started my SAS

[chico4554]

any flex/wheeling shots for us?

sorry not yet. The trac bar is only tacked on right now. I gotta design some better coild retainers as well. I have an idea in mind, just gotta get the material and make them.

 

[351ranger]

351Ranger,

I wasn't directing that at you. You told me you were swapping stuff out to upgrade it. I was curious about the mounting hole though based on what you told me. I was wondering if the same was true for the Rangers.

I know Jim I was just messing with ya. I thought it was funny when I blew out a u-joint and your dana 35 was bigger

 

[chico4554]

I commend you for upgrading to the larger joints and better brakes on your D44 instead of just sticking it in as is for a SAS. I know those early 44's had drum brakes and smaller u-joints than the D35.

(2) questions for you:

1) What is the width from coil bucket center to coil bucket center and from axle spring mount to axle spring mount. It looks like the mounts on the axle are slightly narrower than the mounts on the frame. \ /

2) When you mounted the radius arm brackets, did you have to drill all new holes or were you able to use one of the existing frame holes on each side to locate it? I think that I had heard the rear holes are already in the frame.

yea the brakes is what took me the longest to get together. The axle i took the stuff off was pretty grungy. I dont know the exact measurement for the coil bucket mounts and frame mounts, but the passenger side bows a little more than the drivers side. Its not perfectly level in these pictures so it may look more bowed. i dont think its going to be much of a problem.

when you take the X-member off, there are 3 holes creating a upside-down triangle on each side. You can see it on the close up of the radius arm mount picture. Use the lower hole with the rear hole on the 78-79 F-150 bracket, then drill the rest of the holes. I recommend drilling them all before you put the axle in with the radius arms. Right now i dont have the front lower hole drilled on the drivers side, and i cant get to it right now cause the radius arm is in the way. This makes lining the axle up pretty simple.

 

[chico4554]

It's the rear hole of the 78-79 (for sure, could be other yr's too)radius arm bracket that line up with a hole in the frame for the tranny crossmember. The hole will line everything up for you, but all other holes will have to be drilled in the frame.

Couple questions for ya there Chicco. What are ya running for coils and leafs, or a measurement from hub center to fender would be great...I'm trying to figure out what my ride heights gonna sit like with the 7" EB coils and 5.5" chevy leafs. Thanks

-andrew

im running the 3.5" BC bronco coils, and 3.5" superlift leaves in the rear. I have measurement from the ground to the fenders. Rear is 47", front is 46". With 36" tires, divided by 2 would be 18, so a rough estimate from the hubs would be rear 29" and front 28". so you will be around rear 32" front 31-32". that will be big.

Do you have a body lift? If not, then you will probably sit much like mine(i have a 3" body lift) Im thinking about taking my body lift out and cutting the fenders, lower COG.

 

[dirtraider]

drop the BL, thats what i did....well cut them into thirds, i think it looks a lot better, and is way better wheelin:

Before:

after:

after after:

 

[chico4554]

the only reason i would want to keep it in is if i do a engine swap one day, but at this point the 3.0 is running fine, and im only going to swap the engine if it blows up, so im thinking of just taking it out all together and cutting the fenders if i have to.

 

[zainyD]]

It's looking good man!

 

[chico4554]

thanks!!!

 

[wahlstrom1]

im running the 3.5" BC bronco coils, and 3.5" superlift leaves in the rear. I have measurement from the ground to the fenders. Rear is 47", front is 46". With 36" tires, divided by 2 would be 18, so a rough estimate from the hubs would be rear 29" and front 28". so you will be around rear 32" front 31-32". that will be big.

Do you have a body lift? If not, then you will probably sit much like mine(i have a 3" body lift) Im thinking about taking my body lift out and cutting the fenders, lower COG.

No bodylift on the truck, and I think I'll be trimming fender and tucking 37's as soon as I get the cummins swap done. Interesting.....this thing is growing bigger than I thought it would, guess I better do some messing around with coil buckets and flipping hangers and bringing it back down to earth....It's looking good so far, keep it up!

-andrew

 

[chico4554]

thanks man

as for the springs in your truck, the cummins weighs much more to you may get a inch or two less lift in the front.

 

[zainyD]]

Any progress pics?

 

[chico4554]

ive been working every weekend latley, im hoping to get some work done this weekend. Im out of school after tommorrow, so hopefully ill get most of the shit done. Still gotta find a drill large enough to fit the pitman arm in, bring a brake line in to get reflared (the kit just wont do it), hope that the rear brake line flare is good if not i gotta get that flared, hack up the t-bar mount and get it to work. Then ill be able to drive it home at least. Still gotta get the shock mounts but i wanted to get everything else squared away before that. Ill have to endure the fridgid cold and ice chunks now though.

 

[chico4554]

well i finally got the brakes squared away this weekend. What a pain.

This weekend i hope to have the steering all done, and have a whack at the trac bar mount. The truck is at my house now so its a little easier to work on. Hopefully ill be done in the next few weeks!!

 

[chico4554]

little update. now since the weather is a little better ive finished a few things. Finished reaming out the pitman arm so the steering it all set. Welded up the trac bar mount after cutting it up this weekend. I still have to reinforce it, but i have an idea in mind that shouldnt take very long, just more welding. Im planning on having it on the road before the weekend of April 12th, cause we gotta bring it to the swap to bring everything up. So stuff is going pretty good considering i have only one day a week to work on it.

After the swap I will most likley get new buckets and shock mounts. Right now im still using the stock buckets with the shocks i was using with the TTB.

I do have one issue. when i steer fully lock to the left, the pitman arm hits the trac-bar mount. And also the tires are hitting the radius arms on full lock. I plan on getting new wheels with less back spacing so the tires wont hit, but is there any kind of steering stop available? I was wondering if the pitman arm was the limiting factor, and not the tires hitting the radius arms, will the pitman arm stop eventually? What i mean is, is there a range for the steering box or will it just keep turning, causing the tires to turns way too much? Thanks for any help.

 

[wahlstrom1]

The steering box will only go so far, but there are steering stop bolts you can adust on the back of your knuckles...You'll probably have to replace them as they are usually tacked to the locking nut from factory.

-andrwe