Armadillon's FW Ranger D44/Ford 9"

[PlumCrazy]

You cant use a 2wd shaft on a 4x4. The slip yoke on a 2wd is in the tail of the trans unlike a 4x4 which is in the shaft itself.

He needs 98+ 4x4 shaft. And it doesn't take much articulation to get into the tank/skid.

-PlumCrazy

 

[PlumCrazy]

Wait...how are you planning on running no transfercase? You would also need a 2wd trans to run a 2wd shaft since the spline count and length are different.

I'm so lost.lol. I probably missed something somewhere.

-PlumCrazy

 

[PlumCrazy]

BTW. I am running12" travel shocks, the mounts are hardly into the inner fender, and they about a 1/4"
from bottoming out when I hit bump stop. Your coils don't have to be what limit your droop if you let then drop out of the bucket and use a jeep style bump stop to guide them back in.
-PlumCrazy

 

[AgPete139]

Wait...how are you planning on running no transfercase? You would also need a 2wd trans to run a 2wd shaft since the spline count and length are different.

I'm so lost.lol. I probably missed something somewhere.

-PlumCrazy

Exactly.

Plum, for (I guess) "Phase 1" of his SAS, he will just lift the front end with a D44 and weld the necessary parts on his 2WD rig. He'll also do the 9" swap as well. Armadillon will be running a "ghetto 4WD" with no tcase or front shaft at first, just to get it driveable.

In time, for Phase 2, he'll install a 4x4 transmission and a tcase, and will get proper front & rear driveshafts at that time.

Yes, you cannot mix 2WD & 4WD shafts without changing the yokes. The 2WD has a slip yoke while the 4WD is flanged.

For when he goes 4x4 (the Gen 3 Supercab swap that I was thinking of):
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/June04/offroad.htm



Plum, oK ok, "extreme" articulation was embellished, but it still grinds either way. Even a rig with a 5" lift has grinding issues under some moderate flex. I have no experience on close to stock rigs, but I would imagine that it would be worse off.


Plum, can you remember what people do for front shafts on D44 setups? I dont feel like fishing right now at work.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Exactly.

Plum, for (I guess) "Phase 1" of his SAS, he will just lift the front end with a D44 and weld the necessary parts on his 2WD rig. He'll also do the 9" swap as well. Armadillon will be running a "ghetto 4WD" with no tcase or front shaft at first, just to get it driveable.

In time, for Phase 2, he'll install a 4x4 transmission and a tcase, and will get proper front & rear driveshafts at that time.

Yes, you cannot mix 2WD & 4WD shafts without changing the yokes. The 2WD has a slip yoke while the 4WD is flanged.

For when he goes 4x4 (the Gen 3 Supercab swap that I was thinking of):
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/June04/offroad.htm



Plum, oK ok, "extreme" articulation was embellished, but it still grinds either way. Even a rig with a 5" lift has grinding issues under some moderate flex. I have no experience on close to stock rigs, but I would imagine that it would be worse off.


Plum, can you remember what people do for front shafts on D44 setups? I dont feel like fishing right now at work.

Ahhh ok. I didn't know he was starting with a 2wd truck.

I see no reason why an aluminum shaft wouldn't work, unless the 9" doesn't have the 3" or so offset like the stock RBV axle has to clear the tank.

-PlumCrazy

 

[PlumCrazy]

I ran my stock Ranger front shaft. It fit perfect length wise and same dimensions on the joint.

-PlumCrazy

 

[railman]

well, I know Rick ( SVT ) twisted up his aluminum 1 piece shaft he swapped in....also it, as you stated, rubbed his already trimmed skid on his tank at medium articulation which probably weakened the shaft anyways causing it to fail on the highway....

the factory steel 1 piece shaft has a smaller diameter, which is much more preferable to minimize the rubbing on the shaft from the tank skid....

and like Plum mentioned, that is with the off-set factory 8.8 diff.....when I swapped in my D60 I had to remove my tank from under the truck cause it came in contact just sitting at ride height....why it is now in my bed....

I don't hate aluminum, but like you said, the first time you come in contact with a rock or whatever off-road, it is more than likely finished....

l8r, John

 

[PlumCrazy]

I don't hate aluminum, but like you said, the first time you come in contact with a rock or whatever off-road, it is more than likely finished....

l8r, John

I dont think he plans on wheeling it 2wd.lol The aluminum just has to hold up to DD street use until he goes 4x4, so I think it will work just fine so long as the 9" doesnt shift it over into the tank.

 

[armadillon]

You're exactly correct in the method of my build. I have another vehicle I could use in the meantime, but it's an '89 GMC Jimmy with no music or embellishments and I would prefer to have as little downtime. The GF also refuses to ride in the Jimmy You got it exactly right, the axles will go under and I just need to run it in 2wd until I locate the perfect transmission/transfer case.

VERY awesome about the 7018 rod, I think I would have had to search pretty deep to find that info.

 

[RangerSVT]

Aluminum will never be stronger than steel. This is why I'm against aluminum driveshafts, the body is fine, and you are correct from an engineering standpoint. But as we all know, an engineer will never be a mechanic, and a mechanic will never be an engineer..

Need I say more ?

SVT

 

[dieseldane]

I think that if everything was tuned/balanced perfectly, the aluminum shaft is fine. But more often than we like to admit, sometimes that just doesn't happen in our builds. And when we don't have everything perfectly in check, I think that the aluminum shaft is more susceptible to fatigue, which is what I'm going to guess is what happened to SVT's aluminum shaft. Pound for pound, the aluminum is stronger, yes. But look at those ears, you think there is equal amounts (mass-wise) of material there? Not even in the tube of the shaft. They use the aluminum shafts for the decrease in weight, not to make a shaft of equal strength compared to a steel one. A steel shaft is definitely going to take more abuse, especially stock vs. stock.

 

[armadillon]

Good to know! When I run it as 2wd for the first bit I'll use whichever driveshaft is the correct length, be it aluminum or steel.

 

[country0001]

Nice build, its always fun bringing things together.

 

[99RangerOffRoad]

I am willing to help too.

I want to SAS my truck eventually and I could use yours as a learning experience.

 

[armadillon]

Can always use the help! So quick update for y'all: My brother let me know he had a few days off so he came down from College Station for two days and we started the swap.

Our old Montgomery Ward stick welder was having an issue with the amperage lever clamp and every time we would try to run a bead the lever would rise and start to reduce the power. Annoying so we couldnt get much out of it.

BUT, we did change locations, got it to work, but didn't have any time except to do the 63" Chevy leaf spring swap. I'll post some pics of how we moved the hangers, but it was pretty easy; we didn't cut the original body mount at the back of the cab, that's for sure.

I'll post the absurdly ridiculous photos of us flexing out a 2wd with a super flexy rear end on 215/70/14s. It's amazing how stupid it looks. I don't have long enough shocks for the rear so the bed is now a trampoline. We couldn't get shit done on the front so I'm driving it around raked staring at the ground