SAS has begun

[snorkleman]

;D

Alright I have finally started working on my truck. Last night we worked till about 3am putting the front d44 axle together. I am taking pics of the process and will try to get it written up once we finish. We got most of the way on the front axle last night. Gotta get some new axle shafts today and new joints. Also take backa rotor for the rear axle. Just stuff we got to work around. Here is a little rundown on the project...

Dana 44 front - 5.13 gears - Detroit EZ locker - Full width
Ford 9" rear - 5.13 gears - Detroit locker - Full width
Disc brake conversion on rear axle.
Full crossover steering - Everything but the arms being fabbed.
36x12.5 TSL radial super swampers on steel wheels

We are fabbing basically everything for the swap so it should be interesting. We will start working on it again tomorrow.

I have a bunch of stuff that will be coming off my truck. So if you need IFS parts or stuff, let me know. I have a for sale ad in the parts bin. The lift is spoken for.

Later

[Sean]

Cool! Keep us updated.

When you say you are fabbing everything, does that include the front shackle hanger? Is it going to go through frame or are you going to fab them to weld directly to the bottom of the frame? Or maybe you are running the shackle at the front of the spring like I have seen some guys do with the 44?
What's the time frame on the project? Finished this week, or finished before spring kind of deal?
I hope everything goes as smooth as possible for you. It's going to turn out great!

[snorkleman]

Well, the perches depends on the height of the truck. We could put the shackles in the frame but it would decrease our ability to get more height. We want to make the truck look proportional to the width of the axles so we haven't decided how high we want to go. Once we get the IFS off we will put the axles up to it and get an idea and go from there. I think we are going to move the axle 1 - 1.5" forward in the front. That is about as much as we can get away with using the stock box. Here are some pics.. if i get them to post ok...
dana 44 with new ball joints, gears, locker, clean up and ready for paint. Oh wait we forgot to drill the knuckle. CRAP!! Looks like we drill and tap by hand.


Ford 9" diff with 5.13 gears and detroit waiting to be put in.


Our second try at the backlash on the front 44. We adjusted the shims one more time and got a sweet pattern and backlash good enough to run full-time.


More pics to come....

[MXjunk127]

sweet! thats awsome.

Keep on Keeping on...!!!

also heres a little tech question whats teh diffrence between 5.29 gears, and 5.29 reverse rotation gears in a ford?

[snorkleman]

Ahh reverse rotation...well.. man I don't remember. I think reverse rotation is for high pinion diffs or something like that. When you rotate the diff for more clearance the gears turn the opposite way. I did a quick search on google. Check the link for more info. I'm still learnin this stuff. If I don't use it, I don't know much about it.

www.4x4now.com/gt0599.htm

Heck last night I found out that dana44 diffs need different carriers for different gear ratios. I'm used to toyota stuff where all you get are the gears. We did a search around the shop and found the right carrier in a box labelled "return". Found out it was the right one I needed. Threw on the gears and away we went.

[MXjunk127]

man thanks, lol you didnt have to reasearch, you could of just said "I dont know".

you guys are great, PS Project pitbull has already amounted up to $8656.98 (excluding shipping)Bummer.... time for some junyard surfing....

[DeadlyPeace]

Snorkle, Sounds like your rig's going to ROCK!!! ;D

I noticed your Dana 44 was used where did you find it? And how much? I've always been more into getting new parts unless it a case or something along that line to rebuild. But with the price of a Dana 44 axle, which I'd love to add to my rig, I'm willing to go with a good/fair condition used one. I've look for a used one, but no luck finding one yet.

[snorkleman]

Well I have some friends who work in an off road shop. They are the ones helping me with the SAS. One of them had a dana44 complete end to end. The other had a ford 9" with 31 spline axles. We were talking about what axles I should go with and they both said I could buy the axles for what they paid. So i got the front 44 complete for $150 and the rear 9" for $100 plus he threw in a truss for the ford axle. This helped out tremendously. But it also added to the scope of the project. Instead of swapping one axle I was doing two. In building the 44 we put in new bearings,axles, u-joints, seals, rotors, calipers, pads, carrier, gears, and a locker. So really it is mostly new. It just helps to have it complete so you don't have to spend time finding bits and pieces. At this time we aren't going to rotate the pinion angle. It will be ok for now but might be something I want to change down the road.

[racer85304]

hey, i was thinking of doing the same setup. ford nine in the rear and D44 in the front. the D44 i got for free from a friend. and the Ford nine for about 50 bucks from another friend. i was not for sure if i wanted to go full width or not though that is why i am not set on this yet. both are complete end to end. are you staying full width on these axles or cutting them down.

[carlos4x4sand]

Hey snorkelman, how much difference is there in width between the new axles and the toyotas?

[racer85304]

i think it is 59 for the toyota and then 67 inchs for the D44.

[snorkleman]

Just got finished with the front axle completely. Tomorrow we hit the ford rear and work on planning for the next weekend when we start cutting. The axles will be full width. Probably 4" wider on each side. I'll get pictures up later of the front axle and other stuff.

[carlos4x4sand]

But then again dont u think that if i did do axle swaps that the wider the more stabile the truck be?

[racer85304]

yeah the wider the more stable your truck is. that is why i want to go full width.

here is some pics i found on Pavementsucks.com entropy posted them

[snorkleman]

Yeah the truck will be more stable when the axles are wider. That is part of the reason we are doing it this way. Here is a pic of the front axle after we finished working on it. We ended up changing the lug pattern to 5 lug on the front instead of 6 lug. It is easier to convert the front than convert the rear axle. I think i have a buyer for the 6 lug wheels I have so now its off to get five lug wheels.

[snorkleman]

Here are some flex pics before we get to tearing it apart. I have some pics where the rear tire was still touching but the front tire was off the ground. It is sad when your front lifts a tire before the rear.

[racer85304]

what are some of the reason that you didnt stay with the toyota axles.

[snorkleman]

The reason I didn't stay with the toyota axles is because they are shorter, and I got a good deal on both of these tougher axles. I thought about going with the toyota axle and looked for one for a while but ended up deciding on going full width. I like how easy these axles are to work on. Plus they are super tough. I'm running 31 spline rear axles in the Ford. Up front Im going to have chromoly axles with bigger U joints.

Tonight we finished working on the rear axle and doing the disc brake conversion. Both axles are ready to be put in. We have a parts list for the rest of the week to get ready for the swap this coming weekend. I'll post some pics of the rear axle later.

;D

[snorkleman]

Here is the rear axle. We trussed it and did a disc brake conversion. Had some problems with fitting the axle and had to shave it to fit in the rotor. Next weekend we start stripping the truck and working on putting these bad boys under it! Man I'm excited. ;D

[90 SAS TOTOTA]

I have a 90' Pickup. Im in the process of doing my SAS. I ordered all my stuff from All Pro. What springs are you using?