94 b4000 axle swap/offroad build

[kroussinoffroad]

the proof is in the pudding. the dana 30 was and still is a great choice for the kind of wheeling my truck see's. I never disputed the fact that a dana 44 is stronger. But i am more than happy with how everything works on and off the road with the dana 30. Hands down the truck is offroad more than on and it is doing great. I have yet to have any carnage related to the front axle. The truck made it thru some of the "rock crawling" trails in the area fairly well. i had to be reserved but not overly worried.
I got my hands on anotherd30 identical to the one in the truck right now. so i have been testin the currently installed axle petty thourghly. i dont WANT to break the current axle but i'm not holdin anything back. i'll let you know when there is some carnage.

if you someone wants to SAS there truck to use as a general wheeler. i would not hesitate to recomend the 30. i would have to say it is holding up GREAT. if someone wants to build a crawler or bogger. or v-8 truck then its prolly not for them.

BOTTOM LINE build it for what your gonna use it for and drive accordingly.
secondly use vanilla parts the one that can be found behind a garage or at the wrecking yard that they arent gonna want an arm and a leg for.

 

[escort_gts]

how is your front driveshaft with having that much lift? Mine is almost to it's angle limit. Did you use the original driveshaft?

 

[kroussinoffroad]

My factory drive shaft was way too short to work so what i did was i used half of my original and half of a YJ shaft. the YJ shaft was the perfect diamiter to press into my factory shaft . i cut the shafts so that they could be pressed into eachother about 12" pressing them together was fairly easy and could most likely be done with a piece of lumber and a hammer. before pressing them together i drilled thru the factory shaft to make 8 holes that were directly across from eachother and spaced equaly so i could plug weld everything aswell as weld the seam. the angles are nowhere near there limits even at full droop everything looks great.

 

[escort_gts]

so how long did you have to make yours?

 

[kroussinoffroad]

i dont recall the length i made mine. i measured max extended and max compressed put the slip joint in the middle of its stroke measured so it was about halfway thru the stroke and taked it in place. i think it had something like 2 inches of total driveshaft plunge so the slip yoke has more then enough travel




oh and here is how it sits NOW

 

[dangerranger83]

You have made one hell of a truck, I wish I owned it.

You should check out my new build thread, I've started work on my sas but am doing my chevy leaves swap first.

 

[MountainMike]

Sick stuff man, looks good.

 

[escort_gts]

Nice

What size tires did you end up using?
Also, when you welded the driveshaft together did you get much vibrations after? Did the hose clamps help?

I attempted to weld mine together and is now not straight...grrr

 

[dangerranger83]

I just got on a computer to see the video and WOW, your truck kicks ass in the mud!!!!!

 

[kroussinoffroad]

I'm runnin 33" Goodyear MTR's (old pattern).
When I welded my driveshaft i had about 12" of overlap between the two. The the jeep shaft and the ford shaft went together as very tight fit . I welded it and just made sure to clean up each weld extra carefully The 4 spot welds around it are exactly 90 degrees from eachother. There is minimal if any vibration from the driveshaft. I know this because I was tryin to find what was causing a vibration (thought it was the shaft) and had it on and off the truck several time's. Turns out one of my tires has a broken belt and it keeps gettin worse and worse. I have since moved that tire to the rear

 

[dangerranger83]

I think I'll just take mine to a driveshaft shop here in town and have them mod mine, that's one thing I don't want to do on my own.

I still don't know if I wanna run 31 or 33 inch tires yet. First I need to find a set of new(er) rims, my factory ones are shot.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

a driveshaft shop is something that we dont have in the area. there as a shot that will make PTO shafts but if they catch wind that its a driveshaft they drop the job like a bad habbit

 

[kroussinoffroad]

been adding a stuff here and there. hopefully I'll be switching to jeep springs and some lighter valved shocks this fall/winter. i was hoping the springs would soften up a little bit but no go. figured i would add a more rescent pic with the winch.

should i continue to use this as my build thread or start a new general build for ongoing stuff on the truck?

here is a quick video of a mud hole close to my house
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9qcZGfMihY

 

[dangerranger83]

I cant wait to go mudding in my truck now!!!!!!!!!!!

I think you need to put a locker of some kind in the rear and/or front, may help you with going through the mud a bit easier. As for going full widths, IMHO, I dont think you will need to, looks like the D30 is taking the beating you give her nicely.

Oh ya, and fix your driverside reverse light too.

As for Jeep springs, if your shocks seem a bit stiff with the coils you have now, try the Jeeps coils with them first as Jeep coils are softer, may balance eachother out.

 

[Bennybooster]

I think I'll just take mine to a driveshaft shop here in town and have them mod mine, that's one thing I don't want to do on my own.

I still don't know if I wanna run 31 or 33 inch tires yet. First I need to find a set of new(er) rims, my factory ones are shot.

I would run 33's