Bill4's 93 ranger

[LazyTurtle]

Yeah, the pictures do help a bit.

Did you make that crossmember yourself?

 

[Shran]

Can you send a picture of how you plated the crumple zone and how you mounted up the front parts of the leafs.

I got a 93 and some 78-79 f150 axles, front is retuned, and I'm trying to do leafs but can't get much in depth info about the swap.

Thanks

That 78/79 axle is really not a good choice for leaf springs and the cast on wedges are the reason why. I really would suggest trying to find a 77 or older Ford D44.... or really anything other than what you have, or use coils and radius arms. Otherwise you are going to be welding perches onto cast iron, not the greatest thing.

I used a 78/79 axle for my SAS but I narrowed the long side. I can use one Early Bronco shaft on that side and one F150 shaft on the other.

 

[Bill4]

Yeah, the pictures do help a bit.

Did you make that crossmember yourself?

No i bought it from slagfactory its for converting toyota trucks to solid axle. Several company's offer similar crossmembers in various widths.
I will be running a 9 inch rear from a 77 f150 soon the cast wedge is why I didn't run the f150 front. Though I would have really liked to have high pinion.

 

[Bill4]

After reading this it seems my f150 wedges are likley removable... I cant win lol

 

[Shran]

After reading this it seems my f150 wedges are likley removable... I cant win lol

Define "removable"........ IIRC mine was shortened by cutting out the plug welds on the wedge block, then removing that, shortening the tube and welding the wedge/outer tube/C assembly back on. Then you still have the short side to deal with.

In my mind it would be easier to find a 77 and older axle if you want to do anything other than radius arms. That is about all the 78/79 axles are good for.

 

[Bill4]

My axle is a 77

Define "removable"........ IIRC mine was shortened by cutting out the plug welds on the wedge block, then removing that, shortening the tube and welding the wedge/outer tube/C assembly back on. Then you still have the short side to deal with.

In my mind it would be easier to find a 77 and older axle if you want to do anything other than radius arms. That is about all the 78/79 axles are good for.

Mine is a 77 so i think its just welded on LazyTurtle has the 78 cast style

 

[Shran]

Gotcha.

I have a '77 axle in my parts hoard that I'm going to put in my 2 door Explorer at some point. I already did a SAS on a Ranger with coils and radius arms... going to build a 4 link with air shocks or coilovers this time around. '77 and older D44s are really a blank canvas.

 

[LazyTurtle]

Yeah mine is a 78 but since I have new tubes on it it's practically a bare housing.

I'm not sure how I am going to do the SAS now since I just lost all access to my tools.

 

[ryan]

Define "removable"........ IIRC mine was shortened by cutting out the plug welds on the wedge block, then removing that, shortening the tube and welding the wedge/outer tube/C assembly back on. Then you still have the short side to deal with.

In my mind it would be easier to find a 77 and older axle if you want to do anything other than radius arms. That is about all the 78/79 axles are good for.

Sometimes I wonder about how hard it would be to go with a JK 44 and a 4 link truss setup. finding those older ford axles is very challenging and you can snag built JK 44 takeoffs pretty easily. Def more fab work, but you have aftermarket stuff up the wazoo then

 

[Shran]

Sometimes I wonder about how hard it would be to go with a JK 44 and a 4 link truss setup. finding those older ford axles is very challenging and you can snag built JK 44 takeoffs pretty easily. Def more fab work, but you have aftermarket stuff up the wazoo then

The only downside I see to that is the wheel bolt pattern... but if you were planning on running adapters on the rear anyway to get 5x5.5 or whatever, maybe it's a moot point. Re-drilling an 8.8 to 5x5 is probably a lot safer than 5x5.5.

If I had access to one I would totally use it.

 

[ryan]

The only downside I see to that is the wheel bolt pattern... but if you were planning on running adapters on the rear anyway to get 5x5.5 or whatever, maybe it's a moot point. Re-drilling an 8.8 to 5x5 is probably a lot safer than 5x5.5.

If I had access to one I would totally use it.

i know for sure that adapters are easy to come by, or you could just use a matching 44 rear and do the same 4 link in the rear

 

[Bill4]

Cost is the only downside I can think of for jk axles they are very expensive at least around here anyhow. 70s f150 axles are only about $400 a set.

 

[Shran]

I think even if they cost more, it's still worthwhile if you're getting the gear ratio you want, a locker, diff cover, better shafts...a stock JK D44 that needs everything might not be such a good deal although JK owners who have a D30 would consider a stock D44 as a major upgrade.

Nothing wrong with Ford axles, they can be hard to find, sometimes they need a lot of expensive parts... hubs/spindles/gears etc plus all the usual upgrades.

My one other complaint with my particular D44 is that it has 76/77 Early Bronco knuckles on it... I love them because the steering arms are up higher than F150 knuckles, but I would be mega screwed if I ever break one. They are impossible to find by themselves.

 

[Bill4]

Agreed the best deals to be had are the things people take off their rigs when they upgrade. You never get your money back out but the next guy saves a bundle. EB 44s are very hard to find around here. Do the knuckles swap? I don't know anything about EBs I'm a big fan of dodge knuckles like 82-93 w150 they are flat top so high steer is easy and they have 5x5.5 bolt pattern. Best of all nobody wants these axles because of the vacuume disconnect so they are cheap.

 

[Shran]

Yeah, the knuckles are interchangeable...basically identical to F150 knuckles except for the higher steering arm location. I just happened upon a set of them years ago by pure dumb luck. Any (factory) EB disc brake parts are hard to find and very expensive and very sought after.

Good to know about the Dodge knuckles...what do you use for spindle/hub/rotor/brake caliper assembly? I am assuming you use the Dodge parts?

Chevy D44s have flat top drivers side knuckles too and you can get an aftermarket passenger side flat top. Fairly easy to convert those to 5x5.5 as well.