

Yeah the sterlings do have a long and short. I guess I never thought about that.
On the 60 though. In order to position the center diff enough under the truck thecoil bucket mount looks like it'd be on the C.
I like the full width look, but not sure on the outboarding of the springs.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Are the springs 6" out on each side or 6" total (3" out each side)? It isn't nothing to build outriggers or you could buy some.
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com...=FMP-LG&Category_Code=Crossmembers-Skidplates

There has been several people that have done the D60 swap. I believe Bobbywalter has done several D60's.


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[bobbywalter]

so what is the issue?

put a spreader across the front and some outriggers in the back for the mounts and some big glass fenders or some flaps or whatever to go down the road.


or put a ttb d44 in it


or



or


or





make the mounts to work with your caster goals and knock it out. or do you want to stay at 6-7 in of lift?

if that is the case you will need to mod the rail and run a different steering box

Are the springs 6" out on each side or 6" total (3" out each side)? It isn't nothing to build outriggers or you could buy some.
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com...=FMP-LG&Category_Code=Crossmembers-Skidplates

There has been several people that have done the D60 swap. I believe Bobbywalter has done several D60's.


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my 60 is a 77.5-79 style.....it fits better in a ttb truck then a eb d30 or eb d44.

his 60 requires 7-8 inches of lift as the pumpkin is too near the rail for it to be low and still only have the same up travel the earlier axle offers at 5 in of lift.. in relative terms my truck is a lowrider for being able to run a 44 inch tire. where he will be kind of high in lift to run a 35 in tire.

as always it depends on intended use and goals as to whether that is acceptable.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

I figured you would know all about 60's! That makes sense but why is the diff off set so much on the newer 60's? Couldn't a guy re-tube it to accept the older 60's shafts and make the diff centered more?


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[bobbywalter]

the old school trucks had narrower frames, the modern trucks have rails that are much farther apart and twice the iron. all in all its more stable....farther the spring point is out board the better.


a modern f150 would murder a 79 350. tough to say that because i would like to say you have to be a bitch to drive one of these modern girly trucks with power dick washers and toe manicure pedels etc...

or maybe i am just jealous.


he certainly could retube it to take any spec axleshaft and knuckle/spindle combination he desired....but that puts the boots to cheap and easy.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Makes sense!


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[4x4junkie]

You can cut a couple inches off the cast part of the pumpkin on that axle to expose a bit more of the driverside tube without it compromising strength to any great degree. Maybe that can give you enough room to mount a link or radius arm bracket and a coil mount.


Also, why not clean up all that clutter around where you're working? I'd go nuts tripping over all that junk, looking for lost nuts, bolts, sockets, drill bits, etc.

 

[deranged88]

lol the clutter piled up whenever i had the truck and a xj mudder i cut up and parted out. that and i had a family member move in and all that yada yada. its cleaner since these old pics.

ive done the math and fab work on paper for outrigging leafs. its 2 1/4" appx each side from frame rail. iirc. i start work again monday. so hopefully buying the steel soon.
if i move the axle to the passenger side itd required much less to keep it street legal. but id have to get 3 axle shafts narrowed. that gets pricey. ranger has pretty well funded itself so far. i sold 3" body lift, the 6" suspension lift, and 33/12.5s on 15x10s.
so far i have appx $100 in axles. $125 in the superduty wheels and tires. im getting a 92 f150 5.0 swap with 5 speed trans and manual t case for $200. i bought the wrong mounts though. dang craigslist sellers. he told me they were for 4x4. brand new box never opened. opened it up when it arrived and says 2wd mounts. so anyone need 2wd 83-97 5.0 swap mounts?

currently at an issue with driveshafts. should i go ahead and get them made for the 2.9? or get the suspension done and swap in my 5.0 then do the shafts?


yeah a friend and i trimmed the housing on a kingpin d60 3 link set up when we put one under his cherokee. his unibody rails were wider then the ranger rails. his springs are still slightly tilted in at the top. his d60 and 10.25 are narrower then mine?theyre from late 80s-mid 90s. they were only slightly wider then his stock d30 and 8.25 setup. he was pretty pissed wehn he saw how wide my ranger was stanced. thats the look he was going for. while i was trying to keep it a tad narrower since the ranger will see street time. but i couldnt convince him to trade me his kingpin d60 for my balljoint. his axles were also 4:10 with rear drum where mine are 3:73 disc x4

i also know ill most likely need a master cylinder/ booster upgrade? i saw that on a thread here somewhere. 88 f250/350 master cylinder


i have so much fail though. im building this 88. id like to dana 30 swap my 2000 before 2015 winter. and ontop im tinkering with my daily driver 2000 s10.

 

[deranged88]

Whelp an update...had to scratch the one ton idea. I have the 10.5 mounted, but no matter what I do I run into high costs trying to get the d60 pinion to clear my fram rail. So axles will be used for my next project. I've recently purchased 4.10 dana 30 and 4.10 8.8. Hopefully getting this done by late spring..can't decide on coils or leafs yet..I already bought all materials and 4" chevy front leafs for leaf sprung..