SAS opinions

[6.2]

Hey folks, so once my truck is paid off and I have a car to DD I'll be tearing my truck down since by then it will have close to 250-300k miles on it.

Now, at this point I'm looking at doing an Sas on it. I'm wanting to keep it as close to stock width as possible and I do not want full width.

Now what are my options in terms of axles, suspension, etc. Do I go leaf spring or coils?

Wanting to keep it simple, and easy. But don't want a truck that won't be capable. Won't be spending a large amount either.

Goal will to be run 37's/38's and it will be a winter rig, mild offroader year round. Nothing crazy no major rock crawling.

Engine will eventually be a 5.0 expo




Currently its an 06 fx4 level II. Body lift 33's rest stock. Would like to keep center of gravity lower but still be higher than I am now.


Any thoughts on the matter? Would like to make a list of major parts needed for the SAS so I know what I'm getting into

Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

 

[swynx]

Depends how you drive. Buddy has 37s on a Dana 30 and there stock shafts. He only uses as much gas as is needed. If your drive like Kyle you'll need 60s for sure. You could go with a Dana 44 and build it up to be as strong as a 60. The 44 is probably your best choice.

I would go built 44. Its strong and you get the extra clearance. Plus its cheaper than one ton.

Also ultimately coils will be better than leafs. You can buy the parts to do a bolt on coil sas. Leafs will require welding.

Not to say leaf is bad. May be cheaper to swap. Explorer leafs up front could make for a cheap flexy ride sas?

 

[6.2]

I think a d44 would be ideal. What vehicles had them in stock ranger width? Or would I have to get it cut to length.

Sometimes in the bush getting firewood it gets narrow which is why i got a ranger in the first place. Its narrow. So I want to keep that.

As for how I drive, depends what I'm doing haha. Daily driving I take it easy. Offroad depends on then situations I find myself in. Deep snow I like the throttle. Same with mud. In the bush over stumps and trees I use as little throttle as possible honestly I haven't had many issues with the IFS and 33's thus far. So I'm not going to do this because I'm having problems doing what I need to do. I will do this so I can do more of what i want to do. There's a few off road places that would benefit from an SAS.




Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

 

[swynx]

Early bronco 44s. But there weak or something. You'll have to have it shortened. Best to grab is a late 70s f150 Dana 44. See alot of 78/79 Dana 44 swaps.

 

[6.2]

I may just use a d30 and stick to 35's then later down the road go to d44's and larger tires.

Would a d30 handle 35's?

Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

 

[cammeddrz]

yes, a d30 handles 35" tires just fine. above 35" it gets iffy. but for the record people can break parts with a built D60 and 33" tires, while others have no issues at all with 44" tires on a D30. .

it's not what you have, so much as it is how you drive it.

when I was 16 my first car was a BII, no wait scratch that, I was 15. couldn't even legally drive it yet. and so I played around with it in my yard. getting to know it, how to actuate the 4wd etc.

open diffs, stock tires, 1st gear, and yet somehow my inexperienced-self broke the D28 on grass in a yard 25' long

fast-forward a year. I wheeled the piss out of it, with 31" tires (woo-hoo). I even ended up getting stuck somewhere my dad's friends with their (3) different v8 rigs on 44" tires couldn't even get to to pull me out. but the D28 never gave me guff again

when I say "wheeled the piss out of it" I mean that wheeled it in the mountains 40+ times before getting rid of it. for a 16-year-old that's a lot to do in a year or so of owning it

 

[6.2]

Good to know. I'm kinda hard on my truck sometimes, but I try not to go to crazy

Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

 

[brinker88]

Early bronco 44s. But there weak or something. You'll have to have it shortened. Best to grab is a late 70s f150 Dana 44. See alot of 78/79 Dana 44 swaps.

Or something? It's due to the fact that they are a low pinion front axle. This is not very popular due to the ring gear rotating on the weaker coast side in a front application. Also, EB D44's come with 260X u joints in stock form. You can swap to 760x shafts to fix that. And Early Bronco Dana 44s do NOT need to be shortened....

 

[cammeddrz]

I'm kinda hard on my truck sometimes

It's not a matter of "hard", or "not hard". It's a matter of intelligent, or unintelligent

Let's use a boxing analogy, and compare it to throwing a punch. A punch thrown with little force, yet unintelligently will break your hand.

Yet the same punch thrown intelligently, can be delivered much "harder", without breaking your hand

The seasoned, and experienced koh guys are as hard as it gets on their rigs. But can complete such a long rock-race. By comparison, the a average offroad enthusiast would break every axle-shaft, u-joint, and link on the same $100k rig. All the while being slower.

 

[6.2]

I get what you mean.

Let me rephrase. I can drive pretty stupidly sometimes lol. Not often but it'd been known to happen.



Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

 

[6.2]

Ok so its looking like I'll be going d30 escortgts's truck just looks to perfect. And his thread is a great guide.

In all honesty I think a d30 will be perfect. Truss it maybe to add some strength and I'll be good.

After all is said and done if I end up breaking it I'll just go d44 and get it narrowed.



Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

 

[bobbywalter]

Depends how you drive. Buddy has 37s on a Dana 30 and there stock shafts. He only uses as much gas as is needed. If your drive like Kyle you'll need 60s for sure. You could go with a Dana 44 and build it up to be as strong as a 60. The 44 is probably your best choice.

I would go built 44. Its strong and you get the extra clearance. Plus its cheaper than one ton.

Also ultimately coils will be better than leafs. You can buy the parts to do a bolt on coil sas. Leafs will require welding.

Not to say leaf is bad. May be cheaper to swap. Explorer leafs up front could make for a cheap flexy ride sas?

why do leafs require welding?

 

[4.0B2]

D44, full widths, coil overs front and rear... Lol

 

[bobbywalter]

It's not a matter of "hard", or "not hard". It's a matter of intelligent, or unintelligent

Let's use a boxing analogy, and compare it to throwing a punch. A punch thrown with little force, yet unintelligently will break your hand.

Yet the same punch thrown intelligently, can be delivered much "harder", without breaking your hand

The seasoned, and experienced koh guys are as hard as it gets on their rigs. But can complete such a long rock-race. By comparison, the a average offroad enthusiast would break every axle-shaft, u-joint, and link on the same $100k rig. All the while being slower.

do you frequent the hammers?


i seen 300k operations with expert drivers that cant make a lap, but i watched a 5k rig finish the race...intelligent driving and experience gained from unintelligent driving has much merit to be sure, but the terrain of the hammers is a huge equalizer.

i watched several d30-d44 rigs make resolution....power is a equal factor in breakage. low power goes a long way in how long stuff will last no matter the driver.


terrain is a bigger factor to whether i would use a d30 or not, and if i did use a 30 it would be maximally trussed no matter what.

with a 4.0 engine and plans for a v8 down the road i would pursue a later dodge d44 if you cant find a ford and shorten one of those if i was willing to live without lockouts or get a d50 superduty or something cheap like that. the drivers drop dodge 60 and d50 are low cost and major in strength over the smaller axles. when you upgrade the differential to some sort of locker you can get better shafts...of course going with new wheels sucks but part of the process. if you have time you can make it very cost effective and reliable.

 

[cammeddrz]

I don't "frequent" the hammers.

I was illustrating a point. the point that how you drive it can, and will break parts more often than weakness of the parts alone will cause failure.