Looking Into A Swap

[LittleBigFoot]

What I said here was stupid.... so i erased it. My bad guys.

 

[LittleBigFoot]

Ok, scratch what I just said.... I found a D44 out of an 82 Jeep Wagoneerin working condition with 3.31 gears, it comes with the leafs and mounts, steering assembly, sway bar and disk brakes, driverside pumpkin, and wheel mounting surface is 60.5 inches.... he's askin 450 for it, i could talk him down to 400.... should I go for it?

 

[rickcdewitt]

waggy d44

damn thats a good find for your truck. good price too. thought id post because no one has said any thing about how you need to swap your rack and pinion for a convensional steering box and hack out the ifs brackets from under your truck. theres no going back after the torch comes out. the axle you found should be very close to your old track width.i dont know what the best steering box would be you should check out www.explorerforum.com and look at other a-arm to sas swaps guys there have done to their rangers and explorers. they say that the leaf spring waggy d44 is an ideal candidate for the 98 and up rangers and 95 and up explorers. your truck never came with coil buckets or radius arms so the leaf swap would be easier and cheaper.they can also tell you what f150 rotors,calipers,etc you need to make it 5 lug. also if you use good shocks and hook up sway bars while on the highway it should handle fine for a lifted truck,you can get awsome flex from the right leaves also. just remember that the minimum lift height is 5-6 inches so the diff doesnt hit the engine crossmember under suspension compression.you could run 35s at that lift i think, it would rip em up without broken wimpy ifs stuff

 

[LittleBigFoot]

Thats is a huge stack of good info. Thanks man.

I'm lookin into actually buying an old bronco and swapping everything, the D44 and 9". I could get the entire vehicle cheaper then the pulled axles.

This way I could also get the steering and all suspension components. In the end my Ranger would bassicly be a Ranger body and chasis on a bronco suspension and axles.

We have the ability to fab brackets etc. so that shouldn't be a problem.

Now heres a thought, if I were to use everything out of a bronco, couldnt I buy a conventional bolt on kit for a bronco? In the end this would still be cheaper then buying a lift kit for a ifs ranger and i'd have solid axles....

Thoughts?

 

[Toreadorranger]

just remember that the minimum lift height is 5-6 inches so the diff doesnt hit the engine crossmember under suspension compression.you could run 35s at that lift i think, it would rip em up without broken wimpy ifs stuff

The 98+ engine crossmember has to come out, it hangs way to low to run it at all.

 

[LittleBigFoot]

Ballsack.... It does doesn't it. This is turning out to be a massive project. And I'm still broke. I had to pass up on the wagoneer parts due to school fines and fea's etc.

Maybe I'll just buy an older truck and have my way with it....

Any one know of any sperm banks in CO that still pay for deposits?

 

[LittleBigFoot]

IDEA:

I was reading up about crossover steering. All-Pro Off-Road makes a kit for using an IFS steering box (on toyotas) I read some Yota articles about SAS and using this kit. They said it's ideal for use with the D44. The kit ends up placing the tie rods above the leafs keeping them out of the way when on the trails.

Does anyone make a kit like this for the ranger?

I know my truck uses a rack and pinion steering system. Does this system use a conventional IFS steering box?

Would I be able use a system like this?

 

[TRUNK_MONKEY]

IDEA:

I was reading up about crossover steering. All-Pro Off-Road makes a kit for using an IFS steering box (on toyotas) I read some Yota articles about SAS and using this kit. They said it's ideal for use with the D44. The kit ends up placing the tie rods above the leafs keeping them out of the way when on the trails.

Does anyone make a kit like this for the ranger?

I know my truck uses a rack and pinion steering system. Does this system use a conventional IFS steering box?

Would I be able use a system like this?

hey adam--i am mike's dad,you need to get over here and take a look.
i will include some links for you.you will benefit from my mistakes and discoveries.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Leafspring_conversion/leafs.htm
that gives some basic ideas of what all is entailed.
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/dana44/suspension/
these can provide most of what you need for a leaf conversion
a jeep wrangler is 3500 pounds,with a 185 horse 4.0 engine,i am sure any stock ranger would be a great match for a d30.good news is--you can have a d30 in all ways --high and low pinion,leaf(under and over axle) and coils.jeep sources for d30's are tj(wranglers) and Xj's (cherokees)
they have the same bolt pattern as a ranger as well.d30's have a bad rap i think,they have a lot of options for any way you can afford or imagine to build one.from stock/open diff,to fully selectable locker and cro mo axles. you can go coils or leafs,and of course go d44's or ford 9 in front conversions,to anything else.another option is an old CJ d30's axle C's welded to a HP d30 coil or leaf housing.then you get the old style all metal locking hubs and real wheel bearing not the unit bearings like on a d30 or a rubicon d44. if you go waggy d44 up front,you have to switch to large 5 lug fronts and new wheels,and change the rear to large 5 lugs too.or go 6 lugs front and rear.
so a d30(whichever one) means no wheel bolt pattern issues.you can go coil or leaf,and from there it is all open.
you can also possibly match gear ratios to avoid that cost as well.

 

[TRUNK_MONKEY]

i also think a tj or xj long arm kit could be adapted to a ranger easily. for mounting and locating the front axle.and try to avoid buying anything yet--wait until you have it all decided,why throw money away you may not be able to recover?

 

[TRUNK_MONKEY]

Im not doing a leaf swap, Im doing coils, But a D44 is a much better swap under the 98+ rangers as we are heavier then the older rangers.

curious--how much does a ranger weigh?

 

[4x4junkie]

curious--how much does a ranger weigh?

A V6 Ranger Supercab is about 3900lbs stock, with around a 60%/40% (F/R) weight distribution (or approx 2400lbs on the front axle).

A std-cab Ranger is closer to 2000lbs on the front.

The Jeep OTOH, is only about 1800lbs up front.
References made about how well a D30 holds up while on a Jeep won't necessarily translate the same for the same axle under a Ranger.

 

[LittleBigFoot]

Hey, nice to meet you Mike's Dad

I'm still keepin all my options open.

A D44 and Ford 9" still look like my best options right now. I've really studied up and these axles seem like a really good choice for the swap. I think leafs would be pretty easy and www.broncograveyard.com has a ten leaf 4.5/6 inch superflex leaf pack... I'm still looking into using this pack upfront (because we'd be using custom hangers anyway)

I could easily buy an entire full size bronco cheaper then the pulled axles.

I have found crossover steering kits that still use the IFS power steering box.

All total what I'm looking into would run me under 1500 bucks wich is just a little over what the average SAS costs (from what I read) That price also keeps in mind the add-a-leafs and shackles for the rear too, alogn with a drop pitman arm and ubolts... Bawls, I forgot shocks... anyways...

I'm no professional at this, this is what I've gathered so far. I'm still open to other options.

 

[BLOODBANE]

What kit is that on the blue truck? I have a HP44 and 9" waiting to go underneath my '84 and was thinking about that kind of set-up. (with coil-overs)...

 

[LittleBigFoot]

http://thurenfabrication.com/crossover.html

and here's a guy who did a writeup about the installation on his IFS 4Runner

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/CrossoverSteering/index.shtml

 

[LittleBigFoot]

So I found a complete dana 30 hub to hub for 75 bucks.

Should I take it?

And even if I were to use the D44 and Ford 9" aren't there lug pattern conversion kits?



Adam