Dana 60 and Dana 44 SAS

[FordRanger1991]

So after a few years of watching other builds and trucks going up I decided to post a thread of my truck and my experiences.

This summer I was fortunate to take my ranger down to the Rubicon trail and attempt the drive through. The truck made it through... Just not always on her own power lol
2 Miles in the spider gears in that small 7.5 decided they didnt like the last year with the 4.0 and the 35 inch tires. The spiders basically blew up and shot a hole out of the back of the diff cover... That's awesome!! lol I know taking the 7.5 through the trail was probably not the best idea but my bro had make it through the Rubicon with his the previous year. I figured I would take it easy and just go slow. Well I did but the axle still didn't like it. After the rear blew up I exploded the left front hub and the right front axle shaft sheared off at the slip joint connection. Dead in the water... Next day welded up what was left of the spiders in the rear and took the front right hub and put it on the left. Was able to make it out of there in 3 wheel drive. As a side note my electric fan locked up and so I had to stop every 1 minute to let the truck cool... It sucked and I was pretty bummed lol so... Rubicon 1 me... well... 0 haha

So this is how the truck went into the rubicon... 4.56 gears 35 inch Km2s and a custom made solid axle from the dana 35

Here are some of the Rubicon... That brown ranger is my bros

After Cadillac Hill... Time to leave haha

I must say I was impressed with how well the dana 35 held up... the only reason I had the problems with the front is because I gave her everything she had while trying to make it through that trail in front wheel drive. That axle is plenty strong to run the 35's as long as you have something strong out back to do some pushing.

Here are the axles that will be going under her. I will be shortning them both to probably 1 inch longer than the stock axles to keep the truck street legal in Oregon. Of course I will still need fender flares and Mudflaps

 

[Ford78]

Nice looking ranger you got their!! Cant wait to see more.

 

[90jurassic2]

I think I've seen that brown one before. Got a link to it's build thread? I'm just now putting a 44 and ford 9 in my 2nd gen. Can't wait to get it to Rubicon. Where you at in Oregon?

And can you upload more of that custom made solid axle?

 

[SAY789]

Nice gonna be awesome. Ive never had troubles full width here in Oregon with my old ranger but depends on the local area i guess. I got that ttb lift off you. i was driving that semi built red ranger i was building for a kid when i met you at Gateway in Springfield

 

[merch]

thats a sweet lookin ride you got there,i like the color scheme! d35 solid axle!,ive thought about doin this too but was told i cant make a TTB trail worthy so ive been on a mission to prove them wrong before i SAS!

 

[FordRanger89]

Nice gonna be awesome. Ive never had troubles full width here in Oregon with my old ranger but depends on the local area i guess. I got that ttb lift off you. i was driving that semi built red ranger i was building for a kid when i met you at Gateway in Springfield

I think I was the one you met in Springfield. For the coils. Did you send him that truck?
But the blue one is my twins. The brown one is mine.
Here is a link to my build thread.
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129550

 

[FordRanger1991]

Nice looking ranger you got their!! Cant wait to see more.

Thanks! yea I can't either. Things will be going pretty slow until Christmas break in a month. Senior year in school is killing me lol

I think I've seen that brown one before. Got a link to it's build thread? I'm just now putting a 44 and ford 9 in my 2nd gen. Can't wait to get it to Rubicon. Where you at in Oregon?

And can you upload more of that custom made solid axle?

Well as of now I am in Corvallis Oregon until I graduate. I am hoping to move back to Medford after if I can snag a job down there. Yea I will throw some more pics of that axle on here.

thats a sweet lookin ride you got there,i like the color scheme! d35 solid axle!,ive thought about doin this too but was told i cant make a TTB trail worthy so ive been on a mission to prove them wrong before i SAS!

Thanks man! Yea the d35 solid axle was a pretty fun idea. I didn't build it as I should have though. I say that because it has no ground clearance. My bros dana 44 sas has about 1 inch more clearance at the pumpkin and about 2 inches along the flat part. If I were to build another one I would make it more level and make it so the right side inner axle was completely straight and probably put in a one piece. I was able to get some pretty darn good flex out of it though. As much or more than my bros stock dana 44 radius arms. You can definitely make a dana 35 solid axle trail worthy though. I was surprised with how long it held up with the crap I was putting it through on the Rubicon in front wheel drive. Had my rear not blown, there would be nothing wrong with the dana 35 right now. I installed 760 u-joints with full circle clips. The left front hub blew up and and as I was gunning it try to get up a crazy hill the right axle slip joint sheared...(This was when I was in front wheel drive) So with 760 u-joints and good hubs it really is a strong axle.

 

[merch]

Well I put 44 knuckes on mine with 456s and an aussie locker,it held up to the 2.9L now its time to see what this 351w will do to it! Git my d44 on stand by.

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[FordRanger1991]

Well I put 44 knuckes on mine with 456s and an aussie locker,it held up to the 2.9L now its time to see what this 351w will do to it! Git my d44 on stand by.

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haha yeah stand by lol just keep the d44 in the back of the truck for when you need it

 

[merch]

Haha I heard that!!

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[FordRanger1991]

The SAC

Well I decided I would put some pictures up of the SAC I did because there were some questions on it. Here are a few. Note: the pictures are old... well I was going to list out what is different about the axle now but, it is in the past and want to talk about something better... my dana 44 and dana 60 haha

 

[FordRanger1991]

Update

So here is the actual update. I cleaned the axles up and have stripped them down so they are ready to be shortened. During this next weekend I should be able to get the Dana 60 shortened and the spindles bored out to 1.56 for the 35 spline shafts.
These pictures are pretty amazing when you compare them to how I got the axles (above covered in grease and oil and dirt) I spend two days power washing grinding and then I hit both of them with a wire wheel on the grinder. As of now, the are just primed to prevent rusting while they sit in the garage because I got them down to exposed steal.

I also got some runners for while I am building this thing. $350 Not to bad

Guess what size tire lol Bigger than what I want but they will get me around for a little.