Lifted 4 Door Crew Cab Ranger Build

[dogboy]

The more I look into this project, the more I lean towards putting the cab on my wheeler with front bobbed bed.

For the hell of it, here's what happened to the poor Dana 30 on Saturday.
I bound a tire in the mud, and hit the skinny pedal too hard.
Wheel the truck for 7 years without a single broken part. Throw in Jeep parts, and it grenades second trip out. (I also never had a locker or 35's)

 

[prerunner]

Never been a fan of the 30 myself ad I've had guys tell me my 44 isn't enough.
My rule: If its stock in a Jeep its probably not up to much abuse, exception being the Rubicon. That one is better but not Ford Tough by any means.

Too bad you're swapping cabs on this, I've liked where you've been going here.

 

[dogboy]

I don't see the cab swap being in the near future. I have too many projects and things on my plate at the moment. I'm going to have a summer of wheeling, camping, and fishing, everything else on hold. I'm going to try anyway.

 

[dogboy]

I got the whole front axle swapped out, and took it today, 3 hours later I sheared the splines clean off at the drivers side CV (bottom in picture). Not 5 minutes later, I destroyed the passenger CV (top in picture).
The next time the truck goes out, it will have a D44.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Well that didn't take long lol.
You'll have a hard time hurting a D44. I'm glad I did my swap.

 

[bobbywalter]

if you for one second think a d44 will fix that, save your money and get a 60 or a 44 and put a 35 spline locker in it with 60 outers.


i would have to assume those cv's were already trashed.

Wheel the truck for 7 years without a single broken part. Throw in Jeep parts, and it grenades second trip out. (I also never had a locker or 35's)

big waste of money to do a 44.....get chromo axles for the 30 till you have a 60 if you have to, but i would just get a pile of stock shafts honestly to get by because i hate wasting money 10 times.... you obviously are closer to my type of wheeling then say 4x4 junkie. i could not have a locked d 35...and i have busted dana 60 parts with a 100 hp diesel....with an open diff too....(44 in tires though)

not everybody needs a 60...totally agree there...but unless your totalling ring and pinions on the 30...investing in a 44 is a waste as well because your already setup with the 30 and shaft upgrades are equalizers in the application. in your case...i see the case for a 60.

do tons once and be done. if it takes two seasons to save and build a set so be it....there is a fawk of a lot more d30 parts then d44 parts on the cheap out in the junkyards where i live....maybe its different where you are.


just one fawktards thoughts on what i seen here.

 

[armadillon]

Usually depends on availability. People seem to want a ridiculous amount for their D60s because of that "D60 or Nothing" mindset.

If you can get the D44 for damn cheap go for it. Most people here with the D44s seem to enjoy having them.

Depending on how you wheel, you could sink a ton into a ton and be good, or you could spend less and still be quite a bit better off than where you were.

 

[bobbywalter]

Usually depends on availability. People seem to want a ridiculous amount for their D60s because of that "D60 or Nothing" mindset.

If you can get the D44 for damn cheap go for it. Most people here with the D44s seem to enjoy having them.

Depending on how you wheel, you could sink a ton into a ton and be good, or you could spend less and still be quite a bit better off than where you were.

in the general, working dana 60's go 600-1100 bux and can bolt in and go...unless you have some grandious needs.. with the over under, its a bargain. in the general, a d44 goes 200-600 bux. thats just the craigslist action locally.

but, the dana 60 does cost more to build and maintain and will hold a 1000 dollar increase on the typical build tit for tat. but that is cheap if a guy is already killing 760 joint shafts.


this guy.......has already broken more shit then the majority of the dana 44 guys that keep the d44....

if your not destroying d35 ttb shit....a 44 will work fine. and at that...i never understood why the fawk a guy would go thru the trouble to put a 44 in place of a d35 ttb....a sla setup or 2wd...yeah, 44 is a great idea to start with. if your emptying the junkyards of d35 shit....a dana 44 is a pissssssss waste of time.


and with that, the dana 30 or the d30 "44" rubi type axle is the logical choice. keep your wheels and tires and shit and if need be you can retain the abs etc.....not cutting down or other adaptations necessary.

 

[dogboy]

I never broke a SINGLE thing on the TTB Dana 35, not even a hub. I bent a beam, but that was from hitting a rock fast with the bottom of the diff.

A lot of my reasoning for going D44, is I really want front hubs again, and no unit bearings. I know you can do hub conversions on a d30, but by the time I get chromoly shafts, and a hub conversion, I will be into it over $1k.
I'm not spending that kind of money. I'll be $300-400 into a 44 swap, and no cutting down the axle.

 

[bobbywalter]

The more I look into this project, the more I lean towards putting the cab on my wheeler with front bobbed bed.

For the hell of it, here's what happened to the poor Dana 30 on Saturday.
I bound a tire in the mud, and hit the skinny pedal too hard.
Wheel the truck for 7 years without a single broken part. Throw in Jeep parts, and it grenades second trip out. (I also never had a locker or 35's)

i could not run a locker with the d35 without constant destruction. i suspect that is the case with you. you can swap back to verify i guess and try it with a locker and 35 in tires. i went to brake bias for traction enhancement which fragged spiders often but i pulled a few piles of those whenever the opportunity arose and could swap them in an hour or two.


the dana 44 offers some advantages....or the fulsize d44 rather over a typical 760 u joint wrangler yj/tj/xj d30.....30 spline vs 27. and the obvious
lockout situation with superior bearing spacing and size and generally better brakes.

those on their own merits are great reasons to go to a dana 44 from a dana 35. whether a ttb 44 or a straight axle 44.


issue to issue and availability are the driving factors for me. a d30 swap for a typical 2wd or sla conversion application makes sense, bolt pattern is good, abs potential is there, and many of the later sla trucks were not cad anyway and had non lockout unit bearing setups. the 30 is upgrade-able over time to address those issues slow and cost over time margins.


a ttb 35 truck is different. for 35's to 37's.... spacers to adapt 5x5.5 wheels out back and ttb 44 outers up front, or just swap in a fullsize ttb 44 and 8.8 are the ideals for me due to current cost and availability.


but axle-shaft destruction like you have experienced wont go away without a bit more investment. a 60 was the only logical upgrade for myself. but i did not put a 60 in because of the d35 weakness as i could have nursed it quite a few more years.......i was murdering the 31 spline 8.8's and got sick of the expensive arb's failing. I also had over 300 hp on tap and regularly ran the truck laden to the limits of weight capacity and tire size.


so my money is you are like me, and would kill a d35 regularly with 35 in tires, but they are such sweethearts to work on as long as parts are available for cheap at the junkyards, they are real easy to live with.

 

[getrdone52]

Any updates on the crew cab?

 

[kris97ranger]

I too never understood why you would put a dana 30 in place of a dana 35. UNLESS its a dd and a 4cyl. Then itd be high on my to do list. Obviously you werent exactly planning on 35" rockers on it as your original wheeler is getting a crew cab so it kinda makes sense.

Really looking forward to the crew cab built i really want one but im gonna go easy and get a sport trac lol.

personally i dont think you will hurt a 44. You never broke a 35 same u joints etc.. should you go to a 60? Probally.... gonna end up there one day. Is it nessacary? No.

Like bobby said maybe spring for chromos in the 30 theyre cheap and you know theyll sell easy when you go to another axle. Jeep guys everywhere to buy them, and it buys you time until you find a deal on somthing else

 

[2.3tdangerranger]

Any work get done on the 4 door lately? just finished reading the whole thread and would love to see some progress!

 

[dogboy]

Any work get done on the 4 door lately? just finished reading the whole thread and would love to see some progress!

No work has been done lately. It has been back burnered for a while. It's still there in the garage, life and other projects have just gotten in the way. I've done two more SAS Ranger since mine, a 5.0l in the daily Ranger, and a few other things.

 

[HadASplash/XLTSC]

I'm almost to a stopping point until I find a cheap extended cab parts truck, because I need the rear part of the door jam, to for the back edge of the new B-pillar. I will also need the seats, possible the frame, and a few misc. interior parts. the Mazda frame is bent, but fixable, I'd just rather start with a straight one through.

Subscribed & Amazed at your progress!
Hoping maybe you've gotten back to this one lately?
Looking FWD to any updates.....
Thanks!