SAS turn radius

[PHROX]

ok, alots been said. Personaly i dont see the point in taking the motor, and axles out of an explorer, just buy an explorer. you get an extra two doors that way too. just my opinion.

as far as the sas, d44 is the easiest. so you might as well get some over kill.

[stevenf]

I will take your advice on the explorer. They are in junk yards by the droves around here. It would also be a good learning experience before getting into the major Fab work. The 4.0L will be alot more power and torque then my 2.9L. I will also have stronger axles to go with it. I guess I can re-replace things as they fall apart.
Now, with the D35 vs the D28. Ive read that they have pretty much thicker axles, bigger gears and slightly bigger carrier but the axles are still 27 spline. How does this make it stronger then the D28 27spline axles? Seems like both would be just as prone to stripping an axle shaft.

[vabronconut]

phrox- i agree for me its definetly a 44 with a 5.0 but i wheel hard and break things like they go out of style, but steve is not going to be doing that, and it sounds like he might not have that much experience in conversions and fab work thus he needs something that suites his needs.

steve- dana did us a favor by the way they name thier axles, ie 44, 60, 70 ect. the bigger the number the heavier duty they are. as far as spline count i wouldn't put a ton into this when it comes to front axles. the strength of a axle shaft comes from the diameter of the shaft and the thickness of the u-joint ears. the thicker the better. the dana 44 froma early bronco is only 19 spline, so go figure. the ring and pinion- the bigger the better, with diameter comes bigger teeth on the gears which equates to more strength.

maybe phrox is right in that a engine swap might not be needed with this axle combo,,,, if you get a set of axles with 4.10's which come stock in some explorers. the lower ratio will give you tons of torque. try the axles first then if you don't get the power you want then for a motor. but back to the axles, even if you decide to go 4.0 or 5.0 later the d35 and 8.8 from a explorer did come stock with the 5.0 so they would hold up to what you are after. and again look more into the explorers they did have d44 ifs axles

[stevenf]

I dont have alot of experience in conversions and fab work at all. I am good with a metal and welding. Im more knowledgeable about axles and engines then your average person. I KNOW for a fact that I can make it work. However, I still would like something simple to tinker with first just as an experience base Its looking pretty good for th eexplorer axle swaps. I do plan to gear low like 4.10's even if I dont find an explorer that came stock with them. You are also right about the engine swap. I was planning on doing it after the axle swap but I think I have the 2.9L powerloss confused with the stock gearing a bit. I think it will work fine for the time being untill I get into the stronger axles and a 5.0L.
I appriciate your help. If I end up wheeling to hard, you guys will be the first ones I talk to about a D44 swap. I can tell you now I will have to drive a far distance to come across one lol. The only wheelers around here are $40k trucks jacked up on 40's that only see pavement so there arent many sources to come by.
I do have one more question. What is the difference between locking hubs and Central axle disconnect? Do CAD's work on vacuum lines and the locking hubs are manual?

[stevenf]

Also, What do I look for when looking for D35 parts? I keep getting Jeep rear D35's in all of my searches. Know a good place?

[vabronconut]

Also, What do I look for when looking for D35 parts? I keep getting Jeep rear D35's in all of my searches. Know a good place?

if found this for you, its a good place to start since i know very little about the dana 35.
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_li ... Axles.html


trust me im not knocking you on experience, im a aircraft mechanic of 10 years and was also a diesel heavy equiptment mechanic to put me through college. i find myself still banging my head against the wall with these custom swaps, they are very difficult and take allot of time. especially on these fords, its a small community of bii owners who actually do these swaps and modify thier vehicles. so to try and ask someone for help is tough, compared to ohhhhh say a chevy cammaro which every idiot knows how to work on . so i guess im just saying that one project at a time might be a good idea before you tare your truck apart to do all the mods at once.

thanks for asking all the question though, everytime you do i do some research and learn something new !!

[stevenf]

Thanks for all the info and the Link to that site. I am going to take it one step at a time and I am going to start with the 8.8 rear. Ive been making a small list of info and plan to get an 8.8 this coming Saturday. Im hoping to find one with 4.10's since there are so many 91-94 explorers. I will be happy with 3.73s though sinc eIm only going to run 32-33" tires.
91-94 explorers rears have drum brakes and 95-01 have disk. If I go the disk route, will I have to take the master cylinder from it as well? Will it connect to my 89 BII booster?
Also, Im not sure how much lift I will need but Im guessing 3-4" suspension and mabey 1" body to fit 33's. With this 8.8 swap in mind, how would you setup the pinion angle? Should I set it up at stuck height and just add the lift later? Or should I add the lift and weld the perches on to match?