My 94 Sport SAS

[Shran]

haha Love it. When are you starting on your swap?

I will plan on ripping it out then. I just didn't know if it would screw things up where I couldn't easily fix.

"soon" You know how that goes. I bought both axles complete with 5.38s already installed, spool in the rear and a TrueTrac in the front...and they have been sitting in my yard for almost 2 years now. Next year or so should be a goal I should shoot for.

Worst thing that will happen by removing the ABS and installing some bypass lines will be that the ABS doesn't work... second worst thing is that the ABS light will be on... remove the bulb from the dash! Done deal. Our trucks are old enough that it's not a big deal to remove it.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I'm crazy enough that I was going to attempt to keep the ABS in my '00 explorer when it gets redone... and going crazy there with the Jana 54 setup up front and a 10.25 out back... it probably won't work but hey, it at least needs the tone ring out back for the speedo to work... what can I say, I like the way my Ranger drives through the rough stuff at speed, and no one else does it (I know, I know, for a reason...) so I gotta at least try

Oh, and I was ambitious enough to buy the Explorer in 2016, then it needed like $900 or so in transmission parts, got it driving in 2017, daily drove the stupid thing for 2 years and 50k miles and now here we are... building a shop didn't help the timeline though. The axles (2 10.25's and a Dana 50, had a D44 TTB since late 2016...) I've had for about 2 years now, they're still on the trailer that I brought them home on...

 

[P93suafilo]

Wow! I have really been slow on this thing. But am finally making some progress. If I had all the parts I feel like I could finish in a long day but the goal is easter because of some big family trips in March. Right now everything is mocked up but once I feel it is solid then I will tear down and burn, paint and bolt everything in place.

Parts I still need:
-Rotors
-Hubs
-Shocks
-1 rear and 2 front brake lines
- front DS UJoint
-Tube for frame brace
-Parking brake parts (Junk yard stuff)

Things to still work out:
-Rear driveshaft
-Transmission Cross-member
-Rear Bumper

It was reccomended to me run the steering over the pitman arm. But when I run it under the angles look better, and the hiems don't feel like they will max out. Thoughts or experience? See first 2 pics.

 

[PNW Paul]

Enjoying the build ! ! ! Some serious upgrades going on. . . , keep at it. Huge fan of the First Gen Sports ! !
(now time for the shameless self promotional plug. . .)

Obviously not a SAS, but really haven't been disappointed with the (reinforced) TTB.

Good luck with the build, and happy trails,

Paul

 

[P93suafilo]

Made some more progress in the last couple weeks. I got the trac bar built (need to finish weld), coil buckets burnt in, trac bar bracket burnt in, radius arm brackets bolted in, axle painted, coil springs repainted. Going to put it all together tonight and if I get far enough along then I will measure for shocks. I figured out the transmission cross member but I haven't built it yet.

I also snagged some super winch lockouts from a guy off FB, I got 2 newish ones and 4 older ones but all in good working order for $30. I even raided a JY here in Utah and found a pair of rotors/hubs that looked brand new so I was able to save $100 over having to buy a new set. When I took them off they still had fresh grease, almost like they installed them and got in a wreck on the way home.

 

[Shran]

It was reccomended to me run the steering over the pitman arm. But when I run it under the angles look better, and the hiems don't feel like they will max out. Thoughts or experience? See first 2 pics.

I would run the steering under. I did and I still have trashed the heim at the pitman arm, even with misalignment spacers installed. My only real complaint aside from that is when the suspension is compressed, the head of the bolt hits my steering stabilizer.

Your geometry may be different than mine but I was able to run a piece of flat strap from the track bar bolt over to the engine crossmember for a little added strength, you can kinda see it here:

It prevents things like this from happening...this was my track bar bracket

 

[P93suafilo]

Need some help. What did yall do for the shock towers on the passenger side? I can fit the full-length f250 tower on the driver size but on the passenger side I have too many things I don't want to move. For now I will just run it shorter because I want to just get wheeling and then later I will tinker and dial things in. This project has been a crazy learning curve but I am loving it.

I got the outers installed and everything sitting on its own weight. I don't love how tall the front is but I need to drive it for a bit to see if it will settle and I also plan on installing a winch at some point, both of which will drop it by another inch or two. I modified the transmission cross member to work for now but I will need to upgrade it in the future.

All I have left to get rolling is the brake system plumbed and flushed, parking brake, steering cut and welded, rear shocks, and the build a rear driveshaft.

 

[PNW Paul]

Not much help as I kept the stock TTB, but mine was a F-250 shock tower welded to the original bucket. . . Even with my limited set-up, still had to trim out the fender liners for both the driver and passenger side. . .

But totally worth it for the extra articulation.

 

[P93suafilo]

Not much help as I kept the stock TTB, but mine was a F-250 shock tower welded to the original bucket. . . Even with my limited set-up, still had to trim out the fender liners for both the driver and passenger side. . .

But totally worth it for the extra articulation.

You mind sharing a pic of the passenger side. Even with trimming I am limited by the air box.

 

[PNW Paul]

Here's the one I had a thumb-nail of. . .

The F-250 tower was cut and welded to the original bucket, about an 6" gain in travel, but it's not the "full" F-250 bracket. Also, I've gone with a conical air filter, so the air box is not a consideration. The dual-shock option not required, I harvested this set-up from a friend's rig who passed, so kind of an homage to him. . .

Let me know if you need some more pics, can grab some real-time today if it helps.

Best of luck - - Paul

 

[P93suafilo]

That is right where I have mine so I think I am just gonna run it and hope for the best.

 

[PNW Paul]

Couple more. . .

 

[P93suafilo]

It has been way too long since I have updated yall. Let's say it's cause I have been working on it and not posting about it lol.

I drove it!!! Just in front wheel drive but hey it's better than nothing. It is such a soft ride and it will just get better with shocks.

I need to reinforce the shock towers, tighten up the radius arms, add a cross member and the front should be good to go. For the rear, I just need to add shock mounts, shocks, and a driveshaft. I do also need a rear bumper but that shouldn't be too bad. These are just to get rolling and out on the trail, eventually I would like to add sliders, build a better transmission cross member, level it out (lower front or raise rear), new bushing in the leaf springs, recovery spot on the front.

The only part that is kicking my ass is the rear driveshaft. I know I can order one to be made but I was hoping I could find one that will work without having to spend $400-600 on a new shaft. I need a CV shaft that measures 38.5" from Ujoint to Ujoint, or 40" from Flange to Ujoint. If yall have any recommendations or tips let me know.

 

[P93suafilo]

Phase 1 is done…..kinda…. Got everything together and got rolling. Tom woods built me a read drive shaft, rear bumper (phase 1) built cheap tc shocks in the rear, and all the bolts righted up. Took it out wheeling today and it performed amazing. Couple things I could do to improve things but I’m gonna be beating on it in the process. Some minor pics from today. I wasn’t maxed on the rock yet, I should have kept pushing it, but for a shake down run it was awesome.

 

[P93suafilo]

I could really use help on figuring out the parking brakes. For anyone who swapped a 9” in could you give me some How To on it.