It would be much cheaper to buy individual parts than a kit of some type. Do the research for parts needed. You should be able to get almost all the parts from a '73-'76 F-100, '76-'79 F-150 or a '78-'79 Bronco. Look here for more info: http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/web_rs44.html

If you go with a 9" rear won't that delete your vss and antilock brake system? You might consider an doing an eight lug conversion to a pre-'80 1/2 ton front d44 and then a 10-1/4 Sterling in the rear would keep a functioning vss, if it's currently located in your rear axle.

Good Luck

 

is your truck a 5.4 or 4.6 if its 5.4 the 9.75 in the rear would be plents strong, the only problem you run into on these trucks is getting the bolt pattern to match because for went metric. about the only was to to this is and it be worth is is a 60/10.25 combo or a 8 lug 44. the rear will have to come out of a 87 or newer to have the vss tone ring and sensor. 8 lug 44 wouldnt be much of an improvement over your ifs unless you chromo it and all that mess and by then you might as well done a 60. as far as front suspension goes it would be just as hard to use the old ford style coil spring set up as it would be to run a nice 4 link. Also another to consider about sas a ford is the huge crossember that holds the motor mounts and the ifs that you have to clear thus probably having to sit your truck a little high for 35s
if it were mine it would either stay like it is and get locked or get an ifs lift and 35's or 60/10.25 and 4d's

 

8 lug 44 wouldnt be much of an improvement over your ifs unless you chromo it and all that mess and by then you might as well done a 60.

So you are saying a solid axle high pinion 44 is really no better than the '99 IFS??

as far as front suspension goes it would be just as hard to use the old ford style coil spring set up as it would be to run a nice 4 link.

Wow

Also another to consider about sas a ford is the huge crossember that holds the motor mounts and the ifs that you have to clear thus probably having to sit your truck a little high for 35s

Research

Check out www.fullsizebronco.com's section on solid axle swaps. It's for the earlier style trucks, but still plenty of good information.

X2

Can I just buy some radius arms, coil buckets, fab up some shock towers, and measure and buy the steering linkages? With my steering box work?

I'm not exactly sure about IFS but if it were TTB then basically yes, but it's a little more invovled than that.

 

It's the 4.6, with the M5OD Tranny. It's got an 8.8" rear axle, so I don't wanna keep it out back with the prospect of runnin larger tires. Hoping to find a Dana 44/9" combo cheap on craigslist though, so that's the reasoning behind the coil springs. Can I just buy some radius arms, coil buckets, fab up some shock towers, and measure and buy the steering linkages? With my steering box work?

 

Do a search for biggreen, he's got a solid leaf spring using superduty axles so his VSS is still functional too.

as far as kits, the only real one i know of is the fabritech kit and it sucks ass. Check out www.fullsizebronco.com's section on solid axle swaps. It's for the earlier style trucks, but still plenty of good information.

 

m5od thats a manual right? its made by mazda same trans as the rangers, as far as the 44 9 inch you cant do it because the 9inch never had vss. also any 9 inch you find is most likely going to be too narrow anyway. also unless you were to build a 9 its really no stronger than the 31 spline 8.8 it would replace.

 

Thanks guys for the info. I realized after reading even more forums (all the ford ones, f-150 specific sites, etc.) that I would prob have to swap in a set of super duty axles. those sound like theyd be a little more expensive. The only kit that I've found uses a Dana 44 out of a pre 1980 F-150, but I'd need the 10.5 in the rear... Sounds like it's just gonna be a little more expensive than I thought. Maybe I should just go with leave springs up front, because it's prob be a little easier. Damn IFS!!!

 

Also, forgot to mention that this is still going to be my daily driver, would tow a horse trailer/boat/snowmobile occasionally, and would need to make 4 round trips a year or so from mass to virginia where im going to school... and im going to have to wait to get money, since im in school. but, im gonna work a ton this summer doing horse shoeing, which earns a bunch, and im in the ROTC program so i can go to extra schools and earn money that way while doing awsome stuff like airborne school, air assault, etc. hooah!

 

if your hell bent on a sas, i'll sell you a 9in/44 with coil towers and radius arms for 450. you can relocate the vss to the t-case output shaft.

 

well, I currently don't have money for the build. i would def buy the axles off of you though. i'm only going to be running 35's, and it's not like i'm going to take my damn extended cab rock crawling the toughest trails, so the axles should hold up. is there a kit to relocate the vss? maybe I could keep that in mind when I actually have the money to do the swap. what are the axles out of? gear ratio? where you located?

 

what are the axles out of? gear ratio? where you located?

79 ford- 3.55's - about an hour east of pittsburgh

I'm not 100% sure on the '99+'s, but on my '97, the speedometer was read from a cable coming out of the tranny output shaft.

you may want to look again, no cable for a speedo in 97. tone ring produces speedo signals

 

I'm not 100% sure on the '99+'s, but on my '97, the speedometer was read from a cable coming out of the tranny output shaft. You don't need ABS, so don't worry about that...

If you search, there are lots of threads on this topic here. Searching "97 SAS" comes back with quite a bit.

Seriously think about running leaf springs in the front. Much less fab work, and cheaper in the long run. You don't have to worry about radius arms or trac-bars either...

For more information, there is a guy on FTE that has done a SAS on his '01, and dropped a 460 in it. His username is "scottie2hottie"

 

been thinking about the sas for my 2k 4x4. I believe the front crossmember can be left in place cause the diff will never make it to hit it. It is in front of the axle. The best thing would be to torch off the mounts for the rear side of the cross member. THen weld up a plate to make it thinner but retain the strength. I've been looking for SD 60's and they are hard to find plus expensive. A d44 8 lug/ sterling 10.25 with the radius arm setup should be enough for the avg daily driver truck. Just make sure to build some good mounting points. I'm gonna take some measurements of my buddy's 78 bronco and see how close they are to the frame of the newer trucks. On the new ford there is 6" from the front diff to the cross member. You can gain another 3" if you cut the mounting tabs. 36" from the axle tube to the trans crossmember so you can use around a 36" radius arm to give you some travel. Gonna want to use an adjustable on of some kind to give some play. 38" from inside frame to inside frame at the trans crossmember. I don't see why those style radius arms wouldn't work with some custom made brakets. However this goes out the window if you are gonna rock crawl. In my area "south GA" no rocks only mud so.

 

I'm curious about the Fabritech kit. Has anyone on here tried it? I've seen that most people think it's just crap, but no explanation why... I think a 4-link would be sweet, as I want it to hold up as my daily driver. Anyone actually use the kit? How's it drive? Perform off road? I have to wait to do a SAS either way, so a bolt in kit would be a great help.

thanks

 

I'm curious about the Fabritech kit.

Kit = worthless

They're generally overpriced and of poor quality. I used to work for a truck accessories store and we did lifts. One guy paid $800 for 2 3/8" plates that dropped his front shackles (already had solid axle) to level the suspension. They weren't even designed for that specific truck. I had to modify the plates to fit the truck. You're better off designing and building something yourself.

 

On the 5 or 6 ive had to remove the dashboards out of, most had electric speedos. Most of them were newer than 99, and the 97 has been so long i couldnt remember if i had to. I seem to remember having to remove one or two cables over the years...

 

My 96 doesnt have a cable, you sure your 97 does?

There is no way a '97 has a cable. I too had a '96 and it was an electric sensor in the diff run off a tone ring. In '97 they went to much much more electronic control, not the other way around.

 

after thinking about it, i seem to remember removing a couple cables. I may be mixing up vehicles here... ( :laughing: )


EDIT: after looking on Alldata, it seems like i am mixing up vehicles. I checked 97 and up, all are electric...

 

fabritech: track bar too short. track bar angle not right. week junk steering links. cheep junk steering TRE. radius arm drop brackets: HUGE. stiff sucky coils.

quote: 44with chromos might as well get a 60" NO NO NO. quick comparo:

60: 600-1000 44: free to 200, radius arms mounts already there, cheeper lockers, cheaper gears, cheaper hubs, did i metion you don't have to spend a grand on 4 link parts cous your 44 should of come with the RA still on it. if not 75$ should get you a pair. you don't have to change your master cylinder if you keep 1/2 ton. going one ton means ou gotta change that.

get a 44 (78-79) and an 8.8 out of a 96 or earlier get some cheep steelies, hummer tires (measure 35")for free/$50 call www.cageoffroad.com or whatever their site is.


SAS isn't cheeper but you get what you pay for, except for fabritech.

 

My '97 must have been a freak then...(build 04/97 IIRC)

If I still had it, I would pull the cluster and settle this thing. I do know that if the T-case was in neutral, and it was in gear, then the speedo would still work without the truck moving...

 

It's conceivable that there is a sensor in the tcase instead of the diff, but it is still electric, not a cable.

 

ok, so is there a kit out there to move the VSS from the rear axle to the transmission output shaft? because if I go with a Ford 9" swap out back, i would clearly like to have a working speedometer. I don't care about the ABS, as my ABS light has been on ever since my dad had the truck, which he bought new. It came on when it was two years old. turns out the bolts that hold the TrueTrac together (installed by the Ford dealer he bought it from) all lossen up, scored the bearing cap, and broke the head off some of them. the bolt head then rolled around the diff for 4 more years, until I wanted to see what the hell was wrong, and found that the tone ring was worn to nothing. so i replaced the tone ring, and loc tighted all the bolts. then they loosened up again, so I had my mechanic do it. now, the two lights for the ABS and the parking break go on together shortly after I drive down the road, and randomly turn off for about two minutes or so. I know the parking break is off, so i'm guessing its just stupid dash light malfunctions, cause I check the ABS in the snow when I'm driving around when I get bored, and it works. either way, I would need to relocate the VSS, and would like to know if that is doable.

 

I know that a few on FSB have relocated the VSS to the rear of the t-case output. I suggest searching there and IIRC there are a few write ups on it. Also there are countless sas threads there but for 80-96 models.

I would not recomend buying a sas kit. Waste of money. For the most part its a bolt on afair, the only fab work is the uper trac bar mount. And I would suggest just buying an adjustable trac bar. Good Luck.

 

Just reviving an old thread here for my own personal benefit. I have a 97 Expedetion I am thinking about toying with. I know that people say the 78-79 F-150 D44s are the axles to use, but what about a 93-00 D44 out of a Dodge Ram? All the coil bracketry is there, plus the same bolt pattern and it's set up for ABS already. Also, my Expedition has the vacuum operated front axle, so in theory you could retain it for use on the CAD Dodge D44 as well. Thoughts? I suppose that a Dodge D60 would be great to use as well for all the same reasons.