96 ranger ttb dana 35 knuckle swap

[RangerRough]

Hello community!
Been doing a lot of research and come to a crossroads. Im installing a class II skyjacker 6” lift to fit 35” tires, i was reading the builders guide and it stated that its advantageous to swap stub and knuckle from a dana 44 if you plan on running 35” or lager tires. Then i read that the stock 35 ttb can handle 35” tires max. Does anyone have any experiance using the stock 35 ttb without swapping out the knuckles and its reliability? It seems like a hard swap with all the reaming and i am really not a professional mechanic (newbie here trying to learn). Or does anyone know how much it would cost to pay someone to do the swap? I dont want to be on a trail and break down because i am runing too large of tires. Any input, suggestions, knowledge is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[bobbywalter]

gearing, actual power, and actual tire size combined with usage goals.


for mall crawlin you can run 44 in tires...it would kill the bearings regularly but manageable.



stopping with big tires is a big reason for the knuckles, the bearing spacing really helps.. its a bit of work for sure....there is several ways to do it.



wheelin with lockers.....37 light is ok

 

[RangerRough]

gearing, actual power, and actual tire size combined with usage goals.


for mall crawlin you can run 44 in tires...it would kill the bearings regularly but manageable.



stopping with big tires is a big reason for the knuckles, the bearing spacing really helps.. its a bit of work for sure....there is several ways to do it.



wheelin with lockers.....37 light is ok

Yeah i geared my truck 4.88, mostly going to use for overlanding and hunting fishing expeditions so i need it to be solid and reliable. Dont want anything breaking if its preventable or really needed.

 

[bobbywalter]

if its got a trutrac or open front diff you should be ok.


but if your weight is overly high you can run into issues with the bearings.



run it ... keep a spare spindle out with rotor assembly....if it has issues...upgrade.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, that, I'm running a D35 stock with 5.13's in it (35" tires). I haven't been the nicest to it in the last 8 years but it hasn't given me any troubles... haven't put a ton of miles on it but it gets ridden hard and put away wet, bad alignment (not enough to kill tires, but not great either), I ignore it really... a few years ago it started grumbling, turned out I toasted a wheel bearing, not a huge deal but would have been nice if I had the spare parts I had at home .

When I say I'm not that nice to it, 3 of the last 8 years it drove to Christmas Valley Oregon from the Salem area, the last year it towed an enclosed trailer with a Honda 350X in it and a bunch of pallets and other camping junk which was around 7500lb combined with the truck. Since then I acquired an F350 Diesel and getting older I put the camper in the back and tow the Ranger with the 350X in the bed of the Ranger...

Not as mean to mine as Bobby is but I've considered the same as you but haven't gotten that far, hasn't been an issue so I haven't done it... I do have a full set of spares and try to bring them with me when I remember...

 

[RangerRough]

Yeah, that, I'm running a D35 stock with 5.13's in it (35" tires). I haven't been the nicest to it in the last 8 years but it hasn't given me any troubles... haven't put a ton of miles on it but it gets ridden hard and put away wet, bad alignment (not enough to kill tires, but not great either), I ignore it really... a few years ago it started grumbling, turned out I toasted a wheel bearing, not a huge deal but would have been nice if I had the spare parts I had at home .

When I say I'm not that nice to it, 3 of the last 8 years it drove to Christmas Valley Oregon from the Salem area, the last year it towed an enclosed trailer with a Honda 350X in it and a bunch of pallets and other camping junk which was around 7500lb combined with the truck. Since then I acquired an F350 Diesel and getting older I put the camper in the back and tow the Ranger with the 350X in the bed of the Ranger...

Not as mean to mine as Bobby is but I've considered the same as you but haven't gotten that far, hasn't been an issue so I haven't done it... I do have a full set of spares and try to bring them with me when I remember...

WOAH! Thats actually really awesome, yeah i am going to purchase some extras and keep them available on the trail and just use it as is. If i do get the hankering to swap them out in the future i might, but for now stock D35 it is. I really appreciate all your comments and responses

 

[Captain Ledd]

As for a simple stock-ish upgrade, Warn makes a lockout kit that is a good bit stronger than the stock lockouts.

https://www.therangerstation.com/how-to/axles/warn-jeep-hubs-for-the-dana-35/

 

[bobbywalter]

...those lockouts are beef

 

[twoll86]

I can't seem to find the post but some where either here or pirate4x4 a guy swapped everything ( axle end shaft, rotors, bearings, spindle and ect) from the a late bronco on to 95-97 knuckle s.he made his own caliper bracket.

 

[Shran]

I am doing a 5x5.5 conversion on my 2 door Explorer - using the "mappyjack" method where you use D35 knuckles but run pre-79 GM truck spindles, hubs, etc on them and redrill the hub and rotor for 5x5.5. Or your could keep the 6 lug pattern and get adapters for the rear (needed anyway for the conversion no matter which way you go.)

Reaming the beams and using D44 knuckles out is another way of accomplishing this but either way you're buying parts and tools... I like the mappyjack method because you reuse your steering and don't even need so much as an alignment afterwards.

 

[twoll86]

That's what I was thinking of!! I thought it used bronco but you're right it's gm parts. I was going to use 8 lug stuff when I was looking into it

 

[twoll86]

https://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47420&highlight=Mappyjack

 

[bobbywalter]

on the abs 5 bolt bronco/150 spindles, you can weld the wilwood bracket directly to the edge of the spindle and cut off the d35 stuff if its the older d35 pin style brakes.




there is a kit for the early 70's drum broncos you can redrill to 5 holes and use that as well...last i seen it was 1000 bux. but lots of race trucks use it.




the junkyard late abs bolt on brakes, you make an adapter bracket and run the abs 150/bronco spindle and rotor on the abs style bolt on brake ranger knuckle..hard to find those where i shop...

its easy enough to diy an adapter bracket...that caliper run 94-2002 on the e150 van...and the last two years fullsize ttb.




using chevy spindles....you want the small bearing spindle. the ford rotor and bearing seal setup works on that if you want 5x5.5 pattern.

if you dont mind the 6x 5.5 pattern...just rob it all off of a 10 bolt...

make sure you use the longer studs and stub shaft to match spindle.

 

[Shran]

The early Bronco drum brake conversion kit uses the GM small spindle as far as I know - it's almost all off the shelf parts, just sold as a kit. $600 at Bronco Graveyard. You could use that entire kit on a D35, I think, and drill your knuckles for the GM spindles.

$600 is really not a bad price for all that's included, I thought it was around a grand.

 

[RangerRough]

Most of this sounds pretty hard for me, im just learning all this as i go, this is my first custom offroad build. How hard would y’all say on a scale of 1-10 for the mappyjack method?