91 Ranger 5.0L Swap, and SAS

[merch]

ready to see this thing in the sunlight!

 

[MadDog]

Well in a little over a week it will be out side for the first time since Dec 2012. It will however only be on a trailer to move it to my garage. There will be pics cuz the axles will be under it solid mounted just so I can move it but it will be at ride height.

 

[MadDog]

So here is how far I have gotten on my disk brake swap. This is the hardware that I am using for my swap. Weld on brackets from Ruffstuff, Cheby 3/4ton front calipers and pads. And the kicker 2007 Mitsubishi Raider rotors. They are the only rotors that I found with a 5 on 5.5 pattern that the axle flange actually clears.

Just a shot from looking down the housing.

Side view with the rotors and caliper.

The rotor sitting over the caliper.

That is how much clearance I have between the axle flange and the inside of the rotor.

Now here are the problems:

It's hard to see but the caliper is rubbing on the wheel.

Different angle, but where the mark is, is about where it is hitting.

This isn't a big problem just more of a concern. The lug studs are smaller than the holes in the rotors so there is slop. I was thinking about drilling out the shaft and pressing in bigger studs to make it fit better. My current issue is that with a lug nut bolted directly to the rotor I can center the rotor and everything is alright. However as soon as I put the wheel on the rotor sags and it becomes off center.

What I was thinking was if I could get a wheel spacer and put it in it would help with the clearance a little bit. I don't think they make them but wheel spacers that are dimpled so they fit into the rotor to help center it. I have already ground the caliper down a bit on top to help with the clearance issue but the backspacing of the wheel seems to be causing problems a bit.

 

[MadDog]

Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated as well.

 

[Hunter_Dude]

Has it been tough to do this?

 

[MadDog]

You know it wasn't that difficult. I am trying to fit this all in a 15" rim since I got a killer deal on some 37/12.5/15 Irok Super swampers. If I had a 16" rim I would have had the swap done in less than a couple of hours. Right now I am scratching my head as to where the caliper is rubbing the wheel. Also the other big thing that people struggle with is getting the rotor to fit over the axle flange. Most people I have seen just grind down the flange to make it fit. My whole goal was just to get off the shelf parts that didn't need modifying if something breaks, like a shaft.

 

[dhkonrad]

So I have done my disk brake conversion on my 9" I just need to burn it in and paint it up and she will be done. I will get some pics once it is all burned in.

Also I am contemplating what D44 to use up front. I currently have a HP '79 F250 that was a radius arm setup with disks. I have a friend that has a leaf sprung HP D44 with brakes that he said I could have. I am trying decide which housing would be better. My ultimate goal is to 4link or, 3link with a PHB. I am just not sure if there is that big of a difference between the axle housing of the 2. I do know that the way the radius arm brackets are welded onto the housing are different and mine aren't able to be cut down. So I am just lost a little on that.

if you are looking to 3 or 4 link it, my initial suggestion would be to say use the leaf sprung axle, since the 79 will have cast wedges that can't be removed, IIRC.

So here is how far I have gotten on my disk brake swap. This is the hardware that I am using for my swap. Weld on brackets from Ruffstuff, Cheby 3/4ton front calipers and pads. And the kicker 2007 Mitsubishi Raider rotors. They are the only rotors that I found with a 5 on 5.5 pattern that the axle flange actually clears.

Just a shot from looking down the housing.

Side view with the rotors and caliper.

The rotor sitting over the caliper.

That is how much clearance I have between the axle flange and the inside of the rotor.

Now here are the problems:

It's hard to see but the caliper is rubbing on the wheel.

Different angle, but where the mark is, is about where it is hitting.

This isn't a big problem just more of a concern. The lug studs are smaller than the holes in the rotors so there is slop. I was thinking about drilling out the shaft and pressing in bigger studs to make it fit better. My current issue is that with a lug nut bolted directly to the rotor I can center the rotor and everything is alright. However as soon as I put the wheel on the rotor sags and it becomes off center.

What I was thinking was if I could get a wheel spacer and put it in it would help with the clearance a little bit. I don't think they make them but wheel spacers that are dimpled so they fit into the rotor to help center it. I have already ground the caliper down a bit on top to help with the clearance issue but the backspacing of the wheel seems to be causing problems a bit.

I don't think the slop in the rotor is too big of a deal, since your wheel will sandwich the rotor onto the hub so it wont move around, assuming your lug nuts are torqued down properly.

I would think that you could grind down your caliper enough to fit the 15" wheel, but if not, they do make wheel spaces like you are talking about, and IIRC they are called hub-centric. I run wheel spacers in the rear, but they aren't hub-centric and I haven't run into any issues with them yet.

 

[MadDog]

So I guess my real concern with the rotor is shown in the last picture. I am showing the gap between the lug studs and the rotor. That gap also causes the rotor to become off centered when there isn't something like a lug nut that is tapered on one side to fill the difference in the gap, which would cause the rotor to spin oblonged. Since this whole set up is pieced together from recommend parts and my own parts, the clearance between the caliper and the edge/top of the rotor isn't very big so I am afraid that oblongedness of rotor will rub.

 

[MadDog]

So here are pictures of what I was talking about earlier.

This is the rotor centered on the flange/lug studs:

This is when the rotor sits freely like how it does when the wheel is bolted onto it:

That off centeredness is what concerns me. Not sure how I can make that center itself. I was thinking of pressing out the 1/2" lug studs and drilling out and pressing in 9/16" like the truck this rotor was made for has.

Looking for some ideas/help.

Also put in 1/4" wheel spacer and now the caliper clears the rim.

 

[MadDog]

So this past week I have gotten quite a bit done.The rear is 4 linked, and the front was at least put in so I could move my truck. I also finalized the disk brake conversion and everything clears. I decided that I am going to redrill the rotor to a smaller bolt hole to clean up the slop in the rotors.

Can kinda see the 4 link in this picture:

What the tire looks like on the axle:

Once I got the rear in I started to temporarily mount the front in so I could roll it onto a trailer. I then noticed this slight problem

My truck was supposed to be at ride height, but with the front diff that close to the cross member it is not going to be at full bump:

With the tires on the front axles:

I also decided that I am going to do a 3-4" stretch to help clear the cross member better. You can kinda see it in this picture. Also the first time the truck was on its own weight in over a year:

Just a shot down the side of the truck:

Got the bed back on and this is what she looks like now:

My new fancy core support. I will have to do hood pins now since my latch no longer fits:

A shot from the rear before I put it on a trailer:

Out in natural light and looking mean:

How she rode on the way home:

Now stuffed into my garage where lots more work will be happening:

Also got the hood back on:

Looked at my clearance and this is what I saw. I have about 1.5" of clearance:

And finally all my children lined up in a nice row:

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

I was kinda skeptical about how she'd look with that much of a bob but she does look good! Stretching the front end forward was a good idea. I think it'll make it look even better. What's your over all wheel base going to be?

 

[MadDog]

So stock it was about 125", and then I bobbed a little over 14" and now with the stretch the final wheel base will be about 116".

 

[MadDog]

Anyone know a good low profile oil pan? I am hoping I can put a low profile under there and then raise my motor a little bit.

 

[MadDog]

So I haven't gotten any more work done yet. I have been building a new BBQ and then last night went and saw Granger Smith (Earl Dibbles Jr.). That was awesome by the way. Hopefully this weekend, I can get a few hours of work in and start checking things off my huge list called "Holy god I have a lot to do".

 

[zachis4wheeling]

Any progress on this man? Love the stance and plan....