BIL wrecked his rig. Couldn't keep a job, couldn't make payments...so I'm helping my FIL to SAS this rig and get it back on the road.

Was:
Wrecked 95 F-150, 4" Rancho suspension lift (4" front TTB drop, rear 3" blocks), 32" Open Country MT on 15x10 aluminum.

Plan:
SAS 78 F-150 HP D44. Stock gears (3.50), 265-75r15 tires. FIL wants to get rid of wide tires. It's his truck. I figger if I do the SAS, I'll get first right of refusal someday, and I'll do the Sawzall lift and run 37's! :flipoff2:

Parts:
Junkyard HP D44 - axle housing only. $0
Junkyard HP D44 - complete axle, housing was obliterated while jumping? I had the local steel recycling yard drop the entire 78 F-150 on my car hauler trailer; set on upside down so jerking the axle was easy. Pulled the hubs, rotors, inners/outers, coils, coil buckets, radius arms, shocks, shock towers, radius arm mounts, and pitman arm/pitman bracket. Cost was $27 for the 180 lbs. of steel I removed (I took the opportunity to dump my steel scrap when I returned the body)....actual weight was probably closer to 350 lbs. Oh, also cost me $20 in Busch for the junkyard crane operator to flip and set the donor rig on my trailer.

Plan is to keep the new F-150 hubs/rotors/outers, the straight housing, and take all the rest of the parts from the bent housing.

Wheels off:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257454&stc=1&d=1154838273

Pulling radius arms:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257455&stc=1&d=1154838273

Pulling TTB arms:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257456&stc=1&d=1154838273

TTB must die!
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257457&stc=1&d=1154838273

TTB on the way to be melted into more useful parts:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257458&stc=1&d=1154838273

Nekkid rig:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257460&stc=1&d=1154838478

FIL smacked his head on the protruding framerail. Mrs. MT4Runner yells, "Dad, you're bleeding!!!" (he wiped up the blood before I shot the photo):
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257459&stc=1&d=1154838478

Small problem: Donor (good) housing had the ring gear bolts come loose. One flew around inside the housing, chunking into the carrier, the bearing caps, the other bolts, the cover, and blew one pencil-sized hole through the pumpkin:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257461&stc=1&d=1154838478

The miracle:
The flying bolt completely missed the ring, pinion, both side gears, and both spiders!!! The ring gear didn't even have galled threads where the ring gear bolts rattled around (The last bits of the broken one fell out when I pulled the ring gear off the carrier):
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257462&stc=1&d=1154838478

And...fortunately, I had saved my 3.73-down carrier from my Chevy D44 from my 87 Toyota SAS...so we bolted the ring gear up and ran it. Put blue loctite on all ring gear bolts and hammered them down with an impact wrench. Pattern is shitty, but we're going to run it for now and fuck with it when we get a case spreader and press. For now, we need to forge ahead with the suspension build.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257463&stc=1&d=1154838478

Radius arm stretch:

Cut the radius arm near the stud. Stretched it 5.5" with a piece of 1/2" x 1.5" flat bar. Sleeved it with a piece of 1.75" x 0.120 HREW.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257650&stc=1&d=1154978248

Pre-heated the forged arm until it was dark blue, then burned it with 7018.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257654&stc=1&d=1154978248


http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257652&stc=1&d=1154978248

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257653&stc=1&d=1154978248

While I was welding, John pulled the rest of the Rancho TTB lift brackets off.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=257651&stc=1&d=1154978248

Looks good was it hard to remove the TTB? I am doing a sas on my 96 bronco soon. With a D60 though!!!!!!!!

Looking good! Can't wait to see the rest go together.

TTB = very easy removal with the blue wrench, 20 minutes and its gone!

If it were my rig, I'd go D60, too....but the D44 stuff was cheap! The TTB stuff was really easy to remove. 4:eek: shocks to unbolt, 2 coil buckets to unbolt, 2 radius arms to unbolt, 2 TTB elbows to unbolt from the engine mount/frame crossmember. That's it!

Coils go back into the D44 buckets, throwing out the front shocks on each side, rear shocks will bolt right onto the shock mounts on the radius arms, radius arms will bolt right back into the stock brackets. I only have to bolt or weld the 78 pitman arm bracket to the 95 frame.

My previous SAS was a D44 into an 87 Toy 4Runner; Toy changed from SFA to IFS in 1986, but the frame stayed the same. It's supposed to be the easiest SAS in the 4x4 world...not true--the Ford stuff is even easier!!!

Ramboss429, what did you torch? Seems like more brackets to torch than bolts to unbolt?!?! :flipoff2: (I had a lot of shiat to torch/grind on my Toy)...I may have a little torching to do on the back of the driver's side of that engine xmember to clear the diff.

So...without huge tires, does anyone think I should add additional gussets to the radius arms? I've seen people's writeups with full-length gussets, but that's for 38"+ tires. I know they have a lot of bending stress near the axle, but back at the frame mount, it would seem to be only compression/tension?

The problem with those OEM Ford radius arms is that they bend even in stock form. Usually right about 2/3 of the way back from the axle. I quick fix is to "box in" the I beam shape.

A question, are the original coil buckets on your frame bolted or riveted. I need to get some of those for a project, and I would love to be able to unbolt them at the local U-pull-it yard rather than have to drill out rivets! I'm used to dealing with front leafs on 1 ton Fords, so I've never paid attention to the coil buckets on the half tons.

If it were my rig, I'd go D60, too....but the D44 stuff was cheap! The TTB stuff was really easy to remove. 4:eek: shocks to unbolt, 2 coil buckets to unbolt, 2 radius arms to unbolt, 2 TTB elbows to unbolt from the engine mount/frame crossmember. That's it!

Coils go back into the D44 buckets, throwing out the front shocks on each side, rear shocks will bolt right onto the shock mounts on the radius arms, radius arms will bolt right back into the stock brackets. I only have to bolt or weld the 78 pitman arm bracket to the 95 frame.

My previous SAS was a D44 into an 87 Toy 4Runner; Toy changed from SFA to IFS in 1986, but the frame stayed the same. It's supposed to be the easiest SAS in the 4x4 world...not true--the Ford stuff is even easier!!!

Ramboss429, what did you torch? Seems like more brackets to torch than bolts to unbolt?!?! :flipoff2: (I had a lot of shiat to torch/grind on my Toy)...I may have a little torching to do on the back of the driver's side of that engine xmember to clear the diff.

So...without huge tires, does anyone think I should add additional gussets to the radius arms? I've seen people's writeups with full-length gussets, but that's for 38"+ tires. I know they have a lot of bending stress near the axle, but back at the frame mount, it would seem to be only compression/tension?

The original coil buckets on the 78 were bolted. IIRC, 4 bolts through the side of the frame and 2 under? I think it was an 11/16" wrench on the bolts and 3/4" on the nuts??

Ramboss429, what did you torch? Seems like more brackets to torch than bolts to unbolt?!?! :flipoff2: (I had a lot of shiat to torch/grind on my Toy)...I may have a little torching to do on the back of the driver's side of that engine xmember to clear the diff.


MT4Runner - When we did a SAS on my buddies rig, we torched everything TTB off and used new extended radius arms, brackets, coil buckets off of a '78 Bronco (donor front suspension rig), notched out the engine crossmember, and beefed it up a little. My buddy isn't exactly a wrench turner and it was all rusted pretty good so I said fawk it an fired up the torch. About 20 minutes later all the TTB junk was laying in a pile outside the shop :smokin:

Also when I converted my '67 F100 to 4x4 I decided to torch all the 2wd suspension out to make things easier (was going to leafs anyway), another 20 minutes and it was all gone once again.

If I ever get around to putting a new 302 in my '91 F150 and do the SAS (have all the axles/suspension out of another '78 Bronco), I will unbolt all that one, as one of my buddies has a TTB that is SHOT and I will give him all my crap when my project is complete (if I ever get that far).

The original coil buckets on the 78 were bolted. IIRC, 4 bolts through the side of the frame and 2 under? I think it was an 11/16" wrench on the bolts and 3/4" on the nuts??


Thanks mang!

So I'm going to try re-using the TTB inverted-Y steering setup. TTB has the small-taper TRE's. HP D44 has the large-taper TRE's.

Partsamerica.com lists the TTB TRE's as the 2213L and 2212R. This has the M20x1.5 threads. :mad: WTF, metric parts belong on my Toy, not on a Ferd!

Ideas for a M20x1.5 threaded TRE with a large taper? 94-02 Dodge 1/2T d44 front? Waggy D44?

(Later-model Dodge uses 2247, 1"-18 with big taper...Cherokees use 11/16-18 with small taper..)

Waggy has a 2222L drag link end with a M20 thread :bounce:...but it's the draglink end, and I can only find a LH one. :(

Got the HP D44 hung yesterday. Had to pull outward quite a bit on the radius arms--78 frame must be quite a bit narrower than the 95 frame?

Tried first with the stock 78 coils, but the engine xmember was sitting on the diff. We ended up cutting 1.5" out of the Rancho lift coils and ride height is pretty level. I was reading the other TTB post in the Ford forum this morning, and a guy said that the TTB coils use a lot higher (500#+) rate than the solid axle coils. I may end up looking for some XJ or lift TJ coils so it has a decent ride height and some softness.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=258488&stc=1&d=1155492130

Driver's side donor axleshaft had a good bend right by the diff splines, so we couldn't assemble that corner:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=258490&d=1155492130

Need some custom brakelines (going with 'keithflux' again) and put hardlines and a t-block on the D44 with a flexline at each caliper and a flexline going from the t-block on the axle up to the hardline at the frame. Once we get the brakelines figured out, I'll get this caliper all bolted up and finish the other side.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=258489&stc=1&d=1155492130

hey runner, what are your plans for the rancho ttb lift stuff? Ill be glad to take it off your hands. Im in great falls and could pick it up to save you a trip to the recycler...

now hack off half of the bottom half of that damn crossmember and reinforce it!

b wojo, the Rancho stuff was going to Pacific as soon as I could find some D60 or Toy stuff to swap for weight. You probably don't care about the TTB stuff, just whatever was "powdercoated red"? :D

Rancho coils went in the F-150, but all the brackets and shit are available. My folks live in GF, but probably won't be back up this way for a month or so.

PhantomEB, that's the plan. My oxy-acetylene torch is over at GoatSauce's shop, so I'll chop that thing as soon as I get it on the road and can drive it over there. I was thinking a rib of 1/4" plate where I chop it--and leave the main original web in place?

So I'm going to try re-using the TTB inverted-Y steering setup.

90% or more of TTB's problems is that damn POS steering linkage, you're gonna attempt to steer your straightaxle with that thing? :eek:

I would suggest some Superflex F-150 coils for it though. Jeep coils are gonna be much too soft for a fullsize.

Hey runner.. I shot you a PM back. Lemme know if you need anything from down this way. wojo

Thanks mang, I figured that inverted-Y works for Heeps, it must work OK on a Ferd. Thanks for the heads-up it sucks. I'll steer away from that solution.

Since the TRE's I would use are so hard to find anyway, maybe I will just go with a 78-stock style solid TR from knuckle to knuckle, then use a 2234L TRE at the Passenger knuckle with the hole reamed out to take the draglink end. Then I just use a metric taper at the pitman end of the draglink and a standard 7/8" or 1" end down at the knuckle.

Does the 95 have a decent PS box? If not, I still have the 78 available.

The '95 box is fine (they used the same box all the way to F-350s and 450s (thru '97).

The Jeep linkage at least has a fairly long dr-side tierod, that's not the case on the Ford.

Hit the junkyard Saturday morning, and with Cyclic17's help, pulled a replacement long side axle for $75. Got it home and put it in, and the Ujoint was stiff. Hmm...2 caps turned OK, other 2 were siezed with rust. $26 later, and we had a new ujoint in, and put the passenger hub back together.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=264926&stc=1&d=1159226699

Previous weekend, I sorted out the brakelines. Checker wanted $45 ea for each side hardline/softline combo. I called XtremeCrawlers.com ('keithflux' on Pirate), and had some custom SS braided flex lines sent for $90. Keith sent me a pair of 12" caliper lines with a 3/8 banjo on one end, and the 3/8 female flare block on the other. I also got an 18" drop line that went from a 3/8" female block to connect the hardline on the Mcyl, to a 3/8" tee block on the axle to catch the short hardline on the DS and long hardline on the PS. The hardlines were only $3 and $4 ea at Checker. So, we've got blingin' braided lines for $7 more than the cost of OEM replacement. :flipoff2: to Checker.

Got the panhard all bolted up--the 78 frame side block was vertically bolted to the outside of the frame. 95 frame is a bit wider, so I welded it horizontally under the framerail/engine crossmember.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=264925&stc=1&d=1159226699

Actually got the steering sorted out, too. Using the 78 tie rod and 95 draglink. 95 draglink needs to be shortened and rethreaded 1 1/2", and everything should bolt right up.

There was also a nasty crack in the PS box sector shaft which we (fortunately) just noticed, so we'll need to replace that thing to get it finally on the road.

Oh, yeah, and I finally took the TTB parts to the steel recycler's to dump it off to be melted into more useful parts. And instead of a fat recycling check....I grabbed a 9" rearend and a Chev D44 pumpkin and loaded them in my pickup. I'd rather have useful steel in my yard than donut money!!

Back to the same salvage yard and $75 and 3 hours later, I had a replacement steering box in.

The shortened draglink is still about 1" too long, so I need to have it cut down more. I get about 1 turn to the left, and 3 turns to the right.

I finally got the F-150 done. I need to update photos in the thread. The project turned into drudgery as the FIL got too busy to come up and help anymore, and my BIL never did amount to any help. Oh, and we moved to a new house, so I HAD to complete the job so the new owners could move in last Friday.

I ended up running the Rancho 3" lift TTB springs, and the ride isn't too bad...I had understood that they are a 300-400lb/in spring, as the TTB has a shorter lever arm than a solid axle but it actually rides quite soft. I was expecting to need a 200-250lb/in spring. Drives pretty good, all-in-all. A little bit of body roll, but it went from dual shocks to single shocks.

Wifey had the glass shop show up and put a new windshield in it--only $160. Not too bad, but still....

I'm ready to get the damn thing out of my driveway and get back to work on my Runner (http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4879404). I got a Chevy 14bSF all geared with 5.38's, and as soon as I can get some Taurus rear calipers (built in parking brake) built, I'll stuff it under the Runner and be full width front and rear. Bye bye Ford.

Final to-do's:
[list] Needs the PS cooling loop relocated so it isn't right next to the panhard. Not a worry for road driving, but would get bashed offroad.
body work. Not PBB style. I ain't doin' it!
Tires. FIL wants pizza-cutters. 265's or 285's. Also not my department!

All-in-all, a decent project. One that any TTB owner could do to their DD.

don't waste your time trying hack together stock steering..

use the stock 79' tie rod like you are allready doing, and then get a drag link for a 85-97 F-350, it all bolts right, in and works perfectly.

I agree, if you have the cash to buy the F350 arm, that's the way to go. I didn't want to fork out the change, so I shortened and sleeved mine. It's held up to plenty of abuse.

http://wheelingarizona.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5094

Damn Jrod-13, buddy, where were you a week ago?!! :flipoff2:

I took the stock draglink to the machine shop and had the threaded end shortened and rethreaded. It was $56...so the F-350 draglink can't be that much more.

I know the long side F-350 tierod is hella expensive for a stock part. $150 or so! :eek:

I don't put much faith in those radius arms surviving. .120" wall HREW? Come on. Most of the aftermarket long arms are completely sleeved with at least 3/16" plate the whole length of the arm. There are plenty of good articles about how to lengthen a radius arm the right way.

The Rancho TTB arms were 1.5" 0.090" wall.

Not surviving, period, or not surviving in real offroad use? They have survived under thousands of trucks for three decades....of street use.

Yes, I have seen pictures of bent radius arms on rigs on the fullsizebronco forum. These are also seeing serious offroad duty and 36-38" tires.

This vehicle will be a semi-DD, and is unlikely to ever see any real rockcrawling; more likely some mild snow during the winter.

Your point is very well taken for someone who might be reading this and wanting to SAS their rig to use for real wheelin'. Thanks.